NEW OCCUPATIONAL STANDARDS FOR EQUINE BAREFOOT CARE

Following an extensive review of the jobs, skills and activities people carry out within equine barefoot care, Lantra Sector Skills Council announced today (24 June) that newly developed National Occupational Standards are now approved and available for employers to help support their workforce.

Lantra Sector Skills Council led the UK wide project, which gave individuals and organisations representing equine welfare, veterinary, farriery and equine barefoot care the opportunity to play their part in ensuring their ways of working were accurately reflected. National Occupational Standards (NOS for short) accurately describe what a person needs to do, know and understand in their job to carry out their role in a consistent and competent way. Lisa Jarvis, Lantra’s Industry Partnership Manager, said: “We’re really pleased that so many industry representatives got involved in developing the NOS. NOS have numerous uses which help ensure that industry has the skills it needs and so it is critical to make sure they are relevant and up-to-date.” A cross-sector working group helped with the development of the standards and agreed that the title of the NOS should be ‘equine barefoot care’, rather than the previous term ‘equine barefoot trimming’. The group felt it was important to change the title to reflect a wider role than just trimming. Chris House, an equine veterinary surgeon from House and Jackson Veterinary Surgeons, was involved with the development of the Standards and said: "Developing NOS for equine barefoot care was a worthwhile step towards recognised standards for training and examination." Anyone involved in the equine barefoot care industry can get a free copy of the revised National Occupational Standards, which are available to download from the Lantra website, www.lantra.co.uk. Lisa continued: “The standards are an essential tool for any individual or organisation who are driven by the welfare of horses. NOS will help identify skills gaps and find the most relevant training for not only larger business, but smaller business too. This will certainly help the continuous professional development of both managers and the workforce and so are a great help for individual personal development too. Now the Standards are available to use, I strongly recommend all interested parties download their free copy and start using them today.” Lantra represents 17 environmental and land-based industries which will benefit by ensuring that their own National Occupational Standards are fit for purpose. The standards help businesses improve performance and productivity as they can be used to identify the skills needed for their workforce, highlight best practice, develop training and recruitment plans and also develop job descriptions. For your free copy of the Equine Barefoot Care National Occupational Standards, please visit www.lantra.co.uk/approved-nos or call Lantra on 02476 858 424. ENDS ISSUED BY: Caroline Judd, Lantra Press Office –media@lantra.co.uk or call 02476 858 407. NOTES TO EDITOR: National Occupational Standards National Occupational Standards offer a framework for good employment practice in the industry and define the skills, knowledge and experience required to work in the industry. They provide a tool for small and micro businesses, employers, careers advisors and trainers to benchmark and assess what skills are required to do a job. About Lantra • Lantra, the Sector Skills Council for the environmental and land-based sector, is licensed by the UK government to drive forward the new skills, training and business development agenda for the sector. • Lantra represents 17 industries and 1.5 million workers and volunteers in agricultural crops, agricultural livestock, animal care, animal technology, aquaculture, environmental conservation, equine, farriery, fencing, fisheries management, floristry, game and wildlife management, land-based engineering, landscape, production horticulture, trees and timber and veterinary nursing. For more information see www.lantra.co.uk.

Tags: