Hi Steve,
I do have a TF course in the works for early october, though it is not up on the website yet. I'm planning to run both joinery and framing courses. Here is a link to the page with some course information:
http://www.wpltree.ca/workshopindex.htm

As far as design goes, I would get your horses and the space you need inside to work with the horses on paper before you get very far into frame design. One of the simplest frames to build is the ontario barn frame, and there would be plenty of examples in your area to learn from. Here is an example: