Dew Drop Inn Equine

03/08/2023

Heads up:

Lesson day Saturday 16th September with the lovely Jessica Poulton.

Is there something in particular you need help with? Need to refine something? Need some horsemanship guidance? then Jess is your girl!

Message me if you’d like a lesson and mark it in your diary😃

15/06/2023

Hi everyone, I have Maffra Equine Dental Vet coming Thursday 29th June. If anyone needs a dental checkup please let me know and we can schedule you in. They are also available for consults as well so if you have something niggling that you’d like checked out we can schedule that too.🐴🦷

18/05/2023

This👇

I was talking to my students that every horse and rider are unique, but the one thing that is consistent throughout every lesson is that learning cannot occur without relaxation. Without relaxation, there is no point in attempting to train. Horses are prey animals and are programmed to be concerned about their own safety. A tense horse is worried they are not safe. We have to understand this. The horse may be afraid of his surroundings, or separation from their herd, or maybe they are in pain and it isn’t obvious to their rider yet. Anything that makes the horse uncomfortable will make them concerned about their safety, and no learning can pe*****te that fear. A relaxed mind can learn. A tense one cannot.
In my book "Dressage in Harmony", on page 12, I write that muscles are found in extensor-flexor pairs. A tense horse tends to contract both extensor and flexor muscles at the same time, thereby tightening and stiffening the joints through the action of the opposing forces. A truly relaxed horse will have every muscle relaxed from the poll to the tail, moving in regular rhythm and responding easily to all the aids, and the hoofprints are light. The rider can take up the reins or give the reins, and the horse will maintain his rhythm without running away. This must be true of all three gaits. A relaxed horse is not stiff, nor tight or frightened. Only when relaxed will the horse show brilliance in the movement.
If a horse is tense, you may have to dedicate the entire ride to achieve a relaxation. Some horses are more prone to tension than others. If your horse has an extremely high sense of self preservation, it takes enormous patience by the rider. Horses are programmed to be concerned about their own safety, and are hoping you will show them the way to a more secure state of mind. With repetition, the horse begins to believe in their rider. They begin to learn there is a better feeling out there that the rider will help them get to. The time it takes to get to a relaxed state becomes shorter over time.
When the horse is spooking, do not get too close to the scary thing and "give" to help unwind the tension. This can take great courage on the rider's part, but holding a tense horse tight creates even more tension. The "give" helps the horse's neck to soften and lengthen, and relaxation eventually start to migrate through the horse’s body. The horse recognizes the rider will not "trap" him and will not force scary things upon him. That builds trust, and trust creates relaxation.

15/04/2023

Big day of Lessons At Dew Drop Inn Equine today with Jessica Poulton. Everyone worked on suppling exercises to begin which then led us all into whatever we were working on or needing help with. Everyone made great progress today and we almost beat the rain, sorry you got that bit of drizzle at the end Aleisha.

04/04/2023

We will have the lovely Jess Poulton (Heal) here for lessons on Saturday April 15th, please message if you’d like to book a lesson😃

08/02/2023

08/01/2023

We have some obstacles set up for anyone interested in having a play😃

20/12/2022

Bundy’s new Hidez Compression hood arrived this morning so I had to try it out to see if it helped his anxiety. It was a bit fangdangle to put on but we got there. It was almost immediate the change in him from high headed and alert in the wind to relaxed and head at wither height. Did some ground work and he was a different horse, often he is just too alert to his surroundings to be trainable and very bracey as a result but today was different, then when I rode him, oh my goodness, what a difference. We have been having trouble in a couple of spots on the arena after an echidna visit a few weeks ago but today he just didn’t care, walked, trot and cantered right past. Stopped fiddling with his bit too which is another big thing. Fingers crossed it helps him, he’s so gorgeous and lovely to ride when he’s not plagued by anxiety🤞🥰

05/12/2022

The longer days are here and we’ve had a glimpse of summer weather. Have your horses had an extra long break over our particularly long winter this year? Why not book a time to come and bring them back into work at our lovely facility on the outskirts of YARRAM. Beautiful arena and day yards, kitchen and bathroom facilities, secure car parking area and access to bush trails if you prefer. Message to book $10/hr.

29/11/2022

Busy day here today, Bullitt and I went for a trail walk to try and get a bit fitter and reinforce his confidence being out alone. Ted came for a walk too. Meg got an Equissage, (she and I went for a trail walk yesterday), and I rode Bundy in a bitless bridle to see how he’d like it. He’s been pretty fussy with a bit in his mouth and yanking the reins from your hands, he didn’t do that once in the bitless and responded beautifully to everything I asked. We practiced one rein stops at the walk then the trot and he was lovely and relaxed in both gaits. 😃

26/11/2022

Fabulous day today for a clinic with Tab

25/11/2022

Gorgeous day for a clinic with our lovely Tabatha Ashlin🌞

23/09/2022

Another busy morning of lessons today with Tabatha Ashlin (thankfully not as hot as yesterday). Thanks Tab, we are so lucky to have you so close by and making yourself available for us. Thanks to everyone who came for lessons, it’s so rewarding to see everyone’s improvement.

22/09/2022

An absolutely stunning day for lessons with Tabatha Ashlin. I was so busy watching that I forgot to take photos of everyone☹️. Hopefully the weather will be just as nice for tomorrows lessons🤞.

19/09/2022

The things I get excited about👏👏A new loo🚽😃.

17/09/2022

Fabulous Horsemanship Clinic today with Tabatha Ashlin. Horses and humans made great progress and the weather almost held out till the end😃