The Certified Horsemanship Association (CHA) is currently seeking equine facilities that are willing to host an Equine Facility Manager Certification Clinic. The CHA Equine Facility Management (EFM) Program is a 20-hour certification clinic that is run over three days. Participants are evaluated on their skills and knowledge of equine facility management through demonstrations and through written tests at each of four levels of certification: Stable Worker (Level 1), Stable Manager (Level 2), Herd Manager (Level 3), and Equine Facility Manager (Level 4). Participants start at level 1 and can complete all four levels within one clinic.
Host sites must be a commercial equine operation that offer a range of functions so that the CHA program content can be tested through all four levels. If you are a boarding, lesson, or training operation; a trail or dude ranch operation, a college facility, a competition center, or a breeding farm, CHA invites you to apply to become a host site for these clinics, which can be very beneficial in a variety of ways for the host site and its staff.
“By hosting an EFM Clinic, your facility can get its staff certified, either free or at a greatly reduced cost,” said Christy Landwehr, CHA’s CEO. Many equine facilities prefer to have a private clinic for the benefit of their own staff. However, for those that wish to open the clinic to the public, this can help offset the costs of the clinic and can also serve as a fundraiser or an additional source of income.
“It’s also very good to help decrease overall facility insurance, equine professional liability insurance, and other types of insurance that are needed when you run an equine business,” added Landwehr. “It’s a relatively easy clinic to host because no arena time is necessary, so it doesn’t interrupt normal day-to-day business at your barn.”
All host sites for CHA Certification Clinics are pre-approved before a certification clinic can be held at the facility. As a clinic host, the facility becomes the event organizer while the actual clinic is run by two CHA Certified Clinicians. Host sites have the following responsibilities as the event manager: send registration information to participants and collect fees, to distribute CHA-provided course materials to participants, to contract with CHA Clinic Staff, and to pay any applicable certification fees from participants to CHA.
If you have already been previously approved as a host site, please contact CHA Program Director Polly Barger at pbarger@CHA-ahse.org to sign up to host an EFM Certification Clinic and to receive your Materials Order Form and Clinic Request Form.
If your facility would like to become a new host site for CHA, please visit http://cha-ahse.org/store/pages/37/How_to_Host.html. To learn more about the Equine Facility Manager Certification, please visit http://cha-ahse.org/store/pages/30/Certifications.html#equine.
For further questions, please contact CHA at info@CHA-ahse.org or call 859-259-3399.
CHA Instructors Change Lives Through Safe Experiences with Horses. The purpose of CHA is to promote excellence in safety and education for the benefit of the horse industry. CHA certifies instructors and trail guides, accredits equestrian facilities, publishes educational manuals, produces educational horsemanship DVDs and YouTube Safety shorts, and hosts regional and international conferences. For more information on the largest certifying body of riding instructors and barn managers in North America, Certified Horsemanship Association, please visit www.CHA-ahse.org or call 859-259-3399. To find a certified horseback riding instructor or accredited equine facility near you, visit www.CHAinstructors.com.
