Learning Wild: Skyros
Fri 15 Mar 2024 9:00 AM - Mon 18 Mar 2024 4:00 PM
Isle of Skyros
Learning Wild: Skyros
Fri 15 Mar 2024 9:00 AM - Mon 18 Mar 2024 4:00 PM
Isle of Skyros
Description
We are excited to invite you to join us on the first Learning Wild course on the island of Skyros in March 2024. Skyros, one of the Greek islands in the Agean sea, is home to the Skyrian horse, one of the rarest horses in the world.
Learning Wild courses are designed to provide a unique experience for participants from around the world to explore the role of free-living equids in cultures, environments, and histories in a variety of international locations. We attract participants from a wide range of careers and backgrounds which allows us to facilitate conversations that engage with all levels of society and create opportunities to engage with the local community and needs of the horses and culture in which we are hosting the courses. We firmly believe that, by providing a space in which people can learn about the unique traits of the horses we are visiting, they can better understand the role these horses play in the history of the landscape, the local culture, and the environment. We believe that, by providing these experiences and perspectives on horses we can move forward to encourage greater biodiversity with horses as part of the dynamic ecosystems that can improve the health of our planet.
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.
For the Learning Wild Skyros Course which will take place in mid-March 2024, we will work closely with Amanda Simpson from the Skyros Island Horse Trust - Friends of the Skyrian Horse to better understand the exceptional history of the Skyrian horse; a breed that has been immortalised in history and myth and is a living representation of the richness of Greek history. As an animal with such a unique role in history, the Skyrian horse is a symbol of how we can move forward with a greater respect for nature while still honouring the past. We will discuss the history of these horses on the island as well as their role in the landscape, place in the culture and relationships with the people on the island. Historically, Skyrian horses have roamed the tiny island and played a large role in the ecosystem. There are still Skyrian horses living freely on the southern areas of Skyros and we will visit some of these locations to explore the vegetation and landscape that has served as their home for thousands of years and see if the free-living horses that still roam there are visible in a way that allows us to observe them without disrupting their natural behaviours.
ITINERARY
Day 1: Arrival
Arrive & settle in
Day 2: Orientation
The Art of Observation.
Equine evolution, physical and behavioural. Putting together a simple ethogram
.
Day 3: Environment, Ecology and conservation
Regenerative grazing, conservation grazing and the possibilities of sustainable environmental practices with horses as part of the landscape. We will explore the ways communities can come together to improve both economic and environmental growth and the potential for this here in Skyros.
Day 4: History and Culture
Working with Amanda and her volunteers at the Skyrian Horse Trust to contextualise their history and heritage, understand the cultural and historical changes which have led to restricted grazing for the Skyrian horses and the need to preserve the breed in a more domestic setting. We will learn about the ways in which the Trust is working to provide enrichment and behavioural needs to replicate and mirror the Skyrian horses natural environment while also improving the soil health.
Day 5: Behaviour - human and horse
Through group discussion we will contextualise and evaluate our observations and learning, along with bringing our unique local, regional and global perspectives to explore the ways we can translate what we have witnessed and learned here in Skyros with the settings, situations and environments we live and work to improve equine welfare, horse:human relationships, improved environmental practises and more by sharing ideas and interdisciplinary collaborations.
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:
Skyros Course (Greece)
Location
Isle of Skyros