Equus Education

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Luck of the Draw by Vicki Tharp

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I saw the New Year in whilst on a family holiday, in hospital with our 16 month old as he battled a fever and infection.  It allowed opportunity to read and I was pleased to be able to sink into Luck of the Draw.

Josephine is a focused barrel racer.  Not interested in being restricted at home, she denies herself the benefits of family finances due to the fact that she’s pursuing her passion.  Josephine is good and she has what it takes to win and earn the purses that will allow her to keep pursuing her passion.  She could succeed – as long as she doesn’t let herself get distracted.

Luck of the Draw by Vicki Tharp | Equus Education (Affiliate link - click to buy)
Luck of the Draw by Vicki Tharp | Equus Education (Affiliate link – click to buy)

Silas enjoys life on the rodeo circuit, riding bulls for a living.  He’s been steadily putting away and can’t wait to purchase some land and develop stock for rodeos.  After all, he can’t ride bulls his whole life and it’d be nice to settle down.

Josephine isn’t like the other buckle bunnies on the circuit and Silas is drawn to her.  She doesn’t take the rubbish that the men throw her way and definitely isn’t easy.  As he discovers that he’s not the only interested party, it becomes harder to stay away – even though she insists she isn’t looking for a fling or a long term relationship.

As things start to look up for the pair, rodeo riders start getting hurt.  Josephine is suspicious that someone is doing something purposely to hurt the bull riders.  As she and Silas investigate, things turn ugly and the two have to question what they really want in life.

Throw in a curve ball with a family problem for Josephine and kicking cans doesn’t appear to be a possibility any more.  Has she lost her chance to pursue a dream and Silas lost his heart to a woman who denied she was ever looking to acquire it?  Luck of the Draw is a horse filled, entertaining romance.  It’s a story written for adults and would appeal to the mature aged reader who appreciates a good horse novel.

Author: Vicki Tharp
Fiction – adult
In My Library? Definitely as an eBook!

Jenquine – Equine Nutrition

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Towards the start of this year, I was made aware of an equine nutrition website.  It is called Jenquine.  Their tagline is:

“bringing science to your feed bin”

Catchy, isn’t it?  When you combine feeding horses and a vet’s understanding of horse nutrition, things can get interesting.  When this information is provided to you – the horse owner – this is even better.

Equine nutrition is a vast and also interesting topic. It is also one that needs to be understood at a basic level to be able to provide horses with the best possible nutrition and care. The key role of Jenquine is listed as dealing with this side of things. They work to educate horse owners about equine nutrition with the view to developing healthier horses.

Jenquine - Bringing Science to Your Feed Bin | Equus Education
Jenquine – Bringing Science to Your Feed Bin | Equus Education

Now I’m always up for learning and free resources. So in light of this, you may like to check out their media page and the Clinical Equine Nutrition series (1-8). The first video is provided for you below. You may also like to check out their resources page that has a lot of nutrition related articles to read.

These cover things such as:

  • Septicaemia
  • Stomach ulcers
  • Liver failure
  • Big head in horses
  • Caterpillar Caused Abortion
And so much more

There are so many equine businesses set up on the Internet these days. And through this, there is a wealth of information that you can utilise and also benefit from. Why not take a look at Jenquine and the resources that they have to offer in regards to equine nutrition as well as education?

Evergraze Free Resource – PDF Download

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I love to learn.  I love things about horses and I especially love free things.  So when it comes to a resource that is free to access/download, about horses and enables me to increase my learning, then I’m all for it!  So I wanted to share with you the Evergraze Free Resource that I recently came across.

Now this .pdf file isn’t a new file, it’s just new to me!  It’s titled Identifying native perennial grasses.  It is a fact sheet that is of most benefit to people located in North East Victoria, Australia and Southern New South Wales.

Evergraze Free Resource – pdf Download

Interested?  You can download it online.

Evergraze Free Resource | Equus Education
Evergraze Free Resource | Equus Education

Why would such a resource be of interest to you?  Knowing how to identify particular grasses in your paddock can help you.  You can research and know what time of the year they will be prominent, growing well or even dying back.  It will also help you to determine the nutritional makeup of your pastures for horses.

Native Grasses are particularly beneficial to horses – or horse property owners – as they are better for the horse.  A lot of properties these days have improved pastures.  That is they have been changed or ‘improved’ with cattle in mind.  Many of these pastures are just too rich for horses and can result in problems with their metabolism – particularly laminitis.

If you are aware of the native grasses that could be growing in your area, you can look at the best types of grass to have growing.  If they are native, they’re more inclined to do well in the local area and deal with issues such as drought.  Food for thought.

“He moved like a dancer, which is not surprising; a horse is a beautiful animal, but it is perhaps most remarkable because it moves as if it always hears music.” ― Mark Helprin, Winter’s Tale

A Riverdale Christmas by Amanda Wills

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I was rapt to be asked if I would be interested in reading another Riverdale release from Amanda Wills.  A Riverdale Christmas explores the end of the year for Poppy. Life is busy as she works to balance school, her Duke of Edinburgh project, getting onto the school show jumping team and of course looking after her Connemara pony, Cloud.

Poppy is frustrated that she doesn’t get along with her PE teacher at school.  She is also devastated to find that the same teacher is suddenly overseeing her D of E project. On top of this she’s being discouraged from doing something with horses.

A Riverdale Christmas by Amanda Wills | Equus Education (click to buy - affiliate link)
A Riverdale Christmas by Amanda Wills | Equus Education (click to buy – affiliate link)

Poppy struggles to find a project that is fitting to what she needs to do.  In desperation she volunteers to help Instagram celebrity Gaz Winters with a Christmas charity project he has planned for many disadvantaged children.  In time, it seems that this may allow her to do something horsey after all.  And this may be just the distraction that Poppy needs. This is especially appealing as she continues to battle with a personality clash with her PE teacher.

A Riverdale Christmas

A Riverdale Christmas shows young Poppy McKeever stepping out of her comfort zone and learning that things aren’t always as they seem.  She does a lot of growing up over a short period of time and the story plays out beautifully.  With horses as the main focus, it also covers adventure, bullying, charity and the importance of family.  Highly recommended.

Author: Amanda Wills
Fiction – teen
In My Library? As an eBook!

Volunteering for Equine at the Olympics

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I was recently made aware of a link that was shared through Equestrian Australia. This was on their Facebook page. The link was calling for volunteers to apply to help out with the horse side of things at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Volunteering for equine at the Olympics? Perhaps this is something that I should have on my bucket list!

  • Volunteering for Equine at the Olympics | Equus Education
Volunteering for Equine at the Olympics | Equus Education

Now I think the deadline for volunteering has already passed, but I thought it a great topic to explore in a blog post. There are many, many horse events that you can volunteer for around the world. These would:

  • provide something to add to the resume
  • allow you to develop new contacts in the Equine Industry
  • help you to build on experience and gain clarity on what you want to focus on

I have volunteered previously for Equitana and loved it! Plus I learned a lot about horse careers and was able to develop further blog posts for this site. As a volunteer for Riding for the Disabled whilst in High School, I also developed skills and networks that have helped to further my equine career.

Volunteering for Equine at the Olympics

If ever you can manage it, consider the value of volunteering for a horse event – a one off or ongoing. Perhaps the deadline for volunteering for equine at the Olympics has passed for 2020, but why not consider the opportunity for 2024? Volunteering is beneficial to those who are seeking the volunteers. It will also be rewarding to you on many levels.

“We have almost forgotten how strange a thing it is that so huge and powerful and intelligent an animal as a horse should allow another, and far more feeble animal, to ride upon its back.” – Peter Gray

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Equus Education Store at TeachersPayTeachers (Click to visit)
Equus Education Store at TeachersPayTeachers (Click to visit)

About Equus Education

You will find equine careers profiled on this blog and people interviewed who are making a career in the horse industry.  Equus Education aims to show others that horses can indeed be a sustainable career.

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