Renowned behaviourist Melanie S Watson visited Craven Equine on Friday to deliver an informative and interactive session on her Instinctive Horse Training.
The event was organised by Higher Education Equine Management students as part of their Business and Events Unit; requiring them to plan an event for students which they then decided to extend to the wider public.
Melanie started the event with a presentation on her journey and methods, which held the audience captive, speaking about her experiences which have led her to her current role.
Melanie gave her thoughts on horse behaviour and the importance of founding a relationship and communication with your horse. She discussed that horses have a right to a life worth living, and that may look very different for each individual horse – she then asked the audience to consider what sort of horse owner they were, leading to a period of reflection.
The session ended with Melanie’s thoughts on positive reinforcement – including the rewarding of audience participation with Maltesers! This was a truly interactive session which gave the audience plenty of tips and things to consider.
The session then moved onto practical activities, with Level 2 students enjoying a hands-on session with Melanie, and one of the Craven Equine horses Jamie, who was a rescue and came to us via World Horse Welfare.
Jennifer Clegg, Foundation Degree Equine Management student said, “This event formed part of our assessment; we had to organise and implement an internal event for students. Once the students had booked on, we then opened the event to the public.
“We knew the student group did a module on horse behaviour, so we researched potential speakers and found Melanie, who is awesome at talking about all things to do with behaviour!”
Ellie Stephenson, Programme Lead for Equine added, “This event was a great opportunity for our Level 2 students and the wider equine community to become better educated on equine behaviour. Thank you to Melanie for sharing her extensive knowledge and training methods. Also, a big thank you to the HE Equine students who did a brilliant job of organising this fabulous event.”
Find out more about Higher Education Courses at Craven College or check out what’s on at Craven Equine Arena!
| Title | Level |
|---|---|
| Access to FE | Level 1 |
| Horse Management (Equine) | Level 1, Level 2, Level 3 |
| Title | Level |
|---|---|
| Applied Equine Management BSc (Hons) Top-up | Level 6 |
| Applied Equine Management FdSc | Level 5 |
