West talent honoured at equine conference

EQUINE students from Cornwall have represented the region admirably with winning presentations at a conference in Yorkshire.

Higher Education staff and Level 5, 6 and 7 students from Duchy College Stoke Climsland attended the Equine Performance Conference, hosted by Bishop Burton College.

The theme of the conference, now in its second year, was ‘Promoting Career Longevity for Horse and Rider’.

It included a wide range of attendees including academics, students, physios, researchers, coaches, instructors, vets and sports scientists.

Three Duchy College student research posters were featured at the conference, the first of which was produced by Level 5 student, Aimee Bickley.

The title of her research was ‘What motivates equine professionals and does it contribute to career longevity’, which won best student poster.

“The equine performance conference was a fantastic place to be as we were presenting our research for the first time,” Aimee said.

“Everyone was friendly and supportive, which made what we thought was going to be quite a daunting experience a really positive one. All the talks and practical demonstrations were interesting and it was really nice getting to interact with other people within equine research.”

Two Level 6 students also displayed posters, Emma Bunney’s ‘The effect of regular ridden exercise on equine movement symmetry’ and Rachel Moast, ‘Who is responsible for symmetry: horse or rider?’.

MSc graduate Elise Clements gave an oral presentation on ‘The relationship between horse and rider asymmetries’, which won best student oral presentation.

Other universities and colleges attending were

Bishop Burton, Sparsholt, Hartpury, University of Central Lancashire, Nottingham Trent University, Saddle Research Trust, University of Liverpool, Hadlow College and the Animal Health Trust.

Dr Anna Walker, HE Programme Manager at Duchy College, said: “We are extremely proud of our students they have worked so hard and achieved so much to present their equitation industry relevant work.

“To win the awards for the best poster and best oral presentation of the conference was the icing on the cake! We couldn’t be more proud of our students, their achievements, motivation, maturity and ability to excel in a conference environment.”