Equine Professionals Required for Survey

Lantra Sector Skills Council is carrying out the survey on its website to find out the numbers working as paraprofessionals, their background and the challenges they face.

Lantra Equine and Professions Allied to Veterinary Science Industry Partnership Manager, Lisa Jarvis said:  “We estimate that around 500 dental technicians and barefoot trimmers work in the UK, but it is an emerging area and very little is known about it.”

Training is an essential way to overcome challenges and plan effectively for the future.  As the representative body for the equine industry, Lantra works to ensure that training and qualifications meet the needs of employers and industry.  It also represents the industry at government level to shape funding policy, so that areas where there are skills gaps and a training need are prioritised.

Lisa adds:  “In order for Lantra to work with the para-professionals and Defra to develop frameworks for training and qualifications we urgently need equine dental technicians and barefoot trimmers to take part in this research.”

The survey questions are grouped into eight main themes:

• Current numbers employed in the industry

• Entry route into current job role (i.e. school, college, university)

• Training route used (length of training, type of training, accreditation)

• Predicted numbers entering the industry

• Job roles – tasks, competencies

• Business – number of clients and horses treated

• Membership of organisations

• Links to other professionals (e.g. veterinary surgeons, farriers)

If you are a paraprofessional, or a client or colleague of a paraprofessional, please take the time to log onto the business section of the Lantra website www.lantra.co.uk/businesses/equine/  to take part.

If you would prefer to receive a copy of the survey by email, please contact Lantra Connect on tel: 0845 707 8007 or email connect@lantra.co.uk. The closing date is 31^st March 2008.