Meet the Associates!
Tricia Day  EAQ Founder, Tricia Day developed EAQ as an umbrella organisation for those who were running equine assisted learning and equine facilitated therapy centres. Tricia said "There were lots of individual centres opening up but no standards for people to work to or supervision available for the facilitators. Equine facilitated learning can be very isolating and the equine therapists and facilitators were telling me that they would like to have more support and guidance as well as being able to talk with others who were doing the same sort of work."
Tricia developed the facilitator units which have been accredited by the Open College Network. Tricia enjoys being around the herd of horses who live with her in Dorset and continues to work on her own horsemanship skills as one of Steve Halfpenny's Silversand Horsemanship Instructors. Tricia had to overcome her own internal obstacles in order to get back into the saddle. Having learnt how to see things from the horse's point of view, Tricia started the fun4ponies website, fun4ponies.com, aimed at helping children with their horsemanship. She's written two books on horsemanship for children and is now working on helping many more people to gain from the experience of working with horses.
Her experiences helped her to understand how valuable the link is between horses and humans and how the two can work together. Contact Tricia by email The Australian Connection!  We have developed some fabulous links with trainers and assessors in the UK and Australia.
Marilyn (pictured here) is one of our staff members living in Australia. Marilyn is an experienced, dedicated and enthusiastic person who is keen to help you get the most out of your learning experience. She has lots of skills with horses and ponies and lives on a Sheep Station 50 km from Broken Hill, New South Wales.
Marilyn runs clinics and training events in Mildura, Victoria for young children who want to improve their horsemanship skills and is our Team Leader Downunder! If you have any questions about your course, how to put your portfolio together or any part of the process they will be delighted to help you. Contact Marilyn by email. Health and Safety Manager Dave is our 'Mr Safety' and looks after all the Health and Safety issues surrounding EAQ as well as doing all the cooking for those who come to us for training. He is responsible for the risk assessments for all our centres in the UK and will be able to help you if you have questions about any of these issues. In the last few years, Dave has increased his confidence with horses and will now happily lead one or go into the field with the herd. There was a time when that was far more than he could cope with! Internal Verifiers Celia is a trainer, assessor and one of our internal verifiers. She has worked with lots of horses and ponies  over the years and is very aware of the power of equine assisted learning. Celia enjoys riding as well as handling horses from the ground. Her interests are Offender Learning and Skills (OLASS), education and rehabilitation of offenders. Join the Team!
If you would like to join our team of associates please do get in touch with us. We think that facilitators need to have a teaching qualification such as a PGCE, Cert Ed, FAETC, TDLB level 3 or equivalent or a recognised counselling qualification but we know that your enthusiasm and commitment are important too - so if you can show us that you have those important qualities, we'll help you learn the rest! You also need to be experienced with horses. We currently use the Silversand Horsemanship Intermediate Skills as our benchmark for associates. Training and assessment is available from Silversand Horsemanship to ensure that you reach the required horsemanship standard. We have also written special units which have been accredited by the Open College Network for those wishing to become facilitators for equine assisted learning or who would like to open their own equine learning centre. Cheshire Dawn is based on a dairy farm in Cheshire with her family and herd of ponies. She is keen to help those who have children with autism. Ringwood, Hampshire Brenda is a Silversand Horsemanship Associate working in the Ringwood and Fordingbridge areas of Hampshire. Brenda said "My mum sent me to ballet, but then I discovered horses! Say no more. That was the end of ballet!!! That was at the age of 5. Now, 40 + years on and still here. I have worked in most areas which include Racing, Point to Point, Showing, Hunting yards, riding schools and managing a private yard. In 1997 I gained my Monty Roberts Preliminary Certificate of Horsemanship and then went on to study the Parelli methods. During this time, I met Steve and Irena. Steve’s teaching, inspired me and had a positive impact to help me understand that there really is another way to communicate with the horse. Having a family and spending some years working in care has helped me to realise that I can help other people to have a special relationship with their horse." Brenda is based in the NEW FOREST area and is happy to talk to anyone about this fabulous way of working with horses. Ireland The first EAQ Facilitator in Ireland is Lesley. She is a trained counsellor, coach, trainer, Bowen therapist and Reiki practitioner. Lesley runs Intouch equestrian which is a small yard based on the belief in the power of horses to reflect and influence human potential. She says "Some of our horses are MOT failures who have been put back on the road through skilled hoof care and complementary therapies, or have behavioural problems which mean they will never leave us. In searching for a way for them to lead useful lives and contribute to the economy, I finally found what I had been looking for for many years - a means to draw together my parallel passions for horses and human development, in Equine Assisted Learning.
Anyone who works with horses knows that they constantly challenge our levels of knowledge and skill, that every horse is as different and amazing as every human, that to be part of their lives is a gift and a privilege. If we can help other people experience their authenticity, their power and their gentleness, their patience and their capacity for forgiveness as well as their grace and beauty, maybe, with humility, we can repay them in some small way for the ignorance and injustices they have suffered in the past by allieviating a small amount of the human suffering of today." Glastonbury, Somerset
Melissa is also based near Glastonbury in Somerset. Melissa has some lovely ponies and works with young children who have learning difficulties, such as autism and tourettes. She holds a riding establishment licence and is able to offer riding instruction alongside the equine assisted learning. Scotland Shuna is a Silversand Horsemanship Associate and is able to help you with your horsemanship skills as well as running a range of workshops and clinics. Shuna lives on a farm in Argyll on the west coast of Scotland and the family herd of horses live out on the hills with wonderful woodland and Atlantic sea views. Shuna says "Having had lots of fun with ponies as a child but then spending many years travelling and working overseas and then running a restaurant I was intrigued and curious when I first heard the term natural horsemanship. In 1998 Don Knapp, a Parelli instructor from Canada came to run a workshop at Ardfern riding centre in Argyll, I went along with a friend's pony and despite initially feeling that I would never grasp the techniques, (which I have since discovered is a common feeling for a first day!) I was completely hooked and have been devoted to learning and experiencing as much as I can around horses since then. I spent some time on a ranch in the north of Kenya working with some semi-wild horses and found that far from this being a phase that may pass I wanted to learn intensively, so then I spent 15 months at the Natural Animal Centre in East Sussex starting as a working student and then becoming the yard manager. I learnt a great deal there and most importantly met Steve and Irena. On experiencing Steve's teaching and watching the videos produced by Philip Nye, I was thrilled to discover that they were working together to produce a teaching programme. In 2002/3 I spent 2 months at Silversand Natural Horsemanship Centre and am delighted when I am able to return there to work with some more horses and to improve my skills. I love the different challenges involved - learning to respect the horses's point of view, and working together on energetic and emotional levels which leads to, I believe, a deeper mutual communication. I am also involved in a long term project with Eriskay ponies, a certified rare breed from the outer hebridean islands of Scotland. Before the days of tractors these ponies were used by the crofters [small tenant farmers] for pulling, carrying, and general duties and were valued as an important asset to the family.They are a lovely, easygoing , people friendly breed capable of carrying children and small adults. Initially, I worked with them on the Isle of Coll, halter training, trailer-loading, ground games etc. and now I have brought some over to the mainland in order to back them and bring them on, and my aim is to teach them to be confident, reliable and responsive children's ponies and to match them with like-minded new owners! I appreciate that each horse and human combination is unique and I gain enormous satisfaction in being able to help in the growth of the partnership involved. I am currently working with the mixed herd of horses at home and with my horse, "Buckskin". I am teaching adults and children, and I am happy either for you to come to me or I can travel to your horse's home environment. Join The Team of Approved Centres and Facilitators
We are keen to increase the number of centres and make equine assisted learning more widely available. If you have the enthusiasm and commitment to work alongside us, we'll help you gain the skills you need to become an approved EAQ Centre or one of our Facilitators.
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