The Lethbridge Community Equine College campus is currently an open field dotted with snow-filled holes ready for concrete footings.
However, this spring the college plans to offer classes that will put the training into horse trainers.
Entrepreneur and horse trainer and owner Ernie Knibb said it has taken him three and a half years to apply for private college status through the Alberta government for his $7.4 million institution, which will be the first of its kind in Canada.
“There is no industry standard as far as a horse trainer,” said Knibb.
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“We’ve created an industry standard as far as curriculum.”
He said enrolment for the first year is full. About 120 students will be accommodated annually, with 15 at a time rotating through the campus in courses such as colt starting, saddle fitting, equine health, acupuncture, reining, trick riding, show jumping and problem solving.
Initial classroom work will be followed by in-the-saddle training.
Tuition for the eight month course is $18,000, and students must bring two horses to the college, one of them unbroken.
They will work with both horses at the college before returning home for a month of further work. Then they will come back to the college for three other sessions.
Knibb said he has spoken with more than 60 instructors who will provide expertise.
“The idea is to expose students to different ideas and methods,” said Knibb.
Fifty trainers helped devise the curriculum.
“I’m not going to teach you one method. I want to teach you five or six methods because one method might not work for you but it might work on that horse,” he said.
“If you have five or six methods of accomplishing the same thing, the same end result, you’re far better off.”
The 95-acre site northwest of Lethbridge on Highway 25 will eventually have several two-storey barns that include student housing above the horse stalls, plus a 125 by 350 foot indoor arena, a 10-acre outdoor arena and classroom space.
Some of the buildings have been built off-site and will be moved in coming months, Knibb said.
Classes will begin this spring regardless of building completion, said Knibb, who has made arrangements to use other facilities if his aren’t done in time.
He said he has received 350 inquiries since sod was turned on the project. Prospective students are required to have been out of high school for at least two years and must have some knowledge of horses, including an ability to ride.
Alberta Advanced Education was unable to confirm by press time that the college has been accredited by the department.
barb.glen@producer.com
