Equine Business and Economics
Bachelor of Animal Husbandry
Content programme
First and second year
First you will get to know the international equine industry, its organisation and dynamics. In the first year you will be introduced to important aspects of running a business: business organisation, legal aspects and accounting. For example by doing an audit of a secondary equine business. You will learn about market research and research methods, innovation processes, intellectual property and marketing. After this you will be challenged to design and market your own innovative product.
You will also be following lectures on the horse's physical aspects: nutrition, anatomy, physiology, reproduction, genetics, health, behaviour, ethics and welfare and biomechanics.
In the second year you can put into practice what you have learned. You start with two five-week work placements in a primary and secondary equine business. The horse's physical aspects will be dealt with in the form of studying problem cases. Now you get to manage and execute your own business. After writing a business plan, the next step is running your own pilot business. Of course, there is more to learn about running a business, so you will receive lectures on business planning, finance, organisation, human resource management, marketing and project management.
Third and fourth year
In the final two years you are further trained towards commercialising opportunities within the international equine field. In the first part of year three, you learn how to improve business performance by making an in-depth analysis and giving advice to an existing secondary or tertiary business facing a change or problem. Lectures will be given on finance, legislation, policy making, distribution and logistics.
You will spend the second half of the third year by doing a 20-week work placement in a secondary or tertiary equine business, for example: accountancy offices, trade organisations, banks, commercial enterprises, logistics, sales and marketing organisations.
The first half of the fourth year, you will choose a minor. This is a related programme of your own choice that gives a very personal colour to your curriculum. Minors are offered by Van Hall Larenstein and many other universities all around the world. Examples of minors are: European Businesses, International Marketing, European Tourism, Marketing & Supply Chain Management.
The course culminates in the preparation of a business thesis.