.:EQUUS:.

It’s coming around to that time of year again.  For those considering the study thing, be it full time, part time or via distance education whilst working, there are a multitude of horse courses out there!

To draw your attention to two in the Melbourne, Victoria area:

• Certificate II in Equine Industry
• Certificate III in Agriculture (Horse Breeding)

Both courses are on offer at Box Hill TAFE, and the open day is this Sunday, August the 28th from 10am.  Open Days are a great opportunity to find out what a course offers, see how it is delivered and meet the knowledgeable teachers.  It’s never too late to start learning and gain a qualification!

tag: equine education, horse course, distance education

We had a Care for Horses workshop this week for the Certificate II and III equine students that I help to teach. One area the students looked at is neglect and horse welfare, with some questions based around the equine organisation, Project Hope.

That got me thinking about neglect and horse welfare in general and I thought it worth a post on such equine organisations. Perhaps your passion is to see horses restored to the physical condition they should be in, rather than the one that they sometimes find themselves in.

Organisations such as the RSPCA and Project Hope can be heartbreaking. Such a job that can showcase so graphically how cruel and ignorant horse owners can be is not for the faint hearted. However, if this is where you feel called to be, perhaps pursuing volunteer work in such an organisation would be a start.

Being organisations, the larger ones – such as the RSPCA – may have the opportunity to offer a limited number of paid positions, which may be able to be worked towards once you have a foot in the door by volunteering. When considering the health of horses, knowledge in the areas of wound care, nutrition and exercise may be of benefit to help restore equines to their full potential.

Consider the likes of short courses or even doing a subject here and there at a local TAFE or university to assist in this area if you find you are lacking.

“If your horse says no, you either asked the wrong question, or asked the question wrong.” - Pat Parelli

tag: equine education, horse welfare, short course, online course

It’s getting to that time of year again!  The large equestrian event Equitana is on the lookout for volunteers for this year.

Held in Sydney this year, the event may be a great opportunity for those nearby to volunteer their services.  Often this results in working three to four shifts over a three day period but then having the rest of the time to check out:

• equestrian events
• saddlery
• clothing and book stalls
• many other horse related business that are advertising their products or services!

Interested?  Check out http://www.equitana.com.au/volunteer-program.html.  Dates are November 10 - 13, 2011.

“The horse loves his oats more than his saddle.” - Russian proverb

Tags: interactive, Equitana volunteer 2011, education, competition, horse events

Back in January of this year, I posted about an incredibly cheap offer for one of Equinology’s equine sports massage subjects/courses.  Always curious about courses on offer, I mentioned this to my boss and she, a workmate and I all ended up signing up for the course.

Course moderator Debranne Pattillo has recently posted to the group announcing the two year anniversary of this course - congrats to the crew at Equinology!

For those of you interested in anatomy and physiology of the horse (bone and skeletal structure specifically) and the idea of massage, the Equinology site and it’s courses is well worth exploring.  The joys of many online courses is they can be carried out part time or at your own place, alongside work or other study!

“You cannot remain unmoved by the gentleness of conformation of a well-bred and well-trained horse. . . more than 1000 pounds of big-boned, well-muscled animal, yet forever a menace with it’s innocent power. . .but when it greets you with a nicker and regards you with a large and liquid eye, the question of where you want to be has been answered.”

tag: equine education, equinology, short course, online course

Calling all wannabe equine body workers!  Debranne of Equinology.com has sent me an email about a scholarship that is on offer to anyone - and it sounds spectacular!

A breakdown:

• EQ201 Equinology Equine Body Worker Course
• Retreat October 10 - 27, 2011 (three weeks)
• In Northern California at The Sea Ranch
• Course costs ($3000 worth) as well as a private bedroom and bathroom

How awesome does that sound?  So what do you need to do?

• Be available on those dates in 2011
• Be able to get yourself to California and cover costs of meals
• Do the prerequisite, EQ50 (currently only $20 US)
• Apply for the scholarship

Sounds great, right?  More details can be found at the Events Page as well as the actual course info.  Applications close Jan 15th so you may wanna get a wriggle on!  They can be submitted by:

• an email to ronamead@gmail.com with ‘CG Scholarship’ as the subject
• snail mail to: POB 1192, Gualala, CA 95445 with ‘CG Scholarship’ in the top left hand corner

The application in itself requires that you “write an essay explaining why learning equine body work will help you reach your goals in the equine industry. You should include your horse experience within the body of the essay.”

Note also that to attend this course, you must be experienced in working around all different types of dispositions and be comfortable in picking up all the limbs of the horse.  Happy writing!

“Here lies the body of my good horse, The General. For years he bore me around the circuit of my practice and all that time he never made a blunder. Would that his master could say the same.” - John Tyler’s epitaph for his horse

tag: equine education, horse goals, new years resolutions, short course,