Study with us – Animal Behaviour Courses

As a leading animal behaviour education provider, you can study animal behaviour courses online with us that provide the potential for career pathways.
We also have an excellent portfolio of owner courses that provide you with additional knowledge that can aid you with the care of your own animals.

Animal Behaviour Courses to become an Animal Behaviourst

Following the success of the animal behaviour courses run by the NAC for 20 years, especially the animal behaviourist courses that were run as distance learning courses and in-person courses for many years, we are developing a new pathway for becoming an animal behaviourist.

Previously, the NAC has offered dog behaviour courses and horse behaviour courses as well as some feline behaviour courses as well. Due the NAC changing hands in November 2021, the offering of courses are currently undergoing re-development and we are very excited to announce that the first of the new set of animal training courses has been released! You can now become a certified horse trainer with our accredited equine training instructor course (see more below).

We are still working on developing our new accredited and recognised pathway that will allow you to qualify as an animal behaviourist in the UK. The animal behaviour industry has remained unregulated until the Animal Behaviour and Training Council came along. Whilst the ABTC are not a governmental organisation, they are a non-profit that acts as the regulatory body for animal behaviour practitioners in the UK. They do a fantastic job of setting standards for the practice of animal behaviour for trainers, training instructors and behaviourists.

The NAC is currently working very closely with the ABTC to develop our new pathway. Our new horse trainer course is an ABTC recognised pathway and is also UKRS accredited.

We are in the process of releasing the new distance learning animal behaviour courses over the course of 2022 and 2023. Our new pathway will be a set of animal behaviour courses online that allow students to study remotely whilst still gaining real-time access to tutor support and live lectures.

Animal Behaviour Courses to become a Certified Horse Trainer

The first of our brand new animal training courses has been released: The Equine Training Instructor Pathway. Natural Animal Centre (NAC) has just released an industry-first Equine Training Instructor Pathway. Recognised by the governing body the Animal Behaviour and Training Council (ABTC) and accredited by UK Rural Skills, the course is the first of its kind to meet the Animal Training Instructor Standards of the ABTC for horse training.

The NAC specialises in delivering accredited animal training, behaviour and management courses to owners and professionals alike.

Recognising the gap that currently exists in training equine trainers, the NAC has worked with the ABTC and UK Rural Skills to develop an accredited course at equivalent Level 4 in the UK qualification levels that teaches students how to train horses and their owners/handlers. Not only is this the first equine-specific ABTC recognised course, but it is also the first equine Animal Training Instructor (ATI) course.

Unlike professional pathways in other species such as dog training, the equine training industry has until now lacked a specific evidence-led pathway to becoming an accredited horse trainer that will set graduates up for a variety of careers in training horses, whether they are based with a charity, a professional stable or a university, or if they have their own practice.

Successful completion of the Equine Training Instructor Pathway will allow graduates to join the ranks of qualified training professionals on the ABTC register, granting them opportunities to work within existing equine environments such as livery yards, riding schools and training establishments as well as freelance practitioners teaching owners to train their horses using the practical application of the science of animal behaviour.

Don’t want to go to an animal behaviour college or get an animal behaviour degree and instead want to study to become a certified horse trainer online?