Blog : Equus Education

Imagination Leads to Action

August 29, 2013 by Christine Meunier Leave a Comment

I am a big daydreamer, and I hate wasting time or being unproductive. Can the two go together? I think so!

Your imagination, desires or goals that you set I believe are daydreams. Or at least, it’s often what I daydream about!

Green paddocks with sleek equine bodies grazing in them
An arena with a student working hard on their horse
A round yard
Post and rail fencing
Excited students learning as much as they can about horses and the possible careers with them.

This is my daydream. It’s this image that spurs me into action.

Daydreaming in itself won’t get you towards what you’re picturing for your future. However, I think it’s one of the most important parts. How can you be inspired into action, if you’re not inspired about what you want for your future?

Spring feels to me as if it’s come early and there’s something about being outside, seeing green hills, canola in full bloom and hearing birds chirping that get’s me excited about future prospects. There are times when I’m out walking and a scene takes my breath away or inspires.

One of my dreams for awhile has been to have a horse property that has a bench seat under a tree where parents can sit and relax as their children ride their ponies nearby. The picture to the right I saw whilst out on the uni grounds today. Because this scene speaks so much to my imagination and future goals, I thought I’d take a picture – and share it with you!

All goals need to be worked towards, but sometimes it can truly be nice to just sit and think about them. Do you have an inspiring scene or photo that helps you to press on toward your goal?

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

Assessing Pasture Course

August 28, 2013 by Christine Meunier Leave a Comment

Can you Assess Your Pasture Effectively?

I’m in Wagga for uni currently and one of my subjects is animal nutrition. We’ve been analysing feedstuffs and are to develop feed rations based on these analyses. One area of data we need to enter relates to pasture content, digestibility and dry matter content.

One student asked how such information can be filled in for pastures and our lecturer indicated that it comes with experience. He also mentioned a course called Prograze run by the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries.

There doesn’t appear to be any upcoming events listed on the site at this stage. However, you can register your interest for future events as they can cater to demand.

The course is $670 in total and includes a manual. The course aims are:

To visually assess pasture quantity and quality
To understand how pasture quality and quantity impact on animal production
Assess livestock fat scores
To use pasture and livestock assessment as a basis for matching pastures to livestock requirements
Use grazing management to improve the productivity and sustainability of pastures

Check out the above link to find out course structure, testimonials and more.

“Lessons From Your Horse: When you’re short tempered, let me teach you how to slog around the pasture for an hour before you catch me.” – Author unknown

The Broken Saddle

August 27, 2013 by Christine Meunier Leave a Comment

Continuing on with working my way through my bookcase alphabetically, I picked up this children’s novel by James Aldridge to read next.

The Broken Saddle is a story about a young Australian boy who appreciates the simple things in life. Eric lives with his mother in a small country town in Australia. His days consist of school, saying hello to the locals and trying to be as friendly as possible to all he meets.

Eric works hard every Saturday morning to earn a little bit of money that he can take home to his mother to help pay overdue bills. Eric’s father is a drover and is rarely home. This leaves Eric and his mother working hard in order to just scrape by.

A surprise visit by his father leaves Eric with an unexpected gift in the form of a pony. Although she hides it, Eric’s mother is devastated by the gift that could result in her son being as lonesome a character as his father.

Eric is delighted. The pony is a young unbroken colt, hardly one you’d expect to be the perfect first horse for a beginner. In spite of these odds, Eric is determined to ride his pony. This starts a battle of wills between the pair as the pony is determined not to be ridden.

The Broken Saddle explores a young boy’s loneliness and describes how an unexpected friend can arrive in an unusual form. Soon Eric and his pony are inseparable, spending their hours away from the town members Eric used to seek out to talk with on a daily basis.

In time Eric is offered the opportunity to ride his pony with a saddle and here starts the young boy’s problems. Aldridge aptly describes how a mischievous pony can have its spirit broken by being forced under saddle.

As his pony’s demeanour changes, Eric struggles to determine how to get the old spark back.

A long ride in a dust storm and a broken saddle lead to trouble for both Eric and the pony. James Aldridge creates an interestingly woven story about how an unexpected gift can be a delight and also a burden. The Broken Saddle is an interesting read that should appeal to those around 10 years of age.

Author: James Aldridge
http://www.goodreads.com/author/list/230391.James_Aldridge
Fiction – Children
In my library? Indeed! The only piece I have by James Aldridge but I’ll be on the lookout for others.
Want it? Get it now at Amazon.

“There are only two emotions that belong in the saddle; one is a sense of humour and the other is patience.” – John Lyons

Tag: horse story, equine book review, equine author, horse library, horse writing, James Aldridge

Using Social Media to Spread the Word

August 24, 2013 by Christine Meunier Leave a Comment

Equus Blog has its own Facebook page in which any post that is put on this blog, is also found shared on Facebook. Because Facebook is such a largely recognised form of social media, it is one that I believe any business should look into being on – in particular because of its potential for so much free coverage.

Does your business have a page? It’s easy to create by visiting any ‘page’ (not profile) on Facebook and then clicking on the link to create one of your own.

Why have one?

To be able to connect with people who are already using this social media so that they can ‘like’ your page and therefore have any updates you post, come up in their feed
To be able to spread the word about your business – as your page is liked, this is shared on that person’s profile and so their networks see it
To get your brand recognised – if you have a logo, make sure this is displayed as your page picture, or the background picture on the page to generate recognition of your logo
To be able to connect with people that have willingly indicated that they like your product or services

There are many benefits to having a business page, if you’re willing to post to it on a regular basis. One great way to make sure this happens is to sign your blog up to NetworkedBlogs. You can link your Facebook page and your blog so that every time you post to your blog, within 3 hours, this is updated on your Facebook page.

Don’t believe me? Check out the Equus Education Facebook Page for this post!

The great thing about NetworkedBlogs is that you can login to your account via your Facebook profile and choose to ‘pull now’, which means that if any new blog content has been posted since the last time NetworkedBlogs searched your site, then they will update your Facebook page immediately.

There is also an application you can utilise for LinkedIn that will do the same thing, so this is also worth looking into. If you’re able to post once (on your blog) and have it mirrored where other potential readers/clients are following your business, why not do it?

“A little horseplay… the way best to enjoy a summer day!” – Author unknown

Imagination Leads to Action

Assessing Pasture Course

The Broken Saddle

Using Social Media to Spread the Word

Equus Education Store at TeachersPayTeachers

About Equus Education

Want to be kept in the loop about future posts?

Privacy Policy for EE