EAST Gippsland horse owners are being invited to learn more about how to manage their paddocks to give their hoofed friends the best nutrition they need.
The Healthy Equine Land Practices – or HELP – project will enable equine owners to learn about pasture management in a series of courses starting this month.
Southern Farming Systems Nat Jenkins said course participants would get a free soil test and a free interpretation, an aerial picture and design of their property and access to vets.
“We’ll also cover managing pastures and animal health issues like worms and condition scoring and with the property design we’ll look at managing a fat pony’s nutritional needs as opposed to those of an eventing horse,” Ms Jenkins said..
“The best bit is you’ll get to learn with a group of like-minded horse lovers..
The HELP project will run in East Gippsland over 10 months in six two-hour sessions, with a session to be held every six weeks..
Each workshop will have a specialist presenter teaching five different themes.
The themes will include the basics of soil testing, an aerial map of participants’ properties, healthy soils, pastures, horse nutrition, and property design.
The final session will include a celebratory graduation dinner.
“The idea is to have 30 people divided into two groups of 15, to keep numbers low and allow participants to learn from each other,” Ms Jenkins said.
“We know horse owners are busy people with many commitments, so the first session – the basics – will decide the day of the week and timing.
Ms Jenkins said the group would decide the time of the sessions and location of the events to keep the course central to reduce travel time.
The HELP Project is a collaborative effort between Regional Landcare East Gippsland, Southern Farming Systems, the East Gippsland RALF Project and the East Gippsland Catchment Management Authority.
The HELP project costs $110 per person with places filling fast, to book, call Penny Gray from the Far East Landcare Orbost office, on 0429 142 225.
