Blog : Equus Education

Friday Feature: Tourism, Equine

January 24, 2014 by Christine Meunier 3 Comments

This week’s letter is T. If you missed last week’s Friday Feature, take a look at Stud Hand.

Tourism with regards to horses can come in many forms. Chances are it’ll combine two things: horses and a chance to learn more about the location they’re in.

You may find you get to explore a particular country or town on horseback as the form of tourism, perhaps shown areas that only the locals know about or you may find that the focus is on a particular breed of horse or discipline that you can learn about only in that area.

Because it can be varied, skills of those working in the horse tourism field may differ. Some skills required in any field could include:

knowledge of horse health and care
mucking out boxes, picking up paddocks/fields
dealing with people
local knowledge
horse riding skills or horse handling skills

I have adored horse tourism in the form of trail rides in Ireland, Australia and South Africa; visiting many horse related museums in France and Ireland and of course studying at the Irish National Stud where you can learn horses in another country whilst also working at a property that teaches others about thoroughbred breeding and racing. I dream of one day visiting Machu Picchu on horseback.

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

“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

Equine Assisted Training Short Course

January 23, 2014 by Christine Meunier Leave a Comment

I’ve posted a bit about Equine Assisted Learning (EAL) on Equus-Blog, so am rapt to have found a business in Texas (I think!) that offers equine certification in this area.

If you have an interest in EAL, are near to the vicinity where this training is offered and want to undertake a short course, why not check out Equine Assisted Training at Innovative Horizons. Over the 10 days there are different program topics; one includes:

The Equine Assisted Learning Model of Training
Overview of the Equine Assisted Learning Model of Training
Safety in EAL
Benefits of Equine Assisted Learning
Comparison of Equine Assisted Learning (EAL) vs. Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP)
EAL vs. EAP
Comparison of the Roles and Skills of the Trainer & Therapist
Why Horses Can Be Used in Human Training
Comparison of Human and Equine Posturing and Spatial Relationships
Equine Social Structure
Equine Psychology
The Herd Mentality
Understanding Equine Body Language
Characteristics of the Equine Social Structure
How Human Body Language Can Effect the Equine
Ten Natural Equine Survival Traits
Verbal Equine Communication
EAL Exercises and Outcomes
Using the Horse in Experiential Training
EAL Facilitation Techniques

Of course, more details are provided on the above link! You may also be interested in the 2014 schedule.

“Even the greenest horse has something to teach the wisest rider.” – Author unknown

Silver Brumby Kingdom

January 20, 2014 by Christine Meunier Leave a Comment

In a follow on from Silver Brumbies of the South, young Baringa is now a rising 3 year old stallion, with his uncle Lightning being close to his prime at rising 4. The two silver stallions closely related to the great silver brumby Thowra, are each struggling to survive with their herds down south.

Silver Brumby Kingdom by Elyne Mitchell

With a large amount of snow after an incredibly hot and fire filled summer, they are desperate for food. Add to that unusually warm days and rain and a flood very quickly threatens their lives.

It is in the move to safety for himself and his two white mares that Baringa loses the loyal Dawn as she slides down a steep bank and is swept up into the floodwaters of a great river. Eager to help her, Baringa plunges into the water himself, but returns hours later to his other mare, without Dawn.

Aware that he needs to keep his small herd safe whilst he seeks out Dawn, Baringa makes the courageous trip through the ongoing rain to his hidden canyon where he leaves his mare Moon and Koora, a mare that belongs to Thowra. This achieved, he continues on his search for the heavily pregnant Dawn.

In Baringa’s desperate search for his favourite mare, he is attacked by a vicious young stallion. This fight is witnessed by a young filly keen to join Baringa’s herd. She is convinced the two young stallions are dead and relays this information to Lightning.

Still keen to secure Dawn for himself, Lightning starts a search for his nephew’s hiding place where there may be two beautiful white fillies.

Silver Brumby Kingdom depicts an incredible struggle that a young brumby stallion must overcome to be realised as the Silver Stallion of the South.

Author: Elyne Mitchell
http://www.blaze.net.au/~sasami/brumby/
Genre: Fiction
In my library? You betcha! A great way to finish off the story of Baringa and his move to the south.
Want it? Get it now on Amazon.

“A silver brumby is special but he will be hunted by horse and man alike.” – Elyne Mitchell

Tag: horse story, equine book review, elyne mitchell, equine author, horse library, horse writing

Friday Feature: Stud Hand

January 17, 2014 by Christine Meunier Leave a Comment

This week’s letter is S. If you missed last week’s Friday Feature, take a look at Rug Repairs.

A stud hand is someone who works with horses used for breeding. The horses will be bred for sale, racing or some other form of competition. Although this will bring in money, often money is made from stud fees by stallions covering outside mares and from mare’s coming to agist on the farm (livery).

A Foster Mare and Foal at Stud

Someone who is employed as a stud hand will often be involved in:

Care of mares, foals and stallions
Foal watch
Horse health
Sale preparation (weanlings and yearlings)
Assisting the vet with reproductive procedures such as scanning a mare for a pregnancy

As someone who has experienced the stud industry first hand, I believe it is a great opportunity to learn about many different classes of horses and see how a horse’s life starts and ends on the breeding side of things. If you’re passionate about the breeding season in particular, you can travel between hemispheres and deal with mares and foals all year round (or stallions!)

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

“What the horse does under compulsion…is done without understanding…and there is no beauty in it.” – Xenophon

Equine Psychotherapy

January 15, 2014 by Christine Meunier Leave a Comment

So whilst looking up a website for Barbara Dimmick, author of In the Presence of Horses, I stumbled across a website named the same. This one was not for the novel though!

I’ve explored the option of equine assisted learning on Equus-Blog before. It seems to me to be a rapidly growing area of therapy for individuals, with the use of equines being a major theme. In fact, it now seems that many are able to combine their pyschology qualifications or even therapy qualifications with their passion for and love of horses, and create a remarkable pair that helps people to progress and improve.

If you have an interest in helping people to develop and improve their mental health with the use of horses, I encourage you to take a look at In the Presence of Horses, which is a form of Equine Psychotherapy.

“A horse carries a certain goodness, an inner light from which beauty flows.” – Author unknown

Friday Feature: Tourism, Equine

Equine Assisted Training Short Course

Silver Brumby Kingdom

Friday Feature: Stud Hand

Equine Psychotherapy

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