Train Teach Trim

25/08/2024

Willalooka Hoof Workshop end of October - expressions of interest taken now! Please complete this form to register your interest https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSekHkogWgdLTN5rg9Y-CJaRgm3s9fewaX-FriUGBqX60Vyd4Q/viewform

THE HEALTHY HOOF WORKSHOP
presented by Jenny Austin and Richard van Dijk

Are your horses feet the best they can be?
Do your horse a favour and learn how to identify and help create the greatest hooves possible!

Day One
~Hoof anatomy and how it works to support the horse
~How to recognize healthy vs unhealthy hooves
~How to create a sound barefoot horse including information on Diet, Movement, Environment, etc.
~How to recognize, prevent and treat, common pathologies such as
o Laminitis
o Seedy Toe
o Thrush

Plus!
~Hoof Trimming Demonstration
~Hands on activities with preserved hooves and bones

Day Two
Trimming day, one on one with your horse or watch the hosts horses get trimmed
Costs $200 for both days or $150 for Day 1 only.

Learn more about Jenny and Richard at www.trainteachtrim.com.au

Register interest here https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSekHkogWgdLTN5rg9Y-CJaRgm3s9fewaX-FriUGBqX60Vyd4Q/viewform

25/08/2024

Gorgeous saddle!

We have a handful of new saddles in stock, including this black dressage on a short back base with 17.5" seat. Available on the website or contact us if you have any questions! Small number of pads are also available.

18/08/2024

LATEST NEWS

That's a wrap for the 2024 Hunt Season with the wonderful Oliver, the equally wonderful Fleurieu Hunt Club and the very awesome Freeform Australia @ saddles. For the closing hunt Richard was riding in the Freeform Classic. We have saddles here to try and can help with ordering and fitting any model.

TRAINING
We are in the middle of a 4 week break from training horses so that we can do some maintenance on the property.

We have horses booked in for the coming months but can definitely take bookings for the New Year.

LESSONS
When Spring arrives peoples thoughts turn to doing more with their horses. Jenny is available for riding help, groundwork help, floating help or whatever help you need including pre-purchase assessments.

Richard might be available for lessons at your place for the more challenging situations, depending on availability.

F***L EGG COUNTS
Not quite yet, but keep it in mind for October. Only $18 per sample.

HOOF WORKSHOPS AND TRIMMING LESSONS
The very popular Healthy Hoof Workshop is back! Please contact us if you would like to host one (host is free) and for more information. The one day workshop can be followed by a trimming day. We can also do one-on-one trimming lessons with your own horse.

TRIMMING
At this stage we are only taking on new clients on recommendation of existing clients and only in closer to home areas or areas that we already go to.

12/08/2024

This Freeform Australia saddle is gorgeous! We have some models in SA that you can try and we can help with any fitting questions.

This beauty is set up with everything you need to hit the trails. Comfy deep seat, western fenders, XFQH wooden fork (removable/interchangeable) in a divine two-tone brown and black leather.

04/08/2024

Some years ago we wrote a blog "Sometimes Hoof Trimming has to wait" https://www.trainteachtrim.com.au/sometimes-hoof-trimming-has-to-wait

This little (and very gorgeous) Welsh A mare is a perfect case study for this philosophy. It's been around a year of Jenny getting to know her when she's there to trim the others, plus the owners gentle handling to gain confidence before they decided to trim her front feet. They are still working on the hinds but that won't be much longer. Yes, we could have 'man-handled' her and got the job done but that's not a positive learning experience and it's exactly what had happened to her before to make her reactive and very stressed about the whole process. Her hooves will now continue to improve with regular trimming and she will doze through the trims from now on. Can we just say again how cute she is!

09/07/2024

Info about base sizes. We generally use a short base for everything but we also have a standard. In the comments I will post a pic of an extra short base on a pony that's around 12.2hh.

Wondering about sizing? Base Length is measured down the centreline on the underside of the saddle. We have three sizes 📏

XSB (Extra Short Back): 47cm
SB (Short Back): 51cm
STD (Standard): 56cm

09/07/2024

They’re here! Oh my gosh I can’t believe how stunning this saddle is now that I’m seeing it in person! It’s so plush, well made, gorgeous detail stitching, stirrup leathers neatly under the flaps, cut back wither area to accommodate those big withers, optional panels, plenty of D’s, optional back length and more! This gorgeous Italian made saddle is available now for fitting and having a ride in. Meanwhile lucky, lucky Richard will be taking it Hunting. This is the Jumping model, there are many other styles such as dressage and trail. They also come in a pony size! These are a structured treeless saddle and rated to carry weight that others can’t. These are also reasonably priced! Contact us if you’d like to try this saddle or the equally lovely and versatile Trail saddle (pic in comments). Located in South Australia but Jenny can help with remote fitting and any queries ❤️

03/07/2024

If these saddles can pass the rigorous testing of the Endurance Discipline, over multiple years and a variety of horses and riders, they are perfect for any kind of riding!

Tevis Cup Winners Ride Freeform

In the well-known 100-mile Tevis Cup, the 2004, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2013 Tevis Cup winners were riding on a Freeform Saddle and the 2009 winner of the 100-mile AERC Championship was riding on a Freeform Saddle. In 2021, three top-10 Tevis Cup finishers rode Freeform. Photo: John Crandell & Heraldic, Tevis 2010 winners, in Freeform Classic Saddle.

Source: https://treelesssaddle.com/pages/raves-endurance-riders

01/07/2024

We are so excited to be Brand Ambassadors for the absolutely incredible Freeform Australia treeless saddles. Jenny is very experienced at fitting and using these saddles. Once upon a time she was a fitter and seller of a range of treeless saddles for a different importer. After buying and trying several different brands she always came back to Freeform as her firm favourites. Richard is a convert too and now he doesn’t want to use anything else. They have been so handy to fit all of the horses and ponies that we have here for training. We are so happy that Vanessa is now importing them. We will have 4 saddles here for locals to try. Not all treeless saddles are alike! Contact Jenny if you have any questions! Yippee!

28/06/2024

We are happy to mentor students enrolled in this awesome course

25/06/2024

I’m posting this video as a post instead of a reel because it gets cut off at one minute grrrr

24/06/2024

TO BIT OR NOT TO BIT?

We do start all horses bitless and will mostly transfer to a bit later on in the riding process. We often will go bitless when re-training as well and once things are going well, will go back to a bit.

WHY?
Often having something in their mouth can be too much of a distraction when they are still getting used ,and processing, other parts of training, e.g. carrying a rider, learning the go, stop and turn aids, etc. The extra distraction causes them stress, and they aren't learning as well as they should be. Once they are fully comfortable with all the other things, we can introduce the bit when they are ready.

These two photos are of 'handover' rides after being started by us. One has a bit and one doesn't.

22/06/2024

On behalf of a client, we are looking for a small 'first' pony for a caring, country family with 3 young girls, the eldest is pictured here. Happy to lease or buy. Also looking for a quiet trail riding horse for the Mum, an intermediate rider. No TBs or SBs. Around 15hh. If you have or know of anything please get in touch.

13/06/2024

12/06/2024

Jenny out doing floating training this morning at stunning Myponga Beach

11/06/2024

We had such a fun weekend away at Mt Benson for the 2024 State Hunt hosted by Penola Hunt Club. The hunt was 30kms and had 190 jumps! Oliver didn't jump all of those and only the smaller ones because he's not the most naturally athletic horse. He is so easy to manage, with a wonderful temperament, and we want him to stay sound for years to come, so we nurture him as best we can. I'm proud of Richard van Dijk for looking after Oliver and still having such fun.

Note the Freeform Australia treeless saddle being used with a heavier rider (sorry Richard) and NO sore back woohoo! Richard just loves these saddles for doing everything in!
Also note that 6 of 8 the Fleurieu team members are also barefoot horses 😉

02/06/2024

This stunning PJ Pathfinder is in stock, enjoy the super duper comfy moulded foam seat, and added security of large knee rolls. This one comes with wave leathers, centerfire and fast change girth position/billets, and we also have panels to velcro underneath the base in stock if you need more spinal clearance or better weight distribution.

30/05/2024

This is an excerpt from a recent post in Equitation Science International

"Current practices, such as round-pen techniques, lungeing, driving or chasing horses for any reason, are detrimental if they induce fear and elicit a flight response.
Such responses are not difficult to distinguish because they generally involve raised head-carriage, hollowed loins, short choppy steps and tendencies to quicken.
We recommend that systematically inducing fear in horses should not be used in horse-training.
- An excerpt from Equitation Science, volume 2 by Andrew McLean, Paul McGreevy, Janne Whinther Christensen & Uta König von Borstel"

We do not use fear-based training here but a lot of people don't recognise exactly what that is. The above briefly explains it.

22/05/2024

It’s not much of a photo because I like to honour my clients privacy.

This session was for an absolutely wonderful horse whose only concern was with bridling fear.

I’ll work with her for a couple of sessions and give her human homework to continue with between visits.

Before too long she will have forgotten what she was so worried about.

I break the task down into little steps and watch carefully for anxious signs and reward when appropriate.

Bridling issues can be common and often originated with the teeth being knocked by the bit - ouch! Sometimes it’s ear shyness.

Rather than have a stressful battle every time this horse is bridled, we are retraining her to be happy about accepting it, then the fun riding can begin!

Jenny Austin

09/05/2024

W don’t even have stables, or small yards..

People often say that their horses in stables ‘live like kings’, but in fact, none of them do, unless we are referring to a king in exile, and a locked room!

When people use this analogy they are usually referring to the supply of copious clean bedding, an aesthetically pleasing stable and performance enhancing nutrition.

It is important to re-think this statement from the horse’s perspective and recognise that to live like a horse in a stable would be to: live with friends they can see and touch, be able to forage for 13 hours a day, and to have the freedom to move and interact with at least some facets of their environment.

This is a teaser of our soon to be released Modern Horse Training Volume 2 ✨

08/05/2024

If you have floating issues, Jenny is the one to help

FLOAT TRAINING

I wish I had taken before and after videos of this horse and his interactions with the float, because you would not have believed the change in him after only two sessions with me. He went from being extremely anxious in the vicinity of the float, let alone being asked to go in it. If he was asked to go in, he would come flying out as quick as he went in, hitting his head and being very scared of the whole situation.

The second session was actually quite short, and resulted in him walking slowly in, and then backing out again very calmly, with his head down. It was like a completely different horse.

At the third lesson, I will work towards self-loading and closing the ramp. Perhaps at the fourth lesson, we will be self-loading two horses so that their owner can manage it all on her own, for a lovely trip to the forest.

Much credit is due to his diligent owner who did her homework in between my visits.

I really enjoy float training. It is so satisfying seeing the results of my method come to fruition time and time again. Note that the timeline will be different for each horse and situation.

PS his ears aren’t really that long, my camera did that to him!

29/04/2024

Spike’s first ride out of our property and into the neighbours was perfect. He only has to go up the road with and without another horse, do some trotting, then he’ll be going home to do some more growing before anymore work.

26/04/2024

Our favourite treeless saddles! These two are ready to go right now, no waiting for your order to come from Italy! We currently have two of these and will hopefully have another one in the future. We are DONE with treed saddles. It's so nice to be able to fit multiple horses with the Freeforms. They are so comfy and they are NOT floppy and do not cause pressure points like some other brands. Not all treeless saddles are equal, far from it! Did you know that this brand are used by long distance riders all over the world, and were purchased for the WA mounted police several years ago, yep these are rated up to 100kg weight carrying, what's not to like! Freeform Australia

22/04/2024

FIRST RIDES

The first ride shouldn’t be dramatic or traumatic for horse or rider.

How we achieve this is through, interconnected groundwork that leads to calmness, understanding and balance.

Spike’s first ride was all of these and was really nice.

Subsequent rides will gradually increase his mental and physical stamina, while staying relaxed. Fine tuning the aids at slower gaits will prepare him for faster gaits when we feel that he is ready.

12/04/2024

https://www.facebook.com/stories/110915427711344/UzpfSVNDOjExNDgwMDgxNTk1NjA5OTU=/?view_single=1&source=shared_permalink&mibextid=W9rl1R

08/04/2024

Spike is getting the hang of long reining.