Published: 07 Aug 2018 | Last Updated: 10 Aug 2023 15:38:21

The Royal Veterinary College (RVC) is seeking applicants for its Graduate Diploma in Equine Locomotor Research (Grad Dip ELR), commencing January 2019.

This exciting course offers farriers the opportunity to build on their skills and produce original research that will increase the evidence base behind farriery to help enhance equine welfare. The deadline for applications is 30th September 2018 and the course begins in January 2019 and will be based in the UK.

The Grad Dip ELR can be studied over a minimum of two and a maximum of five years. It is divided into two distinct sections; Contemporary Study Skills and Applied Equine Locomotion, and is delivered in a range of formats including face-to-face learning sessions, webinars, podcasts and residential weekends to facilitate learning.

Admission is open to all farriers who have a minimum of two years’ practical experience of advanced foot care and are eligible to be registered with the UK’s Farriers Registration Council. The RVC are seeking individuals who can not only demonstrate the necessary experience in advanced foot care but can provide an extensive portfolio of evidence of reflective practice in farriery. The programme has been carefully designed to help graduates meet the project and presentation requirements for the Fellowship of the Worshipful Company of Farriers examination.

The course will be run by Dr Thilo Pfau, a Senior Lecturer in Bioengineering, and Dr Amy Barstow, an Assistant Lecturer in Clinical Skills, and they will be supported by Prof. Renate Weller, Professor in Comparative Imaging and Biomechanics. Members of RVC’s Structure and Motion lab, Equine Referral Hospital and epidemiology group will also assist in the running of the course.

Current course student Michael Woods said: “Initially, I was apprehensive about studying at a much higher level, but the support received from the tutors so far has been second to none. The structure of the Contemporary Study Skills course takes into consideration the full-time working farrier and allows the students the flexibility to fit study around work.”

Lauren Love, née Carey, another satisfied student on the course, said: “The grad ELR has quickly benefited my everyday life as a farrier; I can research client’s questions and answer them with factual information, and I have gained more confidence with the complex theory of laminitis, my chosen area of study. I highly recommend this course to all farriers who would like to further their career. It provides great support for the transition into higher education with state-of-the-art resources and quality lecturers – I would have found the course very daunting without their support.” The RVC is the UK’s largest and oldest veterinary school and has a substantially greater number of students and a more diverse student body than any other UK veterinary school. Research at the Royal Veterinary College is of international quality and the RVC’s Structure and Motion lab is home to the largest research group and most extensive facilities dedicated to animal locomotor biomechanics with the horse at its centre. The clinical facilities combined with the expertise of the equine group provides the ideal ground for this course.

Notes to Editors

For more information please contact: Alex Cassells or Ploy Radford Press Line: 0800 368 9520  

About the Royal Veterinary College

• The Royal Veterinary College (RVC) is the UK's largest and longest established independent veterinary school and is a constituent College of the University of London. 
• The RVC offers undergraduate, postgraduate and CPD programmes in veterinary medicine, veterinary nursing and biological sciences. It is currently the only veterinary school in the world to hold full accreditation from AVMA, EAEVE, RCVS and AVBC. In 2017, the RVC received a Gold award from the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) – the highest rating a university can receive. 
• A research-led institution, in the most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF2014) the RVC maintained its position as the top HEFCE funded veterinary focused research institution. 
• The RVC ranked as the top vet school in the Agriculture, Veterinary and Food Science unit of the most recent Research Assessment Exercise, with 55% of academics producing world-class and internationally excellent research. 
• The RVC also provides animal owners and the veterinary profession with access to expert veterinary care and advice through its teaching hospitals; the Beaumont Sainsbury Animal Hospital in central London, the Queen Mother Hospital for Animals (Europe's largest small animal referral centre), the Equine Referral Hospital, and the Farm Animal Clinical Centre located at the Hertfordshire campus.