Learning Wild: Eriskay

Come and spend 5 days immersed in the wild lives of the free-living Eriskay ponies who roam across on the beautiful island of Eriskay in the Outer Hebrides. This special place has been home to ponies for many generations and how they even reached the island has been lost to the mists of time. The history of the ponies is closely intertwined with the lives and Gaelic culture of the islanders. Eriskay ponies are among the last surviving remnants of the original native ponies of the Western Isles of Scotland.

These ponies are perfectly adapted to the harsh conditions of the Atlantic Seaboard and navigate the challenging terrain with agility and grace. For many generations they were invaluable to the island inhabitants who used them to carry panniers of peat for winter fuel and seaweed from the shore to fertilise the land and they continue to be an important part of Island life. Because the ponies' connection to the island and its people is still kept alive, we have the incredible opportunity of looking at equine culture, human culture and the coexistence of the two.

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 feral ponies 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.

This course invites you to explore thought provoking perspectives on horses, horse welfare, and sustainable horse keeping practices. By engaging with local communities, 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 week. The delivery of the course will be determined by where the ponies are in the landscape and the weather.

Saturday 1st June
Arrive and settle in.

Monday, 3rd June

Orientation. Environment - ecology, conservation, history and culture.

Tuesday, 4th June

The Art of Observation.
Equine evolution, physical and behavioural. Putting together a simple ethogram.

Wednesday, 5th June

Behaviour, horse and human. Rewilding.

Thursday, 6th June

Strong foundations, relationship before training.

Friday 7th June

Summing up. What we have learned and how we can best implement this to improve the lives of equines.

YOUR HOSTS

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:
 Equine International

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:  Facebook  |  
Instagram

She is also the UK representative of the world renown Equine Ethologist Lucy Rees

www.lucyrees.uk

For Full details click here:
Isle of Eriskay Course