Hello,
Thank you for booking into the course here at “Alchemy Place”.
Here are some more details and logistical information. After reading through it please email or call if you have any questions.
START TIME – Official start time for the course will be 10:00am (except if there are weeks where we have a very small number of people and our class times will change as we won’t need as much time to get through all the information and learning experiences. You are welcome to observe me working with my horses if I am working with them before the start of class. This is a valuable learning experience and an extra bonus that comes with doing courses here at “Alchemy Place”. DAYLIGHT SAVINGS – start time will be 11:00 and finish time will be 6:00pm.
CAMPING (swag, tent, horse float, truck or bring your own caravan) is available on the property with toilet, shower and kitchen facilities. Camping is included in the course fee. There is just an additional charge of $7/night if you hook up to power.
There is some caravan accommodation on site – email or call me if you are interested in this.
There are also sometimes caravans available for hire.
COOKING FACILITES
There is gas stove, oven, microwave, fridges, freezer, cooking and eating utensils, food processor, juicer, toasters, kettle, toasted sandwich maker. Really all you need to bring is your food.
WASHING
As we are on rainwater we can’t offer people to do clothes washing here – people usually go into town to get groceries on the weekends and use the laundry mat while they are in town.
You can find our more details about the facilities at “Alchemy Place” here. https://www.melfleming.com.au/alchemy-place-horsemanship-retreat-centre/
MOTELS
Motel Accomodation is available very close by (about 8km away):
Kootingal Country Inn-. 02 6760 3902 (motel rooms & group budget accom)
Landview Motel – 02 6760 3273
Kootingal Kourt Caravan Park – 02 67603103 (hire vans & granny flat)
HORSE ACCOMODATION
Your horse will be in a pen (approx. 3.5m x 3.5m the average size of a stable) unless you pre-book a paddock. Pen accommodation for your horse is included in the course fee. There are limited paddocks available. They are safely fenced with electric wire or white tape.
If horses are in a pen overnight it is important to take them hand walking and grazing each morning out along the roadside, so that they get to stretch their legs and get some grass pick. Apart from the health need for this it is also very relationship building.
The pens have no shelters so bring rugs in case of wet weather, the paddocks have some trees to provide shelter.
Paddocks are $25/day & night/horse or $15 per night only (5:30 pm – 8am).
Paddocks are only available to horses that have had the worm check done.
If you want to bring more than one horse – let me know – it will depend on whether there is room for extra horses. Generally only one horse will be used in the course (unless you have discussed this specifically with me) but sometimes people like to bring a second horse as a spare or so that they can work with him/her outside of class time.
HORSE WORMING – Alchemy Place is a beautiful property with some lovely bushland and a creek. Because I run my herd of horses over all the paddocks – picking up manure is not possible. So I manage worming by rotating horse paddocks and using very strategic worming protocols which include frequent faecal egg counts for my horses. The faecal egg counts are also a way of seeing if we have any chemically resistant worms – which is starting to become a huge and very serious issue in many parts of the world. So far it seems that I don’t have any resistant worms which is fantastic and I would like to keep it that way.
So when I have other horses come to the property I either ask that they stay on certain areas of the property (which means that they can’t go exploring over the property) or that owners show a very recent (within the last 4 weeks) faecal egg count showing their horses are under 200. If they are over 200 they need to be wormed and then retested again after 2 weeks. You can learn more here www.wormcheckaustralia.com
Most vets will do faecal egg counts but you can also send manure samples for testing to www.wormcheckaustralia.com or to www.gystpara.com.au this is where I mail them to – it is very affordable, I think just $7 / sample. I think vets charge a lot more.
To make it easy if you are not familiar with doing this :- just get a small amount – small handful – of fresh poo and put in a Ziplock sandwich bag and send your sample via mail to – Parasitology Locked Bag 6000, Armidale NSW 2350 cost is $7 per test. Here is the form to fill out to go with it https://irp.cdn-website.com/7e143531/files/uploaded/form2.pdf and you can find out more here if you are interested. www.gystpara.com.au
It is no problem if you don’t want to do this (but I think worth doing for you own self and your horses welfare) it just means you have to stay in certain allocated areas with you horse where we can pick up manure.
DOGS – no dogs unless you have special permission.
HORSE FEED – If your horse is penned he/she will need quite a supply of hay over the time period and I recommend that you feed some pasture or cereal hay if they stay in a pen and do not have paddock access, rather than solely feeding lucerne hay if possible. Even if your horse is paddocked you may need to supplement with lucerne or if they are in a pen during the day they will need a haynet/lunch in the pen.
There is a feed store just down the road where you can purchase most feeds, Lucerne hay, Teff Hay an sometimes Oaten Hay. I would preorder the Teff Hay and Oaten Hay just to make sure they have it in stock. You can ring them to pre-order your feed and have it delivered here waiting for you if you like. Their number is 02 5776 6020 – Pursehouse Rural. If you let them know you are doing a course here they will bring everyone’s stuff all up in one drop off.
*Note about Feeding your horse – Some of you will be new to travelling with and feeding horses when they are locked up in pens rather than free ranging on pasture. So here are a few important things to know. Horse’s stomachs are designed to eat small amounts often and a lot of roughage is important. So they will need hay at least 3 times per day and an average 15hh horse would need a MINIMUM of 1 biscuit in the morning, 1 biscuit for lunch and 2 biscuits for dinner. Many horses will need a couple of biscuits more than this – horses eat a lot !!!! Greener hay is not always better. If hay is too green horses can get scours (diarrhea) so lucerne that is NOT bright green is better and a mix of lucerne and pasture hay is better or you can alternate between the two. Slow feeder haynets are ideal to use in these situations as they slow the horses eating down so it simulates grazing. (If you don’t know about these let me know and I can explain). I can also recommend what and where to buy.
I don’t usually feed molasses to horses but it can be good if horses get dehydrated after travelling or are not happy to drink strange water.
SHAVINGS – I would recommend that you get some shavings for your horse pen to make your pen more comfortable for you horse. I think 3 bags would be a good amount to order. You can order these from Pursehouse Rural (number above). A wheel barrow and rake will be provided but sometimes with shavings, a pair of rubber gloves and picking up by hand is helpful. If you have a pooper scooper bring that as it could also be useful.
EQUIPMENT
There are certain pieces of equipment that I personally use and recommend for this course. Good equipment can really make a big difference.
- HALTER- correctly fitting ROPE halter – (this is my preferred halter – made from Tufftack rope 6mm)
- LEAD ROPES- 12’ rope (12mm diameter yachting braid without a clip – again I like the TuffTack rope best). If you have a longer 22’ line also bring that – not essential – I prefer them without a clip.
- DRESSAGE STICK – (110cm) the ideal stick to have but if you don’t have one or can’t get one you could use a stick and string as described below if that is what you currently have.
OR
- STICK & STRING – Carrot stick or communication stick with a Horsemans/savvy string attached. (If you have a dressage stick and lunge whip you do not need this as well).
This is the basic equipment that I like to have on hand when working with horses. The right tools are a BIG help. They offer the right feel, are balanced, offer better communication and are easier to use. The less skilled someone is the more important good equipment is.
I usually get my ropes and halters from Lisa Phillips wyanbah@gmail.com
0412 092 670.
She uses the rope I like best and the sizing and fit of the halters is really good. Ask for a 12′ lead rope unless you are wanting the 22′ longer rope. Many of the other brands don’t size the halters well, so how they fit around the horse’s nose is not ideal.
If Lisa can’t meet your needs or can’t do the colours that you want Natural Horse World is my next go to. https://naturalhorseworld.com/
This is the basic equipment that I like to have on hand when working with horses. I do have some rope halters and leads here for sale if need some. If you are not sure about any of it or whether what you have will suffice, before you go and purchase anything, email or call and ask as I can advise you. There may be some equipment available for lease during the course or the chance to try out a piece of equipment during the course.
HOOF BOOTS – if your horse is not shod and you have hoof boots bring them. If horses aren’t shod, a lot of time they will go better with boots on in my arena. My arena is perfect to ride on when we have had some rain but if it gets really dry it gets a bit hard and compacted. I can recommend Scoot boots – get in touch if you need some assistance with this.
- Horse Requirements -Feed buckets, water buckets, feed, hay, grooming equipment, FLY MASKS, FLY REPELLENT, First Aid Kit, perhaps a rug in case of wet or extremely cold weather if they will be in pens without shelter.
- Helmet – We do advise people to wear helmets when riding or if you have a dangerous horse in the groundwork. But you do have the choice. If you choose to ride in one, it needs to be a safety standard approved helmet.
- For the ground work – enclosed shoes must be worn.
Safe riding boots are essential for participation in the riding components of the course – this means smooth soled, fully enclosed, HEELED boots. Thick rubber soled boots with a thick tread are NOT safe for riding eg. Redback or blundstone boots. - Fly masks/ Fly repellent – For Horses & Humans – the flies could get bad here towards the end of the course.
- Loose fitting or stretchy clothing for body awareness movement and stretching sessions.
- Sunscreen, Hat, Wet and Cold weather gear – be prepared for all conditions
- Notepad and pen
- Swag and camp bed – Often at the courses people like to camp near their horse, just outside their pens, which is why we say bring a swag and or camp bed. The feedback about doing this has been fabulous – people love the experience and it really increases the bond between you and your horse. It’s a very special experience and the stars at Moonbi are beautiful to camp under.
DIRECTIONS TO ALCHEMY PLACE
413 GAOL CREEK RD, MOONBI
0428 385 745 mobile
DIRECTIONS:
From Bendemeer or Armidale: on the New England HWY just at the bottom of the Moonbi range there is a big sweeping bend to the left before you come into the Moonbi village (you will see ANDROMEDA Rubber Belting on your left).
- TURN RIGHT INTO CHARLES ST. It is very hard to see the street name from the HWY but it is just after ANDROMEDA Rubber Belting and before the Mechanics shop (Dunn’s Truck Recovery) post office and general store on your right.
- TURN RIGHT IMMEDIATELY INTO GILL STREET.
- GILL ST BECOMES GAOL CREEK RD- go 4 km and we are the last property on the left at the end of the bitumen #413. The front entrance is post and rail and you’ll see a big shed on the hill.
- From Tamworth:
Follow signs to Armidale. You need to get on to the New England HWY. When you come into Moonbi about 20 mins from Tamworth you will go past the Caltex service station and see the Moonbi store and post office on your left.
- TURN LEFT INTO CHARLES ST (just after the post office)
- TURN IMMEDIATELY RIGHT INTO GILL ST (Runs parallel to the HWY and goes past the showground) and then follow the above directions from Gill St on.
PLEASE NOTE – If you go past our gate way reverse back as it is very hard to turn around with a float at the end of our road. When you come in to the property with your float, after coming through the main entrance, turn LEFT through an opening in the white tape electric fence. There will be a sign directing you. This will take you into the float parking and horse pen area.
My contact number if you need to call is 0428 385 745
Looking forward to seeing you soon,
Mel 💜