Horsemen

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What is Horsemen?


This project primarily addresses the needs of Travellers and Roma in the area of vocational training. It will result in the development and implementation of one or more modules in horse-care specifically focussed towards Travellers and Roma. This need has been clearly identified by numerous organisations and bodies such as the EU parliament, the Roma World Congress, the OECD and OESO and by the client group themselves. Presently Travellers and Roma do not have the requisite educational attainment to avail of the formal Equine Courses that are provided presently by the various training organisations/organisations.

There is also a huge demand coming from the labour market that needs to be addressed (Source: RBA Holland); the demand for qualified horse carers is rapidly increasing due to the increase in horse keeping and riding. This is very important for the client group that the project is directed towards. For many years they would have kept horses and would have the necessary skills to carry out the tasks demanded with regard to horse keeping, but would not have the formal qualifications to do so in a credentialist society. It is only now the client groups are seeing the value of education as a way of achieving equality in society.

In specific Vocational Training Centres for Travellers and Roma, there has been little take up by males or females due to the lack of relevancy of some of the modules offered on the programmes to their cultural way of life. Many Travellers and Roma have requested that a programme should be provided to cater for their needs in relation to horses. There are much tighter controls for horse keeping in our modern society, so now more than ever Travellers and Roma must have the requisite skills to keep their horses in a more humane way due to the limited space available to them.

The target group is basically Travellers and Roma across the partner countries. They generally have very poor literacy skills but do have an innate knowledge of horses that has been passed on throughout the ages within their communities.

Partners in the Horsemen project

Co-ordinating body:

Belgian partner:

EFECOT (European Federation for the Education of the Children of the Occupational Travellers)
Vooruitgangsstraat 333/2 1030 BRUSSELS
Tel: 32 0 2 227 4064 Fax: 32 0 227 4069
E-mail: ludo.knaepkens@efecot.net
Director: Mr Ludo Knaepkens
website: www.efecot.net
EFECOT, the European Federation for the Education of the Children of the Occupational Travellers, is a European non-profit association, founded in 1988. EFECOT’s aim is to create and promote, throughout Europe, educational arrangements suited to the specific needs of the travelling communities (watermen, circuses, fairs, seasonal travellers and others) and to stop them being deprived of education and sidelined by the ordinary school systems. EFECOT has been stimulating, developing and co-ordinating European educational projects since 1989 and since 1995 in the framework of Comenius, Leonardo, Jeunesse pour l’Europe and the Telematics Applications Programme (Information Society DG).

Irish partners:


French partner:



Spanish partner:

Hungarian partner:

Dutch partner:

Aequor, knowledge and communication centre for the agricultural sectors

Postbus 601 (postadress) , Horaplantsoen 18
6710 BP EDE
The Netherlands
Contact person : Adriaan van Egmond, Sectormanager Livestock and Animal care
tel :+31 (0)318 64 95 22
Fax : +31 (0)318 64 19 18
e-mail : avegmond@aequor.nl
website:www.aequor.nl
Aequor is the knowledge and communication centre for the agricultural sectors, linking business and vocational education with a view to ensuring that the food and agricultural sectors continue in the future to play an important economic and social role in the Dutch society. As a meeting place, Aequor contributes to the distribution of knowledge and skills.

Aequor has equipped its building based on the theme ‘meeting’. The organisation takes up a proactive position in respect of initiating and organising meetings in the agricultural sector. During these meetings, coaching, consultancy, expertise and cooperation play a key role. To be able to offer tailor-made consultancy and support, Aequor has developed a number of tools including the quality assessment system and training courses for practical trainers.
Employers, employees and educational institutions are represented within Aequor. The organisation aims for the highest possible quality in products and service provision, as underlined by certification according to the ISO-9001:2000 standard.

Within Aequor, six sectors have been identified:
Flower and garden centre sector; florists, garden centres, travelling trade
Animal care; zoos, kennels, veterinary practices, children’s farms, pet retail trade
Green Spaces; (landscape) gardeners, municipalities, forestry companies, contractors, environmental consultancy agencies, recreation companies
Plant culture; arable and market gardening companies, agricultural contractors, wholesalers, biological-dynamic farms
Livestock and horse breeders; companies for beef cattle, pigs, poultry, livestock trade, horse breeders and riding stables
Food and beverages industry; businesses for processing or producing vegetables and fruit, bread and confectionery, chocolate, soft drinks and dairy products