Our Work 

Alongside running busy training yards, doing callouts, running courses and regularly demonstrating their methods all over Europe. Practical Horsemanship have a number of other projects underway:

Grant: New Zealand International Rodeo

In November 2008 Grant was invited and competed in the New Zealand International Rodeo. Grant says ‘It was an amazing 5 week tour finishing with a big night in front of 12,000 people in The Westpac Arena in Christchurch, complete with a spotlight entrance to our National Anthem! To be deemed good enough to be invited to compete against the best professional rodeo cowboys in the world was a great honour, and I’m already looking forward to next year’s competition!’ Grant was also invited to the Australian International Rodeo in Melbourne in May 2009 on the back of his performance in New Zealand. However, time has got the better of him, as things are too busy at home. New Leaf Farm is in the middle of a planning application involving an American barn with 8 more stables, new indoor round pen, a classroom, office and a house!

 

Dan: Over Stanley

Recently, Dan has been training a pony for a film based on a true story called ‘Over Stanley’. The main filming took place on Dartmoor at the end of March. The film is about a soldier in the Falklands war who got cut off and ended up in a mine field. On waking up in the morning he sees a pony wandering round the mine field, so he tries to scare it away, as he is terrified the pony will set off a mine. The pony, however, will not go away and instead approaches him. The solider decides that maybe the pony knows the way out safely and is trying to help him. He catches the horse and eventually gets on his back and rides him away into the distance. Dan says ‘All the filming of the horse (Rolo, a favoured riding school pony from St Leonards Equestrian Centre) had to be done free as a wild horse in the middle of Dartmoor and lots of the scenes were very specific. (things like: ok Dan, so he has to walk along here, stop at this point , then look startled to the left and trot away in this direction) there were some very tricky and very strange requests for Rolo but I managed to pull them off and get everything in the bag for every scene they wanted from us (with the help of Andy Reeve the owner of Rolo and proprietor of St Leonards Equestrian Centre)

Horse Event 2007 and 2008 - Dan Wilson
Horse Event 2007 will be remembered as a great success. On the 14th, 15th and 16th September 2007 over 31,500 horse fans walked through the entrance gates. The Sunday was even sold out! A combination of education, exhibition and some entertainmant, can be experienced at the wonderful grounds of the Dutch Equestrian Centre in Deurne. This strong combination makes Horse Event a unique experience for horselovers, from leisure riders to professionals and from dressage riders to carriage drivers. Again large numbers visited the 300 clinics and demonstrations and the 150 prominent companies present during the event in 2007.

Horse Event and Monty Roberts present Fiji, The Wild Mare

After last years public favourite, Leo, who was three days away from slaughter was trained, this years turn is Fiji. Fiji is a mare that comes from a herd of wild horses from the Ardennes. She may be among the few horses in the Netherlands and Belgium that grow up in the wild. However Fiji proved difficult to catch and the owners of the herd were desperate. What could they do with Fiji if they did not catch her? After various attempts the owners switched to the help of horse trainer Annemarie van der Toorn of Monty Roberts, Netherlands. Annemarie made a quick phone call to England to Dan Wilson, with whom she has trained hundreds of problem horses, and invited him on a trip to the Ardennes. On June 13th a whole team from Monty Roberts, Netherlands travelled off to the beautiful place La Roche-en-Ardenne.

 

Leo was a typical example of a horse with behavioural problems, caused by wrong human activity. Wild horses such as Fiji have no behaviour problems because they have hardly been in contact with people. They react in new situations purely from natural behaviour. Annemarie, Dan and the team will train Fiji at Horse Event 2008 and teach how you should communicate with a horse. They prove that a respectful and non-violent training your horse saves much misery and stress.

 

A video of catching Fiji can be found here 

 

(Text translated from www.horse-event.nl )

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Practical Horsemanship Disclaimer

Please not that it should be agreed that the owner / proprietor / and associates of both:

 

 

Dan Wilson of Goldhill Farm, St. Neot and Grant Bazin of New Leaf Farm, Byfield of Practical Horsemanship

 

 

will not accept any responsibility what so ever for any loss, damage, injury etc. caused by whatever reason either on, local to either of the premises or connected with the business in any way.

 

 

You will please not that:

• Working with horses is an inherently dangerous practice and horses are incredibly unpredictable animals;
• The person attempting to follow any suggestion from either Dan Wilson, Grant Bazin or any of their associates in hand or ridden is to do so at their own risk and assumes full responsibility for themselves, their horse and any others in the vicinity;
• There is no guarantee of success or safety for human or horse, in utilizing any of the methods/practices etc. for horsemanship suggested by Dan Wilson, Grant Bazin or any of their associates.