The project aims to promote animal welfare, animal health and economic efficiency in cattle farming, a certificate course to become an instructor for functional hoof care, and the National Quality Framework (NQF) at high school graduation level.
Hoof health is a cornerstone of animal welfare and therefore particularly important for the quality of life and performance of cattle. Both aspects are of societal relevance and have been widely discussed for years. To ensure proper hoof trimming, appropriate training programs, such as the certificate courses for on-farm and inter-farm hoof care approved by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Regions and Water Management, are essential. Competent instructors who possess not only practical expertise but also the didactic and pedagogical skills to impart this knowledge are the fundamental prerequisite for any high-quality training.
Opportunities for professionally sound instructor training are very limited in Europe. To close this gap, the Federal Higher Education and Research Institute for Agriculture Raumberg-Gumpenstein, in cooperation with European Hoofcare, has been offering a diploma course for instructors in functional hoof care since 2020. This comprehensive training program, lasting 8-12 months, qualifies graduates, for example, to work in certificate courses in functional hoof care and to conduct performance assessments on the relevant examination boards. The diploma course covers hoof care, animal husbandry and health, communication, pedagogy, and presentation techniques in both theory and practice.
The diploma course was the first non-formal vocational training program in the agricultural sector to be submitted to the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) by the responsible service body, the University of Agricultural and Environmental Education Vienna, and its classification at educational level V (Matura level) was officially confirmed. This means that the level of training can be transparently classified in an international context.
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