Anyone Else Interested In Horses And Horse Training?

[Curiosity101]

Lol. No it's fine, I genuinely laughed when I read that last bit about him coming out spotless.

I used to work with a horse awhile back who's owner wasn't absent but he'd taken her over a 5ft gate one time (not her choice). After that she still rode him but only in the arena and not as often as she used to. She gave me free access to pretty much do what I wanted with him but I was at school at the time so it was really weekends + holidays only. And I actually worked on the farm where he was kept (weekends and holidays). It meant I got to regularly ride but that I couldn't really do much more than that.

Where did you live before the UK? Was it the US?

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Yep From a tiny town in Georgia, deep south as they say!

It's so great you've had these opportunities and that you are making more for yourself! The bond and general therapy that is had with horses is something that I wish everyone could experience

 

[MBOU]

Omg curiosity!! Which alpaca farm did you work on!? In the UK!?!?!?!

I practised Join Up with the devil ponies i used to ride, it worked when they were in the right mood lol but stubborn old mare and idiot younger mare didnt always want to play ball and was trying it loose in the field, not a pen.

I also discovered it worked on alpacas too! They had to be the right kind of alpaca really because most of them are plain stupid but some of them really worked well.

I only ever looked up TTOUCH after working on the farm for years, to calm alpacas down, i would be massaging them, especially around the base of their ears and when i was talking to my mum about it, she told me that effectively, thats what I was doing and so looked more into it.

 

[Curiosity101]

It's called Mayfield Alpacas in Sheffield.

 

[MBOU]

Used to work for Bozedown Alpacas, saw there is a few Bozedown alpacas on the website! I recognise the green neck collars, might be that we took animals for stud at some point between 2003 and 2007!

*sits singing "its a small world after all*

Alpacas are the best animals ever, if only they didnt cost so much... they make fantastic pets, easy to keep, are somewhat smarter than sheep and can be trained easily.

I honestly miss them so much! I'd still be there now if it wasn't for the fact that the physical demand of helping to care for 800 alpacas was just too much with ongoing back problems.

I helped out a while back just before christmas and covered for a day on the weekend as they needed help and i loved being back there! Not too much physical demand on a weekend or at least i could work at my pace on my own.

 

[Curiosity101]

I thought you might've been at bozedown. I think it was the owner of bozedown that got the owner of Mayfield Alpacas into keeping them in the first place

And yes there were definitely bozedown animals on the farm. Although I was only there between 2004-2007 (whilst at school I worked weekends and holidays).

I miss it too Especially the smell. They smell absolutely amazing. I would love to keep them on a small holding too if they weren't so damned expensive.

 

[MBOU]

Haha we worked with the alpacas at the same time as well!! and you went on to get an/working on an awesome degree in genetics... and i... went on to work with fish. Go me!! lol. Working on Psychology Degree with Open Uni now as well though.

My aim is to one day (win the lottery and... ahem!) own a small holding with some nice outbuildings. I can picture them... wooden buildings, light, decorated yellows and creams inside and lots of comfy furniture and huge windows and I want lots of animals inc rare breeds sheep, goats, chickens, ducks etc and rabbits, guinea pigs, cats and dogs, some rodents like rats, mice, hamsters, gerbils etc...

And of course alpacas!!!

And I want to combine a degree (not sure which way to go but maybe an open degree) in psychology and my love of animals and will take some courses in that...

But i cant think of a close enough comparison... like they do Equine Assisted Therapy... or they use gardening/walking/outdoors stuff to help people with anxiety and depression etc.

I want to combine looking after animals, playing with and cuddling animals, counselling/therapy and an awesome atmosphere.

It sounds really lame but i can picture it so clearly!! And more to the point, i can picture exactly how much that situation could have helped me! Im thinking more for young adolescents, maybe 13-18 year olds and then open sessions on other days? For me.. at that age, if i had a place i could talk and cuddle a cat or dog at the same time... id never have left that place! And it makes m think how many kids out there could really do with escaping from home and just spending a day or a few hours etc in a relaxed and calming atmosphere and have work to keep them occupied etc and cuddles from animals galore and they can learn about the animals too.

There is kind of places like this that specialise in just horses or gardening etc or specifically for people with learning difficulties or with disabilities but what i want is kind of unprecedented i think

But the thought of trying to work towards that alone is so daunting but i think i will always be alone in a lot of senses and dont know i'll find someone with the same ideas as me *sighs* and yet im probably worrying about nothing.

EDIT: I miss their noises the most... the humming and their big brown eyes (or blue occasionally), i used to be able to mimic their hummin and sniffing and body posture to a point it often felt like a proper conversation i was having. I love alpacas more than i love people by a long way

 

[Curiosity101]

Hey it's an 11x rollover on the euromillions this friday... we can but dream. Even I'm going to buy a ticket

I like your dream by the way, I think it sounds really really rewarding. Definitely 'out there' as in not something I've really heard of. But I have definitely heard of animals and such being used in treating various disorders so it does sound feasible in the sense of it working.
How about I promise to finance it if I win the lottery on friday?

Me and my OH were discussing what we'd do with the money if we won. We came to the conclusion that other than buying/building a nice house and getting a couple of nice cars (he wants a top of the range BMW I want a Golf with all the add ons) and putting enough away in investments to keep us for life we really wouldn't know what to do with the rest. I figured I'd genuinely give alot of it away. I mean who can honestly spend £126 million pounds?

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

I'd give it a good try! lol

I have a dream like that too!! I would like to have a stables/kennels/animal adoptions/pet grooming/small holding/educational resource centre for primary schools/disabled riding centre/working horse retirement home/provide riding lessons....etc etc!! This "dream" started when I was still living in the states and you get a lot of horse drawn tours in big cities. It's really well regulated as far as I understand but I wanted to have a place for them to retire to after providing us all of those years of service! It would be good for police horses as well.... and because drafts are so gentle I thought they would be good for the therapies that I wanted to run too! Horses have been used at residential centres for troubled teens with a lot of success I'd love to try that

My plan has got some money making things mixed in with the more "charitable" things because it would be really expensive to run - but then if I won the lottery!!!

 

[Curiosity101]

With 120mil I'd happily bankroll you aswell

Although if I did win I'd keep anonymous. Speculation is fine but I'd deny it to everyone. Practically everyone who ever wins the lottery gets death threats and are in undated with charity requests. However much I'd plan to give the majority away I'd like to do it on my own terms and not under pressure.

 

[fluttermoth]

My aim is to one day (win the lottery and... ahem!) own a small holding with some nice outbuildings. I can picture them... wooden buildings, light, decorated yellows and creams inside and lots of comfy furniture and huge windows and I want lots of animals inc rare breeds sheep, goats, chickens, ducks etc and rabbits, guinea pigs, cats and dogs, some rodents like rats, mice, hamsters, gerbils etc...And of course alpacas!!!And I want to combine a degree (not sure which way to go but maybe an open degree) in psychology and my love of animals and will take some courses in that...But i cant think of a close enough comparison... like they do Equine Assisted Therapy... or they use gardening/walking/outdoors stuff to help people with anxiety and depression etc.I want to combine looking after animals, playing with and cuddling animals, counselling/therapy and an awesome atmosphere.It sounds really lame but i can picture it so clearly!!

I'd give it a good try! lolI have a dream like that too!! I would like to have a stables/kennels/animal adoptions/pet grooming/small holding/educational resource centre for primary schools/disabled riding centre/working horse retirement home/provide riding lessons....etc etc!! This "dream" started when I was still living in the states and you get a lot of horse drawn tours in big cities. It's really well regulated as far as I understand but I wanted to have a place for them to retire to after providing us all of those years of service! It would be good for police horses as well.... and because drafts are so gentle I thought they would be good for the therapies that I wanted to run too! Horses have been used at residential centres for troubled teens with a lot of success I'd love to try that My plan has got some money making things mixed in with the more "charitable" things because it would be really expensive to run - but then if I won the lottery!!!

OMG, you guys are in my head; that's almost exactly what I'd do

'Riding for the depressed', it's bound to work! Having a clop round the lanes on a nice quiet little cob would do loads of people no end of good

 

[Curiosity101]

When my grandma owned a riding school they had a charity group who came to do something similar to that fluttermoth. I think it was for children with Down Syndrome...

It is a lovely idea. And I'm sure you could make it profitable by making it into some sort of exclusive relaxation retreat type thing for adults. Then use any spare money to open it to people/children who couldn't pay.

 

[MBOU]

I used to help out in a RDA school, its how i learned to ride because i clocked up the hours and mucked out etc until i got free lessons.

I love the fact that there are loads of riding for the disabled etc and small arable farms/gardens that run as a charity (saw one on 'The Secret Millionaire' that he gave money too!) and everything is about horses, i love horses but there is a lot to be said for other animals!

Dont get me wrong, its not all about petting animals etc, i am starting my Psychology degree as of this week and i just havent specified which way im taking it, but will be more to the counselling side of things with animals as benefits, or run different sessions at different times, mix of 1 to 1 sessions, group sessions, animal petting and then 'distraction therapy'. Honest to god, if you are depressed or suffering anxiety or flashbacks etc, the best thing you an do is distract yourself, keep yourself busy and lots of people struggle to do that. Wheres the motivation when you feel so bad?

I feel miserable now because i really want this to happen! there is nothing else i want in my life other than this. Its just... where the heck does one start!? I couldnt even admit tomy parents what i would like as they would just laugh at me