Exciting Announcement for ...
The Way of the Horse - Australian Horsemanship Challenge 2010
Plans for EQUITANA Melbourne 2010 are now well under way and there are some exciting announcements as we begin to farewell 2009. The event organisers are delighted with the response to their relocation to the upgraded Melbourne Showgrounds venue and said that the public have embraced the concept of making EQUITANA Melbourne more 'horse friendly" with the room to feature a wider program of demonstrations and competition events.
The Way of the Horse has gathered a strong following ... and by popular demand will be included in the 2010 program.
This Equitana feature gives a fascinating and revealing insight in to the responses of an unbroken horse and the way that 3 individual and expert horsemen/women go about the job of gentling them and winning their confidence.
The horses have been well raised, but have not started their formal education and the three participants have had no previous contact with the horse which are randomly selected from a group just before the commencement of this feature. With horses being horses - with differing temperaments, intelligence and willingness to learn the lessons, precious participants of The Way of the Horse have been challenged by the time constraints and comparisons.
This has made for most interesting observations and a learning experience that makes The Way of the Horse a must for hands on horse people, or those keen to learn more.
EQUITANA Melbourne has recently announced the first contestant for “The Way of The Horse, Australian Horsemanship Challenge 2010” - Steve Halfpenny.
Steve’s involvement with horses began in his early twenties soon after he arrived in Australia from the UK (nearly 30 years ago). In the early days, Steve spent most of his spare time with horses and attended clinics, local shows and western judges and trainers seminars.
Over the following 10 years Steve continued to compete and was most successful with his home bred Appaloosa “Foxy” who became State Champion in many different western disciplines. Steve then purchased a weanling palomino QH colt and together they carved out a very successful show and competition career, winning State awards.
The skill and training involved in the western discipline - Reining, offered Steve the challenges he was looking for and he has focused his attention to this arm of the sport and has now become involved in judging.
Around this time Steve’s work started to involve Farriery and he worked for Lindsay Park Racing Stables for a few years which presented the opportunity to handle many horses from yearlings to stallions.
In 1990 Steve attended a course presented by Pat Parelli, it was this course that paved Steve’s way into Natural Horsemanship. In 1995 Steve was invited into the Instructor Programme and during his 7 years with PNH he achieved 3 star ratings as an instructor, young horse trainer, horse starting specialist and 2 star ratings as a foundation trainer and difficult horse specialist.
During his association with PNH Steve conducted clinics in the USA, France, Italy, Germany, UK and Australia. He enjoyed this time of learning and in November 2002 decided it was time to move on independently. Steve’s new direction of teaching is based on combining the styles of many horsemen who have provided the inspiration and knowledge for Steve to find an easier way for horse and rider. He is pictured right, riding a half pass on Foxy.
Steve has become a popular clinician and speaker outside Australia and currently travels for 4 months each year to teach in Germany, Poland, UK, New Zealand and South Africa.
You can see Steve Halfpenny at EQUITANA Melbourne 2010. Steve will be participating in “The Way of The Horse – Australian Horsemanship Challenge” and will also present daily education sessions, demonstrating his training techniques.
For more information about Steve, you can visit his website www.silversand.com.au