Blog : Equus Education

Free Farm Planning Electronic Resource

March 3, 2014 by Christine Meunier Leave a Comment

What Would Your Ideal Horse Property Consist of?

At uni this semester I am undertaking an elective Property Planning and Development. I look forward to the day when I can apply the principles to my husbands and my property, but until then, am content focusing on the agistment facility where I keep my gelding.

We are required to map out what is available on the property in the form of facilities and paddock subdivision and then create another overlay where we put in proposed changes/additions with a focus on sustainability.

This is possible to do manually with a printed out aerial map of the property, or electronically.

If choosing to do so electronically, we’ve been pointed towards a program that you can gain for the cost of postage (otherwise it’s free) from eAgribusiness. If you’re establishing your own setup, the cost of postage is well worth investing in (and probably can be claimed on tax ;)).

“For the wonderful brain of man
However mighty its force
Had never achieved its lordly plan
Without the aid of a horse.” – Ella Wilcox

Horse Tourism in London in 2014

March 1, 2014 by Christine Meunier Leave a Comment

Well here’s one for the horsey tourist buffs out there. In the Chinese Year of the Horse, the VisitLondon Blog has listed 10 horse related attractions that would draw any horselover to pay a visit!

The list includes (a) horse related:

racing
a city farm with horses
War Horse the play
polo
the Household Cavalry Museum
military parade in honour of the Queen titled Trooping the Colour
horse riding
London International Horse Show
stables market
horse armour collection

It seems there really is something for everyone! To find out more, click the above link.

“We gaze upon their quiet beauty, their natural elegance, and we are captivated. They see us softly, in gentle light… rewarding human companionship with strength, grace and intelligence. 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.” – Author unknown

Friday Feature: Branding

February 28, 2014 by Christine Meunier 1 Comment

This week’s letter is B. If you missed last week’s Friday Feature, take a look at Art (Equine).

There are many ways that horses can be identified and one man made way is via a brand. A brand may be applied hot or cold (frozen) on the horse’s shoulder, neck or rump, depending on the breed of the horse. For many breeds, it is required in order to register a horse for racing or competition.

The people who carry out this kind of work on horses need to have specialist knowledge, good horse handling skills and appropriate personal protective equipment. Even moreso than an equine dentist, a brander must have a large clientele – horses tend to only need branding once!

If you’re interested in this line of work, be ready for:

a large number of clients
travel
visiting large breeding properties and sole horse owners
handling young horses

For some posts that relate to this topic on Equus-Blog, take a look at:

“If you have seen nothing but the beauty of their markings and limbs, their true beauty is hidden from you.” – Author unknown

March Challenge (Dream Job)

February 27, 2014 by Christine Meunier 1 Comment

The challenge for your equine career for next month focuses on your dream job. Do you know what it is?

I encourage you to spend some time thinking about this. Consider:

Does my dream job focus on a particular breed of horse, a particular class of horse or discipline?
For example, it could focus on thoroughbred mares used for racing or it could be any breed of horse that is sound for a horse riding school.
Is my dream job seasonally affected?
Breeding can only occur at certain times of the year, competitions will be season dependant, horse sales often occur at the same time each year.
This may mean that you need to consider other work to keep yourself busy on an annual basis, or it may mean that the ‘quiet’ time of year can be used to do other horse work on the same property.
Does my dream job require that I have a licence to do it?
Training racehorses does, being a strapper or jockey do, instructing horse riding under many equestrian organisations also does.

Answering the above questions may help you to determine what you need to do in order to gain your ideal career. You may need to study, travel, or improve your horse riding or handling skills or something else. Once you have an idea of what you want to do exactly, it should be easier to work out a way to get there.

Once you’ve had a chance to get an idea of what your dream job looks like, write down what you need to do to achieve such a job. Then write down steps that you can take now – and act on them!

“He has galloped through young girl’s dreams, added richness to grown women’s lives, and served men in war and strife.” – Toni Robinson