Anatomy

Ave Sodalis

I've a bit of a strange question. I'm hoping to run a small equine anatomy day in the summer with the pony club. We have quite a young pony club though so many are primary school age (varying). I've tried remembering but I can't think of what, if anything, we learned in terms of anatomy/physiology in primary school. I will be trying to keep things as basic/simple as possible but I'd prefer to work off things they already know. It's likely only the older members will actually be learning. I'll give the youngest members a pony to paint whatever way they want, and slightly older members basic points like face, back, etc.

What age groups should I be aiming for in terms of complexity?

byhookorbycrook

Nothing to do with horse anatomy is taught at primary Features such as face and back are very basic for any children of school age,any child of pony club age would be bored if you keep it that basic. Are you actually teaching Pony Club children or doing a day at a riding school camp?

Children in Pony Club will be familiar with many of the points of the horse, hocks, hooves, withers, mane, elbows, poll, fetlocks, dock, nostril, knees, muzzle, etc. I'd suggest you borrow the Pony Club Manual of Horsemanship and see what is expected that they know. By " painting a horse" I presume you mean to draw a horse on paper, not actually "paint" a real one one, as some people seem to do for fancy dress etc. Personally, I'd include them all and get the youngest to give you the simpler ones, the older children of those who have done their D tests will be capable of much more, so ask them the tough ones!

Ave Sodalis

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

Nothing to do with horse anatomy is taught at primary Features such as face and back are very basic for any children of school age,any child of pony club age would be bored if you keep it that basic. Are you actually teaching Pony Club children or doing a day at a riding school camp?

Children in Pony Club will be familiar with many of the points of the horse, hocks, hooves, withers, mane, elbows, poll, fetlocks, dock, nostril, knees, muzzle, etc. I'd suggest you borrow the Pony Club Manual of Horsemanship and see what is expected that they know. By " painting a horse" I presume you mean to draw a horse on paper, not actually "paint" a real one one, as some people seem to do for fancy dress etc. Personally, I'd include them all and get the youngest to give you the simpler ones, the older children of those who have done their D tests will be capable of much more, so sask them the tough ones!

I meant more in general rather than horse specific so if I start mentioning bones, they're not all lost I'm a two day Anatomy/Physiology day with the local riding clubs and pony clubs (and who ever else wants to go). Unfortunately, one of the clubs are a bit behind and don't really do their tests so I'm going to have to base it off how far along they've gone in their primary school education. They're also mostly very young (4/5 up to about 10) so I'm not even sure how much of the basic points they know.

I am painting real ones using poster paint, and then setting up a small grid

https://scontent.fdub3-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/644560_500758736610523_941226672_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&_nc_eui2=v1%3AAeFYKueGde3w-QcYHcvOKjkDsH5mXpaDD7iJK2alN0AAIfCl8zG6dKQHXLDtmwhfJhNOIANh-wUA_IAcT-TlcqJQwzkyoR3HBA_Hiws01nC7NA&oh=626b5f5431982222b1704c97343b05b9&oe=5B6844C5

I just don't really know how much to ask of the younger members when the tests aren't something to go from.

byhookorbycrook

If its going to part of camp, they'll be six at least, I'd imagine. Even if they haven't done the test, they will all be aiming towards the D test at the very least. Here's what that covers:
http://www.irishponyclub.ie/images/pdf/test_cards/d_test17.pdf

I'd be inclined to pitch it at that level at the very least.Even the six year olds will know a bit, so I'd include them unless you intend to get into things in a relatively complicated fashion. They will know all the main external human bits. Internally, I'd expect from 5/6 years up to know brain, stomach, throat, teeth, back bone or spine, blood, heart, possibly lungs, the senses. As teachers, we are always told to aim high and then differentiate as needed. I'd be still going for the basic points of the horse, if the children are around ponies/horses at all, they will surprise you what they know. And be aware that the younger they are, the more hilarious it will be if the painted pony poos, pees, farts or if a gelding, lets the gelding bits dangle.

Ave Sodalis

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

If its going to part of camp, they'll be six at least, I'd imagine. Even if they haven't done the test, they will all be aiming towards the D test at the very least. Here's what that covers:
http://www.irishponyclub.ie/images/pdf/test_cards/d_test17.pdf

I'd be inclined to pitch it at that level at the very least.Even the six year olds will know a bit, so I'd include them unless you intend to get into things in a relatively complicated fashion. They will know all the main external human bits. Internally, I'd expect from 5/6 years up to know brain, stomach, throat, teeth, back bone or spine, blood, heart, possibly lungs, the senses. As teachers, we are always told to aim high and then differentiate as needed. I'd be still going for the basic points of the horse, if the children are around ponies/horses at all, they will surprise you what they know. And be aware that the younger they are, the more hilarious it will be if ther painted pony poos, pees, farts or if a gelding, lets the gelding bits dangle.

That last bit actually made me laugh out loud, I hadn't thought of that! They will be supervised though so hopefully we can avoid too many interesting bit of art!

That's great though, thanks a million!

Whistlejacket

Children of that age that are interested in a subject will amaze you with the level of detail they can absorb (think of dinosaurs!). As byhookorbycrook said, take the points of the horse from the Pony Club manual and go from there.

I find having a poster of the points and then give each child a post-it with a body part name on it and ask them to stick it to the relevant part of a pony is a good "hands on" approach. If you have a few ponies you have a team competition at the end. Give each team a few of the post-its and they have to put them on as a team. You then remove any that are incorrect and the team with the most remaining post-its at the end wins. Paint will be fun too but more cleaning up required!

Ave Sodalis

Whistlejacket wrote: »

Children of that age that are interested in a subject will amaze you with the level of detail they can absorb (think of dinosaurs!). As byhookorbycrook said, take the points of the horse from the Pony Club manual and go from there.

I find having a poster of the points and then give each child a post-it with a body part name on it and ask them to stick it to the relevant part of a pony is a good "hands on" approach. If you have a few ponies you have a team competition at the end. Give each team a few of the post-its and they have to put them on as a team. You then remove any that are incorrect and the team with the most remaining post-its at the end wins. Paint will be fun too but more cleaning up required!

I'm afraid it almost has to be paint at this stage, unless I do two completely seperate days for adults and children. I'm not sure I have the time to do that though.

When I was learning anatomy, I tried doing that with my dogs but unfortunately, post-its don't stick to fur too well!