Engage in the proper care of A. Meliora Ranch’s farm animals, landscape, and grounds to include feeding, watering, training, and grooming horses, feed and water chickens, and care for other animals as needed. Other activities are stacking and moving bales of hay, sacks of grain or other processed feed, moving, using, maintaining horse tack, harvesting manure, watering garden, pruning of trees and shrubs, application of seeds, bulbs, plants, mulch and fertilizers as directed; operate weed eaters, hoes, shovels, rakes, and other hand tools and related landscape equipment as required.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Manage the feeding, watering, daily care, and training of horses. In cooperation with owners, plan EASLP demonstration and client session schedules for each week.  Prepare horses and equipment for EASLP sessions and horsemanship classes.  Help to organize and to hold EASLP sessions and basic horsemanship classes for group and private sessions.  Assist owners with general management and decision making in horse related matters.

Maintain session, field, and project maintenance records as directed; assist in the development of informational brochures about equine related programs on the micro-ranch.  In cooperation with owners, design and place advertising to invite clients for EASLP sessions and horsemanship classes.  Give farm tours, and talk with clients.

Assist in the design and installation of fences, horse shelters, barns and other horse or garden related structures located on the micro-ranch; as well as developing and maintaining pathways between Ranch structures.

Perform other related duties incidental to the work described herein. The above statements describe the general nature and level of work being performed by individuals assigned to this classification. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities and duties required of personnel so classified.

Outcomes: Participants will be able to discuss the following and perform the necessary duties as they relate to the A. Meliora Ranch environment.

• Ranch safety procedures
• Introduction to EASLP and basic horsemanship
• Feeding and watering horses
• Catch, lead, groom, and otherwise care for horses
• Training horses
• Horse tack use and maintenance
• Practice EASLP and basic horsemanship
• Herd Management Practices
• General construction practices of fencing and other structures
• Processing horse manure as garden fertilizer
• Recognizing poisonous plants
• Landscape integration with horse habitat
• General practices in holistic micro-ranch management
• Record keeping
• Marketing

Learning Outcome #1:       To be able to identify general horse anatomy, understand basic horse/human relationships, possess knowledge for safe horse handling on A. Meliora Ranch and be able to demonstrate and explain the difference between EASLP and horsemanship skills;

Learning Objective #2:       To be able to effectively and efficiently manage the horses on A. Meliora Ranch by utilizing a reliable system of care;

Learning Objective #3: To be able to communicate with community residents of the equine related services delivered on A. Meliora Ranch to generate interest, sales, and community relationships.