Notes On This Presentation

Why use this presentation? Good question. Similar commercial training courses already may be available. Because there is no Forest Service policy direction on what defensive horsemanship training must cover or what media to use, this presentation serves as Forest Service guidance for instructors. The media selected combines text and video graphics to convey best management practices for transfer of information. As an instructor or experienced rider, you might not feel that all the practices covered are exactly how you would present them—and that's okay! We realize there are differences in teaching styles. This presentation was designed to be supplemented with other material that the instructor feels is necessary. The presentation can also be used as pre-work material, allowing instructors to tailor their course time to specific needs of the students. Used as a refresher course, instructors can navigate to and highlight specific topics.

Since this presentation covers just the basics of horsemanship, you'll want to expand your knowledge of safety using pack and saddlestock with other related or similar material.

For the sake of convenience, we use the term 'horse' in this presentation to refer to all pack and saddlestock used by the Forest Service.