Sustainable Horsekeeping Series - click on image below for
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equiculture
Horse Ownership - Responsible Sustainable Ethical©
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News and new stuff
This is the page to visit first if returning to our site. It contains listings and links to the all of the new additions to the site i.e. articles, website links etc. (see the box directly below). See Our rough itinerary for the next year or so…for information about where we are now and in the near future (see also the Seminars and workshops page for a more detailed account of what events we have coming up) and our news blog (below) will keep you up to date with what we have been up to since the last posting. If you subscribe to our free mailing list you will be notified of updates to this page on a regular basis (every one to two months via email).
Please note: opinions expressed in articles or links on this site other than those created by Equiculture are not endorsed by or are not necessarily of the same opinion as Equiculture.
We are now on Facebook with pages for both Jane Myers and Equiculture
We now have six photo galleries online:
Appleby Horse Fair (2010), The New Forest (2011),
Konik Ponies at Wicken Fen (2011), Dartmoor (2011),
The Donkey Sanctuary (UK 2011),
Yeguada De La Cartuja (Spanish Horse Stud - Jerez, Spain) 2011)
New additions to web site
(Added Jan 2012) National Horsekeeping Conference. Living Legends Melbourne Nov 12th & 13th. First national conference on horsekeeping with international speakers including Alayne Bickle
(Added Jan 2012) For an article on the Central Point System© as it appeared in Horses and People magazine click here
(Added Jan 2012) University of Nebraska-Lincoln Centre for Grassland Studies www.grassland.unl.edu Some great grassland information (remember when reading it though that it is referring to agricultural animals with higher sugar requirements than horses).
(Added Jan 2012) Some nice examples of horses working for a living www.crunchiescobs.co.uk
(Added Dec 2011) Comparing positive and negative reinforcement training methods www.equinescienceupdate.com/articles
(Added Dec 2011) To blanket your horse or not www.soulfulequine.com
(Added Dec 2011) A great example of responsible racehorse management www.simonearleracing.com
(Added Dec 2011) Bushfire Preparedness for Small Landholders www.dpi.vic.gov.au
(Added Dec 2011) Horse Stereotypies vary by discipline, researchers say www.thehorse.com
(Added Dec 2011) Article in Horsetalk NZ about the Equitation Science forum in Holland www.horsetalk.co.nz/news
(Added Dec 2011) Want to know more about horse breeds www.lhnet.org/horse-breeds
(Added Dec 2011) Good article about the eyesight of a horse by Marijke de Jong www.academicartofriding.com/understanding-horses/senses/sight-of-a-horse
(Added Dec 2011) A photo gallery from our visit to the Yeguada De La Cartuja (Spanish Horse Stud - Jerez, Spain) 2011 - One of the most important and traditional Spanish Horse studs in the world. A great place to visit and a photographers paradise.
(Added Oct 2011) A photo gallery from our visit to The Donkey Sanctuary (UK).
(Added Oct 2011) BEHAVE is a research and outreach program that explores the principles of animal behavior. This project is mainly concerned with diet and habitat selection of livestock www.extension.usu.edu/behave
(Added Oct 2011) A new initiative called Equine Welfare (in Australia) is pleased to offer the first Certificate in Equine Welfare. Seminars are designed to be accessible to everybody; If you are considering buying your first horse or if you have been working in the industry for decades – these seminars will challenge and stimulate. Have a look at the website www.equinewelfare.com.au
(Added Sept 2011) A photo gallery from our visit to Dartmoor (UK).
(Added Sept 2011) The effect of two different housing conditions on the welfare of young horses stabled for the first time www.sciencedirect.com
(Added Sept 2011) Revelations about pastures and ponies www.equinews.com
(Added Sept 2011) Obesity in English Horses www.equinescienceupdate.com
(Added Sept 2011) Research confirms effectiveness of grazing muzzles www.equinescienceupdate.com
(Added Sept 2011) Horses choose multiple forages in different locations www.equinescienceupdate.com
(Added Sept 2011) Benefits of feeding multiple forages www.equinescienceupdate.com
(Added Sept 2011) Does soaking hay make it safer for laminitics? www.equinescienceupdate.com
(Added Sept 2011) Is your horse sleep deprived? www.equisearch.com
(Added Sept 2011) When is the best time to work your horse? Night owls and morning glories
(Added Aug 2011) Worms - there is heaps of great scientific (but easy to understand) and up to date information on the parasite section of the HorseTalk NZ website. It is difficult to find information that is as up to date as this - give yourself plenty of time to do this site page justice www.horsetalk.co.nz/worming
(Added Aug 2011) Blue Cross-Fat Horse Slim Campaign - over the years many of us have got used to horses being fatter, the Fat Horse Slim campaign by The Blue Cross in the UK has been designed to help horse keepers understand what is a healthy weight, and how to keep their horse within a healthy range www.bluecross.org.uk/fat-horse-slim
(Added July 2011) The first of three interesting and thought provoking articles on The science of natural horsemanship by Cath Henshall
(Added July 2011) A photo gallery from our visit to The New Forest
(Added July 2011) A very interesting website with photographic and written accounts of Brumby behaviour www.magdalenas-art-work.com.au
(Added July 2011) OUR BIG NEWS!!!! We have been successful in applying for the Churchill Fellowship. Which means in 2012 we will be travelling to the USA researching environmentally sustainable equine management projects and partnerships. Very exciting as there are lots of positive things happening over there which we hope to share with you and with some of the decision makers at local and federal levels of government.
(Added June 2011) Keep up to date with the latest on the Hendra outbreak at the Queensland Horse Council website
(Added June 2011) An article about the Wicken Fen Conservation grazing project using Konik ponies and Highland Cattle by Carol Laidlaw the conservation grazing warden. Check out our photo gallery
(Added June 2011) HELP stands for Human-Elephant Learning Programs and the foundation has been set up primarily to introduce the handlers of working elephants to science based training methods. Have a look at www.h-elp.org to see how horse trainers and animal behaviourists are helping to improve the lives of elephants and traditional elephant trainers.
(Added June 2011) The Effects of Environment on the Feral Horse Foot. Australian Brumby Research Unit.
(Added June 2011) Grazing muzzles can reduce intake by up to 80% from the Equine Science Update
(Added April 2011) Several articles written by us for the RSPCA on horse care/welfare/behaviour can be found at their site at RSPCA or on our site
(Added April 2011) Good advice on the use of stables from the World Horse Welfare www.worldhorsewelfare.org
(Added April 2011) Well designed trails go a long way in ensuring that trail riding is an enjoyable experience with minimal impacts to the surrounding environment. One great resource for sustainable trail design is a book by Jan Hancock, Jeff Engelman, and Jim Coffman entitled Equestrian Design Guidebook for Trails, Trailheads, and Campgrounds, (USA) which includes a section on environmental concerns. A free online version of the book is available here
(Added April 2011) See the following link for a whole (GAP) newsletter edition about about using horses (ponies) for conservation grazing in the UK. www.grazingadvicepartnership.org.uk
(Added Mar 2011) Stringhalt In Horses On Rodeo Ground from Horseyard
(Added Mar 2011) If you want to know want it feels like to attend one of my Seat Clinics read this insightful article by a participant Kal Newcomb Click here
All articles and links past and present also feature on the relevant pages on the website.
Our rough itinerary for the next year or so…see the Seminars and workshops page for a list of our upcoming event dates.
- Nov - March 2012 Australia - Whitsundays, Canberra, Victoria, Tasmania, Sydney, Mudgee, then QLD - workshops, property consultations, clinics and lessons.
- April - May 2012 USA - visiting various Sustainable Horsekeeping projects as part of the Winston Churchill Memorial Fellowship Trust grant (AUS).
- June 2012 Australia - workshops, property consultations, clinics and lessons.
- July 2012 UK - ISES conference Edinburgh.
- July - September 2012 UK - workshops, property consultations, clinics and lessons.
- October - April 2012 Aus - workshops, property consultations, clinics and lessons.
Make sure you are on our mailing list (subscribe) or join us on Facebook so that you are kept up to date with developments.
We are now on Facebook with pages for both Jane Myers and Equiculture
December 2011
Jane - We have been back in OZ for a couple of months now and our feet have hardly touched the ground. So far we have flown up to the Whitsunday’s region to present some seminars up there, flown back to SE QLD, picked up our van and caravan, set off for Canberra (to do seminars - including a new one aimed at agisters and agistees) then on to Victoria for more seminars, over to Tasmania to give a seat clinic, back to Melbourne and then up to Canberra for Christmas. The period after Christmas is just as busy before we go to the USA in April for two months (as part of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship I received - if you have never come across it - or even if you have) make sure you have a look at the website www.churchilltrust.com.au as you may be eligible to apply for one yourself.
The Managing Grazing Animals for Conservation course that I attended in September (while still in the UK) run by the Dorset Wildlife Trust was really good. It was mainly concerned with cattle but horses (ponies) were included. We visited several properties, private and National Trust owned to look at various set ups. A huge concern in the UK is the loss of species rich grasslands, heathlands (moorland) and fenlands (wetland). Apparently since the second world war as much as 90% (in some areas) of these species rich and biodiverse ecosystems have disappeared. Huge areas of ancient grasslands for example have been ploughed and sown with Ryegrass. This has led to a crisis situation with many insects, birds, bats etc. becoming extinct or becoming endangered. Honey bees for example were in danger of disappearing recently!
So various schemes are in place to attempt to increase biodiversity in the countryside in the UK. Farmers can claim a subsidy for example to sow native grasses around the outside edge of fields. Conservation grazing is on the rise as grazing animals can increase biodiversity if managed well. Believe it or not horses (ponies are usually used) are really good as conservation grazers and actually have many advantages over cattle. See the conservation/sustainable grazing section on the more sustainability and environment information page if you would like to know more. There is even more info on our UK site (www.equiculture.co.uk).
Next we travelled back ‘up north’ (UK) to start to pack and store our stuff ready to fly home at the beginning of November.
Luckily for us however we have some relatives that have a lovely house in Southern Spain (Andalusia) and as they were going for a couple of weeks we decided to join them (lucky them!!!!) (The choice for us was stay in the rapidly cooling north of England or fly south for a couple of weeks of sunshine in Spain - no competition!). While in Andalusia we visited the world famous Cartuja Spanish Horse stud - The Yeguada de la Cartuja - Hierro del Bocado, is the most important reserve of Carthusian horses in the world. This was a great day out and the Stud puts on a great show for visitors. We got some lovely photos so we will put together a photo gallery and more information when we get chance.
We also visited Acampo Bierto a Spanish horse and fighting bulls stud. Even though I don’t agree with bullfighting (or any bloodsports) I felt that it would be ignorant to not learn something about this very traditional activity while in Spain. After all every country has its animal welfare issues but they are not always so public (which makes them more sinister in my view). The Acampo Bierto stud also put on a great show for visitors (no bull fighting). The Spaniards are arguably the original cowboys and the riders at the stud demonstrated various traditional horsemanship styles. They are immensely proud of their animal management techniques at this stud. Without justifying or condoning the end result the bulls lead a relatively stress free life living out in open countryside until they are sent off to the arena at four years old. A few days earlier while in Seville we had visited the Bullfighting Museum (again no actual bull fighting) at the Seville Bullring so I now feel that I know more about this subject. Again, we will put together a photo gallery ASAP.
After returning to the UK I went off to Holland for the ISES (Int. Soc for Equitation Science) conference while Stuart finished packing. It will be about nine months before we get back to the UK due to us going to the USA next April/May (as we have been very fortunate to be awarded a Winston Churchill Memorial Fellowship Trust grant to look at horses and sustainability) before returning to OZ for June and then the UK for July, August and September. The ISES conference next year is in Scotland in July, a couple of weeks before the Olympics in London.
The ISES in Holland was good but it is amazing how tiring it is to attended a three day conference - even when it is on such an interesting subject. There were several Aussies who had flown in just for that (and the Global Dressage Forum straight after) and I totally admired their stamina. I did not stay for the GDF as we needed to get back to OZ. Cristina from Horses and People magazine (AUS) was at both the ISES and GDF so make sure you read the magazine as there will be reports on both www.horsesandpeople.com.au. As soon as I get chance I will do a photo gallery and write up and put it on the photo gallery page.
Have a great and safe festive season and hope to see many of you in 2012
September 2011
Jane - We are now nearing the end of this years trip to the UK. It is now mid September and we will be flying back to OZ at the beginning of Nov. I still have the ISES conference in Holland to attend and a Conservation Grazing course to do next week. Since the last update in July we have camped in the New Forest (see the photo gallery) where we did lots of cycling and walking. It is nice and flat with lots of great tracks, open spaces etc. and of course free living New Forest Ponies, donkeys, cattle, deer etc. everywhere. If you are not aware of the situation in the New Forest make sure you read the information that goes with the photo gallery, it is an incredible place. From there to the outskirts of London, more camping in our lovely ‘home from home’ caravan, again good paths, this time mainly through areas being prepared for the Olympics next year. We missed the riots by a couple of weeks! Then on to our first UK house sit in the Cotwolds. We sold the caravan at this point as we will not need one again until later next year. The Cotwolds is very scenic but hilly, so this was a chance to start on some hill work for us. Didn’t get much chance to visit anything horsey in the Cotswolds as we got our heads down and spent time putting together our new website www.equiculture.co.uk. This website is similar to the Australian one, but has some links and articles more relevant to the horses scene over there. It will evolve its own identity over time, have a look and see what you think.
After the Cotwold’s we had a three day gap before our next house sit in Cornwall so we camped in the Cheddar Gorge (without our lovely caravan - in our not so lovely tent), the weather was so-so and luckily we did not get too wet. We are now house sitting in Cornwall and apart from general sight seeing we visited the Donkey Sanctuary (and had a guided tour - photo gallery and more information coming soon), the Dartmoor Pony Heritage Trust (click here for the photo gallery and more information) and I have had a lesson on a mechanical horse with Heather Moffett in Devon. You may have heard of horse simulators/mechanical horses. I have been dying to try one for a while now so it was great to finally get chance. Have a look at Heathers website (www.enlightenedequitation.com) if you are interested. There is link on the site to a riding centre in Australia that has one of Heathers machines.
I wanted to get started on another book whilst I was over here, and I have but not the one I planned. I will keep you informed of its progress over time, but there are so many things I want to cover, but so little time, I must learn patience.
July 2011
Jane - Here we are in the UK again. So far we have already visited some really interesting places. So get yourself a drink and make sure you are sitting comfortably.....
Not long after we arrived, I was booked in to speak at Ethical Equine Extravaganza event which was held at the World Horse Welfare centre in Norfolk. The turnout at the event was not huge however we made many great contacts. My talk went down well. Its funny, we have spent the last 18 years in Australia saying things like ‘you would never see this in the UK’ (when faced with poor land management situations) only to find that the situation is probably even worse over here in the UK now.
A few days after the Ethical Equine Extravaganza I went to visit a really interesting property called Running Free Farm in North Norfolk. (Stuart got the day off and took the opportunity to take his chomping at the bit motorbike for a spin around Norfolk). This property (which is beautifully managed by the way) is the home of Johanna Macarthur and The Norfolk Horse Training and Equitation Club (NHTEC) www.nhtec.org Johanna very kindly spent most of the day with me showing me her beautiful property and allowing me to watch as she trained a horse that is staying for some reeducation work. Johanna has an extensive track system in place on the property. It has grassed areas and areas that are surfaced. There are several insulin resistant (IR) horses on the property and they live mainly on the surfaced sections. Another group of horses have access to the grassed sections. It was great to see a good track system in operation. This system can work well but usually needs a fair bit of money spending initially to set it up (fencing/surfacing etc). Interestingly Johanna said that the stables that she set up when she first bought the place are now not necessary (the horses are outside all year). I am hoping to visit another property that has a well established track system set up when we stay in Devon in September. Then I plan to write an article comparing track systems with the Central Point System that we advocate so you will able to read more in depth about the subject at that point. There is an article in the current Horses and People magazine (June edition) about the Central Point System by myself and another one on slow feeding by Mariette van den Berg.
The next day Stuart and I went to visit two very contrasting ends of the spectrum in terms of horse management. In the morning we went to the Wicken Fen National Nature Reserve owned and managed by The National Trust. Carol Laidlaw - the Conservation Grazing Warden - spent a while talking to us about the Konik pony and Highland cattle grazing project that is in place at Wicken Fen. Click here for an article by Carol about the project. Then she took us out to see the ponies. This was fabulous! There we were, standing in the middle of approximately 40 semi wild ponies. The group consisted of three harems (each with a stallion, a few mares and their offspring), a bachelor group (young colts who do not have their own harem), and a few geldings (colts are gelded if they have conformation faults or Sweet Itch (like Queensland itch)). The most fascinating thing was that this group have approximately 250 acres to them (the land available to the project will get larger over time as the trust buys up more land to change back to fen (marsh) land from farm land) and yet they were living together as one large group. Stallions cheek by jowl next to other stallions, colts and even geldings. See the photos for how close they stick together and other fantastic pictures. The other surprising thing was that these ponies have very little human intervention, they do not have their feet trimmed, they are not vaccinated or wormed (although worm count tests are done on their manure and if deemed necessary they would be wormed). If they need veterinary attention (which is very rare) they are darted. These ponies have access to good feed (pasture) in the summer yet Laminitis is rare. In the winter they survive on just pasture also. They are used to people and the young ones will come up to you for a scratch (even though they have never been ‘caught’, led, handled etc.). The older ponies just ignore you. Just to watch the amount of interaction going on in this group of ponies was brilliant, at the same time it is sad to think of how most domestic horses do not get to do this. Have a look at the photos and you will see what I mean. A few days later we cycled back to the fen (a leisurely 20 mile round trip from our campsite!) to video the ponies. Once we have learnt to edit the video we will put it on line.
Later that afternoon we visited Rossdale & Partners veterinary practice in the town of Newmarket (where horse racing as we know it in the Western world started in the 1700’s - the Jockey Club was started in Newmarket in 1750). Rossdale’s is internationally renowned and respected, ask any equine vet anywhere. I have a friend from way back who works there as a pharmacist and she kindly arranged a tour for us (thanks Linda!). Rossdale’s has all of the equipment you would expect to see in a well equipped (human) hospital. Including a CT scanner, several operating rooms, teams of radiologists etc. etc. As I said - from one extreme to the other in one day! Newmarket is a fascinating town. As well as normal pavements and roads, there are tracks for racehorses throughout the town so that they can be ridden from their stables to the Newmarket Downs for exercise. The whole town is pretty much all about racing.
Yet another extreme was when I visited a Redwings Horse Sanctuary a couple of days later. Redwings is just one of many very large equine welfare centres in the UK. Redwings itself has nine farms - three of which are open to the public. It has several thousand animals in its care - many of them out on loan. I visited one of the farms that is not open to the public. I went along with Shirley Macmillan from The British Grassland Society to speak to Adam Joslin whose position is the Estates & Security Manager. We had a happy couple of hours discussing land management between the three of us. Redwings has many horses that are considered too problematic to loan out for one reason or another and these are kept on the farms for the rest of their days. The farm even had its own operating rooms and full time vets! I do find the whole situation a bit surreal. On the one hand these places do wonderful work, but the animal lover in me says why do we do this for some animals and not others? Anyway, more on that later. I intend to visit a couple more of these sanctuaries including the world famous Donkey Sanctuary later in the trip. Then I will put together an article.
Then we moved on to Kent and we had a meeting with another lovely person who was willing to meet us at short notice despite the fact that she was setting of on holiday the next day and was busy. Francis Standen works for the Kent Downs AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) and has produced excellent material to help horse owners to manage their land better.
Last but certainly not least we have just found out that we have been successful in getting accepted for a Winston Churchill Fellowship - which means that next year we will be travelling to the States to look at various sustainable horse keeping projects over there.
Stuart - First of all after recovering from the flight (and a virus we managed to pick up) we picked up our van (we have the same style of van here as in OZ - big white, looks like a transit van - great as a mobile garage) and caravan which had been stored on a farm all though the winter. Both were fine despite deep snow, sleet, rain etc. etc. for much of the winter (outside - no rugs!). The motorbike had a relatively cosy winter inside the van. After saying hi and bye to relatives and friends in the north we set of to Norfolk. We are still enjoying the travelling and when we are not doing horsey things, we are managing to cycle or walk most days. It is one of the things we miss about England, the ability to stop pretty much anywhere and go for a scenic walk. We are also managing to visit a few historical sites, castles, historic towns and often see something unexpected like Anna Sewell’s (author of Black Beauty) gravestone that we stumbled across by accident while cycling in Norfolk. We are heading off to the New Forest next week then house sitting in the Cotswolds for a month where we hope to give the website a complete re-vamp. So until next time, take care.
May 2011
Jane - We have had a very busy few weeks since the last blog in Feb when we were on our way to Victoria from Queensland - via Mugee, Sydney and Canberra. We then travelled all the way back to Queensland via almost the same route (arriving back just a few days ago). During our travels we have been providing Managing Horses on Small Properties Seminars (Sustainable Horsekeeping), horse property consultations, riding lessons and riding clinics. As usual we have met some fabulous new people and caught up with old friends. During that time I flew back to Brisbane (for the Day) for a Churchill Fellowship Grant interview. I was successful at that stage and am now on the short list. I will find out if I am going to receive the grant in June (see Feb’s blog for what I plan to do if successful).
The next couple of weeks will also be busy as we have a few seminars and clinics in Queensland before we fly to the UK on May 19th. We will be there (and Europe until early Nov).
I often think that when we are describing where we have been and where we are going we probably sound very lucky, which we are. We only have this ‘jet set’ (economy class) lifestyle because we have chosen this lifestyle for a few years. We have no ties and have given up our house (with tenants) and my horses (for a short while, definitely the hardest bit!) to live on the road (caravan). So it is certainly not glamorous but we do have a lot of freedom to plan and travel, this is the only way that we can get this information out to as many people as possible, and research latest trends and innovations in responsible horse-keeping. Living the way we now do is far more cost and time effective than living in a house and dramatically reduces ongoing living costs. It enables us to both to educate and learn from as many people as possible.
This visit to the UK we have several things lined up, including visiting several projects where they use Native ponies for conservation grazing. There are some good articles about them in the new additions section above.
Something else I want to find out more about is the use of mechanical horses for teaching riding. These are becoming increasingly sophisticated and are being used by many instructors in the UK (and elsewhere).
I will be reporting back on these and many other subjects over the (Northern hemisphere) summer so stay tuned.
The articles we wrote for the RSPCA are now on their website (here) and similar (slightly longer with pictures) versions have been added to this site (see the new additions section above).
The Sustainable Horsekeeping series is selling steadily and well. The feedback has been tremendous. You will still be able to buy it from the website while we are away.
Stuart Hi, this gypsy lifestyle is certainly suiting both of us, it is good to lose some of the clutter from you life and get back to basics. Even though it was a wrench selling much of our ‘stuff’ last year, what we have realised is that not only do you not need most of the things you take for granted, but amazingly, we still have too many things. Once you pare your life’s possessions back to what you can fit into a van & caravan you realise how little you need (luckily a motorbike fits neatly into the van LOL) . No more trips to Bunnings (or any store), for that plant or ornament etc that you just have to have to make your life (for that moment at least) complete. Things are much more relaxing and affordable, maybe we should be developing lifestyle seminars?
We have visited many beautiful areas that we previously flew over, it is a really great start to the day answering your emails overlooking a fabulous vista. It also gives you time to think and plan, we have several new projects in the pipeline, watch this space... Until next time from somewhere in Europe.....
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