.:EQUUS:.

Quite a few years back a mate asked if there was a short course they could do with regards to horses.  The idea was to gain a piece of paper to say they had been trained in one area or another for a job that involved a small amount of horse work.

Back then I wasn’t really aware of such short courses and think they’ve really come out in full force in recent years.

Today at the Melbourne Premier Sales one of the teachers from an equine education centre stopped by and handed out some information with regards to the short courses currently on offer.

The National Centre for Equine Education currently have short courses is:
- the safe handling of horses
- equine enterprise OHS
- running your horse business
- first aid for horses
- understanding your horse - equine behaviour
- marketing your horse business
- equine whole farm planning
- the sound horse
- equine nutrition - feeding your horse
- leadership and supervision in horse enterprises
- preparation and care of horse breeding stock
- foaling down
- equine staff management
- sustainable grazing and fodder for horse farms
- horse health
- manage horse breeding operations

These courses range from $128.00 through to $474.00 and are run over two to four consecutive days.  For those interested in perhaps pursuing a higher qualification, the majority of these short courses can be counted toward the Diploma of Equine Performance Management and the Diploma of Equine Stud Management.

Short courses are a great way to get a feel for a particular line of study, gain a piece of paper, some skills and perhaps a foot in the door of your desired industry.  If full time study isn’t possible, perhaps a shorter course is worth considering.

tag: horse course, short course, equine education

Today is Blog Action Day; this year’s topic being Climate Change.

Otherwise known as global warming, climate change has resulted from changes in weather patterns on account of increases to the Earth’s average temperature.

Environmental effects predicted include:
- Sea level rise
- Changes in rainfall patterns
- Changes in agricultural yields
- Increased intensity and frequency of extreme weather events
- Water scarcity in some regions
- Increased precipitation in others
- Adverse health effects due to warmer temperatures

As people who are often working outdoors and reliant on particular weather patterns and rainfall as well as production of hay and grains, climate change is a concern for horse owners, workers and breeders.

Climate change is caused by increases in greenhouse gases from activities such as land clearing, burning fossil fuels and intensive agriculture.

Consider looking at the Blog Action Day ‘Take Action’ page to see some ways in which you can act with regards to this issue.

Global Warming at Wikipedia
Greenhouse Gas Emissions for Victoria, Australia

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Last year Blog Action Day focused on Poverty - check out the Equus post ‘Horses = …poverty?’

“I have seen soldiers panic at the first sight of battle, and a squire pulling arrows from his body to fight and save his dying horse. Nobility is not a birthright, but is defined by one’s actions.” - Kevin Costner in “Robin Hood, Prince Of Thieves

tag: blog action day, horses and climate change, greater cause

Blog Action Day is here again. Last year the focus was on Poverty - check out the Equus post ‘Horses = …poverty?’

What is Blog Action Day?  October 15 of each year marks a set date where bloggers around the world can unite and write with regards to a topic that affects us, worldwide.   It’s a great way to raise awareness considering the number of people that access blogs on the internet.  Oh, and it’s a good way to generate further hits on your blog, too.

This year’s focus is Climate Change and the idea is to not wander away from your general topic of conversation that covers your blog but to incorporate this topic into yours.  I’m having a bit of a think on climate change and how horse owners are affected by it and will put together a post to be published on October 15 in line with the 4,500+ other bloggers who are already registered.

Between these registered blogs, they total nearly 11,000,000 readers!  If you’re passionate about this topic, have a blog and think you can incorporate it into one of your posts, consider heading on over to http://www.blogactionday.org/ to register your blog and get writing!

“A man of kindness to his horse, is kind
But brutal actions show a brutal mind.
He was designed thy servant, not thy drudge.
Remember his creator is thy judge.”

tag: blog action day, horses and climate change, greater cause

I’ve recently come back from Residential School - a week of uni that requires I attend lectures and partake in exams for the two subjects that I am currently undertaking part time as a Distance Education student.

As is the case any time I find myself in a new environment that is horse related, I met a lot of interesting people and had my eyes opened to many other things I wasn’t aware of with regards to horses.  I was also made aware of people that are well known with regards to starting and bringing on horses and left with a list of names to look up online.

One of our lecturer’s mentioned the fact that they had carried out some technical writing with regards to a horse section on a show that aired weekly.  Another writing job that relates to horses that I hadn’t considered!

Wikipedia has a rather broad definition of a technical writer or technical communicator, the key phrase standing out for me being “produces technical documentation for… consumer audiences.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_writer

So when I think of consumer audiences, and ones that specifically led to me teaching more people about horses and riding, I think of the Saddle Club.

There were a large number of preteens and early teens that decided to take up horse riding a couple of years back when I was instructing at a lower level.  Why?  Because they’d seen the Saddle Club and the interest in the show suddenly turned into an interest in learning to ride.

It may be a wrong assumption, but I would guess that there are people that know how to make a children’s show or one for any other demographic for that matter that want to focus it around horses.  This doesn’t necessarily mean that they know enough about horses to be able to make the show realistic.  This is where a Technical Writer may come in.

Think of the likes of Burke’s Backyard with an animal segment, the Saddle Club, Heartland, movies such as Flicka or the Black Stallion.

There are a number of books and movies out there that don’t seem completely believable with some of the aspects but that’s the joys of poetic license, I guess.  This doesn’t take away from the fact that some texts, movies, or shows may employ a person or persons to either resource information from those in the know, or have someone in the know write the information in a technical manner that can be put to use.

Just because you know horses however, doesn’t necessarily mean you’re equipped to be a technical writer with regards to them.

MyFuture has a page focused on such a career - http://www.myfuture.edu.au/services/default.asp?FunctionID=5050&ASCO=253421A and also lists the sort of courses you would expect to have to complete to be qualified to take on such a position - http://www.myfuture.edu.au/services/default.asp?FunctionID=5360&ASCO=253421A&StateCode=VIC.

No surprises as to what they focus on - writing skill.

Perhaps if your skills do lie in the writing field and you have a love of horses and a sound knowledge base then this may be a path worth considering.

“Bread may feed my body, but my horse feeds my soul.”

tag: horse library, horse books, writing, equine shows, technical writer

I’m signed up to the Australian Thoroughbred Employee’s Notes on Facebook and a recent note I thought worth a mention on here.

The proposal is a ‘talent identification program’ for track riders.  Gaye Gauci of Racing Victoria Limited and Chris Watson of Glenormiston College have prepared this program with the hope of it being “a real avenue to provide current Victorian pony club level C certificate holders with a full overview of all equine career opportunities they could pursue now or in the future in the Equine Industry.”

What a great idea!  I was very slack and didn’t get up to my C Certificate in Pony Club but if I had have known doing so could have opened doors to possibilities within the equine industry, it would have been drive enough for me to do so with my riding.

“This talent identification program was designed and developed to involve Victorian pony clubs in helping identify talented riders and providing them 3 units of competency from the National Racing Industry Training Package, a 7 day trackwork riding workshop/camp.”

So I’m a little obsessed with any course that is nationally recognised or provides units that can be later marked off for a particular course and this seems a great way for someone to start and see if the equine world is indeed for them.

Application Forms are now available from your local Victorian Zone Representative.
Timelines:
- applications to Club by June 10th
- Zone selection by June 15th
- Induction day & enrolments at Glenormiston on July 7th
- Camp commences September 27th - October 3rd 2009

Selection criteria:
- you must be aged 15 or over,
- be currently registered as a pony club member with PCAV,
- have completed your “C” certificate and
- submitted a completed official application form

“The success of this camp is vital as it could form a program that could be offered in other areas of Victoria at different times throughout the year using the same formula in the future.”

Tags: horse studies, equine career, horse racing, horse course, horse education, pony club

***Know that you want a career with horses but not sure what exactly?  Check out the Vocation 100 page for a growing list of possible vocations with horses and relating posts.***