Education
Ruedi Battaglia working Raven at Thompson Small Farm.
Draft Horse Lessons
"One of the things I've learned over time is that the truly great teamsters rarely - if ever - have upset horses, close calls, mishaps or wrecks, while the less meticulous horsemen often do." - Doc Hammill
The primary focus of The New Farmer School is to re-familiarize people with the working horse, not just in theory, but in the flesh. From those who simply want to spend some time around these amazing beasts for reasons of personal interest yet have no intention of keeping nor utilizing them, to those who want to learn the gamut, from starting an untrained horse to accomplishing work in the field, we are on your side and ready to help. You can do this! We know, because when we started we had no prior experience with work horses. We bought untrained horses and did it all ourselves from scratch. As a result of this approach, we know what it takes to learn this skill from the ground up! Our system focus on safety first and foremost. Open to individuals and groups starting the winter of 2011/12.
Contact us for info or to book a lesson.
[email protected]
2020 Work Horse Orientation Clinics pending... stay tuned.
Jon harrowing with "three-abreast": Gwyneth, Raven and Emma.
We intend to keep offering these clinics as demand warrants. The imperatives of sustainability here on earth dictates that the world needs more horsemen and women. Whether and when the world realizes this, our commitment to this reality means we will be here.
Spend a day with the Thompson Small Farm Clydesdales at Bergen, an hour northwest of Calgary, learning first-hand the basics of draft horsemanship. From choosing to a horse to the basics of training, harnessing, driving, working, basic care and more, this day will show you what's involved in incorporating real horsepower into your life.
A sustainabile power source is the absolute #1 fundamental basis for any sustainability equation. Our other efforts towards sustainability are moot if we do not have a sustainable power source. We know not everyone is in a positiion to keep a horse at present, but we do believe that everyone would benefit from knowing something about these skills and developing a comfort around working animals, as mankind has benefitted for millenia.
To inquire further or to register, please fill out and send our contact form below. Payment will be accepted at the farm on the day of the clinic, but space is limited, so please RSVP ahead of time. Thank-you, and hope to see you there!
"The best thing for the inside of a person is the outside of a horse."
Spend a day with the Thompson Small Farm Clydesdales at Bergen, an hour northwest of Calgary, learning first-hand the basics of draft horsemanship. From choosing to a horse to the basics of training, harnessing, driving, working, basic care and more, this day will show you what's involved in incorporating real horsepower into your life.
A sustainabile power source is the absolute #1 fundamental basis for any sustainability equation. Our other efforts towards sustainability are moot if we do not have a sustainable power source. We know not everyone is in a positiion to keep a horse at present, but we do believe that everyone would benefit from knowing something about these skills and developing a comfort around working animals, as mankind has benefitted for millenia.
To inquire further or to register, please fill out and send our contact form below. Payment will be accepted at the farm on the day of the clinic, but space is limited, so please RSVP ahead of time. Thank-you, and hope to see you there!
"The best thing for the inside of a person is the outside of a horse."
About Us
photo: Bryce Meyer
Jonathan Wright
Jonathan Wright grew up "the old way" in vital respects. Mostly in the countryside, in the hills and along the rivers, fishing, hunting, trapping and working on the farm (although not with horses.) More recently, he came from a background in wildlife studies and conservation. He worked in this capacity as a government contractor, with the oil and gas industry, and did research on his own dime. He became interested in small-scale agriculture following the realization that attempting to save wildlife - species by species - was a "branch-hacking" approach while taking steps to return to a sustainable economic model with traditional agrarianism at its foundation was truly "striking at the root" of a whole range of our global crises.
Jon is responsible for raising, training and working the Thompson Small Farm horses and shares in all the myriad other farm tasks. Outside the farm, he is an expert on furbearers, snakes, birds, and a broad range other wildlife and natural lore. He is a recognized authority on the legendary wolverine and certain species of Canadian snakes, having made contributions to the scientific literature on both subjects, stemming from his own extensive field studies. He pioneered the use of remote cameras to identify and monitor wild wolverine, marten and fisher on an individual basis and over a span of years. He is a keen student of holistic survival - on farm and in the woods, and an expert tracker, having spent ten consecutive winters in the boreal wilderness of northwest Canada as a modern-day Coureur-de-bois engaged in the latter. He was publisher of a successful international niche magazine in the '90's. He has delivered lectures for the Alberta Wilderness Association, at the University of Calgary, the University of Lethbridge and beyond. His works have been published in a range of outside periodicals and magazines including but not limited to The Wildlands Advocate, Small Farm Canada, Canadian Geographic and BBC Wildlife Magazine.
Jonathan Wright grew up "the old way" in vital respects. Mostly in the countryside, in the hills and along the rivers, fishing, hunting, trapping and working on the farm (although not with horses.) More recently, he came from a background in wildlife studies and conservation. He worked in this capacity as a government contractor, with the oil and gas industry, and did research on his own dime. He became interested in small-scale agriculture following the realization that attempting to save wildlife - species by species - was a "branch-hacking" approach while taking steps to return to a sustainable economic model with traditional agrarianism at its foundation was truly "striking at the root" of a whole range of our global crises.
Jon is responsible for raising, training and working the Thompson Small Farm horses and shares in all the myriad other farm tasks. Outside the farm, he is an expert on furbearers, snakes, birds, and a broad range other wildlife and natural lore. He is a recognized authority on the legendary wolverine and certain species of Canadian snakes, having made contributions to the scientific literature on both subjects, stemming from his own extensive field studies. He pioneered the use of remote cameras to identify and monitor wild wolverine, marten and fisher on an individual basis and over a span of years. He is a keen student of holistic survival - on farm and in the woods, and an expert tracker, having spent ten consecutive winters in the boreal wilderness of northwest Canada as a modern-day Coureur-de-bois engaged in the latter. He was publisher of a successful international niche magazine in the '90's. He has delivered lectures for the Alberta Wilderness Association, at the University of Calgary, the University of Lethbridge and beyond. His works have been published in a range of outside periodicals and magazines including but not limited to The Wildlands Advocate, Small Farm Canada, Canadian Geographic and BBC Wildlife Magazine.
Lookee-here!
Andrea Thompson
Andrea Thompson gained a global perspective on life from the ground up - she grew up all over the world... Alberta, Tennessee, Georgia, Louisiana, the Yukon, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Hawaii. She attended an alternative secondary school, The Thacher School, of California, an institution which emphasized a holistic formative training focused on the outdoors as much as the in, and included such things as animal husbandry and horsemanship. She then went on to study the hospitality industry at the University of Denver in Colorado.
She is currently Executive Director and Vice President of "The Concorde Group" of venues in Calgary, Alberta, as well as being a principle force in the direction and execution of what goes on, with and at Thompson Small Farm. She is passionate about animals, having a rapport that is evident from the ease with which she interacts with them. She is devoted to seeing a return to profitability for the family farm in first-hand recognition of all the benefits this way of life bestows on humankind and their nations.
Andrea Thompson gained a global perspective on life from the ground up - she grew up all over the world... Alberta, Tennessee, Georgia, Louisiana, the Yukon, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Hawaii. She attended an alternative secondary school, The Thacher School, of California, an institution which emphasized a holistic formative training focused on the outdoors as much as the in, and included such things as animal husbandry and horsemanship. She then went on to study the hospitality industry at the University of Denver in Colorado.
She is currently Executive Director and Vice President of "The Concorde Group" of venues in Calgary, Alberta, as well as being a principle force in the direction and execution of what goes on, with and at Thompson Small Farm. She is passionate about animals, having a rapport that is evident from the ease with which she interacts with them. She is devoted to seeing a return to profitability for the family farm in first-hand recognition of all the benefits this way of life bestows on humankind and their nations.
