Baerlochan Australian Stock Horse Stud

19/02/2025

Haydon horses on the field...

Dolfina Zorra (Haydon Angel Jewel {Mia Gatita} x Dolfina Tyson) is the now the third daughter of Angel Jewel that La Dolfina have bred and taken to played in the US High Goal.
Poroto Cambiaso is currently playing her in his team while his father Adolfo played Misky, who he took back to Argentina for last year’s Open, and Diamita.

17/02/2025

Commala and Fred (aka Democrat and Fourth Edition)...

15/02/2025

I can't quantify just how much I love this horse...

14/02/2025

Sad news.
I hear her voice in my head...along with all of the other wonderful instructors.

British dressage pioneer Domini Morgan (née Lawrence) has passed away on 4 January 2025 at age 99.

05/02/2025

Would you ride the horse in the first picture? I suppose your answer was no. This is Maserati just a few days prior to his 3rd birthday.
Do you see how high his bum was? His bum was a whooping 5 cm higher than his withers! That´s 2 inches!

This is the age when most youngsters get started and many are even already started and ridden for a whole year!

I think there is so much wrong in the horse industry these days that it is so normal to ride 3 year olds and even 2 year old horses.

Just the idea of sitting on such an imbalanced, immature youngster, makes me cringe.

Makes me feel like violating a child. Why would anyone even consider riding such an immature horse?

I know this is a topic where the waves can go high. But I want to share my point of view anyway because I get asked about it a lot.

Even when Maserati turned 4, his bum was still 3 cm higher than his withers. He had 7 VERY short rides.On 2 of those rides we trotted just a little bit. And then I left him alone for almost a year before he had another few short rides.

Today, I am GLAD I waited and that I gave him time to finish growing and maturing.

Last year when he turned 7 years old, he is finally balanced in growth. He has filled out, the shoulders widened and he finally has some withers.

He was often so clumsy, easily lost balance, dripped over logs in the forest and even over his own feet due to him being so bum high.

Now all of this has improved. He is moving beautifully now with a nice stretch over his top line and engaging his hindquarters.

He starts to look like a well balanced horse. Just look at that second photo. what a difference - and this didn't happen through lots of specific training. No, just let him mature and then rode him for 4 months last year.

The more horses I start, the more I advocate to wait at least until the horse's 4th birthday.

Or, with some horses, even until almost 5 years old. Maserati was still very imbalanced at age 4. So I waited a bit more.

What all horses have in common is how the skeleton matures. No matter how mature the horse looks on the outside - the skeleton might not be mature at all.

Don’t get fooled by muscle development to think “the horse is ready”. Most of that muscle is probably only fat anyways.

Whether its an Arabian, Quarter Horse, Frisian, PRE, Pony, Warmblood or Draft - the skeleton will mature at the same pace.

I am not saying to wait until the horse is 8 and all growth plates are fully closed. But a late start, towards the 4th/5th year and then slow and consistent work, will preserve the horse.

So, if you have a 2 or 3 year old and people start to say "You should start him, he will get too strong in his mind." don't worry.

Give your horse time to grow, time to mature.

You can do so much more than riding your youngster.

In Operation Dream Horse I have a full Roadmap Stage dedicated to the stage between yearling and starting to ride with a total of 9 learning paths so you never run out of inspiration of what to do with a non-ridden youngster.

Such as creating groundwork, Play at liberty. Or teach him long reining. Or creative trail obstacles. Or going on walks, or in hand work.

Build your youngster steady and slow. Build a partnership for life so you can enjoy many many happy years riding your horse later on.

Do you have a youngster? What's your take on this?

P.s.: If you have a youngster and you are interested in the ODH program, you can join the waitlist via this link: https://my.operationdreamhorse.com/join-the-waitlist

Doors for new members are closed right now so I can focus on helping my current members. If you join the waitlist, I will keep you informed when I will accept new members into the program again!

01/02/2025

There is a striking similarity when we look at pics of Mr Hot Toddy and his illustrious great-grandsire and grand-sire, Acres Destiny and ID...

01/02/2025

The three young boys are learning a lot about life this week; flashing fire truck lights and noisy nights, and the joys of frozen fruit treats stolen from a human passing through their paddock. Grasped as she tried to open a gate...then subjected to a refreshing tug of war. We won.

27/01/2025

Baerlochan Sultan of Swing.
Rising Four, gelding.
Sire: Shooting the Moon http://onlinestudbook.com/horses/184917?list=index
Dam: Escholar Eva
http://onlinestudbook.com/horses/167744?list=index
Half-brother to the well performed Baerlochan Braveheart.

While his sire did not compete due to an injury incurred as a foal, he showed potential as a dressage horse and jumper, and was used for stock work at home. He is the full brother to Cunnamore Calibre.

Calibre was used by Ally Henderson for everything: eventing, showjumping, stock work. She has produced Baerlochan Bushranger; Baerlochan Europa, Baerlochan Chauvel (pending) and Baerlochan Velocity (pending).
Sultan has been backed and is ready to work. We are riding out at home, doing pole work and groundwork, and just getting used to being a ridden horse.

Sultan is a young horse who will need a confident rider, but with multi-talented siblings and cousins, we are confident that he will mature into a competent horse.

We will upload more photos and videos as his training progresses, and we assess his worth in $$$s!

Ps. He is not a stallion! Paperwork being adjusted accordingly!

21/01/2025

So Very Brave...

https://www.racing.com/news/2025-01-20/news-contenders-brave-win-for-death-defying-horse?fbclid=IwY2xjawH724xleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHREHInkObn5yHkHx2PyB6w5pbUmMYU4XXbvoGGsYw4KhP52BDDSbwKZu4g_aem_QnSl-7QeglzUlM76cwZL2ASo

Three years after a horrific truck fire, So Brave has given Peters family one of most satisfying wins

16/01/2025

Miss Ginny...all grown up!

12/01/2025

Despite the fact that Facebook and I are having some on and off relationship time (I think the technology recognise that I have issues with its tendency to spread misinformation), the horses are still here. As the New Year starts, there are new babies in paddocks, learning new things...growing up, growing old, eating and sleeping...

17/12/2024

A moment of peace while they finish their morning hay; a brief interlude when Slingshot is not taking over Bella's pile, and Bella is not taking Calibre's and Cuffy and Meg are just quietly eating, not taking evasive action and getting away from the chaos. Without being bossed around. Just a normal family meal time?

15/12/2024

Some cracker pics here, taken through the magic lens of Anne Lasini at Rustic Pics. There are some that will need to be ordered after the Christmas dust settles!

Photographers Combined

12/12/2024

The lovely Bella. PTIF to Cuffy...trying hard not to count the chickens...

26/11/2024

Please do not disturb. Babies sleeping!

16/11/2024

Formally introducing Eva's latest. A filly, first filly foal for Eva and a sister for Panda-Po, Sultan and Fawkes. By Cuffy, another treasure to behold. One week old taking life in her long legged strides...

11/11/2024

Horse pasture November 2024, perennial and annual grasses.