Blog : Equus Education

Public Speaking for the Equine World

January 21, 2013 by Christine Meunier Leave a Comment

So I’m about a third of the way through An Eventful Life by Alison Duthie and am thoroughly enjoying it! So far I’ve been enlightened to the eventing ‘careers’ of Australian eventers Megan Jones and Sonja Johnson.

Competitive Riding Could Lead to Public Speaking

Those involved with horses will realise that they’re a full time job – whether owners of horses, workers with them or competitors. However, what I like in reading this book, is realising that it isn’t the role as a competitive eventer that is considered the main role of either of these women.

Sonja Johnson when describing her life, splits it into four areas. One is competitive riding, whilst the other three probably earn the income. The one that caught my attention that I hadn’t considered before is public speaking.

Of course, for anyone to be employed to speak on a given topic, that would need to be knowledgeable in that area. Having the ability to speak clearly, relate to others and involve passion and humour in your talks would be an added bonus!

Having successfully competed in eventing at such a high level and a large advocate for the agricultural business has lead to Sonja being asked to speak at events such as:

South East Premium Wheat Growers Conference
Equestrian Queensland Awards Night

At the end of the day, being known as a public speaker may also require being out at events relating to your industry. Whether this be horse shows or events, information nights for particular products or services and educating oneself on how to speak publicly; radio talk shows may also be the way to go.

In An Eventful Life, there is a comment made by Sonja about the fact that public speaking can be a fairly lucrative job. It may not be a permanent role, but it may be a part time role that appeals to some out there – especially if they have the ‘gift of the gab’ when it comes to horses!

Public speaking roles may come in the form of being:

an equestrian coach
a nutrition specialist
a farrier
a vet
and many, many other equine related fields may require public speaking at one stage or another

“Speak your mind, but ride a fast horse.” – Anonymous

Pony Parties… Again

January 17, 2013 by Christine Meunier Leave a Comment

No doubt any horse related party should involve a horse and a saddle!

So whilst on LinkedIn, I was looking at suggested people to connect with. One was the owner at The Mane Event Pony Parties. Curious, I entered a search into Google to find out a bit more.

Now I’ve struggled to get the website that I found for this business to work, but you can read a bit about it here. Another site I found was Austin Pony Parties.

I was first introduced to the idea of a pony party whilst instructing at the Melbourne Horse Riding School, formerly Melbourne School of Pony Equitation. It wasn’t uncommon to run a pony party or three for birthdays or school holidays.

What could a pony party entail? Take at look at an equus-blog post from 2008, Pony Parties.

These could provide a great side business to a riding school, or perhaps a possible cash flow earner for someone who breeds ponies or is looking to start up a small business that is equine related.

“Here is one little girl who would rather clean a stall than her own room… Here is one little girl who would rather wear chaps than a party dress… Here is one little girl who would rather go to the barn than the mall…”

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Interested in other equine related careers? Check out Vocation 100 – over 100 horse related jobs are explored here.

Equestrian Social Media Awards 2013

January 15, 2013 by Christine Meunier 1 Comment

Awhile back I provided a link to the Equestrian Social Media Awards as a friend had suggested that people may like to vote for Equus.

The finalists have been announced, with 75% of the result being down to a panel of judges, and the other 25% down to popularity voting.

For those interested in voting, the deadline is February 8th of this year. You can only vote once, so why not check out the Equestrian Social Media Awards Finalists for 2013 and cast your votes! You can also check out the ESMA on Facebook.

The horse industry is great, but there is huge potential in it becoming small – that is, lots of equine people being linked with each other and informed – because of the internet.

So for those who make use of social media to keep up to date on their equine interests, I encourage you to look at these awards and vote for who you feel is the best in each category. Perhaps Equus Education will make it next year!

“Now the great winds shoreward blow, now the salt tides seaward flow, now the wild white horses play, champ and chafe and toss in the spray.” – Mathew Arnold

January 2013 Equus Education Blog Carnival

January 14, 2013 by Christine Meunier 1 Comment

Welcome to the first 2013 Equus Education blog carnival! Below you’ll find some posts that focus one horses and learning. Grab yourself a cuppa or cool drink and enjoy the read!

Christine Meunier presents Volunteer – equus-blog.com posted at equus-blog.com.

So this is the second of a newly started tradition and as yet, this blog carnival hasn’t other submissions for this edition. But I’d love to draw your attention to two other equine blogs that I read, these two posts with a horsey education theme:

Frosty and the Night Stalker at Horse Book Reviews – the review of this book describes it as one that is interesting and educational; sounds worth investigating to me!
On the Khamessan / Khumayssan strain of southern Saudi Arabia at Daughters of the Wind – this blog focuses on desert arabian horses and their genealogy – an interesting read!

Remember, you can take part in the Equus Education Blog Carnival! Submit your blog article to the next edition of equus education using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

“A dog looks up to a man, a cat looks down on a man, but a patient horse looks a man in the eye and sees him as an equal.”

Horsing Around by Beverley Heselton

January 12, 2013 by Christine Meunier Leave a Comment

So I was sent a copy of this book to review by Palmer Higgs Books and must say, I’ve enjoyed this quick read! Made up of 80 pages, Horsing Around is an entertaining look at the amusing world of owning a first horse.

Of course, before owning a horse, the wannabe owner must first convince their parents that this is an ingenious idea. Author Beverley Heselton writes with her pre teen, horse crazy audience in mind.

The language is easy to follow, helps to explain horsey terms and humourously touches on what the world of owning a horse will look like.

In between work and other commitments, I was able to devour this book over a couple of days and found myself often chuckling, remembering my first riding lesson and attending pony club for the first time. Horses are an obsession not easily broken, so for the child who is entertaining the idea of owning an equine in the future, Horsing Around would be a great addition to their horse library.

You can view a more in depth review on the An Eventful Life website.

Author: Beverley Heselton
http://www.palmerhiggsbooks.com.au/horsing-around.html
Non fiction – informative and humourous
In my library? You bet! It’s a great read and one that I’ll plan to give to any horse crazy kids I recognise in the future. This book will let them know what they’re in for before they convince the parents a horse is a great idea 😉

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If you’d like to check out other horse fiction and non fiction that I’ve reviewed, visit Horse Book Reviews.

Tag: horse story, equine book review, beverley heselton, equine author, horse library, horsing around

Public Speaking for the Equine World

Pony Parties… Again

Equestrian Social Media Awards 2013

January 2013 Equus Education Blog Carnival

Horsing Around by Beverley Heselton

Equus Education Store at TeachersPayTeachers

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