Soooo pleased with Lisselan Amazon today, for a horse that has never left the ground before she was very honest in her first jump schooling session. Rolled a few poles but never stopped at anything and built up to about 2'9" parallel poles to finish. I am sure Simon thought we were lying when we said she had never left the ground before, but both John and I asked Jenny Bidgood (her previous trainer) when we bought her and she said she hadn't. John double checked with her today to make sure, she was so good. She is such a brave and bold girl, Luke, her rider for the session reckoned the higher it went the better shape she made, he also mentioned the word 'chasing', we can but hope.
Shilpa, with Hannah on top had the benefit of a similar session which both horse and rider enjoyed. I really love to see both girls working together, they hacked up to the larger outdoor school which is a 10-15 minute ride away from Simon's yard both horses relaxed and riders chatting walking on the buckle, had a similar walk back home by which time the girls were nice and cool and ready to enjoy the rest of their day. Amazon, although the younger of the two gives Shilpa lots of confidence on the road, Shilps has really only worked in a string before coming to Simon's so all this hacking is quite new to her especially on her own. Simon uses the facilities of yards at either end of the village to him and often gets the horses hacking up on their own to warm up before they get to the gallops or the large outdoor school. The other morning they were going past people stopping at the village shop, children playing in the school playground and the general hurly burly of busy village life, without a care in the world, lots of people shouting hello to them as they went past.
John was in charge of the camera, hence the lack of good quality pictures for this post, he claims he was so entranced with what was going on he forgot to take any although he did get a few, we will put them up on epds-racing.co.uk shortly.
Monday, 12 December 2011
Friday, 11 November 2011
New Pete Ramey Book - It's Arrived
My copy of the new Pete Ramey book arrived yesterday, it looks really good, it is a large hard back with 31 chapters in it and includes contributions from people like Bowker, Kellon and Hilary Clayton. It was really expensive (£130 including shipping I think) but it looks like the sort of book you can dip in and out of and use as a resource for many years.
It's called Care and Rehabilitation of the Equine Foot, I would describe it as more of a medical text book however it is written in Pete's easy to understand style, even the bits not written by him are ok to follow whilst still covering quite heavy subjects eg Chaper 5 by Robert Bowker which is "The horses foot as a nuerosensory organ: How the horse perceives its environment".
My excuse for buying it (apart from the fact that I wanted it) is a birthday present for my other half, he is a bit of a slow reader so it may be a while before I get it back again. Unfortunately it was his birthday last Monday so I don't even get a couple of days before I have to wrap it, there is a temptation to buy him something else but I stupidly told him all about it .....
I will do a review of it once I have read it but first impressions are very good.
It's called Care and Rehabilitation of the Equine Foot, I would describe it as more of a medical text book however it is written in Pete's easy to understand style, even the bits not written by him are ok to follow whilst still covering quite heavy subjects eg Chaper 5 by Robert Bowker which is "The horses foot as a nuerosensory organ: How the horse perceives its environment".
My excuse for buying it (apart from the fact that I wanted it) is a birthday present for my other half, he is a bit of a slow reader so it may be a while before I get it back again. Unfortunately it was his birthday last Monday so I don't even get a couple of days before I have to wrap it, there is a temptation to buy him something else but I stupidly told him all about it .....
I will do a review of it once I have read it but first impressions are very good.
Monday, 3 October 2011
Well It's Been A While
Been a while since I have blogged and in that time we have had one break in at the yard, one mild choke and a vet who refused to come out because he had not been out to see me in two years, a slightly fat leg meaning a couple of weeks off work and some confused horses who have been busy growing winter coats and now think they have moved to Australia and it is summer again.
Big news however is that a friend and I are currently exploring the possibility of setting up a racehorse partnership (www.epds-racing.co.uk). JTB is a keen race goer and sponsor and asked me to be involved in as he knew I was horsey. He hadn't quite expected my 'I don't know what I think about racing, I don't like the conditions they are kept in or the way they get chucked on the scrap heap, often on a one way trip to Exeter' outburst. Once I had told him that Exeter wasn't a favourite holiday destination for retired horses he agreed that the welfare of the horse should come first and that I could create the shortlist of trainers. My shortlist is very short, in fact there is really only one trainer on it, who just happens to train barefoot so exciting times ahead, we could have our very own barefoot race horse running in National Hunt races soon.
It will be a partnership horse so hoping some like minded individuals will join in.
Big news however is that a friend and I are currently exploring the possibility of setting up a racehorse partnership (www.epds-racing.co.uk). JTB is a keen race goer and sponsor and asked me to be involved in as he knew I was horsey. He hadn't quite expected my 'I don't know what I think about racing, I don't like the conditions they are kept in or the way they get chucked on the scrap heap, often on a one way trip to Exeter' outburst. Once I had told him that Exeter wasn't a favourite holiday destination for retired horses he agreed that the welfare of the horse should come first and that I could create the shortlist of trainers. My shortlist is very short, in fact there is really only one trainer on it, who just happens to train barefoot so exciting times ahead, we could have our very own barefoot race horse running in National Hunt races soon.
It will be a partnership horse so hoping some like minded individuals will join in.
Monday, 15 August 2011
Easycare Gloves Wide In Stock In UK
Exciting day today the gloves wides are finally here. Just ordered a fit kit and my first demo pair, there are an awful lot of people waiting for these so can't wait for them to arrive!
Sunday, 24 July 2011
Pee Wee And Passage
After being away last weekend at a Marike De Jong dressage clinic in Somerset I decided this week would be spent pootling about the yard with the horses (after I had recovered from two leaving do's involving a midnight and 2am finish).
The OH decided that as he was up to date with all the trimming that he would ride Max, of course he tells me that at the yard when all his tack was at home, so we cobbled together a treeless saddle, pony length non-dressage girth and Jamie's bridle that is cob sized with a pee-wee bit. We thought it may go either way as horses either love or hate the pee wee, Max wasn't quite in the hate category, confused probably is the best description of it. Jamie goes very well in it, he has a shallow smile, very small tongue and low palette, typical TB mouth. Rosey loves it, she has thick lips and a large tongue and can be a bit gobby in her baucher French link. Max has a similar mouth confirmation to Rosey but he wasn't very responsive in it, this was demonstrated when Charlie cantered home in front of him and Max decided he wanted to go too. N got a lovely passage from him, lots of sit and power, he felt he would have pinged if he had taken more of a hold though so don't think we will try that experiment again.
Fitted hoof boots to a customer whose farrier has told her to remove the front shoes due to the hoof quality. Nice mare and owner I hope it works out for her. Farrier had removed the shoes but not trimmed at all which meant it was impossible to fit a boot, we ended up taking a rasp to them ourselves but really needed nippers. Farrier came back out to tidy up, still not quite as good as a barefoot trim but good enough I think to get going. Fittted Gloves and the horse moved quite nicely in my demo pair even though they were a size too big, discussed the financial benefit to using Gloves at £108 per pair and lasting around a year plus, to a half a set of shoes at £40 or so every 6-8 weeks, she may consider taking the hinds off as well. Could be another horse and owner going barefoot without really realising it .......
The OH decided that as he was up to date with all the trimming that he would ride Max, of course he tells me that at the yard when all his tack was at home, so we cobbled together a treeless saddle, pony length non-dressage girth and Jamie's bridle that is cob sized with a pee-wee bit. We thought it may go either way as horses either love or hate the pee wee, Max wasn't quite in the hate category, confused probably is the best description of it. Jamie goes very well in it, he has a shallow smile, very small tongue and low palette, typical TB mouth. Rosey loves it, she has thick lips and a large tongue and can be a bit gobby in her baucher French link. Max has a similar mouth confirmation to Rosey but he wasn't very responsive in it, this was demonstrated when Charlie cantered home in front of him and Max decided he wanted to go too. N got a lovely passage from him, lots of sit and power, he felt he would have pinged if he had taken more of a hold though so don't think we will try that experiment again.
Fitted hoof boots to a customer whose farrier has told her to remove the front shoes due to the hoof quality. Nice mare and owner I hope it works out for her. Farrier had removed the shoes but not trimmed at all which meant it was impossible to fit a boot, we ended up taking a rasp to them ourselves but really needed nippers. Farrier came back out to tidy up, still not quite as good as a barefoot trim but good enough I think to get going. Fittted Gloves and the horse moved quite nicely in my demo pair even though they were a size too big, discussed the financial benefit to using Gloves at £108 per pair and lasting around a year plus, to a half a set of shoes at £40 or so every 6-8 weeks, she may consider taking the hinds off as well. Could be another horse and owner going barefoot without really realising it .......
Tuesday, 12 July 2011
Sigh - Feed Annoyances Again
So, I spoke to Charnwood yesterday about their Brewers Yeast as I want to make sure I can get some more in that horses will actually eat. They said they currently have German and out of the batch they have had over the last month or so they have ~only~ had a couple of people report that their horses won't eat it. That still seems quite a lot to me particularly if those are people that regularly feed Brewers Yeast which they probably would be as they are buying it in 25Kg sacks. He said they had had awful trouble with the Czech stuff and it almost sounded like it wasn't actually Brewers Yeast as he called it something different to Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Whatever it was the horses obviously didn't like it. The good news is is that they are getting Polish stuff back in stock in 10 working days and that is the stuff the horses like. Don't think they will be messing around with suppliers any more judging from the feed back they have got.
Second call to a feed company was to Top Spec to tell them that so far three sacks of their ~molasses free~ Top Spec Top Chop Lite contained large (about 2 inch by 2 inch) lumps of molasses in it. They were understandably concerned about this and took it much more seriously than Marksway did when I reported the same problem with one of their feeds. My suspicion is that both companies have their feed made by the same mill and if this is the case then unfortunately this time I am reporting it to trading standards as they really couldn't see why I was bothered last time I complained. Last time it resulted in three horses getting laminitis and their feet have only just started to recover from it. We shall see what happens.
Second call to a feed company was to Top Spec to tell them that so far three sacks of their ~molasses free~ Top Spec Top Chop Lite contained large (about 2 inch by 2 inch) lumps of molasses in it. They were understandably concerned about this and took it much more seriously than Marksway did when I reported the same problem with one of their feeds. My suspicion is that both companies have their feed made by the same mill and if this is the case then unfortunately this time I am reporting it to trading standards as they really couldn't see why I was bothered last time I complained. Last time it resulted in three horses getting laminitis and their feet have only just started to recover from it. We shall see what happens.
Sunday, 10 July 2011
Phew glad that's over
Last weekend was fantastic, worked with T's pony Minnie and C rode her, the first time the pony has been worked for three months and the first time C had ridden anything else in almost a year. It was fantastic to see how her riding has come on.
We used my failed MOT car to move a load of horse food as it's last job before it went to the great scrap heap in the sky, took the opportunity to give C a couple of driving lessons around the fields. She is only 15 but I think it is never to early to learn how to handle a car safetly particularly as we may need her driving skills for hay making .......
So pretty good really up until we got the horses in on Sunday evening to find Jamie had four filled legs. One leg I can cope with but four is never a good sign. He seemed well enough in himself so we cold hosed, then walked, then cold hosed, then walked again and put him to bed for the night, he has thick rubber in his stable and he tucked in to his dinner so didn't seem bothered by it. The following morning they were down a bit but still up, Neil turned him out and I got down about 7am to check him. Working on the assumption of 'it was something he ate - poison' or 'something he ate - loads of grass after the rain' we muzzled him and put boots all round. Monday evening the front legs were down completely and by Wednesday the hinds were completely down. He was still cantering around the place and in good spirits so not sure what that was. He went out with no muzzle for the first time today and came in fine.
Definitely something in the grass after the weather we have been having, Max came in like a space cadet yesterday and Charlie had faint pulses today although they disappeared after work. If we could get fence posts in we would cut the paddock in half we can't though so will have to cut down the bucket feed, up the exercise and reduce the turnout time a bit. The paddock looks completely bare but it is coming through and they are eating it as soon as it appears.
The feed experiment to remove all alfalfa from the ponies diets is going well, the fast fibre and unmollassed sugar beet looks really boring but they are eating it well and are out for about 6 hours a day in the paddock with muzzles with a filter in. Feet are getting back in to shape after their blip and Neil has perfected walking all three of them at the same time. We have told C that after seeing her ride a 12.2 last weekend there is no reason why she shouldn't start riding Magic and Charlie once we are sure they are 100% ready for it, I think in a couple of weeks so just in time for the school holidays.
Major pain of the weekend was finding huge lumps of molasses in my Top Spec Top Chop Lite guaranteed molasses free chaff. This is the second time this has happened last time was Markway stuff. I will be on the phone complaining to Top Spec tomorrow, really not happy but at least the vulnerable horses weren't being fed it.
Had a huge amount of orders for Brewers Yeast, apparently the most recent Charnwood stuff was so unpalatable that most horses refused to eat it. I order my stuff from them 50 sacks at a time so I had plenty of Polish stuff in stock which they will eat. Unfortunately due to the demand I am now out myself apart from my own personal stuff so will need to see if I can get some more from somewhere. I bet Simple System's aren't happy if they have been supplying them with nasty stuff as well, it is the Czech stuff apparently, Polish and German is fine.
All in all I will be glad to get to work tomorrow even if most of it will be spent on the phone to feed companies.
We used my failed MOT car to move a load of horse food as it's last job before it went to the great scrap heap in the sky, took the opportunity to give C a couple of driving lessons around the fields. She is only 15 but I think it is never to early to learn how to handle a car safetly particularly as we may need her driving skills for hay making .......
So pretty good really up until we got the horses in on Sunday evening to find Jamie had four filled legs. One leg I can cope with but four is never a good sign. He seemed well enough in himself so we cold hosed, then walked, then cold hosed, then walked again and put him to bed for the night, he has thick rubber in his stable and he tucked in to his dinner so didn't seem bothered by it. The following morning they were down a bit but still up, Neil turned him out and I got down about 7am to check him. Working on the assumption of 'it was something he ate - poison' or 'something he ate - loads of grass after the rain' we muzzled him and put boots all round. Monday evening the front legs were down completely and by Wednesday the hinds were completely down. He was still cantering around the place and in good spirits so not sure what that was. He went out with no muzzle for the first time today and came in fine.
Definitely something in the grass after the weather we have been having, Max came in like a space cadet yesterday and Charlie had faint pulses today although they disappeared after work. If we could get fence posts in we would cut the paddock in half we can't though so will have to cut down the bucket feed, up the exercise and reduce the turnout time a bit. The paddock looks completely bare but it is coming through and they are eating it as soon as it appears.
The feed experiment to remove all alfalfa from the ponies diets is going well, the fast fibre and unmollassed sugar beet looks really boring but they are eating it well and are out for about 6 hours a day in the paddock with muzzles with a filter in. Feet are getting back in to shape after their blip and Neil has perfected walking all three of them at the same time. We have told C that after seeing her ride a 12.2 last weekend there is no reason why she shouldn't start riding Magic and Charlie once we are sure they are 100% ready for it, I think in a couple of weeks so just in time for the school holidays.
Major pain of the weekend was finding huge lumps of molasses in my Top Spec Top Chop Lite guaranteed molasses free chaff. This is the second time this has happened last time was Markway stuff. I will be on the phone complaining to Top Spec tomorrow, really not happy but at least the vulnerable horses weren't being fed it.
Had a huge amount of orders for Brewers Yeast, apparently the most recent Charnwood stuff was so unpalatable that most horses refused to eat it. I order my stuff from them 50 sacks at a time so I had plenty of Polish stuff in stock which they will eat. Unfortunately due to the demand I am now out myself apart from my own personal stuff so will need to see if I can get some more from somewhere. I bet Simple System's aren't happy if they have been supplying them with nasty stuff as well, it is the Czech stuff apparently, Polish and German is fine.
All in all I will be glad to get to work tomorrow even if most of it will be spent on the phone to feed companies.
Sunday, 26 June 2011
Must be mad
Can someone tell me exactly why I agreed to Rosey's owner's plan to escort her and C on Charlie out for a hack around the roads this afternoon?
The hottest day of the year so far saw me walking with riding boots with no socks on trying to avoid two horses who were doing their best to avoid the horse flies and if they did get one bounced around on the spot until I could swat it.
We managed to find boots for Rosey in front, once we had found an Easycare screw kit to put the gaiter back on that she managed to remove last time she wore them. We found boots alround for Charlie, one back one came off when we were still in sight of the yard so both got removed and hidden in the hedge, one front one came off halfway round and the final one came off when we were in sight of the yard again. It is not easy to remove a hoof boot from a pony who is trying to kick horse flies off his belly. I guess Charlie's feet have changed shape a lot since he was measured up for boots.
We also got shouted out by a women for not wearing high vis, I know we should but it was very hot and I was walking in the middle of the road with a beige T shirt on. I shared my point of view which was if she hadn't have been driving so fast she would have had more time to see us and slow down. We also met three motorbikes which are Rosey's worst thing in the whole world, they very kindly stopped and I told L to put Rosey in the drive of a house, she interpreted this as riding up the drive and pointing Rosey's head at the front door, between two cars, closely followed by Charlie, still trying to do his best to get rid of the horse fly on his belly.
Never have I been so pleased to see the yard after 2.25 miles.
The hottest day of the year so far saw me walking with riding boots with no socks on trying to avoid two horses who were doing their best to avoid the horse flies and if they did get one bounced around on the spot until I could swat it.
We managed to find boots for Rosey in front, once we had found an Easycare screw kit to put the gaiter back on that she managed to remove last time she wore them. We found boots alround for Charlie, one back one came off when we were still in sight of the yard so both got removed and hidden in the hedge, one front one came off halfway round and the final one came off when we were in sight of the yard again. It is not easy to remove a hoof boot from a pony who is trying to kick horse flies off his belly. I guess Charlie's feet have changed shape a lot since he was measured up for boots.
We also got shouted out by a women for not wearing high vis, I know we should but it was very hot and I was walking in the middle of the road with a beige T shirt on. I shared my point of view which was if she hadn't have been driving so fast she would have had more time to see us and slow down. We also met three motorbikes which are Rosey's worst thing in the whole world, they very kindly stopped and I told L to put Rosey in the drive of a house, she interpreted this as riding up the drive and pointing Rosey's head at the front door, between two cars, closely followed by Charlie, still trying to do his best to get rid of the horse fly on his belly.
Never have I been so pleased to see the yard after 2.25 miles.
Saturday, 25 June 2011
The Hippogriff
Met another interesting horse this week on my saddle fitting journey. The owner invited me in to the horses stable but the horse was a little wary of me being there, I think probably he thought I was a vet, particularly as I was carrying a flexi curve in my hand.
A few years ago I may have asked for a headcollar to be put on the horse or been a bit annoyed with the horses 'bad manners' in turning his bottom on me. My time with Peter Laidely and undertaking some Epona training has made me view the world very differently now. I was a stranger and I had come in to O's enclosed space uninvited, the owner had invited me in but it was O's space and I had been a rude visitor and not paid attention to the proper etiquette in this matter.
His owner explained that he could be shy around people that he didn't know. I don't feel the horse was being objectionable, he was simply telling me that he had not invited me in to his space and who was I to barge in and expect him to stand still when I hadn't introduced myself and hadn't asked his permission to template him. I am sure customers think I am completely barmy when I verbally introduce myself to their horse and have a conversation with them.
Anyway when I inadvertantly forget my manners I channel my inner Harry Potter meeting a Hippogriff for the first time. JK Rowling writes:
Now, firs' thing yeh gotta know abou' hippogriffs is, they're proud. Easily offended, hippogriffs are. Don't never insult one, 'cause it might be the last thing yeh do. Yeh always wait fer the hippogriff ter make the firs' move. It's polite, see? Yeh walk towards him, and yeh bow, an' yeh wait. If he bows back, yeh're allowed to touch him. If he doesn' bow, then get away from him sharpish, 'cause those talons hurt. —Rubeus Hagrid teaches his first class about hippogriffs.
So, I stayed in the middle of the stable, crouched down and said "hello O, I have come to fit you with a new saddle" and he walked over to me, put his head down to my hand holding the flexi curve and gave me a little nuzzle, then I slowly stood up and gave him a scratch and said "thank you" and proceeded to template him with him loose in the stable with no problems at all.
A few years ago I may have asked for a headcollar to be put on the horse or been a bit annoyed with the horses 'bad manners' in turning his bottom on me. My time with Peter Laidely and undertaking some Epona training has made me view the world very differently now. I was a stranger and I had come in to O's enclosed space uninvited, the owner had invited me in but it was O's space and I had been a rude visitor and not paid attention to the proper etiquette in this matter.
His owner explained that he could be shy around people that he didn't know. I don't feel the horse was being objectionable, he was simply telling me that he had not invited me in to his space and who was I to barge in and expect him to stand still when I hadn't introduced myself and hadn't asked his permission to template him. I am sure customers think I am completely barmy when I verbally introduce myself to their horse and have a conversation with them.
Anyway when I inadvertantly forget my manners I channel my inner Harry Potter meeting a Hippogriff for the first time. JK Rowling writes:
Now, firs' thing yeh gotta know abou' hippogriffs is, they're proud. Easily offended, hippogriffs are. Don't never insult one, 'cause it might be the last thing yeh do. Yeh always wait fer the hippogriff ter make the firs' move. It's polite, see? Yeh walk towards him, and yeh bow, an' yeh wait. If he bows back, yeh're allowed to touch him. If he doesn' bow, then get away from him sharpish, 'cause those talons hurt. —Rubeus Hagrid teaches his first class about hippogriffs.
So, I stayed in the middle of the stable, crouched down and said "hello O, I have come to fit you with a new saddle" and he walked over to me, put his head down to my hand holding the flexi curve and gave me a little nuzzle, then I slowly stood up and gave him a scratch and said "thank you" and proceeded to template him with him loose in the stable with no problems at all.
Monday, 20 June 2011
Making The Most Of The Dry Bits
Weather was very hit and miss again although C managed to ride Charlie twice in the dry bits. Rosey's owner is back from University which means that C gets to become her personal groom again. Rosey is back in her normal hanging cheek Dr Bristol (I have no idea why, it came with her and that is what she is ridden in all the time). I gave L a lesson on Rosey using Jamies bridle with the pee wee bit, I think she could tell that life was a bit easier using it and she got some nice work. Not sure she will buy one apparently bank of mum said no.
The ponies are pulse free on their new diet and are moving a lot better, the droppings are still very weird so we are trying to introduce a bit more fibre to see if we can give them more substance.
Tommy has been making good progress over the last couple of months, he came to us with a steep foot and where we were having problems with his last blip the foot became so steep he was very over at the knee. This meant the tendon shortened. In this case it was very important to take the foot back a little bit at a time to give his body a chance to adjust to the changes. He is now not so over at the knee, part of the problem is that this leg is actually longer than the other at the minute but it is getting there. N and C came bursting in to the shed where I was packing things up to tell me he was cantering around the field, course when I got outside to look he was happily grazing again. It is nice to see him trotting and cantering around, a few months ago I would have said that wasn't possible. It is also nice to see him out in the paddock seeing as he spent most of his life shut up in a stable. We are controlling his grass by putting a filter in his muzzle to reduce the size of the hole a bit. He is a good boy with his muzzle and doesn't often get it off unlike the other two monsters.
Not sure why but the horses were all in a very lovey dovey mood, we spent Sunday morning weeding the field and had chaff sacks with us to put the docks in, they took great delight in following us around and looking very disappointed when there was no feed in the sacks. Max has discovered that I can scratch a particularly favourite spot of his on his neck, he spent most of the time I was in the field throwing himself in front of me with his neck bent so I would scratch it, it still takes a few moments to work out whether he is ok in the field to be handled or not, he has been fine with me for ages now but a few weeks ago C walked up to him to say hello and he squealed and stamped his foot. It all depends on what mood he is in really.
Sunday, 12 June 2011
Washout
Yesterday we got the tack on Charlie and Rosey twice, then took it off again, then C decided to brave the weather and came back 10 minutes later totally soaked and unable to see. Today we didn't even bother trying.
Three of them came in quite shivery but were ok once they had started eating their tea, whole weekend a bit of a washout really.
We have been struggling with laminitis with two of the ponies for several weeks now, even though we had restricted them to the school/yard and they were having no grass at all. This proved it had to be something in their feed so I removed all alfalfa to see if it would make a difference. On paper the alfalfa they were having should cause no problems at all, it is low in sugar and I have been balancing with magnesium, I have always been a bit sceptical when people report issues with it as mine have all been fine in the past. It is very, very hard to get a non molassed, no alfalfa, low sugar chaff, eventually the only thing I was left with was fast fibre which is not actually a chaff but a pellet with rubbish in it basically, along with unmollased sugar beet, some linseed and a basic vitamin and mineral blend. You soak it for 60 seconds and it forms a big bucket of mush.
I didn't have high hopes for the ponies eating it but actually they really like it, to the point of licking the bucket clean. For the last week they have been having this, along with buckets of beet only and for the last two days (actually the only days I have checked) they have been pulse free, they are also moving a lot better. It really seems to be helping them, I am a little concerned however that there is no substance to their droppings so I am worried that there is no long fibre going through their system. They don't really want to eat our hay and the only stuff I can buy around me looks very potent. I may try and get some low sugar haylage, the purple horsehage stuff that people use with laminitics has no supplies left in the UK at all, and new stock will only arrive in the shops in July. They must have been really hit by the bad hay making season last year.
Friend of a friend said that she had been trying to source this years hay and was already being quoted prices of £7.50 per bale, think if mine like the haylage I may be feeding that this winter as at least it doesn't need soaking and will be quicker for N to feed every day.
Three of them came in quite shivery but were ok once they had started eating their tea, whole weekend a bit of a washout really.
We have been struggling with laminitis with two of the ponies for several weeks now, even though we had restricted them to the school/yard and they were having no grass at all. This proved it had to be something in their feed so I removed all alfalfa to see if it would make a difference. On paper the alfalfa they were having should cause no problems at all, it is low in sugar and I have been balancing with magnesium, I have always been a bit sceptical when people report issues with it as mine have all been fine in the past. It is very, very hard to get a non molassed, no alfalfa, low sugar chaff, eventually the only thing I was left with was fast fibre which is not actually a chaff but a pellet with rubbish in it basically, along with unmollased sugar beet, some linseed and a basic vitamin and mineral blend. You soak it for 60 seconds and it forms a big bucket of mush.
I didn't have high hopes for the ponies eating it but actually they really like it, to the point of licking the bucket clean. For the last week they have been having this, along with buckets of beet only and for the last two days (actually the only days I have checked) they have been pulse free, they are also moving a lot better. It really seems to be helping them, I am a little concerned however that there is no substance to their droppings so I am worried that there is no long fibre going through their system. They don't really want to eat our hay and the only stuff I can buy around me looks very potent. I may try and get some low sugar haylage, the purple horsehage stuff that people use with laminitics has no supplies left in the UK at all, and new stock will only arrive in the shops in July. They must have been really hit by the bad hay making season last year.
Friend of a friend said that she had been trying to source this years hay and was already being quoted prices of £7.50 per bale, think if mine like the haylage I may be feeding that this winter as at least it doesn't need soaking and will be quicker for N to feed every day.
Monday, 30 May 2011
Met Another Nice Chap
This blog is turning more in to my experiences with other peoples horses than with my own. With mine it is more a case of same old same old although the very windy weather has stopped work with Max and Rosey for a few days. I am sure they both would have been fine but there is something about the energy of wind that puts me and N on edge. Where we are is usually quite windy which is great for keeping flies away but when it's really really bad both me and N seem to get really wound up. You know it is bad when you go in to the caravan to get something and breath a big sigh of relief. It definitely seemed to have perked Charlie Too up yesterday, he came back to the yard with C with his head somewhere between his needs at a rate of knots. C didn't seem to mind though, she was still smiling.
Got asked to look at the saddle of a horse at a friends yard, the rider has the horse on loan. It was one of those unpaid 'while you are here' moments that I seem to get dragged in to at that particular yard, wouldn't mind but I usually end up spending hours there and not being allowed to go. Don't even get a cup of coffee which is a bit rude. Anyway horse was lovely, big Irish chap who sounds like he has been screaming that he is not comfortable, not wanting to be caught, not standing still to get on, boinging around with his ears up your nose and really being unhappy with rider adjusting stirrups or bending down to do up girth.
Sad thing is that another saddler only a few days before had announced the saddle an ok fit, but recommended a riser pad to lift the back. I am always careful not to criticise another professional so all I could say was that the saddle perfectly fitted the atrophy on the horses back, however the atrophy shouldn't be there. We played around with a few saddles the rider could either use or buy and ended up with a Heather Moffett Phoenix Suber on him. I was a little worried as with these saddle you feel every movement of the horse, and they feel every movement from you, the horse was so reactive to the rider moving that I was worried that it wouldn't work. Luckily the horse is actually a really charitable chap and even though he is still probably bruised and sore, the Phoenix was comfortable enough for him to feel the difference and he went really well. Ended up giving a bit of a mini lesson as he really needs to be working more over his back to strengthen it up. Rider and horse both did really well, he is not a very affectionate chap but afterwards he was all soft and gooey and enjoyed a bit of a scratch.
I hope I get to do a bit more with them both, plan is to re-template after a month of proper flatwork in the Phoeneix and see where we are.
Got asked to look at the saddle of a horse at a friends yard, the rider has the horse on loan. It was one of those unpaid 'while you are here' moments that I seem to get dragged in to at that particular yard, wouldn't mind but I usually end up spending hours there and not being allowed to go. Don't even get a cup of coffee which is a bit rude. Anyway horse was lovely, big Irish chap who sounds like he has been screaming that he is not comfortable, not wanting to be caught, not standing still to get on, boinging around with his ears up your nose and really being unhappy with rider adjusting stirrups or bending down to do up girth.
Sad thing is that another saddler only a few days before had announced the saddle an ok fit, but recommended a riser pad to lift the back. I am always careful not to criticise another professional so all I could say was that the saddle perfectly fitted the atrophy on the horses back, however the atrophy shouldn't be there. We played around with a few saddles the rider could either use or buy and ended up with a Heather Moffett Phoenix Suber on him. I was a little worried as with these saddle you feel every movement of the horse, and they feel every movement from you, the horse was so reactive to the rider moving that I was worried that it wouldn't work. Luckily the horse is actually a really charitable chap and even though he is still probably bruised and sore, the Phoenix was comfortable enough for him to feel the difference and he went really well. Ended up giving a bit of a mini lesson as he really needs to be working more over his back to strengthen it up. Rider and horse both did really well, he is not a very affectionate chap but afterwards he was all soft and gooey and enjoyed a bit of a scratch.
I hope I get to do a bit more with them both, plan is to re-template after a month of proper flatwork in the Phoeneix and see where we are.
Thursday, 26 May 2011
Phew It's Been Busy
Been a really, really busy couple of weeks, not helped by someone coming in to the yard one night and moving things around meaning I have been sleeping in the caravan on site. Got straight back in to the camping vibe, curry pot noodle, bottle of red wine and half a bar of mint aero with a cup of coffee for breakfast. I am not feeling at my most healthy at the minute ......
Horse wise not a lot has been going on with Max but N has started riding Rosey which is good for them both, she is responding well to a calmer rider who doesn't just gallop her around all the time. The Pee Wee bit seems to be really suiting her. C has continued to ride Charlie Too and they are having fun which is lovely to see, desperately trying to get them out hacking off the yard which will be good for me as I will have to go on a bike as Rosey is not 100% in traffic. She is also scared of bikes so that will involve some work.
Have been busy doing some saddle fitting, met a lovely horse the other day whose saddle was two widths too small and also had hardly any flock in it at all. I watched him ridden after I had adjusted and flocked it and owner said he was going well, he had been bucking and was struggling to soften. When she went to turn him out from the barn as he got near to me he pulled her towards me (completely away from where he would go to be turned out) and came and put his nose in my hands where I was sat. I swear he was saying thank you, it was a really lovely moment.
Met an Irish Draft yesterday who had been visited by a well known saddle retail company/fitter a few days before who announced that the horse's saddle fitted perfectly. I couldn't actually disagree with what he had said, apart from the fact that the horses back had a lot of atrophy and the saddle was fitting perfectly into the dips! It's hard to contradict another professional and I hadn't actually been called out to see this horse, I had just been on the yard at the time. Rider (who is not owner) now has the difficult job of persuading owner that current saddle is not in the horses best interest and should be replaced. Saddle was also pretty wonky, rider said that she had also been having hip problems and back pain after riding, not sure whether the saddle had crocked the rider or rider had crocked the saddle, or the horse had crocked both of them .........
Horse wise not a lot has been going on with Max but N has started riding Rosey which is good for them both, she is responding well to a calmer rider who doesn't just gallop her around all the time. The Pee Wee bit seems to be really suiting her. C has continued to ride Charlie Too and they are having fun which is lovely to see, desperately trying to get them out hacking off the yard which will be good for me as I will have to go on a bike as Rosey is not 100% in traffic. She is also scared of bikes so that will involve some work.
Have been busy doing some saddle fitting, met a lovely horse the other day whose saddle was two widths too small and also had hardly any flock in it at all. I watched him ridden after I had adjusted and flocked it and owner said he was going well, he had been bucking and was struggling to soften. When she went to turn him out from the barn as he got near to me he pulled her towards me (completely away from where he would go to be turned out) and came and put his nose in my hands where I was sat. I swear he was saying thank you, it was a really lovely moment.
Met an Irish Draft yesterday who had been visited by a well known saddle retail company/fitter a few days before who announced that the horse's saddle fitted perfectly. I couldn't actually disagree with what he had said, apart from the fact that the horses back had a lot of atrophy and the saddle was fitting perfectly into the dips! It's hard to contradict another professional and I hadn't actually been called out to see this horse, I had just been on the yard at the time. Rider (who is not owner) now has the difficult job of persuading owner that current saddle is not in the horses best interest and should be replaced. Saddle was also pretty wonky, rider said that she had also been having hip problems and back pain after riding, not sure whether the saddle had crocked the rider or rider had crocked the saddle, or the horse had crocked both of them .........
Saturday, 14 May 2011
I Am Injured
Last Saturday I managed to fall off a pub style bench that we have at the yard, my own fault, I was sat astride it and it had a fleece blanket across it with something heavy on top, went to get up and the fleece wrapped itself around my Croc shoe and my body went one way and my foot another.
Was actually pretty funny at the time but was feeling it by the next day. Luckily I had a sports massage treatment booked in anyway as working the election can be pretty tough on your back. Alison says I have a whiplash injury, I am not sure who to sue, either the table or the fleece, or maybe my left Croc?
Me, the OH and C have breathed a sigh of relief that our livery owner has gone back to College and peace and quiet has returned to the yard. It's amazing how one relatively small person can be such an energy drain and effect the atmosphere of a place so much, it's exhausting. She is still not forgiven for asking us to book her horse in for the vet/dentist, agreeing to be at the yard at 9am to sort the horse out and then finally rolling up at 1.45pm by which point the horse had been sedated, teeth done, money handed over, observed for a couple of hours in recovery and then turned back out. She even appeared with saddle and bridle expecting to ride. Mine have all had a week off but she was back on board cantering around the next day, despite the horse having quite bad ulcers in her mouth. One interesting thing however is that she tried R in the Pee Wee bit and she went really well in it, especially considering she had just had her teeth done and had mouth ulcers. Some horses really seem to like it, R has quite a thick tongue and because it is held in position I think it was well clear of any sore bits so it really seemed to suit her. I can't see her buying herself one, think the expectation will be that she just borrows mine all the time.
This week has also been a week of Ebay and shop orders fun, suppliers being slow shipping me stock, supplier sending me completely the wrong hoof boot order at three times the price and not crediting the money back to my account, customer order going AWOL in the post and then claiming I hadn't sent it out in the first place (despite me having a proof of postage), of course the replacement would be the item that the supplier was slow to send ......... Also had a bounced cheque, a cheque order sent out before the cheque arrived as they wanted first class post, and then the order returned because they changed their mind so I have lost the postage and a DHL 5Kg parcel that is in the ether somewhere marked as 'inadequate address' despite the address being correct and me confirming it with them (and sending them a google map with driving directions).
I now have a banned customer list pinned to my office wall, it made me feel better writing the names on it, even if that's all I ever do ......
Was actually pretty funny at the time but was feeling it by the next day. Luckily I had a sports massage treatment booked in anyway as working the election can be pretty tough on your back. Alison says I have a whiplash injury, I am not sure who to sue, either the table or the fleece, or maybe my left Croc?
Me, the OH and C have breathed a sigh of relief that our livery owner has gone back to College and peace and quiet has returned to the yard. It's amazing how one relatively small person can be such an energy drain and effect the atmosphere of a place so much, it's exhausting. She is still not forgiven for asking us to book her horse in for the vet/dentist, agreeing to be at the yard at 9am to sort the horse out and then finally rolling up at 1.45pm by which point the horse had been sedated, teeth done, money handed over, observed for a couple of hours in recovery and then turned back out. She even appeared with saddle and bridle expecting to ride. Mine have all had a week off but she was back on board cantering around the next day, despite the horse having quite bad ulcers in her mouth. One interesting thing however is that she tried R in the Pee Wee bit and she went really well in it, especially considering she had just had her teeth done and had mouth ulcers. Some horses really seem to like it, R has quite a thick tongue and because it is held in position I think it was well clear of any sore bits so it really seemed to suit her. I can't see her buying herself one, think the expectation will be that she just borrows mine all the time.
This week has also been a week of Ebay and shop orders fun, suppliers being slow shipping me stock, supplier sending me completely the wrong hoof boot order at three times the price and not crediting the money back to my account, customer order going AWOL in the post and then claiming I hadn't sent it out in the first place (despite me having a proof of postage), of course the replacement would be the item that the supplier was slow to send ......... Also had a bounced cheque, a cheque order sent out before the cheque arrived as they wanted first class post, and then the order returned because they changed their mind so I have lost the postage and a DHL 5Kg parcel that is in the ether somewhere marked as 'inadequate address' despite the address being correct and me confirming it with them (and sending them a google map with driving directions).
I now have a banned customer list pinned to my office wall, it made me feel better writing the names on it, even if that's all I ever do ......
Friday, 6 May 2011
Blimey It's Been Hectic
I have been working the elections manning the postal vote process, I had not quite anticipated that this would mean working until 1.15am this morning after a 6am start on Thursday to get stuff ready for the dentist. Feeling really tired now after a busy day at the horse sales today.
Vet/dentist visit was good, he new his stuff, pointed out a lot of the same things that my EDT has mentioned before, had a good manner with the horses, talked to them lot and gave them some breaks before they started to get too anxious about it all.
Interesting thing was the different reaction from the horses, we decided to do Charlie Too first, he is not daft he had identified Charlie as a vet from about 10m away, even though he was disguised as a dentist, he is an intelligent pony though and saw through this disguise and promptly tried to leg it even thought he was tied up. You could see Charlie Vet was thinking the visit wasn't going to go well. After giving him the potentially worst pony to do first I was happy to let him carry on with the rest. Three of the five were sedated which is an improvement over my usual dentist Jane, she likes them all sedated routinely. Other big benefit was that he uses power tools but they are all rechargeable battery powered and don't need to run from the generator. Jamie was the only one that needed the power tools, he was sedated after he showed Charlie Vet his barefoot front feet at eye level.
Max also was sedated for the last five minutes, up to that point he had been very good. Charlie Vet agreed that he thought the drooling had probably come from a sting or bite as his lymph gland under the tongue was still a bit swollen. Nothing major going on with teeth apart from a few sharp hooks.
All systems go for getting the work going again so that is good news. I have taken the time off to do helpful things like buy myself some new breeches, jodhpur boots and to replace my missing hat.
Vet/dentist visit was good, he new his stuff, pointed out a lot of the same things that my EDT has mentioned before, had a good manner with the horses, talked to them lot and gave them some breaks before they started to get too anxious about it all.
Interesting thing was the different reaction from the horses, we decided to do Charlie Too first, he is not daft he had identified Charlie as a vet from about 10m away, even though he was disguised as a dentist, he is an intelligent pony though and saw through this disguise and promptly tried to leg it even thought he was tied up. You could see Charlie Vet was thinking the visit wasn't going to go well. After giving him the potentially worst pony to do first I was happy to let him carry on with the rest. Three of the five were sedated which is an improvement over my usual dentist Jane, she likes them all sedated routinely. Other big benefit was that he uses power tools but they are all rechargeable battery powered and don't need to run from the generator. Jamie was the only one that needed the power tools, he was sedated after he showed Charlie Vet his barefoot front feet at eye level.
Max also was sedated for the last five minutes, up to that point he had been very good. Charlie Vet agreed that he thought the drooling had probably come from a sting or bite as his lymph gland under the tongue was still a bit swollen. Nothing major going on with teeth apart from a few sharp hooks.
All systems go for getting the work going again so that is good news. I have taken the time off to do helpful things like buy myself some new breeches, jodhpur boots and to replace my missing hat.
Monday, 2 May 2011
De-Horned
Charlie got his feet trimmed and his devil horns removed tonight. Not sure whether it was the lack of a Welsh Section D x Pacer floozie, or the threat of the OH getting on him but he was foot perfect for C tonight including jumping. She came back beaming.
I spent the afternoon dodging the sand storms while trying to clean tack ready for Reading Horse Sales, was a beautiful day but really, really windy. Max of course has continued to become less dribbly each day, waiting for the ok from vet/dentist before doing anything with him. I have Friday and Monday off work so as long as he doesn't need too much time off after having his teeth done I will ride again at the weekend.
The rest just got a good furminating and a groom before being put to bed.
I spent the afternoon dodging the sand storms while trying to clean tack ready for Reading Horse Sales, was a beautiful day but really, really windy. Max of course has continued to become less dribbly each day, waiting for the ok from vet/dentist before doing anything with him. I have Friday and Monday off work so as long as he doesn't need too much time off after having his teeth done I will ride again at the weekend.
The rest just got a good furminating and a groom before being put to bed.
Poor C
Poor C took a tumble last night, or rather a Charlie assisted dismount. I thought things could end in tears when I spotted L the owner of our livery pony and C carrying wings and jump poles down to the bottom paddock, that is quite a long way to carry them so they were obviously keen for a good jumping session.
From what I could see Rosey was leaping poles on the ground, bits of grass, shadows etc and Charlie was looking a little bit bouncy but he is not the most forwards thinking of horses so that never does him any harm. I should remember that excitement in a not very forwards welsh native can often show itself in not very suitable behaviour .........
Things were ok however until L decided to finish as she had been working twice as long, C did the jump once more ok and then decided to hack around the middle paddock to cool off. Charlie was not very happy about this and tried to nap to the gate at which point C told him off, he bucked which put her in front of the treeless dressage saddle with no knee rolls that she was riding in, and then very helpfully stuck his head between his knees so she went flying over the top. The OH reckoned it was a well practiced move not seen in any dressage manual but often the theme of a Thelwell cartoon. C was ok, she always rides in her back protector which I think is very sensible and she did see the funny side, mind you that could have been because me and the OH were killing ourselves laughing and she felt she should join in. OH stopped laughing when I suggested that he should hop on him today to get Charlie to remember his manners ..........
Naughty pony, think I am going to have to get him a GP saddle sooner rather than later.
From what I could see Rosey was leaping poles on the ground, bits of grass, shadows etc and Charlie was looking a little bit bouncy but he is not the most forwards thinking of horses so that never does him any harm. I should remember that excitement in a not very forwards welsh native can often show itself in not very suitable behaviour .........
Things were ok however until L decided to finish as she had been working twice as long, C did the jump once more ok and then decided to hack around the middle paddock to cool off. Charlie was not very happy about this and tried to nap to the gate at which point C told him off, he bucked which put her in front of the treeless dressage saddle with no knee rolls that she was riding in, and then very helpfully stuck his head between his knees so she went flying over the top. The OH reckoned it was a well practiced move not seen in any dressage manual but often the theme of a Thelwell cartoon. C was ok, she always rides in her back protector which I think is very sensible and she did see the funny side, mind you that could have been because me and the OH were killing ourselves laughing and she felt she should join in. OH stopped laughing when I suggested that he should hop on him today to get Charlie to remember his manners ..........
Naughty pony, think I am going to have to get him a GP saddle sooner rather than later.
Saturday, 30 April 2011
Chilled Out Days
I have to thank William and Kate for getting married and giving us all a day off work, this is my second four day weekend in as many weeks and as I have next Friday and Monday off work as well, I'm doing well.
Plans for intensive riding are still on hold until vets visit on Thursday, dribbling is minimal and Max still looks well and happy. Neil did his feet tonight and he was a good boy.
We have been letting the big boys through to the schooling paddock in front of the yard for an hour or so to eat the grass down. We like the grass to be short in there for schooling, plus we sometimes turn the laminitic ponies out in that paddock so it is better for them to have less grass. There is not that much grass in the paddock and it is less than an acre in size but the horses seem to think it is a real treat. The OH tried to persuade Jamie to be caught tonight, not much point trying to out run an ex racehorse I find bringing everything else in first usually works best. We all enjoyed a few minutes watching Neil and Jamie hooning around, Neil didn't look particularly sound but Jamie was moving really well.
Plans for intensive riding are still on hold until vets visit on Thursday, dribbling is minimal and Max still looks well and happy. Neil did his feet tonight and he was a good boy.
We have been letting the big boys through to the schooling paddock in front of the yard for an hour or so to eat the grass down. We like the grass to be short in there for schooling, plus we sometimes turn the laminitic ponies out in that paddock so it is better for them to have less grass. There is not that much grass in the paddock and it is less than an acre in size but the horses seem to think it is a real treat. The OH tried to persuade Jamie to be caught tonight, not much point trying to out run an ex racehorse I find bringing everything else in first usually works best. We all enjoyed a few minutes watching Neil and Jamie hooning around, Neil didn't look particularly sound but Jamie was moving really well.
Thursday, 28 April 2011
Not the best of days .....
I discovered a sting on my leg at lunchtime that was really itchy, popped in to Boots to get some stop itch insect stuff and whacked it on without really looking at it. Turns out it is ammonia based, sting no longer itchy but sat through a meeting with a leg smelling of wee.
On the horse front things have slowed to a standstill, I had two really great rides on Max and had big plans for riding all four days over the Easter break last week. Got him in on Friday evening to discover he was dribbling from his mouth. He is fine in himself but he tongue looked a bit swollen and loads of green drool. Washed his mouth out with some mildly salty water and he ate his tea happily. Had bits of drool over the weekend so didn't really want to put a bit in. Have been keeping an eye on him but in himself he is fine, eating, charging about the field etc. Put a call in to a vet who is also a qualified dentist, he is coming out on the 5th May. In the meantime if things get worse I will call my own vet out.
Bit of a blow but I probably should have got the teeth checked out before I started him back in work anyway. Has been interesting though because I have gone from 'do I have to ride' to 'I wish I could ride' which in a way is quite nice. Also, made me realise that I do feel a lot more for Max than I thought, after the first ride I thought I would be overwhelmed with joy at getting back on board, but actually I wasn't that bothered. Really he is not one of the horses I would really love to be riding again, that is not his fault and not mine either as both of those are sadly deceased. I've had a couple of turns in my relationship with Max which has moved us on a step in the right direction, the last was when I said the words 'you are not going back' to him and things started to improve. Perhaps this blip and my concern over his health will take us another step.
I maybe won't have the relationship with riding him that I have had with some other horses but I am trying to work at it and actually I am enjoying spending time with him on the ground.
On the horse front things have slowed to a standstill, I had two really great rides on Max and had big plans for riding all four days over the Easter break last week. Got him in on Friday evening to discover he was dribbling from his mouth. He is fine in himself but he tongue looked a bit swollen and loads of green drool. Washed his mouth out with some mildly salty water and he ate his tea happily. Had bits of drool over the weekend so didn't really want to put a bit in. Have been keeping an eye on him but in himself he is fine, eating, charging about the field etc. Put a call in to a vet who is also a qualified dentist, he is coming out on the 5th May. In the meantime if things get worse I will call my own vet out.
Bit of a blow but I probably should have got the teeth checked out before I started him back in work anyway. Has been interesting though because I have gone from 'do I have to ride' to 'I wish I could ride' which in a way is quite nice. Also, made me realise that I do feel a lot more for Max than I thought, after the first ride I thought I would be overwhelmed with joy at getting back on board, but actually I wasn't that bothered. Really he is not one of the horses I would really love to be riding again, that is not his fault and not mine either as both of those are sadly deceased. I've had a couple of turns in my relationship with Max which has moved us on a step in the right direction, the last was when I said the words 'you are not going back' to him and things started to improve. Perhaps this blip and my concern over his health will take us another step.
I maybe won't have the relationship with riding him that I have had with some other horses but I am trying to work at it and actually I am enjoying spending time with him on the ground.
Tuesday, 12 April 2011
We Have Lift Off
Took advantage of Sunday being a very hot day and all the horses being very snoozy to work Max. Had a plan of action, Max can get anxious if he is tied up for too long and other horses are leaving the yard, I have wondered in the past about ulcers with him because he is definitely happier being worked after eating. Anyway got them all in and got Max tacked up straight away, bought the posh Peter Maddison-Greenwell dressage saddle down rather than use the treeless. Happily the saddle fitted really well, Max has an old injury that effects one front hoof, this causes the muscle on the hoof side at the wither to not be as developed as the other side meaning that I often have to shim that side. With the ground work that we have been doing is seems a lot more even so that is good news.
Bought the tree'd saddle down because earlier in the day I really fancied hopping on myself, of course once the OH realised I was up for that he insisted on getting on first, rather than encouraging me to just hop on. If I was being charitable I would say it was to make sure Max was ok on his first ride in almost six months but I reckon actually he considers the ride on Max as his so he didn't want me to get on first. I could doing him a great disservice here however it seems a bit weird that I encourage him to ride, get the horse tacked up, help him get on, open gates so he can hack around all the fields etc, generally be very encouraging about him riding, but he never does the same thing to me. He also refused to get the higher steps out for me to get on.
Anyway I refused to get wound up and sent Neil off for a pootle around the edge of the field and that was fine so when he got back I put a crate on top of a couple of pallets and got on myself, wearing tracksuit bottoms and trainers. The stirrups on their shortest hole were still about four holes too long so I could barely touch them with the balls of my feet, which of course put my heels up. OH walked behind me and shouted encouraging words like 'get your heels down, why are your toes sticking out, why are you letting his nose poke out'. The temptation to mow him down was very strong but I resisted. One quick lap of the field and we were back safe and sound with Max seeming not bothered at all about being ridden by me.
Plan is for me to try and finish work early for the next week before all the election work kicks in, and get Neil riding him a bit more, then me hop on again at the weekend.
Feeling very pleased with myself, first time on a horse for a couple of years and although it was only a quick ride my back felt fine. My sports massage person has been telling me my back is now fine to ride for weeks now so it was good to know that she was right.
Bought the tree'd saddle down because earlier in the day I really fancied hopping on myself, of course once the OH realised I was up for that he insisted on getting on first, rather than encouraging me to just hop on. If I was being charitable I would say it was to make sure Max was ok on his first ride in almost six months but I reckon actually he considers the ride on Max as his so he didn't want me to get on first. I could doing him a great disservice here however it seems a bit weird that I encourage him to ride, get the horse tacked up, help him get on, open gates so he can hack around all the fields etc, generally be very encouraging about him riding, but he never does the same thing to me. He also refused to get the higher steps out for me to get on.
Anyway I refused to get wound up and sent Neil off for a pootle around the edge of the field and that was fine so when he got back I put a crate on top of a couple of pallets and got on myself, wearing tracksuit bottoms and trainers. The stirrups on their shortest hole were still about four holes too long so I could barely touch them with the balls of my feet, which of course put my heels up. OH walked behind me and shouted encouraging words like 'get your heels down, why are your toes sticking out, why are you letting his nose poke out'. The temptation to mow him down was very strong but I resisted. One quick lap of the field and we were back safe and sound with Max seeming not bothered at all about being ridden by me.
Plan is for me to try and finish work early for the next week before all the election work kicks in, and get Neil riding him a bit more, then me hop on again at the weekend.
Feeling very pleased with myself, first time on a horse for a couple of years and although it was only a quick ride my back felt fine. My sports massage person has been telling me my back is now fine to ride for weeks now so it was good to know that she was right.
Sunday, 10 April 2011
Don't Let Your Mum Brush Your Hair When She Is In A Bad Mood
Jamie learnt the lesson yesterday that it is not good to be a thin skinned TB second in line to be Furminated after a thick skinned Welsh section C, who has just bitten me on the backside. It took me a little while to work out that he very clearly was saying 'ouch, not so hard mum'. Poor boy, he doesn't have much hair to come out anyway.
Grand National day yesterday and as usual on these big race days I think about Jamies race career and how lucky I was to have found him before he got shipped off to Potters as another racing cast-off. I reckon he was about 4 hours away from ending up there.
Once I had tuned in to what he was telling me about the furminating we had a nice massage session in the sun which we both enjoyed.
Max was a good boy to be worked, probably not a lot more I can do to progress the groundwork now so need to start some inhand work in the bridle and hoping that the OH will pop on this afternoon and take him for a pootle around the fields.
Grand National day yesterday and as usual on these big race days I think about Jamies race career and how lucky I was to have found him before he got shipped off to Potters as another racing cast-off. I reckon he was about 4 hours away from ending up there.
Once I had tuned in to what he was telling me about the furminating we had a nice massage session in the sun which we both enjoyed.
Max was a good boy to be worked, probably not a lot more I can do to progress the groundwork now so need to start some inhand work in the bridle and hoping that the OH will pop on this afternoon and take him for a pootle around the fields.
Monday, 28 March 2011
A good weekend
Weather was lovely over the weekend, C was back so both Rosey and Charlie Too got worked both days. They managed to drag me away from the furminator long enough to do some work as well, they said it was so Max and Jamie didn't feel left out but funnily enough as I left the yard both of them were desperate to get their hands on it. I am going to have to buy another two, it's getting silly (and I don't want to share).
Not much to report about Max, he was very good, I am planning a couple of sessions of in hand in the bridle and then hopefully the OH will start hacking him around the fields.
We finally got round to trying the Pee Wee bit on Jamie. Jamie is very unsettled with a bit, personally I have nothing against bitless and think that he is ok in the Dr Cook's, the OH felt that when he sat on him in the Dr Cooks he curled back a lot, and he had no connection with the mouth. He also felt he had no steering and brakes. As he is the one that is sitting on I have to respect his wishes hence trying the Pee Wee which has been used successfully with ex race horses. From what I have read horses either love it or hate it so I wasn't holding out much hope.
We fitted it and immediately Jamie was more settled in his mouth, usually with a bit he will open his mouth and roll it around with his tongue. We let him stand with it for a bit and then took him for a walk around the fields, this also seemed very good, the OH then did a little bit of inhand work from the bridle and apart from the fact that he doesn't know what he is doing, so he didn't know where the go button was, it was very good.
The OH then admitted he didn't know what he was doing so I took over, Jamie had the tendancy to come a little deep but was not curled round, I was able to send him onwards and ask with an upwards rein aid at the same time to ask his head to come up. Need to do a few more sessions of this and possibly lunge him while he was wearing it and then OH can get on.
I also fitted a saddle for Jamie, one of the benefits of being a Saddle Company fitter and having an adjusting machine, I can quickly tweak something and make sure it is perfect for him. Tried the saddle on Rosey as well and it is ok so if the owner ever allows C to ride her then we have something that we can use on her as well.
All in all a lovely weekend.
Not much to report about Max, he was very good, I am planning a couple of sessions of in hand in the bridle and then hopefully the OH will start hacking him around the fields.
We finally got round to trying the Pee Wee bit on Jamie. Jamie is very unsettled with a bit, personally I have nothing against bitless and think that he is ok in the Dr Cook's, the OH felt that when he sat on him in the Dr Cooks he curled back a lot, and he had no connection with the mouth. He also felt he had no steering and brakes. As he is the one that is sitting on I have to respect his wishes hence trying the Pee Wee which has been used successfully with ex race horses. From what I have read horses either love it or hate it so I wasn't holding out much hope.
We fitted it and immediately Jamie was more settled in his mouth, usually with a bit he will open his mouth and roll it around with his tongue. We let him stand with it for a bit and then took him for a walk around the fields, this also seemed very good, the OH then did a little bit of inhand work from the bridle and apart from the fact that he doesn't know what he is doing, so he didn't know where the go button was, it was very good.
The OH then admitted he didn't know what he was doing so I took over, Jamie had the tendancy to come a little deep but was not curled round, I was able to send him onwards and ask with an upwards rein aid at the same time to ask his head to come up. Need to do a few more sessions of this and possibly lunge him while he was wearing it and then OH can get on.
I also fitted a saddle for Jamie, one of the benefits of being a Saddle Company fitter and having an adjusting machine, I can quickly tweak something and make sure it is perfect for him. Tried the saddle on Rosey as well and it is ok so if the owner ever allows C to ride her then we have something that we can use on her as well.
All in all a lovely weekend.
Sunday, 20 March 2011
Not one horse worked
Weather was beautiful, horses were all chilled out, I had loads of energy but not one horse worked. And the reason was?
I have a Furminator!!!
OMG I knew this was addictive but when you actually get your hands on one and you have 8 horses in front of you to get hair out of, suddenly nothing else matters. And your OH tries to get you to stop but you just want to do five minutes more. He wants you to stop because he wants to have a go but it's mine I tell you, all mine!!!!
I have a Furminator!!!
OMG I knew this was addictive but when you actually get your hands on one and you have 8 horses in front of you to get hair out of, suddenly nothing else matters. And your OH tries to get you to stop but you just want to do five minutes more. He wants you to stop because he wants to have a go but it's mine I tell you, all mine!!!!
Tuesday, 15 March 2011
The Fructans Debate
There has been an interesting discussion on EE about magnesium and spring grass, as is often the case someone put forward the 'trouble with grass is fructans' argument, and referenced research to support this point.
I recently attended the laminitis awareness seminar, during this seminar various research was talked about and one of the nutritionists from Dodson and Horrell (who was actually refreshingly non salesy) put forward a counter argument or at least explained why the research did not necessarily prove what it was trying to prove.
I thought this raised an interesting point about having to take research findings in the context of real life, it is very easy to read something and understand it to be the truth, taking it on face value, when actually this would never apply to you or your horse.
I am signed up to the Equine Science Archives which is an excellent resource and very good value for money for a years access. The following two extracts are taken from their publications in 2010.
Laminitis Latest (Chris Pollit research)
"The discovery that fructans can be used experimentally to induce laminitis has allowed him to examine the changes that occur in the foot in the early stages of the disease. Alimentary overload with oligo-fructan is a valid experimental model for inducing acute laminitis. He points out that using oligo-fructan (OF) to induce laminitis in experimental horses has advantages over the previously used method of giving a large dose of starch. OF given at 10g/kg predictably causes laminitis every time. But the signs are less severe than with the starch model and none of the animals have to be killed."
"An extract of Streptococcus bovis, the bacteria that multiply dramatically in the large intestine in response to fructan, has a similar effect. However, Pollitt has not yet been able to prove that toxins released by the bacteria actually reach the laminae to be able to have their effect. "We`ve never been able to show any bacterial product at the lamellar zone so far."
What I understand from this research is that if the horse ingests enough fructan (10g/Kg) it will reliably result in laminitis. We can induce laminitis by introducing fructan but the gut bacteria proliferation in response to the fructan is as yet unproven to directly impact on the laminae. So we still have no idea how something that impacts on the gut, also effects the feet.
Contrast this to Dr Hollands analysis of Pollits research (Article entitled Laminitis Awareness):
"Experiments have shown that giving large meals of starch or fructans can cause laminitis. Large amounts of these carbohydrates suddenly arriving in the horse’s large intestine disrupt the normal population of bacteria in the gut, leading to a cascade of inflammatory and toxic events.
However, Dr Hollands, nutritionist at Dodson and Horrell, explained that this process is unlikely to be involved in the majority of cases of pasture-associated laminitis.
Firstly, grass contains little starch. Of the pasture plants commonly found in the UK, only clover has significant amounts of starch. Grasses store glucose that they can’t use straight away as fructans.
It has been shown that laminitis can be induced by giving a large bolus of fructan (5g-12.5g fructan/kg body weight). That’s about 3.75kg fructan for a 500kg horse.
How much fructan would a horse eat when grazing? Grass contains higher levels of fructan during the winter. Mixed pasture might contain 150g fructan/kg dry matter of grass in the winter (compared with 6.6g/kg in the summer). If a 500kg horse eats an amount of grass equivalent to 2.5% of his body weight, (12.5kg), his total intake of fructans would be about 1.9kg.
So the full daily intake falls short of the levels that have been shown to cause laminitis. And what’s more, as horses are “trickle feeders”, that fructan intake is spread out over 24 hours. So even in the winter when the fructan levels in the grass are highest, the horse is only likely to eat something like 50g fructan/hour. In the summer the figure is likely to be about 5g fructan an hour - a thousand times less than the amount needed to cause laminitis.
What’s more, recent work has shown that fructans are fermented in the small intestine, and so are even less likely to reach the hindgut in sufficient quantities to cause food-induced laminitis.
So how does grass cause laminitis? “We need to move away from thinking about individual components of the diet “ Dr Hollands suggested. “In the end it is the calories that are the main risk factor.”
From this explanation of Pollits research I now believe that in my horses world it would be very difficult for them to consume the amounts of fructan that Pollit had to introduce to trigger laminitis, in fact in the summer, they would be consuming 1000 times less fructan than Pollit had used.
So, what do I see in my own horses? In my experience my horses cope best with a minimal grass diet which means I restrict them both in terms of slowing down their grass consumption rate (by a grazing muzzle) and by keeping them on a sparse paddock so they have to work harder to get the grass. The sparse paddock contains the 'stressed' grass which is generally believed to produce more fructan than older tall stemmy grass. Because however they are restricted their overall calorie intake is reduced, they are also moving around more to get the grass so their energy expenditure is higher. Personally I think I come down on the side of Dr Hollands and that it is far more important to be concerned about overall calorie intake than fructan.
I recently attended the laminitis awareness seminar, during this seminar various research was talked about and one of the nutritionists from Dodson and Horrell (who was actually refreshingly non salesy) put forward a counter argument or at least explained why the research did not necessarily prove what it was trying to prove.
I thought this raised an interesting point about having to take research findings in the context of real life, it is very easy to read something and understand it to be the truth, taking it on face value, when actually this would never apply to you or your horse.
I am signed up to the Equine Science Archives which is an excellent resource and very good value for money for a years access. The following two extracts are taken from their publications in 2010.
Laminitis Latest (Chris Pollit research)
"The discovery that fructans can be used experimentally to induce laminitis has allowed him to examine the changes that occur in the foot in the early stages of the disease. Alimentary overload with oligo-fructan is a valid experimental model for inducing acute laminitis. He points out that using oligo-fructan (OF) to induce laminitis in experimental horses has advantages over the previously used method of giving a large dose of starch. OF given at 10g/kg predictably causes laminitis every time. But the signs are less severe than with the starch model and none of the animals have to be killed."
"An extract of Streptococcus bovis, the bacteria that multiply dramatically in the large intestine in response to fructan, has a similar effect. However, Pollitt has not yet been able to prove that toxins released by the bacteria actually reach the laminae to be able to have their effect. "We`ve never been able to show any bacterial product at the lamellar zone so far."
What I understand from this research is that if the horse ingests enough fructan (10g/Kg) it will reliably result in laminitis. We can induce laminitis by introducing fructan but the gut bacteria proliferation in response to the fructan is as yet unproven to directly impact on the laminae. So we still have no idea how something that impacts on the gut, also effects the feet.
Contrast this to Dr Hollands analysis of Pollits research (Article entitled Laminitis Awareness):
"Experiments have shown that giving large meals of starch or fructans can cause laminitis. Large amounts of these carbohydrates suddenly arriving in the horse’s large intestine disrupt the normal population of bacteria in the gut, leading to a cascade of inflammatory and toxic events.
However, Dr Hollands, nutritionist at Dodson and Horrell, explained that this process is unlikely to be involved in the majority of cases of pasture-associated laminitis.
Firstly, grass contains little starch. Of the pasture plants commonly found in the UK, only clover has significant amounts of starch. Grasses store glucose that they can’t use straight away as fructans.
It has been shown that laminitis can be induced by giving a large bolus of fructan (5g-12.5g fructan/kg body weight). That’s about 3.75kg fructan for a 500kg horse.
How much fructan would a horse eat when grazing? Grass contains higher levels of fructan during the winter. Mixed pasture might contain 150g fructan/kg dry matter of grass in the winter (compared with 6.6g/kg in the summer). If a 500kg horse eats an amount of grass equivalent to 2.5% of his body weight, (12.5kg), his total intake of fructans would be about 1.9kg.
So the full daily intake falls short of the levels that have been shown to cause laminitis. And what’s more, as horses are “trickle feeders”, that fructan intake is spread out over 24 hours. So even in the winter when the fructan levels in the grass are highest, the horse is only likely to eat something like 50g fructan/hour. In the summer the figure is likely to be about 5g fructan an hour - a thousand times less than the amount needed to cause laminitis.
What’s more, recent work has shown that fructans are fermented in the small intestine, and so are even less likely to reach the hindgut in sufficient quantities to cause food-induced laminitis.
So how does grass cause laminitis? “We need to move away from thinking about individual components of the diet “ Dr Hollands suggested. “In the end it is the calories that are the main risk factor.”
From this explanation of Pollits research I now believe that in my horses world it would be very difficult for them to consume the amounts of fructan that Pollit had to introduce to trigger laminitis, in fact in the summer, they would be consuming 1000 times less fructan than Pollit had used.
So, what do I see in my own horses? In my experience my horses cope best with a minimal grass diet which means I restrict them both in terms of slowing down their grass consumption rate (by a grazing muzzle) and by keeping them on a sparse paddock so they have to work harder to get the grass. The sparse paddock contains the 'stressed' grass which is generally believed to produce more fructan than older tall stemmy grass. Because however they are restricted their overall calorie intake is reduced, they are also moving around more to get the grass so their energy expenditure is higher. Personally I think I come down on the side of Dr Hollands and that it is far more important to be concerned about overall calorie intake than fructan.
Monday, 14 March 2011
Letter To Molobolo On Ebay
Molobolo,
It is customers like you that give Ebay a bad name.
On 21st February you placed an order via my Ebay shop, this order was dispatched on the 23rd February. The address you supplied was slightly unusual in structure but was verified as ok by Paypal.
You then contacted me to say your goods had not arrived and because of this you had had to order the same goods from another supplier, at a higher price. I am not sure from this whether you were hoping for a refund however I told you that I was sorry the goods had not arrived and posted another item on the 7th March, first class. I also asked you to confirm that I had the correct address and you replied that the address was correct and that this was where 'all your post gets successfully delivered to'.
I support the Royal Mail and my local post office however with the best will in the world sometimes things go wrong and orders go missing or get damaged. This is a risk and I the customer take, by sending things out via a standard service it keeps the costs down for all of us. The vast majority of my parcels get delivered safe and sound.
On the 9th March I contacted you to make sure your second parcel had arrived safe and sound and did not get a response. I was a little surprised to discover later that same day that you had left me negative feedback saying 'I paid for this item not received it'. I take my 100% positive feedback very seriously and will always strive to resolve any issues, as I demonstrated by sending out a replacement item.
Something about you manner of communication made me a little curious so I took it upon myself to look up the feedback you have left for other people you have purchased from. Out of 19 feedbacks that you have left 10 was negative, 3 was neutral (and revised) and 6 was good. Of the 10 negative all stated that you had not received your order.
I have a couple of suggestions of what may have happened here. Firstly, you may well be having a problem with your post going missing at your halls of residence, if this is the case I suggest you take this up with your college and maybe see if any other people are having similar problems. Alternatively, if post is not going missing then I suggest that you may be fraudulently saying that parcels have not arrived in a bid to get replacement items or your money refunded.
I can not possibly say what happened here, I have however asked Ebay to look in to this, and contacted all the other sellers that you have left negative feedback for and suggested they do the same, I would hate to think that things were going missing at your college.
As an older women of the world I would also like to give you a piece of advice, I note from your feedback that you recently ordered a New Breast Enhancer Enlargement Massager (which unfortunately didn't arrive). I am sorry to have to tell you that it is a well known scientific fact that these devices don't work. You could however nip down to Tescos and buy a couple of chicken fillets.
Regards.
Barefoot Basics
It is customers like you that give Ebay a bad name.
On 21st February you placed an order via my Ebay shop, this order was dispatched on the 23rd February. The address you supplied was slightly unusual in structure but was verified as ok by Paypal.
You then contacted me to say your goods had not arrived and because of this you had had to order the same goods from another supplier, at a higher price. I am not sure from this whether you were hoping for a refund however I told you that I was sorry the goods had not arrived and posted another item on the 7th March, first class. I also asked you to confirm that I had the correct address and you replied that the address was correct and that this was where 'all your post gets successfully delivered to'.
I support the Royal Mail and my local post office however with the best will in the world sometimes things go wrong and orders go missing or get damaged. This is a risk and I the customer take, by sending things out via a standard service it keeps the costs down for all of us. The vast majority of my parcels get delivered safe and sound.
On the 9th March I contacted you to make sure your second parcel had arrived safe and sound and did not get a response. I was a little surprised to discover later that same day that you had left me negative feedback saying 'I paid for this item not received it'. I take my 100% positive feedback very seriously and will always strive to resolve any issues, as I demonstrated by sending out a replacement item.
Something about you manner of communication made me a little curious so I took it upon myself to look up the feedback you have left for other people you have purchased from. Out of 19 feedbacks that you have left 10 was negative, 3 was neutral (and revised) and 6 was good. Of the 10 negative all stated that you had not received your order.
I have a couple of suggestions of what may have happened here. Firstly, you may well be having a problem with your post going missing at your halls of residence, if this is the case I suggest you take this up with your college and maybe see if any other people are having similar problems. Alternatively, if post is not going missing then I suggest that you may be fraudulently saying that parcels have not arrived in a bid to get replacement items or your money refunded.
I can not possibly say what happened here, I have however asked Ebay to look in to this, and contacted all the other sellers that you have left negative feedback for and suggested they do the same, I would hate to think that things were going missing at your college.
As an older women of the world I would also like to give you a piece of advice, I note from your feedback that you recently ordered a New Breast Enhancer Enlargement Massager (which unfortunately didn't arrive). I am sorry to have to tell you that it is a well known scientific fact that these devices don't work. You could however nip down to Tescos and buy a couple of chicken fillets.
Regards.
Barefoot Basics
Sunday, 13 March 2011
A Mixed Bag
Had a mainly good weekend, gave myself a kick up the backside and worked Max Saturday and Sunday. Saturday he was perfect they had had access to a bit more grass and he came in all chilled out and sleepy. Today not so good and I had to tell him off when he spooked and lept at absolutely nothing at all. He is definitely a horse that is better when someone or another horse is in charge and once I had said 'no' he actually settled a lot quicker than in the past when I have tried to let him sort himself out.
C worked Rosey and Charlie Too both days, I have been teaching her some rope skills and found out today that she has been playing on her own and dispensed with the rope entirely which was great to see, using her body language she was really working well with R. C has a weeks work experience at a local BHS riding school next week, will be interesting what she makes of that, and what they make of her new found 'alternative' skills and ideas on horsemanship. Her riding has certainly improved and hopefully they will recognise that.
The Pee Wee bit I ordered for Jamie has arrived. Jamie is very unsettled with a bit in his mouth, being a TB he has quite a small mouth and a very shallow smile I am hoping that the straps that hold the bit steady and the narrow mouthpiece will suit him. Having done some research it looks like a bit that horses either love or it does nothing for so it will be an interesting experiment.
C worked Rosey and Charlie Too both days, I have been teaching her some rope skills and found out today that she has been playing on her own and dispensed with the rope entirely which was great to see, using her body language she was really working well with R. C has a weeks work experience at a local BHS riding school next week, will be interesting what she makes of that, and what they make of her new found 'alternative' skills and ideas on horsemanship. Her riding has certainly improved and hopefully they will recognise that.
The Pee Wee bit I ordered for Jamie has arrived. Jamie is very unsettled with a bit in his mouth, being a TB he has quite a small mouth and a very shallow smile I am hoping that the straps that hold the bit steady and the narrow mouthpiece will suit him. Having done some research it looks like a bit that horses either love or it does nothing for so it will be an interesting experiment.
Monday, 7 March 2011
Viruses, coughs and broken wind
Horses are all fine, me on the other hand is still struggling with the remains of flu that has left me with a cough and a general lack of energy. It has been four weeks now, funny how when you work for yourself you don't catch any bugs but as soon as you get paid sick leave you promptly pick up something that floors you.
Managed to walk to the 6th floor of my building and keep breathing today so I think I am on the mend. Horses are all well, Max and Jamie have been put on the back burner due to my flu but Rosey and Charlie Too have been worked by C. Rosey's owner made an appearance last week, reading week apparently, don't uni students get enough holiday? Typical L turned up at just the wrong time (ie when we had every other horse tied up in the yard and Rosey had been put to bed), rode, got Rosey sweaty and then announced 'I need to go now because I am going to the cinema/dinner/a cocktail party' so handed back the horse for us to cool off and then put to bed (again). I think her idea of full livery is very different to ours.
Bumped in to a friend from school today, 2.4 children, skiing tan, hair arranged by hairdresser not by wind/riding hat, clothes devoid of any animal hair, no mud on shoes and to finish me off wearing heels (and could walk in them). Worse thing was that she immediately recognised me and yet I didn't have a clue, my colleague to her credit said it must be because I have kept my youthful looks ........
Managed to walk to the 6th floor of my building and keep breathing today so I think I am on the mend. Horses are all well, Max and Jamie have been put on the back burner due to my flu but Rosey and Charlie Too have been worked by C. Rosey's owner made an appearance last week, reading week apparently, don't uni students get enough holiday? Typical L turned up at just the wrong time (ie when we had every other horse tied up in the yard and Rosey had been put to bed), rode, got Rosey sweaty and then announced 'I need to go now because I am going to the cinema/dinner/a cocktail party' so handed back the horse for us to cool off and then put to bed (again). I think her idea of full livery is very different to ours.
Bumped in to a friend from school today, 2.4 children, skiing tan, hair arranged by hairdresser not by wind/riding hat, clothes devoid of any animal hair, no mud on shoes and to finish me off wearing heels (and could walk in them). Worse thing was that she immediately recognised me and yet I didn't have a clue, my colleague to her credit said it must be because I have kept my youthful looks ........
Sunday, 13 February 2011
Rain stopped play
Rapidly trying to hold on to my positive mental attitude which is a bit challenging with this weather. Came back from my trip last weekend with a cold and bad back so I suppose it is a good thing in a way.
Only Rosey and Charlie Too got worked this weekend and that was only because apparently horse mad 15 year olds are waterproof.
Only Rosey and Charlie Too got worked this weekend and that was only because apparently horse mad 15 year olds are waterproof.
Wednesday, 9 February 2011
Whirlwind Days - Three Nights, Three Hotels
Had three really manic but enjoyable days. Sunday night drove up to my favourite hotel in Walsall Fairlawns Hotel and Spa. It is an independently run hotel that although relies on the wedding/function trade to keep going, still makes travellers on their own feel very welcome. The food is excellent and locally sourced, it has a very well stocked selection of single malt whisky and a pool and spa so it always feels like a bit of a treat.
Unfortunately the drive was quite long, about 2.5 hours mainly because it was very very windy and I kept hugging the inside lane for a bit of protection. I also have a cold so all I did when I checked in was go to my room and sleep.
Spent Monday doing further training with Dave Johnson at the Saddle Company, I love spending time with the guys there, the tea is always flowing and there is always a really nice atmosphere. The day was spent learning how to flock a saddle, nothing like being thrown in the deep end, luckily I will never have to do that from scratch, any work of that magnitude will go back to the workshop. It was good though to see what is involved so I can talk about it more knowledgeably. Also learnt how to refresh the flocking in a serge saddle which would remove any lumps and bumps and take the saddle back to a 'clean sheet' ready to be bedded in to a new horse. Took two saddles with me that were in a bit of a state, one of which came from a well known showing producer which was absolutely filthy, bit ironic really as they are also know for their range of horse cleaning products. To be fair it was correctly advertised and the price reflected it but it did cause some smiles in the workshop.
Monday night drove to Hinckley and met up with a friend, we were both booked in to a two day conference Tuesday and Wednesday. Work would not pay the £120 dinner bed and breakfast charge at the Hinckley Island Hotel where the conference was held so we ended up staying in a twin room (with single beds) in the Bosworth Hall Hotel in Market Bosworth. From the outside it is very impressive, inside was a bit Fawlty Towers, complete with coach trips, pensioners, entertainment/bingo and bizzarely a large number of staffordshire bull terriers.
Last night was four star luxury in the corporate Hinckley Island, double room to myself with two king size beds, I have no idea what they thought a single women was going to do with two king size beds, it really wasn't that sort of conference :)
Very quiet on the horse front this week apart from all things saddles looking forward to the weekend so we can get back to some work.
C managed to fall of Charlie Too on Sunday, apparently one minute they were cantering and the next minute they weren't. It was quite a slow motion fall and she got back on but her body protector was really muddy and she ripped the velvet on her hat so it looked quiet dramatic. Feel a bit guilty because I had taken the knee rolls off of the treeless SBS saddle and now can't find them, plus I made her clean and polish the saddle the day before so it was nice and slippery ........ Ooops.
Unfortunately the drive was quite long, about 2.5 hours mainly because it was very very windy and I kept hugging the inside lane for a bit of protection. I also have a cold so all I did when I checked in was go to my room and sleep.
Spent Monday doing further training with Dave Johnson at the Saddle Company, I love spending time with the guys there, the tea is always flowing and there is always a really nice atmosphere. The day was spent learning how to flock a saddle, nothing like being thrown in the deep end, luckily I will never have to do that from scratch, any work of that magnitude will go back to the workshop. It was good though to see what is involved so I can talk about it more knowledgeably. Also learnt how to refresh the flocking in a serge saddle which would remove any lumps and bumps and take the saddle back to a 'clean sheet' ready to be bedded in to a new horse. Took two saddles with me that were in a bit of a state, one of which came from a well known showing producer which was absolutely filthy, bit ironic really as they are also know for their range of horse cleaning products. To be fair it was correctly advertised and the price reflected it but it did cause some smiles in the workshop.
Monday night drove to Hinckley and met up with a friend, we were both booked in to a two day conference Tuesday and Wednesday. Work would not pay the £120 dinner bed and breakfast charge at the Hinckley Island Hotel where the conference was held so we ended up staying in a twin room (with single beds) in the Bosworth Hall Hotel in Market Bosworth. From the outside it is very impressive, inside was a bit Fawlty Towers, complete with coach trips, pensioners, entertainment/bingo and bizzarely a large number of staffordshire bull terriers.
Last night was four star luxury in the corporate Hinckley Island, double room to myself with two king size beds, I have no idea what they thought a single women was going to do with two king size beds, it really wasn't that sort of conference :)
Very quiet on the horse front this week apart from all things saddles looking forward to the weekend so we can get back to some work.
C managed to fall of Charlie Too on Sunday, apparently one minute they were cantering and the next minute they weren't. It was quite a slow motion fall and she got back on but her body protector was really muddy and she ripped the velvet on her hat so it looked quiet dramatic. Feel a bit guilty because I had taken the knee rolls off of the treeless SBS saddle and now can't find them, plus I made her clean and polish the saddle the day before so it was nice and slippery ........ Ooops.
Sunday, 30 January 2011
Practically Perfect
Decided against working Max on Saturday, the weather was really really cold and I couldn't face it. They all came in a bit boingy and C worked Rosey and she was like a giraffe on crack. Discretion was the better part of valour!
Today it was still a bit chilly but at least it was sunny and I managed to find some riding gloves and a bobble hat that made life a bit easier. Neil had given the horses a new strip of grass earlier in the afternoon so they all came in quite full and snoozy.
Max was brilliant, no issues with pallets, birds or any other imaginary thing that could cause a fire breathing dragon routine. Was able to ask for more work today, more bend in the next and some small circles making sure he didn't fall in through his shoulder. He was brilliant, I use a Wells cavesson and it is excellent for this sort of work as it doesn't move. I also use a dealer or driving whip which is basically a short lunge whip, this is also great as you can swing the lash towards the shoulder if they start to come in.
We probably did about 20 minutes of nice work on both reins. Only issue we had was I forgot who I was working with and asked for a bit more engagement from the hind quarters, Max obviously felt this was an unfair ask as I got a stamp but he didn't break pace and was happy to carry on. On both reins I allowed him to stretch out on the full length of the line and got some really nice stretches.
He got a nice scratch as a thank you and then a handful of chaff when he got back to the yard.
C also took Charlie Too for a hack around the fields and he was a good boy, she schooled him yesterday and he was not impressed.
Need to get cracking with Max if I want to take him to the February PMG clinic.
Today it was still a bit chilly but at least it was sunny and I managed to find some riding gloves and a bobble hat that made life a bit easier. Neil had given the horses a new strip of grass earlier in the afternoon so they all came in quite full and snoozy.
Max was brilliant, no issues with pallets, birds or any other imaginary thing that could cause a fire breathing dragon routine. Was able to ask for more work today, more bend in the next and some small circles making sure he didn't fall in through his shoulder. He was brilliant, I use a Wells cavesson and it is excellent for this sort of work as it doesn't move. I also use a dealer or driving whip which is basically a short lunge whip, this is also great as you can swing the lash towards the shoulder if they start to come in.
We probably did about 20 minutes of nice work on both reins. Only issue we had was I forgot who I was working with and asked for a bit more engagement from the hind quarters, Max obviously felt this was an unfair ask as I got a stamp but he didn't break pace and was happy to carry on. On both reins I allowed him to stretch out on the full length of the line and got some really nice stretches.
He got a nice scratch as a thank you and then a handful of chaff when he got back to the yard.
C also took Charlie Too for a hack around the fields and he was a good boy, she schooled him yesterday and he was not impressed.
Need to get cracking with Max if I want to take him to the February PMG clinic.
Wednesday, 26 January 2011
Run On Magnesium
Something weird going on, either magnesium is suddenly being talked about a lot in the horsey press, or on various forums, or there are suddenly an awful lot of loopy and/or laminitic horses at the moment (due to mild Spring like weather after the snow?). Suddenly there is an awfully high demand for magnesium, I have sent out unprecedented amounts in the last couple of weeks. Not complaining but slightly worrying as there has been quite a bit of laminitis this winter and I am definitely getting lots of emails from all around the country. Not your 'typical' laminitic pony either, these are 16hh plus horses.
I think the weather has had an awful lot to do with it, I am seeing a flush of grass after a period where due to the awful weather people weren't able to exercise their horses as much, or the horse was on restricted turn out.
We were lucky in that we were able to continue to turn out and our school and sand track was usable even in the snow, however even when turned out the horses were not moving around as much as they normally do. I have to confess as well it was as much that me and the OH could do to get the taps defrosted and everyone fed and watered, exercising the horses was the last thing on our minds.
It looks like many people are still dealing with the fall out and possibly down South more snow to come. My mother delights in telling me that the year I was born it snowed in April which she reckons was a warning sign of things to come.
No work for the horses during the week again, OH reports they are all well and ok. He has the offer of the first ride on an unridden for six months, newly barefoot, with no prior knowledge of how he goes under saddle, PRE. He has announced that in order to do this he will need to sit on one of mine first, as Charlie Too is the only one in regular ridden work at present it looks like he, and the OH, will be getting a bit of a shock at the weekend.
I dream of the day when I am light enough to ride a 13.2 .....
I think the weather has had an awful lot to do with it, I am seeing a flush of grass after a period where due to the awful weather people weren't able to exercise their horses as much, or the horse was on restricted turn out.
We were lucky in that we were able to continue to turn out and our school and sand track was usable even in the snow, however even when turned out the horses were not moving around as much as they normally do. I have to confess as well it was as much that me and the OH could do to get the taps defrosted and everyone fed and watered, exercising the horses was the last thing on our minds.
It looks like many people are still dealing with the fall out and possibly down South more snow to come. My mother delights in telling me that the year I was born it snowed in April which she reckons was a warning sign of things to come.
No work for the horses during the week again, OH reports they are all well and ok. He has the offer of the first ride on an unridden for six months, newly barefoot, with no prior knowledge of how he goes under saddle, PRE. He has announced that in order to do this he will need to sit on one of mine first, as Charlie Too is the only one in regular ridden work at present it looks like he, and the OH, will be getting a bit of a shock at the weekend.
I dream of the day when I am light enough to ride a 13.2 .....
Tuesday, 25 January 2011
Horseboxes
Bertie Bedford passed his plating yesterday so that means I can get out and about and hopefully get over for some PMG lessons.
Got stuck behind a horsebox on the way to the yard this morning. I am the first to defend the right for slow moving horseboxes to be driven with care on the roads but even I couldn't be positive about this one. Face to face with an Indesit delivery lorry, horsebox had at least another foot it could have pulled over, and a passing place clearly visible about 12 foot back.
Indesit's passenger was doing his best to direct both vehicles and ended up signalling his lorry to move forwards slowly. At this point I started pressing my horn and then got gestures from both horsebox driver and Indesit driver signalling their displeasure at my horn blowing. At that point Indesit driver took the top corner of his vehicle off an an overhead tree branch.
Noticed that the mirrors on the horsebox did not extend past the width of the vehicle which is never good.
Gave B a great lesson on her new pony tonight. We worked without stirrups and both hands on the balance strap stopping and turning with body positioning. She then took her stirrups back and I bet her a £1 that she couldn't do a three loop serpentine in trot without letting go of the strap. It took several attempts but she got there in the end. She was very chuffed until I pointed out I had also told her I would fine her 50p for every time she took her hands off the strap, so I was still up on the deal. Kids are still so gullible sometimes.
Nothing really to say about my lot so far this week, N reports that they have been pretty filthy which usually means they are pretty happy.
Got stuck behind a horsebox on the way to the yard this morning. I am the first to defend the right for slow moving horseboxes to be driven with care on the roads but even I couldn't be positive about this one. Face to face with an Indesit delivery lorry, horsebox had at least another foot it could have pulled over, and a passing place clearly visible about 12 foot back.
Indesit's passenger was doing his best to direct both vehicles and ended up signalling his lorry to move forwards slowly. At this point I started pressing my horn and then got gestures from both horsebox driver and Indesit driver signalling their displeasure at my horn blowing. At that point Indesit driver took the top corner of his vehicle off an an overhead tree branch.
Noticed that the mirrors on the horsebox did not extend past the width of the vehicle which is never good.
Gave B a great lesson on her new pony tonight. We worked without stirrups and both hands on the balance strap stopping and turning with body positioning. She then took her stirrups back and I bet her a £1 that she couldn't do a three loop serpentine in trot without letting go of the strap. It took several attempts but she got there in the end. She was very chuffed until I pointed out I had also told her I would fine her 50p for every time she took her hands off the strap, so I was still up on the deal. Kids are still so gullible sometimes.
Nothing really to say about my lot so far this week, N reports that they have been pretty filthy which usually means they are pretty happy.
Sunday, 23 January 2011
Killer Birds And More Horse Balloons
Decided to continue on with Max and the work we did yesterday. Max is not one of those horses that you can pick up and put down, it is a commitment when you bring him back in to work as you have to work him regularly. It doesn't particularly matter how often you work him each week, although I am sure more would be better but once in work he likes the same sort of routine otherwise he gets very anxious. It always takes a few sessions to get his head back in work mode and there is usually an improvement each time, even if it doesn't always seem like that.
Today he was laughing in the face of the pallets and we started the session really well, so well in fact that after five minutes the thought crossed my mind to finish. I went against my instinct however as I wanted to start getting a more physical session in, rather than focussing on attention. I should know by now that Max is a mind reader, I am not quite sure what caused it but we had one major spook on the left rein. He settled down again pretty quickly which is good for him and we continued as if nothing had happened. Again I thought about stopping but decided to carry on for a bit longer and change the rein. Things were going very well on the right rein until a Kite got in to a bit of a bun fight with some other birds. Not quite sure what was going on but suddenly there was a lot of noise and the sky overhead went a bit dark. Well that was it as far as Max was concerned, bad enough to have things at floor level about to eat him but when things start dropping out of the sky it is too much.
I am afraid I got a little bit tough with him. If I am going to get back on him, and if there is to be any chance that C will ever be able to ride him, and possibly compete, then he needs to know that he can wobble, but not surge. I also had the surge but come at you with the shoulder routine so he got a bit of a flick with the rope and put in the corner. You have to know with Max when it is and isn't appropriate to get a bit tougher, sometimes I don't always get it right but tonight we did regain our head and he was happy to carry on working in that corner of the school. He got lots of praise and fuss.
I was happy that we had finished on a good note so turned to walk across the school to the gate. He obviously wanted out of there fast as he attempted to water ski me across the arena. This resulted in another 10 minutes work until we had head lower and some nice sighs. This is another thing I need to remember with Max, only start something if you have all the time in the world to finish it.
Because of the length of time I had spent with Max I decided against working Jamie as well. Whether the OH was inspired by me working and wanted to join in, or whether he was jealous that I was having fun I don't know but for reasons known only to himself he decided he was going to take Merlin in the school. Merlin is a horse I bred who is no longer ridden due to kissing spines, if you try and ride him in a tree'd saddle he throws himself on the floor although he is happier in a treeless and much more comfortable since going barefoot.
They just worked on some walk, halts and turns with the OH using body language to move Merlin around the school. He was rewarding with treats although not clicking so not true clicker training. Merlin is very food orientated and once he realised he would get a treat if he stopped when the OH stopped he was very attentive. He was a little tight behind (he is pushing 20) so I may see if the OH will try some of the LFS work, not sure if he will let me teach him, he is funny like that we get quite competitive when it comes to riding.
C worked Rosey and Charlie Too so we still got something done with four of them which was good.
The OH also trimmed Tommy, Tommy is our severely laminitic pony who was a rescue a few years ago. He has a deformed hoof that we often struggle with and just recently he has not been too happy to lift it up to have it picked out. N managed to take quite a lot off the heel and he was moving a lot better afterwards so I think we are heading in the right direction. He has not had pulses for months now, it is the residual damage to his hooves that are the problem.
Saturday, 22 January 2011
Horse Balloons And Crab Ponies
Had a Peter Maddison-Greenwell clinic this morning. The two lessons that I watched were advanced work, one was working, and getting changes, and the other was concentrating on obtaining a slightly higher, and more advanced head carriage, her horse has a habit of being a little deep at times.
Sometimes, I can leave a clinic feeling pleased for what the others have achieved, but slightly depressed because I no longer have a horse that I can do the more advanced work on. However, I am pleased to say that my positive frame of mind from last weekend has continued.
Work has meant that it didn't really have the opportunity to do any work with Max since last weekend. The OH was helpfully trying to spoil my positive mental attitude by laying bets that the improvement we got by the end of last weekend's work he would have completely forgotten and therefore I was going to have horse eating pallet syndrome again.
Things did not start well when C and I were bringing the four of them in from the paddock. I don't know why this surprised me but all four were inattentive bringing in and staring strongly across the field towards the muck heap, they were a little on their toes and jumpy. I couldn't work out why this would be until I realised they were uncomfortable with the disappearance of the horse box which had gone that afternoon to be serviced prior to it's plating. Now I don't know whether this says something about my four, they did after all stand and watch the lorry being towed across the field by a land rover due to the mud, so clearly saw it disappear and drive up the road. However, spooking at the empty space they seemed to find appropriate behaviour. I have the only horses that can spook at something, and also nothing.
Temple Grandin explains this phenomonem in her book Animals In Translation, basically if you consider animals, particularly horses, to be autistic, then any change in their environment can cause them to exhibit signs of stress. Some horses cope with this better than others however I seem to have some from the lower end of the functioning spectrum :)
So, Max was absolutely fine with the pallet, very happy to work near it, past it, stand next to it etc, etc. Carried on with the work from last weekend but was actually able to do more 'work' rather than focus on attention. Started on the right rein and this went very well, we had soft, round, attentive and some nice circle work.
Then decided to work on the left rein so asked Max to stand still while I swapped sides and sorted my rope out. I had just said 'stand' and then the OH very helpfully dropped something very loudly out of Max's sight. This resulted in Max performing his 'horse balloon' impression, this basically involves him launching himself in the air with his front feet somewhere above the level of my head. In these situations I try and stay calm, not make a big deal of it and just carry on, I did make myself laugh however by uttering what must of been the most useless command as he launched in to orbit which was 'stay standing'. I think that horse had bolted, almost quite literally.
After that it took two full renditions of 10 green bottles to get him back in to some sort of work mode again, my preference is for alcohol related songs to keep my breathing and to help him relax, my other particular favourite with Max is 'show me the way to go home'.
We finished on a good note however and it was a definite improvement on last weekend.
As the OH was busy trimming in the yard and I still had daylight left I decided to also do some ground work with Jamie. Jamie is an ex race TB who is generally very good but can have his moments, you normally see the twinkle in his eye before he actually does anything really bad, and he does at least have the courtesy to boing when he is well away from you. He usually starts off quite good so I was a little surprised when instead of walking out and away from me he started to bend himself in the middle and cross both front and back legs walking sideways like a crab, as I moved he moved, but sideways.
Now this was probably a fairly advanced movement however it wasn't quite what I was expecting so it left me a little confused, until I realised part of the heavy rope I was using on the cavesson had got caught underneath the bottom of my coat so his head was attached to my body and he was trying to do his best to do what I was asking him for.
Jamie always makes my smile when I work him and he decided to cheer me up even more by showing me his rear and spin manoeuvre. This is a move that he has perfected, he rears vertically and then before he lands does a 90 degree turn, usually to the left. Today's was a particularly high scoring move, I never make a big thing about it now, I just said 'no' in a stern voice and then carried on where we left off. Jamie seemed to find the bending work quite hard. I thought he was a right bend horse until he was even worse on the right rein so have now decided he is just a 'no bend' horse.
We will try again tomorrow and see if he is any different.
C rode Charlie Too and worked Rosey in hand so that was four horses worked and one trimmed today which must be a yard record for us.
Sometimes, I can leave a clinic feeling pleased for what the others have achieved, but slightly depressed because I no longer have a horse that I can do the more advanced work on. However, I am pleased to say that my positive frame of mind from last weekend has continued.
Work has meant that it didn't really have the opportunity to do any work with Max since last weekend. The OH was helpfully trying to spoil my positive mental attitude by laying bets that the improvement we got by the end of last weekend's work he would have completely forgotten and therefore I was going to have horse eating pallet syndrome again.
Things did not start well when C and I were bringing the four of them in from the paddock. I don't know why this surprised me but all four were inattentive bringing in and staring strongly across the field towards the muck heap, they were a little on their toes and jumpy. I couldn't work out why this would be until I realised they were uncomfortable with the disappearance of the horse box which had gone that afternoon to be serviced prior to it's plating. Now I don't know whether this says something about my four, they did after all stand and watch the lorry being towed across the field by a land rover due to the mud, so clearly saw it disappear and drive up the road. However, spooking at the empty space they seemed to find appropriate behaviour. I have the only horses that can spook at something, and also nothing.
Temple Grandin explains this phenomonem in her book Animals In Translation, basically if you consider animals, particularly horses, to be autistic, then any change in their environment can cause them to exhibit signs of stress. Some horses cope with this better than others however I seem to have some from the lower end of the functioning spectrum :)
So, Max was absolutely fine with the pallet, very happy to work near it, past it, stand next to it etc, etc. Carried on with the work from last weekend but was actually able to do more 'work' rather than focus on attention. Started on the right rein and this went very well, we had soft, round, attentive and some nice circle work.
Then decided to work on the left rein so asked Max to stand still while I swapped sides and sorted my rope out. I had just said 'stand' and then the OH very helpfully dropped something very loudly out of Max's sight. This resulted in Max performing his 'horse balloon' impression, this basically involves him launching himself in the air with his front feet somewhere above the level of my head. In these situations I try and stay calm, not make a big deal of it and just carry on, I did make myself laugh however by uttering what must of been the most useless command as he launched in to orbit which was 'stay standing'. I think that horse had bolted, almost quite literally.
After that it took two full renditions of 10 green bottles to get him back in to some sort of work mode again, my preference is for alcohol related songs to keep my breathing and to help him relax, my other particular favourite with Max is 'show me the way to go home'.
We finished on a good note however and it was a definite improvement on last weekend.
As the OH was busy trimming in the yard and I still had daylight left I decided to also do some ground work with Jamie. Jamie is an ex race TB who is generally very good but can have his moments, you normally see the twinkle in his eye before he actually does anything really bad, and he does at least have the courtesy to boing when he is well away from you. He usually starts off quite good so I was a little surprised when instead of walking out and away from me he started to bend himself in the middle and cross both front and back legs walking sideways like a crab, as I moved he moved, but sideways.
Now this was probably a fairly advanced movement however it wasn't quite what I was expecting so it left me a little confused, until I realised part of the heavy rope I was using on the cavesson had got caught underneath the bottom of my coat so his head was attached to my body and he was trying to do his best to do what I was asking him for.
Jamie always makes my smile when I work him and he decided to cheer me up even more by showing me his rear and spin manoeuvre. This is a move that he has perfected, he rears vertically and then before he lands does a 90 degree turn, usually to the left. Today's was a particularly high scoring move, I never make a big thing about it now, I just said 'no' in a stern voice and then carried on where we left off. Jamie seemed to find the bending work quite hard. I thought he was a right bend horse until he was even worse on the right rein so have now decided he is just a 'no bend' horse.
We will try again tomorrow and see if he is any different.
C rode Charlie Too and worked Rosey in hand so that was four horses worked and one trimmed today which must be a yard record for us.
Sunday, 16 January 2011
The start of something
Well, last attempt at a blog went by the wayside, so much so I think I only managed one post and can't even remember the name of the blog or the password!!
I'm not one for New Years resolutions, in fact a few years ago my resolution was never to make a resolution again, however for some reason this year feels a bit different, don't know if it is starting the new year in a new job, and investing some time and money in some training that may enable me to work with horses full time or just that the weather is better and the evenings are beginning to show some hope of getting lighter. Whatever it is it all feels like now is a good time to start things.
So, I am the owner of seven barefoot horses and the responsible person for one other, our full livery. The horses are a mixed bunch, some in work, some capable of being in work and some retired. My riding horse is Max and like the majority of the others he has had the winter off due to lack of time, lack of light and appalling weather. We have a teenager that comes and helps at the weekends and during the school holidays in return for lessons and rides her name is C and she mainly rides Charlie Too who is our Welsh Section C, he is the only one that has been in work throughout the winter as C is happy to ride in all weathers although not sure Charlie is so keen.
This weekend I decided that as we seemed to have an extra 30 minutes or so of daylight and if I was going to start riding Max it would be a good idea to do a month or so of in hand work first. I love in hand work, I never was one for lunging in circles although I think it has it's place, instead I like to work around the school and do different shapes and routines. Marji Armstrong calls this distance work and Peter Laidely calls it dancing. On some of the horse forums I go on there has been quite a lot of talk recently about the work of Marijke de Jong, she is a Bent Branderup student and has some great videos on Youtube. Marijke advocates working the horse in hand with the neck low, a bend through the body and stepping under with the inside hand, she calls this LFS. The technique is quite similar to some of the exercises I have been taught in hand in the bridle but the work starts in the cavesson with a long line which is a bit easier to start with.
So the plan on Saturday was to start with some gentle circling work to try and encourage his hind end to step under and then maybe to do some baucher flexions. As my horses often teach me, what I intend to do and what I end up doing are often two different things. Max has not been in the school for a couple of months and since that time two pallets have been put on the other side of the fence at the furthest short end of the school. Max decided these were the scariest things he had ever seen, obviously horse eating monsters and did his headless chicken impression which a friend of mine describes as giraffe on crack. This basically consisted of whizzy past at high speed snorting and trying to change rein on the lunge and disappear off in the other direction. I am so glad I wasn't riding him because he was being a complete pain.
So, 20 minutes of circles getting closer and closer to the horse eating pallets we eventually had a calm walk past them on the left rein so we called it a day.
C had an in hand lesson with Rosey and she was very good, she always likes to start the session with a bit of a boing but settled well, we are also doing some of the LFS work with her and she struggles with straightness and since her colic surgery last year struggles to engage her stomach muscles. C enjoys this work and has a good feel for it.
C also hacked Charlie Too around the fields and he was a good boy, he can be a little bit nappy but she is getting a bit firmer with him which is helping.
Today was a repeat of yesterday except Max was a GoC on the right rein and it took 15 minutes for a nice walk past the pallets.
All three horses comfortable on the surfaces they worked on nothing exciting to report there really.
I'm not one for New Years resolutions, in fact a few years ago my resolution was never to make a resolution again, however for some reason this year feels a bit different, don't know if it is starting the new year in a new job, and investing some time and money in some training that may enable me to work with horses full time or just that the weather is better and the evenings are beginning to show some hope of getting lighter. Whatever it is it all feels like now is a good time to start things.
So, I am the owner of seven barefoot horses and the responsible person for one other, our full livery. The horses are a mixed bunch, some in work, some capable of being in work and some retired. My riding horse is Max and like the majority of the others he has had the winter off due to lack of time, lack of light and appalling weather. We have a teenager that comes and helps at the weekends and during the school holidays in return for lessons and rides her name is C and she mainly rides Charlie Too who is our Welsh Section C, he is the only one that has been in work throughout the winter as C is happy to ride in all weathers although not sure Charlie is so keen.
This weekend I decided that as we seemed to have an extra 30 minutes or so of daylight and if I was going to start riding Max it would be a good idea to do a month or so of in hand work first. I love in hand work, I never was one for lunging in circles although I think it has it's place, instead I like to work around the school and do different shapes and routines. Marji Armstrong calls this distance work and Peter Laidely calls it dancing. On some of the horse forums I go on there has been quite a lot of talk recently about the work of Marijke de Jong, she is a Bent Branderup student and has some great videos on Youtube. Marijke advocates working the horse in hand with the neck low, a bend through the body and stepping under with the inside hand, she calls this LFS. The technique is quite similar to some of the exercises I have been taught in hand in the bridle but the work starts in the cavesson with a long line which is a bit easier to start with.
So the plan on Saturday was to start with some gentle circling work to try and encourage his hind end to step under and then maybe to do some baucher flexions. As my horses often teach me, what I intend to do and what I end up doing are often two different things. Max has not been in the school for a couple of months and since that time two pallets have been put on the other side of the fence at the furthest short end of the school. Max decided these were the scariest things he had ever seen, obviously horse eating monsters and did his headless chicken impression which a friend of mine describes as giraffe on crack. This basically consisted of whizzy past at high speed snorting and trying to change rein on the lunge and disappear off in the other direction. I am so glad I wasn't riding him because he was being a complete pain.
So, 20 minutes of circles getting closer and closer to the horse eating pallets we eventually had a calm walk past them on the left rein so we called it a day.
C had an in hand lesson with Rosey and she was very good, she always likes to start the session with a bit of a boing but settled well, we are also doing some of the LFS work with her and she struggles with straightness and since her colic surgery last year struggles to engage her stomach muscles. C enjoys this work and has a good feel for it.
C also hacked Charlie Too around the fields and he was a good boy, he can be a little bit nappy but she is getting a bit firmer with him which is helping.
Today was a repeat of yesterday except Max was a GoC on the right rein and it took 15 minutes for a nice walk past the pallets.
All three horses comfortable on the surfaces they worked on nothing exciting to report there really.
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