TOUCHING WILD with Bonny Mealand
SUNDAY
29th October
TUESDAY
31st October
to
BUY 3 DAYS
of LEARNING WILD
& 2 DAYS
of EQUINE WELFARE MASTERCLASS with Dr Marthe Kiley-Worthington
DISCOUNTED PRICE
details at checkout
We are excited to invite you to join us for the first ever Learning Wild course at Knepp Wildland Project, 3,500 acres of stunning natural habitat, heaving with wildlife and home to 2 herds of free-living Exmoor ponies.
Since 2001, the land at Knepp - once intensively farmed - has been devoted to a pioneering rewilding project. Using grazing animals as the drivers of habitat creation, and with the restoration of dynamic natural water courses, the project has seen extraordinary increases in wildlife. Extremely rare species like turtle doves, nightingales, peregrine falcons and purple emperor butterflies are now breeding here; and populations of more common species are rocketing.
There are around 30 ponies helping shape and improve the habitat on the estate. The project's aim is to allow the herds to enjoy as natural a life as possible by running mixed herds of entire males, females and their young, breeding a small amount of purebred registered Exmoor pony foals each year.
Join Dr. Emily Kieson as she conducts research in the social lives of horses and explores applications to domestic equine welfare and developing stronger friendships with our own horses.
Share the experience and enthusiasm for the observational study of free-living equines with Bonny Mealand who is passionate about enabling others to learn from the richness of this perspective.
In addition there will be local experts and representatives from relevant organisations.
We invite you to explore thought provoking perspectives on horses, horse welfare, and sustainable horse keeping practices. By learning from experienced equine behaviour specialists and through educational observation and discussions we can explore more about horses, our perceptions of them and how they choose to live when they have the freedom to do so.
The learning will be a mix of guided lessons, discussions and individual and/or group observations. We will examine how best to implement what we learn from our studies to enhance the health and well-being of domestic horses.
ITINERARY
This is an outline of the structure of the 3 days. The delivery of the course will be determined mainly by the weather.
Arrival
28th Ocober 2023
Arrive and settle in.
Day 1: Orientation
Sunday, 29th October 2023
The art of observation. Equine evolution, physical
and behavioural. Putting together a simple ethogram.
Day 2: Environment
Monday, 30th October 2023
Ecology, conservation, history, historical significance
and culture. Behaviour, horse and human. Rewilding.
Day 3: Foundations
Tuesday, 31st October 2023
Strong foundations, relationship before training.
Summing up. What we have learned and how we can
best implement this to improve the lives of equines.
Your Hosts
Dr Emily Kieson (Equine International) holds a PhD in Comparative Psychology, a MS in Psychology, and a graduate degree in Equine Science. Her research focuses on equine behavioural psychology, equine welfare, and horse-human interactions as they apply to both horse owners and equine-assisted activities and learning programs. Her current research focuses on equine affiliative behaviours to study how horses create and maintain social bonds and how those can overlap with human affiliative behaviours to create authentic lasting friendships between horses and humans. She also has a passion for supporting sustainable systems of horse management and husbandry that promote physical and psychological welfare of the horse while simultaneously supporting sustainable ecosystem practices on small and large scales (for both feral and domestic equids).
To learn more about Emily and Equine International please click here:
Bonny Mealand (Touching Wild) qualified as an Equine Podiatrist in 2005 and has been committed to understanding, implementing and promoting a whole horse approach to health and well-being ever since. Bonny specialises in working with wild, free-living equines and “difficult” domestic equines by building trust and helping them learn to be handled in a low stress way. A short clip of Bonny working with some Takhi horses can be viewed here - BBC Inside the Zoo.
Bonny is committed to constantly learning as much about and from equines as possible. Believing that it is possible to define what a life of quality looks like at both a species and individual level. She then uses this perspective to implement a high standard of welfare into their domesticated lives. She is also a retained Firefighter, Somatic Yoga and Mindfulness Teacher and BHS Welfare Advisor and is a MSc student at the Dick vet (University of Edinburgh) studying Equine Science.
To learn more about Bonny’s work please click here:
She is also the UK representative of the world renown Equine Ethologist Lucy Rees
ITINERARY DETAILS
Terrain Grading
Moderate. As we will be exploring the environments inhabited by the ponies, challenging terrain may be encountered so a reasonable level of fitness is suggested.
Knepp Wildland website - knepp.co.uk
Travel
Click here for the most detailed information - knepp.co.uk/findus
The Address is:
New Barn Farm, Swallows Lane, Dial Post RH13 8NN
Accommodation
ACCOMMODATION is NOT included in this Course.
Camping and Glamping at Knepp
knepp.co.uk/stay
Local B&B's
The George & Dragon B&B
The Crown Inn B&B
The Artisan Bakehouse B&B
Goffsland Farm B&B
Withyfield Cottage B&B
Travel Lodge – Horsham Central
Travel Lodge – Billingshurst Five Oaks
The Windmill Inn B&B
South Lodge Hotel
Ockenden Manor Hotel
Premier Inn – Horsham
Cisswood House Hotel
COURSE COST
Maximum Participants - 15
3 Day Course
29th to 31st October - £420pp
Above Course, plus add-on 2 Day Course
1st and 2nd November - £660
Charity, student, researcher and low income concessions available.
INCLUDED in the Course Cost
The following costs are included in the price of the workshop:
• All the educational teaching and materials
• Tea, coffee, biscuits
NOT INCLUDED in the Course Cost
The following costs are not included in the price of the workshop:
• Travel to and from Knepp
• Food and drinks
• Accommodation
As Professor Sir John Lawton, author of the 2010
'Making Space for Nature' report says:
“Knepp Estate is one of the most exciting wildlife conservation projects in the UK, and indeed in Europe. If we can bring back nature at this scale and pace just 16 miles from Gatwick airport we can do it anywhere. I’ve seen it. It’s truly wonderful, and it fills me with hope.”
THIS COURSE IS MADE POSSIBLE BY:
-
Collaboration between Touching Wild with Bonny Mealand and Equine International with Dr Emily Kieson
-
Knepp Wildland
-
Dr Marthe Kiley-Worthington
Knepp’s vision is radically different to conventional nature conservation
in that it is not driven by specific goals or target species. Instead, its driving principle is to establish a functioning ecosystem where nature is given
as much freedom as possible.
