Off the back of a successful launch of the Together for the Standardbred project, with a tremendous team effort which brought together key organisations, clubs and businesses operating with standardbred welfare at the forefront, the HRV Hero team is proud to announce another exciting collaborative initiative.
A new Standardbred Educational Partnership has been established between HRV Hero and prominent standardbred educational program Raising the Standards.
The Educational Partnership will provide a voucher for riders who purchase a horse via a Hero Retrainer to enrol in the comprehensive Retraining the Standardbred: Track to Hack online course offered through Raising the Standards.
With the course normally priced at $197, including around 25-30 modules of learning and hours upon hours of video tutorials, Hero and Raising the Standards will equally contribute 50% of the program fee, to enable new Hero owners to enrol in the program for free.
“I’m very excited to be able to support new Hero owners through the early stages of their partnership with their standardbred”, said Raising the Standards Founder Nic Tassone.
“As an educator, I typically hear from riders who have taken on a standardbred within the last six months and are really second-guessing themselves, or struggling through the settling-in process.
“As exciting as it is to bring home a new horse, working with a green standardbred can be, at times, a little daunting, confusing and overwhelming.
“With access to resources which explains unique standardbred behaviour and promotes relationship-building and opportunities for positive experiences, such as what is presented in our Retraining the Standardbred: Track to Hack program, new standardbred owners are less likely to panic when things go wrong and have a support network and step-by-step resources to help to overcome challenges”. The Raising the Standards course voucher offered as part of the Educational Partnership will bolster an already impressive support package already on offer to horses trained and rehomed via Hero Retrainers, which includes a horse care pack from The NRG Team, a complimentary Equissage treatment, two free lessons with a Hero retrainer of choice and complimentary horse registration into the Standardbred Pleasure and Performance Horse Association of Victoria Inc.
The support package provides the essential ‘next steps’ Hero owners can take after their horse has completed an intensive foundation retraining program, which spans across several weeks, with a skilled Hero Retrainer.
“Hero is invested in supporting standardbreds across a range of key initiatives”, says Hero Operations Manager Tara van der Minne.
“Providing educational resources for new owners is just one of the many ways the Hero program promotes happy partnerships and positive, long-term welfare outcomes for standardbreds.
“Our Hero Retrainers do a fantastic job of providing varied and essential skills to their standardbreds and it’s reassuring to know that these horses will be going into new homes where their owner will be equipped with the support and guidance to continue on confidently from a good starting point.
“By working collaboratively with established organisations like Raising the Standards and the Standardbred Pleasure and Performance Horse Association of Victoria Inc., we – as a collective standardbred community – can cover a lot more bases and create more opportunities for standardbreds beyond the track.”
