Learn how to use your mind and body to influence the horse on the ground, when riding or when driving to enhance your equine relationship. Suitable for novices right through to sportsman who wish to increase their winning edge.
The course start in the evening of the first day and finishes at 4.30 pm on the last day, in time for you to leave the island with the evening boat (5 pm).
It is possible to bring your own horse (no stallion or horses under 3) but please contact us in advance to arrange this. Cost of bringing your own horse is 100 euros including the cost of transport to and from the island from Roonagh Quay. Participants not bringing a horse will work with one of the horses on the farm.
The day starts at 8.00 am with a 90 minutes yoga class. We have found that yoga complements very well the work we do with horses. Through practicing yoa, we learn how to relax and become more aware of our bodies and breathing, and the horses certainly notice! Regular yoga practice also helps build fitness and body awareness for riding.
Afer breakfast, we go out to be with the horses until lunch, under Vanessa's expert guidance.
The afternoon sessions will be a mix of theory, discussion and practical work with the horses. All participants will have an opportunity to work one to one with Vanessa.
After dinner, we end the day with an (optional) evening meditation.
Note that this course will involve periods of silence.
The cost of the course is 600 euros and include full board accommodation (organic vegetarian food) and tuition in horsemanship and yoga.
The teachers:
Vanessa Bee
Vanessa Bee has been around horses for most of her life working in racing stables throughout her teens then driving competitively into her early twenties when she was given an 'unridable' racehorse as a wedding present. Very soon Vanessa realised that there had to be a better way than the 'bigger stick, bigger bit' method. It was in 1997 that the journey truly began to develop a style of teaching and riding that Vanessa has called Positive Horsemanship. Vanessa began to read, study and work with some of the greatest horseman of the age. Monty Roberts, Kelly Marks, Jayne Lavender, Ken Faulkner, Pat Parelli, and has used as her guides and mentors Henry Blake, Maurice Wright, Buck Brannaman, the Dorrances, Ray Hunt and Mark Rashid. She soon discovered that there as many ways of teaching horsemanship as there are horse/handlers in the world. A programme simply couldn't work all the time for everyone. With a degree in Education, and a qualified teacher, Vanessa has used her skills to develop a series of courses that teach people of all abilities and experience to achieve a positive relationship with their horses. Vanessa also holds a Monty Roberts Preliminary Certificate and is a developing Progressive Counsellor and constantly trains and studies to improve her method of guidance and teaching.
For more information, see Vanessa's website
Christophe Mouze and Ciara Cullen
Christophe and Ciara run the Clare Island retret centre, and have over 10 years of experience of teaching yoga retreats in Ireland and abroad. Their practice and teaching have been influenced by a number of yoga styles, particularly ashtanga (which they have studied with John Scott, Graeme Northfield, Patthabi Jois, Nancy Gilgoff and others), and the atma vikasa style of Venkatesh (from Mysore). Ciara has also studied Vanda Scaravelli's teachings under the guidance of Rossella Baroncini. Christophe originally trained as a Iyengar teacher in the 90s and has studied pranayama and Vipasana meditation.
Both of them also have owned horses for a number of years, and are currently exploring the connections between yoga and horsemanship.
If you are interested in this course, we recommend you book early, as number is limited to 6 participants.
