"Ignorance is the curse of God; knowledge is the wing wherewith we fly to heaven."
~William Shakespeare
How people out there manage find the time to blog every day is a mystery to me (those who do, I take my hat off to you) I struggle to make a post once a month...
Anyhow, I am getting totally off track.... So First off, above is the official promotional video from the hoof care course! (and if you look carefully I am in there a couple of times! ;)) If you want to learn hoof care- I TOTALLY recommend this course, DEFINITELY worth it!! Its not all just about hooves either- in the intensive two weeks we covered everything from health and safety, to nutrition, horsemanship and so much other stuff mixed in! Who knew that you could get sooooo much knowledge in two weeks! I'll admit it was exhausting, but totally awesome! And It was great to be working alongside some great people, both fellow students on the course and the wonderful instructors! You get a whole bunch of horse enthusiasts together you never really run out of conversation! ;)
Plus Tasmania is gorgeous! Was a bit cold, though...well.. not that cold but keep in mind I had just come from a run of 40 degree days in SA, and then I get to TAS and its going down to 7 degrees at night it was somewhat of a shock! I think I spent the first week adjusting and cowering underneath my thick coat, which was kinda funny because there were people wearing t-shirts. LOL
Anyhow I definitely want to visit Tassie again one day. :)
Some of the highlights!
Right moving on... Got tons more to talk about and I could talk and sprout Carlosisms all day, and probably will do in the near future...;)
'(horses) they don't read you like a book, they download you like a Kindle.' ~Carlos Taniberri
'Don't look for the end product. Look for change, and the miracle will happen.'~Carlos Taniberri
This bit may distress or disturb some people so I won't put in any pictures.. and please feel free to skip it if you feel queasy..
We worked quite a lot with cadaver legs, and had to preform a dissection on a leg. Which was was more far more fascinating than I had anticipated. Though I did have to get past that initial shock of "they want me to dissect a HORSE'S LEG?!?" but morbid curiosity won out..
And it is really interesting to see how everything functions. I have a new found respect for the horse's lower leg, it is incredible the way it works. I have studied the horse's anatomy quite a bit, but seeing it for real shows you so much more than the textbooks ever could. . I think its essential for us as trimmers to a have an understanding of what is happening in the inside of a horse's hoof, as much as it is on the outside.
On the 2nd day we were privileged to listen to a lecture presented by Professor Christopher Pollitt which provided us with sooooooo much information about the hoof. I think my brain nearly fried from the amount of information that was absorbed! But, it was incredible! I lay in bed that night with all these technical terms running though my head! :D
Not part of the course, but lucky enough to do so.. Thank you Jen and Jeremy!! It was AWESOME!!!
Also one day after a long but great day out in the field of getting practical experience trimming, we happened to pass and stop at a raspberry farm... ooooh yum, total bliss.. Unfortunately I'd didn't get any pictures.. I think I was too busy inhaling my raspberry pavlova... *sighs contently...* It was truly a awesome two weeks... Though I did miss Donna and Gracie an awful lot, and was very happy to see them when I got home, I also couldn't wait to get stated on trimming Donna's hooves! :)