Equimersion

Equimersion. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Line On Agriculture.?

Some folks just like to relax on their vacations and then there are those that want a full-blown adventure. There are a lot of kids growing up that wished they had a horse. Both my wife and I wanted horses growing up but neither of us had the opportunity and as we get a little older we talk about it a lot. But owning a horse is not quite like buying a dog or cat. This is where Ken Jones comes in.

JONES: It can be anybody at any age but mostly when people reach retirement age they decide to get horses and it’s something they’ve always dreamed of but never done but they don’t have any experience. They don’t know where to start, where to turn, what to do. What I can offer is, basically all my life has been around horses and introducing people to horses so I can offer them a week of immersion in the horse world and get them started on the right foot.?

Jones program is called “Equimersion” which he took from the idea of language immersion where you learn by surrounding yourself with everything horses. The program is not a dude ranch atmosphere and it’s very one to one.?

JONES: It’s limited to one person or one group of 4 people that know each other and I don’t do anything for them. They have to catch the horse, halter the horse, saddle the horse and I’ve had experienced people. I had some rodeo guys who bulldogged, who were great athletes but didn’t know a lot about horses. But what I find out what I think the bigger market is the people that just want to get into horses and don’t really know what to do.

He says that by keeping the group small or on an individual basis, they can concentrate on what needs to be learned.

JONES: It’s really a week of learning. I really don’t do things for them or take them on trail rides. It’s trying to get them to understand how important it is to communicate with the horse, learn the horse language, read the horse and be safe around the horse.

So by now I’ve told Ken about my longing to be in the saddle and riding the range and oh by the way, I am getting much closer to retirement.

JONES: You’re perfect for the program. I can’t teach you to be a horseman in a week but what I can do is give you a really solid foundation and an understanding of what it’s all about so that when you go home you can find the right people to help you, you know the right questions to ask. I guess there is hope yet. Now what kind of a horse should I get?

That’s today’s Line On Agriculture. I’m Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.