Training the work horse. 4 day
workshop on Clare
Island with Vanessa Bee, 18th - 22nd May 2010
This
course, which covers the basics of horse training, is a must for horse
owners or would be owners and for anyone
intersted in
training horses, particularly for
driving, draft work, or pack work. It will also be of interest to horse
breeders,
and to anyone interested in training young horses, as there
will
be an option to work with young stock on the last two days.
There will be
two sessions each day, one in the morning from 10 to 1
pm, and another one in the afternoon after lunch.
The following topics will be covered:
- Day 1 Horse behaviour
- Day 2 The Psychology of
Training
- Day 3 Ground work and
Safe Handling
- Day 4 Positive Pony
Power (training your horse for draft work and driving). Option of
working with young stock
The course
start in the evening of the 18th and finishes at 4.30 pm on the
22nd, in times for you to get back with the evening boat (5 pm). If you
prefer, it is possible to stay on until the Sunday morning.
Cost
of the
course is 480 euros (includes vegetarian lunches).
It is possible to bring your own horse (no stallion or horses under 3)
but please contact us in advance to arrange this. Cost of bringing your
own horse is 100 euros including the cost of transport to and from the
island.
It will be possible to work with some of the farm's horses,
and
with some of the farm's modern horse drawn equipment (horticulture tool
carrier with plough, ridger and cultivator, harrow,
forecart).
It is possible to stay at the farm, cost is 50 euros / day (B&B
and dinner) per pserson sharing (single room supplement 15 euros).
People wishing to stay at the farm should note that the food here is striclty vegetarian, and that we are a long way from the pub!
Guests staying at the farm can take part in yoga classes in the
morning. We have found that yoga complements very well the work we do
with horses. Yoga practice helps to relax and be more aware, and the
horses certainly notice! Regular yoga practice also helps build fitness
and body awareness for riding.
See the
retreat centre site for more details.
If you are interested in this
course, we recommend you
book early, as number is limited to 8 participants.
Vanessa
Bee
Vanessa Bee has been around horses for most of her life
working
in racing stables throughout her teens then driving competitively into
her early twenties when she was given an 'unridable' racehorse as a
wedding present. Very soon Vanessa realised that there had to be a
better way than the 'bigger stick, bigger bit' method. It was in 1997
that the journey truly began to develop a style of teaching and riding
that Vanessa has called Positive Horsemanship. Vanessa began to read,
study and work with some of the greatest horseman of the age. Monty
Roberts, Kelly Marks, Jayne Lavender, Ken Faulkner, Pat Parelli, and
has used as her guides and mentors Henry Blake, Maurice Wright, Buck
Brannaman, the Dorrances, Ray Hunt and Mark Rashid. She soon discovered
that there as many ways of teaching horsemanship as there are
horse/handlers in the world. A programme simply couldn't work all the
time for everyone. With a degree in Education, and a qualified teacher,
Vanessa has used her skills to develop a series of courses that teach
people of all abilities and experience to achieve a positive
relationship with their horses. Vanessa also holds a Monty Roberts
Preliminary Certificate and is a developing Progressive Counsellor and
constantly trains and studies to improve her method of guidance and
teaching.
For more information, see
Vanessa's website
Booking
To book, please contact:
Christophe Mouze
Ballytoughey
Clare Island
Co Mayo
Ireland
Phone / Fax (353) 98 25412,
Mobile (353) 87.2621832, Email
Christophe(at)ecofarm.ie
You will need to send a completed booking form (click
here for a booking form in MS Word format or here for a PDF version),
along with a non refundable 480 euros deposit. We regret that we cannot
accept bookings without the accompanying completed booking form and
payment. Deposit can be paid by cheque in euros (made payable to
Christophe Mouze) or online through Paypal (you can pay by credit card
even if you don't have a Paypal account). To pay through
Paypal (or by credit card), click on the "Pay now" button below.
Note that there's a 5% credit card surcharge on Paypal payments.