Horse Safety Australia – The Association for Horsemanship, Safety and Education

CLINICS in 2021

We have a number of clinics to provide people with qualifications as instructors and trail guides planned for the first half of this year, but if you were wanting to attend, sadly they are booked out.

If you are interested to be informed when the next batch of clinics are available please fill in and email us the Expression of Interest form (Expression of Interest in future clinics 2021 _1) so we can let you know when they are available.

Are you running a horse business during Covid19?

Here is an overview which covers running horse related activities. It is a compilation of information from a variety of sources. We hope it is helpful for your business!

HSA gudelines for COVID 19 – horse activities 3-6-20

What is Horse Safety Australia?

Horse Safety Australia Inc is a national not for profit organisation committed to improving the safety record of horse activities in Australia. We are doing this through a number of means:

accrediting horse riding instructors, trainers, clinicians and trail guides
developing and providing procedures which have human safety as their focus
tips for safety around horses
tips to new riders on what to look for in a riding instructor/trainers/riding schools/trail riding operations
working with government departments, council, schools and other groups and individuals to develop good procedures for interactions with horses
provision of expert reports linked to litigation and disputes

Our first priority is to help businesses improve the safety and quality of their horse activities. Many of our resources are available to individuals/ groups sharing our commitment to improving the safety and quality of horse programs.

Horse Safety Australia has been the leader in Australia in setting safety standards for the broader horse industry for many years.

Certification through Horse Safety Australia includes:

Instructors (ALL TYPES of horse riding and horse handling: English/Western/Natural Horsemanship)
Trail Guides
Certification to run horsemanship clinics for Trainers and Clinicians

Do you want certifications which recognise your horse riding instructing experience ?
See the “Clinics” section for information on a nationally recognised assessment process which acknowledges your background working with horses and people. These workshops (clinics), involve cover risk management, communication skills and concentrate on safety; and are regularly run throughout Australia.

Horse Safety Australia accreditation is mentioned in Safe Work Australia’s Guide to managing risks with horses (see below) , in the the Education Departments in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Western Australia and Victoria guidelines for horse activities for school students (in some cases still using our old name: Association for Horsemanship Safety and Education), and in other significant guides to teaching or supervising people around horses. HSA certifications are widely used in Australia including by those involved in private coaching, instructing at riding schools, trail riding, at residential campsites with horse programs as well as by trainers who teach their clients as well as running and horse clinics open to the horse riding public.

CODES and Regulations

The most significant document in Australia for those working with beginner riders or handlers: is Safe Work Australia’s “Guide to managing risks when new and inexperienced persons interact with horses…”Download it here : Safe Work Australia’s Guide for working with those new to horses

ALSO….Now available is the new Safe Work NSW CODE (for those in NSW) which can be found here: SW08262-Code-of-Practice-Managing-risks-when-new-or-inexperienced-riders-or-handlers-interact-with-horses-in-the-workplace ver pdf

TRAIL RIDING
(National) Adventure Activity Standards (includes trail riding among other outdoor activities) now released and can be found here:Horse-Trail-Ride-GPG-V1.0

The Code of Conduct for (all) horse activities
“HorseSafe” developed in consultation with the whole horse industry in Australia (including HSA) initially in 2003 then revised in 2009 is available for download here: AHIC Code of Practice revised 091009

HELMETS Are you buying a new Helmet? What are the new European standards? What should you look for? We are getting lots of calls about what helmet to buy, now that the EN 1384 is not being produced any more….

SUMMARY : THE BETA WEBSITE AND British Horse Society INFORMATION…THEY RECOMMEND:

Australian AS/NZS 3838: 2006 onwards, provided they are SAI Global marked
British PAS 015: 1998 or 2011 provided they are BSI Kitemarked or VG1 01.040: 2014-12 provided they are BSI Kitemarked
European – VG1 01.040: 2014-12 provided they are BSI Kitemarked
American ASTM F1163: 2004a or 04a onwards provided they are marked SEI or SNELL E2001

What is the Benchmark or Kitemark?
This is a logo which demonstrates that this group of helmets is being monitored for quality. Without this logo there is no guarantee that the standards are being maintained throughout the production of this helmet…We buy helmets to protect our heads in an impact…there is not much point in having a helmet which looks good, was very expensive, but does not protect our head in an impact! So that is why we recommend only buying helmets with kitemarks/benchmarks/SEI/SNELL authorities which look like this:

https://www.facebook.com/horsesafetyaustralia/?ref=bookmarks

Resources
Horse Welfare and Wellbeing Toolkit can be found here:
HOR0288_Horse_welfare_and_well-being_toolkit_WEB
This is a useful resource when you are thinking about hot weather policies and biosecurity issues for horses, especially if you are running events. And don’t forget the wellbeing of your humans too!