Horse Related Archives : Page 31 of 32 : Equus Education

Writing About Your Passion

February 20, 2007 by Christine Meunier Leave a Comment

My mum sent me a link to a website that was looking for writers who could provide pieces based on farm/ranch life. As someone who has spent the most of her short working life on a stud farm and loves to write, this seemed very appealing. The site I visited was Ridersnreapers.com – a Christian website aimed at sharing “stories of life on the farm or ranch: stories that make us long for moments away from the hamster wheel that most of us feel like we’re on.”

So after reading at the bottom of their page what they were looking for and reading over a few pieces from the recent online publication, I decided to e-mail a story based on a night of foal watch at work to see if it was the sort of works they might be looking for. I was rapt when I received a prompt reply telling me the piece would be used in the next publication. So this and another I have sent along to be used on their site. The next edition where my pieces will be shown will be up from March. Currently there are pieces for the Jan/Feb edition. Either way, check it out!

If you are passionate about horses and looking to share your experiences or knowledge and love writing, I encourage you to also explore this avenue of “horse work”. Not everything horse related has to be done in the saddle!

Look for online magazines relating to your particular passion with horses or magazines that are interested in freelance writing and find out their regulations before sending off some examples. Another possible foot in the door could be Letters to the Editor.

Some links to check out:
Thehorse.com – Freelance Info; taking in writings or photos
http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=4883
The Appaloosa Journal Online
http://www.appaloosajournal.com/magazine/freelance.html
American Horse Publications – Thehorsegame.com
http://www.americanhorsepubs.org/career_center/career_track/listings/CT_233.asp
Ridersnreapers

“Grab life by the reins.”

tag: writing

Musee Vivant du Cheval

August 3, 2006 by Christine Meunier 1 Comment

So, I think I’ve found the horse lovers mecca which is annoying, as I wanted to set up the equine owners nirvana on my property. The Living Horse Museum has given me a few ideas though!

So it’ll cost you around 17,50 euros for a visit to the Living Horse Museum, giving you access to the 30+ rooms of the museum; a small dressage show/lesson (half an hour) and entertainment show (2006 show is called Swing Horse and is around 45 mins long). It is possible to pay more and also see the Chantilly Castle or less and not see the second horse performance.

‘In 1719, Louis-Henri de Bourbon, the 7th Prince de Conde, commissioned the architect Jean Aubert to design and build stables befitting his rank. Legend has it that the Prince believed in metempsychosis and thought he would be reincarnated as a horse after his death…’

In 1982 under the ownership of Yves Bienaime, founded with his wife Annabel, the Musee Vivant du Cheval, designing and equipping it at their own expense. Today the 31 rooms each focus on something different, but all horse related. There are texts, paintings, models, toys and sculptures covering breeds of the horse, disciplines, quotes, systems (digestive, respiratory, circulatory, muscular skeletal and reproductive), tack and accessories, figurines of the horse in history and more.

The end room has over 30 life size models of horses done up under different disciplines – flat racer, steeplechase, trotter, side saddle, dressage, show jumping, eventer, cossack rider, matador, cowboy, carriage, indian and many more.

Now, it couldn’t well be a living horse museum without some real four legged animals. These perform in the show being under saddle, on a lead or long reined. They are also tied in open stalls for all to see. Breeds include the Adulusian, Friesian, Shetland, Ass, Miniature Shetland, Arab and many more.

And I thought I loved horses – this place is for the obsessee, by the obsessed. To top it off, they have an indoor working area, arena outside, kennels for the hundreds that were kept when the prince had the stables full and many hounds to accompany the horses on hunts. And, its right next door to Chantilly racecourse. Can’t beat it!

“In the fray I risk my life to protect him, just as in the night he watches over me and protects me.” – Al Monzir et bon cheval Al Arime

tag: chantilly, france

Stud Work, TBs

April 12, 2006 by Christine Meunier Leave a Comment

Joys of the Thoroughbred Industry.

Planning on working with horses? Want to run your own property? Experience wise, you couldn’t go past spending a season or three in the stud side of the racing industry. Pay wise – Thoroughbreds are your best bet for a half decent income when it comes to working with horses.

For the past twelve months I have been out in the ‘real world’, working – finally! Before coming to Ireland to study, I spent my days in a small town called Euroa, in Victoria, Australia that seems to house about a dozen studs – I worked at three over this duration.

As someone who wants to breed thoroughbreds for a hobby and run my own horse property, working on a stud is the best way to go about gaining experience. During the breeding season (August – December in Australia) you get practise at handling mares for service, handling stallions, horses for the farrier, treatments for horses (oral and injections), bandaging, foaling down mares, feeding horses and general stable work.

As the year comes to an end, it moves on to the yearling season where practice in preparing horses for sales, grooming, exercising, parading for clients and eventually taking the gorgeous animals through the sale ring (some, for prices in the hundreds of thousands!) is gained.

From December through to April yearlings are prepared and every eight weeks, a new group is brought in and it starts again, introducing them to being brushed, having rugs on, leading correctly.

Following this, it is time for the ‘babies’ to be weaned, and mothers are taken away and they start life without the ‘milk bar’; slowly getting used to people and being handled, having feet trimmed and sometimes, prepared for sales at the young age of five or six months.

Excluding the horse’s actual racing career, working on a stud gives you the chance to see the birth of a foal, it’s first year or so of life and upon retiring to stud, the progeny it then goes on to produce. What more could you ask for?

“Correction does much for the horse, but encouragement does more.”

http://www.larneuk.com/ – My ‘home’ and work from August till the end of each year.
http://www.bluegumfarm.com/ – Another stud I worked at in Euroa.

tag: thoroughbred stud season, training

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