So, howdy from Texas here I am on vacation with my family, you know, I'm in New Braunfels, Texas with my in-laws, and just trying to get a weekend before I jump back to work next week. I actually start a new class, teaching another class at University of Florida starting on Monday, so, trying to catch my breath before we, we, we get going. So we're heading into the final week of the horse course, and this week we're going to be jumping into reproductions and foaling, which is one of my favorite topics, really, you know get excited about when foals hit the ground. I've had the opportunity to foal out over 100 mares, you know, so far in my career. So, I've got some experience there that I share in our lectures this week. so, so hopefully you enjoy those lectures. And, and just some reminders, this week there is no assignment for week six. So, you know, but if you did turn in an assignment for week five you, you still have to do your, your minimum three peer eval. So don't forget to do that. And we do have a quiz, you know, for the end of week six. Now for the, for the entire course July 9th is the last day to take a quiz. So that's when we're going to shut off taking the quizzes and then a week later the, the course grades should be out. We're going to leave the course open til August 9th. And then after that we're going to shut it down and then start looking at some of the material to go back and edit. You know and maybe add some material, some things that weren't very clear in some of my lectures that we've done. We may add some more material, you know, record a few more lectures as we get ready to, to offer this a second time in the next few months. So, I really appreciate all the feedback, you know the honest feedback and, and catching a little bit of the errors like this week. You know, birds don't bite horses, I meant to say infect, but I accidentally said birds and you know, I was kind of laughing at myself with that one. Just want to share some of the statistics that, that came out from this course. You know, we, as of today, you know, we're almost toward the end of week five, we have 13,621 students enrolled. From 146 different countries, so, again just awesome and amazing that we could touch that many people from around the world that are all equine enthusiasts. And, you know, I see it on the message boards, people sharing their passions and experiences and that's just, it's, it's incredible. It's incredible for me to see as an instructor. And I hopefully for you, you know, to, to discuss, you know, management and horses and donkey. You know, from people around the world so I'm really excited that, that we were able to have this opportunity together. As far as lectures viewed, individual lectures viewed, over 151,465 lectures have been viewed. So that's pretty amazing. And then exercises submitted, so these are all the exercises that have been submitted, 24,523. That one is just a wow. Wow. Almost 25,000 exercises, have been submitted. So, that kind of shows you why we have to do the peer evals the way we do because there's no way I could have graded those all by myself even with an army of TAs, you know teaching assistants, there's no way I could have done it so. But again, amazing great effort there from the students. And then 10,565 posts have been made on the message boards? Again, va, amazing. People discussing all aspects of equine management and care. Different experiences, different opinions. It's just, again, amazing that we're able to do that. So, great job. Thank you for sticking with us for, for this six weeks. Now moving, moving forward, you know, as we, as this course evolves, you know, we'll, we'll offer it again. Dr. Joanne Murry has advertised her upcoming equine nutrition course through Coursera. So that's going to be offered January 26th of next year, so that's going to kind of depend when we'll offer this course again in the near future, but we will be doing that. Just to kind of round out the course, or finalize my final live video before, or video before, you know, I say goodbye to everybody. You know, I just want to say, Christy Fuller and some of the others on the message boards, thank you. the, the, the heartfelt opinions and, you know, discussing the course, I mean, understanding this is an introductory course. You know, thank you. I, I know I feel bad that we can't jump into this, you know, deeper into some topics. And that's what I'm going to carefully look at, you know, moving forward. Maybe we need to add a couple lectures, clarify some things, you know, so, so thank you Christy. And just to kind of leave you with something, I, I, I received this just amazing email and, and, and, you know, when I get home I'm going to print it off and stick it in my office because it just really, hit, hit, hit hard at home, you know, why I'm, I'm in education and why I chose the career I did, you know, to go to school for so long. Art sent me an email and he, Art's in his mid 60s. When he was a young boy his father owned horses. And through his life he just never had an opportunity to, to own a horse of his own. And he really thanked me sincerely for the course. He said he learned a, a ton of information. He's actually going to go start working at an equine rescue to, to reconnect with horses. And, and to me, you know, that. It makes me feel awesome as an instructor that yes, this is why I do what I do. And, and for those of you out there that work with these animals, you know how it is and, you know, how you feel when you're around them. And to get more people excited about the horse industry and owning donkeys and taking care of these animals the best they can. You know, that, that is why we, we're involved in the industry, all of us, and, and why I teach. And Art left me with something, he said the horse is a special animal. And that holds true for donkeys and the others too, but, but it really, from the very beginning of this course how horses and humans and, and I said. You know horses are, are man's best friend. I, I love dogs. I, you know I have my own three dogs. I love them to death. You know, they sleep in my bed with me. You know, I can't, you know I wouldn't have my horse sleep in bed with me, but anyway's. I still, I still truly believe horses are man's best friend. And without them, and without us connecting with them so many, you know, thousands of years ago. We wouldn't be here where we are today. I mean, bottom line. So they are special animals, Art, and thank you for sharing that, that. And I know you're not alone out there, I know there's a lot of other people that feel the same way. So, thank you, you know I hope to see some of you, you know, in life. And I hope to see some of you on the message boards and future courses. So thank you from the bottom of my heart. And take care. And, and thank you for taking part in this course.
