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I’ve received another email from uni, requesting participants for a survey for a student that is undertaking an honours project.  Emily Martin is carrying out her project with regards to working with equine mesenchymal stem cells.

She’s set up a questionnaire that would take about five minutes of anyone’s time – you don’t have to be a horse owner or trainer.  The idea is to better understand what the current perceptions are with regards to stem cell therapies for equines.  The questionnaire is designed for Emily to be able to “gauge current opinions and knowledge of stem cells as a therapy in horses”.

For those interested in helping out, you can find the survey at
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/stemcellsatCSU.

“Of all creature God made at the Creation, there is none more excellent, or so much to be respected as a horse.” – Bedouin legend

One of my work colleagues sent throug this link as she thought it might be of interest.  I don’t know a lot about genetics and the genetics of colour with horses, but am definitely interested in it.

Of particular interest may be the coat colour calculator which can be found via the Horse Testing website.

There’s nothing like the internet for free horse information, so for those interested in genetics, colours and diseases, this informative site is worth checking out.

I still love getting horse books in the mail!  Today’s arrival was The Horse Road by Troon Harrison.  A review will be available once I’ve read the book – hopefully in between wedding preparations, uni assignments and work!

For now you can check out Troon’s other published works at http://troonh.books.officelive.com/

So!  I got an email from uni not too long ago, that is aimed at people that are horse owners/riders.  Just to give a bit of background information:
“The aim of this research is to explore the relationship between riders’ motor bias and asymmetry in horses they ride.
Previous research has noted that the inadvertent influence of riders and other handlers may result or influence trained
bias within their horses.”

For those interested in helping out that are 16 years of age or over, head on over to the survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/asymmetry.  There is a participant information sheet that outlines further information; those participating in the survey will be directed to this and contact details with regards to who is conducing the research are also provided should further questions need answering.  Enjoy!

“Every time you ride, you are teaching your horse.”

So I’m playing at bit on LinkedIn at the moment and stumbled across a recommended contact to link with.  The website reference on her page caught my eye – Equine Hospitality.  Now I’m curious, what exactly is equine hospitality?  I’m picturing restaurants with horses serving people drinks…

So it turns out, there’s a website out there that focuses on holidays that you can take with your own horse – how very cool!  I’m sure it’s worth taking a look at yourself – when you have the time to daydream and look through amazing holidays that you could take with your beloved equine

Check out Equine Hospitality – the World’s Premier Equine Travel, Vacation and Accommodation Registry.

“As they run through arenas and open fields, past mountains and seas, moving like the wind toward heaven, we travel with them, if only in our hearts.”

A work colleague of mine runs this awesome initiative in Australia called Equine Goals and Dreams.  She’s shortly heading off to Malaysia with a group of 8 riders from Australia to compete in the 2012 UTM International Horse Show in Johor, Malaysia.

Background of Equine Goals and Dreams:
“Equine Goals & Dreams is a non-profit company that was established in 2006 to help support young horse lovers who worked with or were seeking to find career opportunities in the equine industry. During this time the company was instrumental in establishing some historical milestones in the horse racing industry such as the inaugural 2006 Thoroughbred Employee of the Year awards, the Stable Employee Association and the successful RVL Rider Talent Identification camps. In 2009 EG&D set up 10 international job swap opportunities free of charge for stable workers studying national qualifications who wished to travel, earn and learn. The company has a large network of key contacts in many equine disciplines around the world which has led to an international equine industry skills passport being approved and is currently under development. Horses are an international language!”

For those of you in Australia with equine dreams, I’d suggest checking out this group on facebook!  For those interested in supporting people coming into the equine industry, perhaps you’d be willing to consider sponsorship roles?

“If I had a horse, I’d ride off in the sunset, where dreams, and shadows lie. To a life, where pain and sorrow don’t exist, and to where hopes, and dreams become reality.” – Lindsay Turcotte

So!  I’ve been thinking a bit of late about the need to finish my novel and get it published.  I love writing and dream of being able to generate a passive income through my writing; particularly in regard to horses.

As someone who’s addicted to books and collects them (can’t get enough horsey ones!), I love the idea of being able to hold a book and turn the pages whilst reading it.  However, with the joys of online and so many wonderful inventions that have come about, the idea of eBooks has been sitting in the back of my mind.

Curious what others thought of these – and if indeed people do read them and buy them – I put up a question on facebook to find out from friends and family their preferences.  A lot indicated the joys of eBooks for travelling, train, plane, overseas trips and how convenient it is to have access to numerous novels to read without having to pack heavy books.  I hadn’t considered this!  Though I’m sure my fiancee would appreciate me not packing so many books on our next trip!

I spoke with mum about this as she’s published quite a few books and she showed me Lulu.com, as this is where she sells her eBooks (and hard copy) books from.  The general gist:

• doesn’t cost you to set up your books onto the system
• ISBN is provided for you
• they do take a percentage of your sales, but when there’s no initial outlay of finances, I think this is pretty good!
• there are resources for generating cover graphics
• they help you get listed on Amazon
• you can sell eBooks and hard copy books and set your prices

It seems to me quite an incredible online system!  So for those of you out there that love to write and have an equine related story to tell, why not consider entertaining that dream of being published – at no initial cost to you except the time it takes to write your story and set up an account?  Work once, get paid for it many times – gotta love passive incomes!

“As old wood is best to burn; old horses to ride; old books to read; old wine to drink; so are old friends most trysty to use.” – Leonard Wright

I stopped in to visit a mate the other day who’s been house bound due to a fall from a horse and a nasty concussion! We got to talking about other mates who had studied at TAFE with us and equine futures.

She told me of a friend of hers who has set up a business of her own, alongside being a vet nurse (equine and small animal). I was delighted to discover that she’s created her own horse related service called ‘EquiCare’.

The general idea? If you can’t be there for your horse at a particular time when it’s needed, she can! Consider:

• Needing to be around for the farrier but you have work – why not pay someone who has horse experience to be there for you?
• Your horse has hurt itself and needs bandages changed daily
• In the changeable weather you need rugs on/off but have other commitments at that time

The bonus of course for EquiCare is that she is a qualified veterinary nurse, with a lot of horse experience. This provides added trust when it comes to having someone change bandages for you because you don’t have the time or the knowledge and experience to carry out such a task. It can get quite costly to have a vet come in every other day to change a bandage on a wound!

Hearing about this setup reminded me of a student of mine from last year who looks after people’s horses whilst they’re away on holidays. There really is a multitude of equine related jobs out there, and many still to be created!

Who doesn’t love making use of the internet? I love being able to see businesses, expos, services and other brilliant ideas on display around the world all because someone is able to put together information, publish it on a website and get it into search engines.

What about you? There are people out there living their dream because they’re able to run a business from home, online… and still play with their ponies! Sometimes it comes along unexpectedly, other times it requires real innovation and hard work. But why not do it?

Not that I see this blog as a business – it’s a passion – but it has brought about benefits I definitely didn’t anticipate:

• I’ve received a number of books to read and review and been able to add to my equine library at no cost to me
• I’ve had paid advertising on this site
• I was approached about teaching equine studies and gained a job and qualification because of this blog
• I get to write about my passion, which lead to writing for Suite101 and starting up a residual income

None of these things were planned, but they’ve all definitely been positives on account of writing a blog! Take the challenge today – what can you start online that you’re passionate about? Who knows where it may lead you…

On a side note – like the new look? This blog can now be found at http://www.equus-blog.com/

“A pony is a childhood dream, A horse is an adulthood treasure.” – Rebecca Carroll

Heya!  It’s been too long since I’ve posted here, but I got an email from Charles Sturt Uni today and thought I’d pass this info along.

There is a student who is doing their Masters and is seeking input from people that have ‘been in partnership with their horse for at least 12 months’ .  The project is focused on the frequency of left-right bias in riding horses.

So!  If you’ve been riding your horse for at least a year, and are willing to help out, visit www.surveymonkey.com/s/asymmetry. Those over the age of 16 years are invited to assist.

So things have been a bit on the hectic side of late – I’ve been overseas, am planning a wedding and been writing and now studying again madly!  I hit 300 articles on Suite101 which was a goal for last year, so I’m rapt to have achieved that at the start of this month (better late than never!).

I love writing about horses, so if you want to check out any of my articles, head on over to http://chris-thomas.suite101.com/articles.

“He with a graceful pride, while his rider every hand survey’d, sprung loose, and flew into an escapade; not moving forward, yet with every bound pressing, and seeming still to quit his ground.” – John Dryden