WHITETHORN Equine Health announced a first within the equine educational sector as they rolled out a new way of combined learning termed ‘hyflex/hybrid learning’ from their Sligo yard.

A ground-breaking pilot workshop in late 2021 proved hugely successful as students at the Whitethorn Clinicc ollaborated with students online throughout Europe within online breakout rooms during an Equine Applied Zoopharmacognosy session.

Strategically positioned cameras in stables, plus a roaming yard-cam, enabled horses to appear in the Breakout rooms alongside students. Wide angle cameras enabled online participants multiple viewing options within their Breakout room, allowing them to contribute as the session unfolded. Applied Zoopharmacognosy is a herbal approach based on the horse’s ability to identify and self-select medicinal constituents within plant extracts. There is strictly no diagnosis or administering involved, but offering of extracts according to presenting symptoms.

Attending was Alison Mastin-Moore (BHS Performance Coach & FEI para Olympic Judge, retired), who said: “Attending a course in person when you cannot leave home sounds impossible. Covid has shown us how it can be done. Thankfully Carly Hillier and her team are using hyflex learning which offers clients the chance to attend online or in person. I found hyflex learning an excellent experience. I was literally in attendance and able to be part of all theoretical and practical sessions as though I was there. Would I recommend it to those that for whatever reason can’t get away? Yes, I would!”

The pilot workshop was coordinated by Whitethorn’s technical expert, Isabel Ashburner, who works for the Dublin business school. Ashburner is currently preparing a paper on the pilot workshops to deliver at the Irish Teaching & Learning Association (ILTA) conference as an example of teaching applied and practical subjects in a challenging hybrid/hyflex environment.