Gracelands Equestrian Glenorie

17/03/2025

Beautiful Django had a spa day yesterday, he is adorable

14/03/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1624ztu2fo/

Jose Mendez Equestrian classical dressage master is recognised for his skills in working in hand, high school and collected movements; piaffe and passage. He applies his Appreciation, Sincerity and Kindness (ASK) training method to achieve a harmonious partnership with the horse.

21/02/2025

Be safe my lovely ducks! They have been locked in their pen for 5 days since one of my favourite duck was killed by the fox on the far side of the dam. I'm hoping the fox has moved on. They were so happy to head back down there

17/02/2025

The mornings are getting really cool but it's still beautiful as always

10/02/2025

Night ponies, thankfully no damage after the storm

03/02/2025

I was lucky to get 3 days off. But when I Kane back I realised every view from my humble abode is beautiful and no noise other than nature

26/01/2025

Capping off the day. Happy Australia Day

26/01/2025

Fabulous liberty and brideless clinic by Kim Thompson from Heartlands. Great way to celebrate Australia Day

25/01/2025

My favourite duck "muscy" loves sifting through the horses feed to find any yummy left over pellets. I never thought I'd love a duck

23/01/2025

I love the morning feeding on a cool summer morning. Gracelands and the horses and animals and birds bring me great joy

21/01/2025

Good morning Gracelands

20/01/2025

Indoor arenas are also great for our dogs to get wet and have fun. I love watching them play

19/01/2025

💜💜LIBERTY & BRIDLELESS CLINIC 💜💜
****Fence sitter spots available**** Kim Thompson from Heartland Equestrian will be running a private lesson format clinic @ Gracelands Equestrian Glenorie on 25&26th Jan. Fence sitter spots are $50 which invites you to sit and watch the private lessons and ask as many questions as you like to assist you in your own learning.

This modality is perfect for all disciplines, ages and experience levels! It gives you fun, kind and heartfelt tools to assist in building your connection & communication with your horse. This leads to a better understanding of their needs which ultimately has a flow on effect in helping you get to where you want to be faster and with less resistance.

Please call if you’re interested in booking a spot for fence sitting or what to express interest in future clinics. 0429930038

26/12/2024

So nice to just hang out with buddy undercover

12/12/2024

Best courses you could ever do https://www.facebook.com/share/1AzapM9w1P/

𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗽𝗵𝘆𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗯𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗮 𝗕𝗜𝗚 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝟮𝟬 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 – astutely observing horses’ 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, applying all I knew about movement from my learnings in 𝗙𝗲𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗸𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗶𝗸𝗶𝗱𝗼, combined with powerful 𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴, and of course ‘𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲’, 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗹 𝗗𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 and the ‘F𝗲𝗲𝗹’ that horses love, helped me evolve ways to improve horses bodies fast and in ways that feel good to horses.

Here in the Banyandah groundwork courses we have a 𝟮𝟳 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲.
The owner had plans to bring her much younger horse but he wouldn’t get on the float. “Harry” the 27 year old ex-trotting horse, was keen to come and clearly indicated that he wanted to get on the float. So that is how he got here.

The 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗶𝗰 𝗶𝘀 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝟭 and he doesn’t look too bad when we compare him to most 27 year olds, but compare it to the second pic – we see a 𝗵𝘂𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. This is 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝟰 𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀 of his owner learning about 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 and helping him 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗵𝘆𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 - releasing his spine and 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗲 and the rest of his body. We did one 𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 (which I showed the owner how to do herself) which had a big impact as well. This is a 𝗽𝗵𝗲𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 in just 4 days. 𝗕𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝟭 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝟭𝟬 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 and he now has a new lease of life!!!

The 𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 that occur in 𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲’𝘀 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀, 𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗺𝗮𝘇𝗲𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗺𝗲 and it all just keeps getting better and better and evolving more and more.
𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗻-𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 to transform your horse's mind, emotions and body. So you too can experience amazing results with your horses.

06/12/2024

Django. Big bugalugs to hot to do to much today, couple minutes each side then back for a hose lol

05/12/2024

I wish more people and judges would allow the horse to move more naturally and use better riding and ground work skills to allow the horse to use his hind quarters rather than just pulling the horse head thinking that means the horse is collected. Try walking around with your chin pulled to your chest. https://www.facebook.com/ponyclubaustralia/posts/pfbid0VgCK7jUe8A4uZkeCYecw4CttYYUJP1bU9o9VqrpFzKrHV6tKskzVc9mkdbikhR4tl

𝗪𝗘𝗟𝗙𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗪𝗘𝗗𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗗𝗔𝗬: 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗱-𝗡𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘁 𝗕𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗘𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗗𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗛𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲𝘀

A recent study by K. Kienapfel et all (2024) investigated the relationship between head-neck positions (HNPs), conflict behaviour (CB), and judging scores in elite dressage horses. The study examined how these factors align with the animal welfare principles and competition rules established by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI).

𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀:
• Conflict behaviour increases with lower nasal plane angles in elite dressage horses.
• Relationship found between head-neck positions and conflict behaviour.
• Surprising rule contradiction: tests with small poll angles received high scores.
• Urgent need to address animal welfare and enhance solutions in dressage sport.

𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗱𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆:
The study observed 49 horses participating in the Grand Prix Special (CDIO5*) at CHIO Aachen in 2018 and 2019. Researchers analysed video footage of warm-up and competition phases, measuring HNPs (angle at the vertical, poll angle, and shoulder angle) and recording instances of conflict behaviour. These were evaluated against judges' scores.

The results showed that:

▪️ The nasal plane was behind the vertical more frequently during warm-up than in competition (-11° vs. -5°).
▪️ Poll angles were larger in competition (28°) than in warm-up (24°).
▪️ No significant differences were found in shoulder angles between warm-up and competition phases.

Conflict behaviours, including unusual oral movements, occurred more often during warm-up than in competition. Tail swishing was not affected by the nasal plane’s angle.

𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘀' 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀
The study authors concluded that the findings raise concerns about the welfare of elite dressage horses and the application of FEI rules. According to the authors, horses showing restrictive HNPs—such as nasal planes behind the vertical—exhibited more conflict behaviours, yet these positions were not penalised during scoring and, in some cases, correlated with higher scores.

The authors emphasised the importance of addressing these discrepancies to ensure that dressage practices align more closely with established rules and prioritise horse welfare.