Tinderbox Sport Horses

17/08/2024

Fabulous company!! Can’t wait to meet the new person. 🧡

𝗪𝗲'𝗿𝗲 𝗛𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴!!

We’re looking for a new specialist, based in the East of England, to join our team to help maintain our excellent relationships with current clients and proactively develop new business. This is an amazing opportunity to learn and be a part of a dynamic team working with luxury, prestigious and successful brands.

The new team member will work across the Childeric UK and Orange Horse Consultants brands, working with a range of horses and riders, from those who ride for leisure, to 5* winners and Olympians. The role will encompass working with Childeric’s beautiful and bespoke saddles, as well as the precision engineering of Sprenger bits, plus associated brands.

Full job description and application process here:

https://www.orangehorseconsultants.co.uk/blog/work-with-us #/

14/08/2024

Well written.
I come across so many people who normalise them biting and ears back when saddling up (big clue your saddle may not fit!)
Horse should look forward to being ridden - not hide at the back of the box once tacked up!

Just because we can doesn’t mean we should 🐴

A common theme with the horses I go out to see is that they have been given the “all clear” by vets/bodyworkers/various other professionals. Therefore the owner logically assumes they are definitely dealing with a behavioural issue as they have done all of the things they’re supposed to do as a caring owner.

Unfortunately diagnostics can be very limited and people seem to have trouble seeing the whole horse. Just because you haven’t found a solid cause yet doesn’t mean the horse isn’t in pain. Horses don’t lie and if they are behaving like they’re in pain I believe them. There is more to pain than hocks, kissing spine and ulcers.

With permission, I’m going to tell you a story which is unfortunately not an unusual one. I was called out to this horse as he had a “fear” of being mounted, but they said he was fine once they were on and they were jumping him competitively up to 1.20m. They had done x-rays of his back, stifles and hocks and scoped him for ulcers. A physio had also seen him and said they found no issues. The owner had tried every training method under the sun to fix this behaviour, pressure/release, chasing him around with a flag, clicker training, putting him against the wall, having someone hold a lick in front of his face etc. The horse was still biting, swinging away and becoming really agitated. I observed him being ridden and he was showing several conflict behaviours, tail swishing, unhappy in the mouth, head tossing etc. I didn’t do any training with the horse, to my eye the horse was definitely in pain and I referred them onto a recommended specialist vet. Upon investigation this horse had extensive arthritis in his neck and issues in his spine that had not been picked up by the first vet.

Horses are so, so stoic and we are also rubbish as an industry at seeing discomfort in them because it is so normalised. We see them as “fine” to ride as long as they aren’t actively decking us. We ignore them until they’re screaming and even then many do not listen because it is justified away as “quirky” or “sassy” behaviour.

Imaging is only useful if the person reading it has the skill to do so well and I have experience of one vet saying x-rays are fine then a second-opinion specialist vet making a pretty devastating diagnosis from the same images.

Now I am not saying we all need to spend thousands at the vet immediately, a huge part of what I do is gently, quietly improving posture and emotional health to see if we can start to help the horse feel and move better over time, but a hill I absolutely will die on is if the horse is unhappy with any part of tacking up/mounting then we do not ride the horse that day.

There are so many things we can do beyond just medicating and cracking on, if we can all learn a bit more about recognising postural issues and behavioural indicators we can potentially avoid a lot of heartache and frustration.

The industry as a whole is blind to postural issues, I’m still seeing horses regularly who have been “cleared” by several professionals who I find with saddle shaped dips in their back and incredibly poor hoof balance which is going to make their body really uncomfortable. Yet the poor owner has been told again and again the horse is fine and they need to crack on and get a trainer out, and then the training methods make the posture even worse…I will be writing in more detail about this soon and doing a live with Yasmin on the topic.

If your horse goes to the back of the stable when you arrive with your tack, you need to restrain him in cross ties or he repeatedly moves away from the mounting block, I encourage you to think about why that is. There is a reason he doesn’t want to, be it physical or emotional discomfort with the situation. Making him move his feet and harassing him until his only option is to stand still isn’t going to change those feelings. A horse complying once you’re in the saddle does not mean they’re fine with it, they just know they have no choice once you’re on because nobody has ever listened to the no. 🐴

www.lshorsemanship.co.uk

12/08/2024

Need to turn a 4yr old gelding out for a few weeks. Any ideas?

02/08/2024

Some bedtime reading!!! 🤓🤓

📢 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗕𝗟𝗢𝗚: 𝗧𝗶𝗻𝗮 & 𝗚𝗲𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲’𝘀 𝗜𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗝𝘂𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲
After years of experience and a change of discipline Tina Canton (Tinderbox Sport Horses) finally got the Team GB call up for the Veteran Show Jumping Championships in Italy 🤩 🇮🇹

"It was a fabulous trip with memories and new friends made" says Tina. "To be on Team GB with George made me very proud, he jumped brilliantly, coped well with the heat and the epic journey. 𝗗𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗲 𝗔𝗹𝗳𝗮-𝗔 𝗢𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 was the foundation of his diet throughout, feeding him a small amount prior to riding, as well as within his main feeds, helping to keep him fuelled and hydrated."

Read Tina's full blog here 👉 https://dengie.com/news-articles/blog/tina-georges-italian-show-jumping-adventure/

23/07/2024

So true!! Big pet hate of mine the nagging leg 🦵🏼.(Don’t let me get on my soap box about fiddly backwards hands!!🤦‍♀️). Educate your horse to go off lovely light aids by being consistent and clear. Rewarding forward though and riding to soft hands. 🙏🏼🙏🏼

I'm going to talk about an aspect of riding which is a welfare issue for myself and my team, the habit of 'kicking' a horse to create forward movement.
We see some of our riders start with such, a jab, a boot to the ribcage, which they have learned in Riding Schools and equally riding privately owned horses, despite our asking them to ride sympathetically using a squeeze, with a happy willing horse as a result.
An easy question for you.
Would you consider it ok to repeatedly kick that horse anywhere else on its body?
No?
Then why is it oh-too-often considered OK to kick the horse repeatedly in the ribs?
Our horses are well mannered, polite, and we do not permit kicking, but we get adult and children riders who have been encouraged to KICK their horse in their lessons, riding bored, fed up, switched off horses, to create momentum, to move forwards.
Not here, not on my watch, I love my horses and firmly believe they have the right to a decent work environment free of abusive riding.
Therefore, is kick kick kick OK?
No!
No, it really is not.
We all know horses are live animals with moods and reactions and yes some love schooling some do not, but surely, either within or outside the industry, we can - we must - do better than kick, kick, kick.
I saw a video last night on FB of a lady attending an experience elsewhere, a jump class, where all you can hear, as the horse approaches the jump, is the instructor shouting 'kick kick kick' as she heads towards a low easy jump, trying to find, trying to create, momentum.
How can we change this?
We can educate our horses to react correctly to a squeeze. That's a basic.
Physical reasons should be routinely addressed not when they might become an issue (teeth, backs, saddle fit, bitting) and as riders/ owners we should be aware of changes, the weather, flies, heat, age, lameness etc.
Importantly, particularly within Riding Schools, recognise the psychological effect on any horse of riders not knowing what to ask, either being given poor instruction or not listening to any instruction, and the horse learning to ignore them and switching off.
Change the task for a while, change the job, just as you would, and consider how you can improve that horses life. Horses are individuals, just like us!
Kicking continually is also physically damaging.
This is a true tale!!
I was Instructing on a Beach Riding Experience a few years ago now, and in conversation one of my ladies mentioned she loved our Pre Ride Briefing, where we discuss NOT kicking, rather, squeezing the horse forward. She was a Vet, and told me about a disection she performed as a student on a 14hh pony.
The pony had passed away and was being used as a teaching tool, of huge value.
They went through the various levels of skin/ fascia/nervous system/internal organs/musculature etc discussing as they went, then came to the skeleton; the students were surprised to see that the last three ribs were fused together.
The tutor asked them why they thought that was. Genetics perhaps?
Nope. You might have guessed.
That pony was a Riding School pony and had been kicked so much for so long, to protect itself the ribs had fused together.
I wanted to cry.
If we want to be serious about equine welfare either as professionals within the industry or as riders at home, we need to do better, we really do.
Stop telling kids to kick on.
Stop doing it yourselves....
If you're an Instructor, do better.
Stop advertising horses as 'kick alongs'
Stop accepting that it's OK for horses to be booted repeatedly in the ribs.
If your child is at a Riding School and you repeatedly hear the phrase 'give him a good kick', take your kids elsewhere.Leave, but tell them why. Educate.
Because IT'S NOT OK.
Ask yourself how you can build a relationship with that horse which encourages the horse to enjoying being ridden, wanting to work with you, a willing partner. If a Riding School, encourage young riders to ride correctly. Back up leg aids with a crop rather than kick kick kick.
Briefly, then, I must mention use of a crop, because I also believe there are occasions when your horse can simply pull the 'talk to the hoof, human' manoeuvre and an appropriately placed effective tap is infinitely better than kicking and kicking. A crop used correctly is an extension of your aids, and effective without the long term damage which we know occurs with repeated kicking.
To quantify, before a load of FB warriors who never have anything to do with horses start ranting at how awful this is/I am, the true effectiveness of a crop is the noise, not the infliction of pain, ok?! I'm not 'justifying use' it's the truth! A crop should never be used in temper, it's a teaching aid.
Horses love getting out and about, whatever constitutes 'work' (they love being occupied, a fit active horse is a healthy horse who has energy, a zest for life, will eg self load into a trailer, free school, loving 'doing stuff') however, akin to small children, will occasionally for no reason have a paddy.
An equine 'I don't wanna....'
If you KNOW there's no reason for a horse to have said paddy, if all psychological needs are met, you know there's no pain, no real reason other than 'not today' or the rider is trying their best but the horse is being a mule for the day, ignoring ineffective riders, then an educational tool aka a crop can be of use to back up your aids. This is WAY better than kicking and kicking which is so damaging.
One sharp smack, the loud noise (try it on yourself it doesn't hurt) (I am defo appealing to the wrong kind of followers with that statement!!🤣) and the gelding will give a sigh and do it, and if a mare a swish of the tail of cross discontent, then yes, go and do it!! Better than kicking. Always.
Create your willing partner and STOP KICKING HORSES REPEATEDLY IN THE RIBS!
PLEASE!!!!!! Rant over!!👍💯
Ps pic of a gaggle of our Suffolk Punch, Clydesdale and Shire horses, getting on just fine, content, on the beach...yes, all enjoying their lives and no, no one is allowed to kick kick kick!!!!
PPS please share to raise awareness!!🙏❤️
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

18/07/2024

Come and join us learning and having fun!! Will be a fabulous informative day.

18/07/2024

Caption this ………

Sprocket says ‘you’ve been where????? I don’t believe you!!’ 😂.

18/07/2024

What an amazing trip!!! 2,888mls covered (not counting ferry with lorry or the foot passenger ferry x 2!). 🚚🛳️🚶‍♀️
Fantastic team spirit, new friends made, medals won 🥈, problems solved and overcome 😂.
Horses performed fantastically in the heat. ☀️🚀🥵

What a great experience. Thank you British Showjumping for choosing us!

Thank you to all my sponsors and supporters at home. Home yard team and riders who’ve kept Tinderbox ticking over while I’m away. 🙏🏼🙏🏼. Couldn’t do it without you. 😘😘😘.

18/07/2024

Goodbye France🇫🇷. Hello England🇬🇧!!! Long old trip.
Ferry delayed 😳
Quick stop to let the horses rest then push on to home.

14/07/2024

Final day at the Veterans champs today. Biggest track we’ve jumped to date, with very clever course building😱. Caused lots of problems. Best of us was Jo with her fantastic mare Mouse 🐭who came 6th. George finished 16th.
The competition is a cumulative score - taking into account the previous two classes performances.
It’s been an amazing experience with a fantastic team spirit.

So very proud of how George has coped and tried so hard each round.

Mandy Frost has been a brilliant Chef d’equipe.
Huge thanks to Dave Burton for being my right hand man all week and having lots of laughs on the way!
Massive thank you as well to everyone who donated to my go fund me - this helped with all the transport expenses (of which there are many 🤦‍♀️)
Trucking home now. Three and a half full days of travelling made hugely better with great performances to celebrate. 🥈🥈🥈🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧

13/07/2024

We’re cover stars!!! 😂😂

13/07/2024

Too many to choose from!!!

13/07/2024

Some fantastic photos of George doing his thing!!

13/07/2024

First ever medal!!! What an exciting day yesterday.
🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧TEAM SILVER!!! 🥈🥈🥈

Very late finish so didn’t get a chance to post. Will get on the case for some action shots today.

So proud of George, and what a top team (riders and everyone else) to be here with. 😍.

Huge thanks to everyone who donated to my go fund me. Really helped me get here. Also to the fabulous companies I work with. Orange Horse Consultants Dengie Horse Feeds NAF Keyflow Feeds Childeric UK

12/07/2024

🥈🥈🥈🥈🥈🥈🥈🥈What a day!!! Team silver medal!!! So exciting. Very proud of George. Jumping in extreme heat in the first round. Second round a bit cooler thankfully.
He couldn’t quite believe it when we tacked up against for the medal ceremony! 😱😱.
Big sleep tonight for him. Trot up early tomorrow then a day off.
Individual competition Sunday then start the epic journey home

12/07/2024

😳😳😳🥵🥵

11/07/2024

Team photos!! Couldn’t resist a selfie in the parade 😂!!!
What a great bunch of people to be experiencing this with. Special day. 😍.
Let’s kick on tomorrow!! 🚀🇬🇧🇬🇧

11/07/2024

So proud of Podge!!! He jumped his little socks off! His first speed class and he was in the prize giving! Came 10th. As a team we are lying 2nd 🥈.

10/07/2024

Wow! What a fab arena to jump in! George felt amazing. Pinging today. 🚀
We had a practise before the first class tomorrow. Challenging in 33 degrees, but he coped really well.
Tomorrow we parade in full show gear unmounted before the start of the class at 5pm! Think I might need hosing off with George after! 💦🔥🥵

10/07/2024

Trot up ✅. Team GB accepted. 💪🏼
Chill time now before we get 90 seconds in the main arena later to give them a pop.

10/07/2024

So true! Part of the reason I decided to give up selling horses this year. Too many non horsey folk not giving horses a chance to settle and learn their new environment.

"New Home Syndrome"🤓

I am coining this term to bring recognition, respect, and understanding to what happens to horses when they move homes. This situation involves removing them from an environment and set of routines they have become familiar with, and placing them somewhere completely different with new people and different ways of doing things.

Why call it a syndrome?

Well, really it is! A syndrome is a term used to describe a set of symptoms that consistently occur together and can be tied to certain factors such as infections, genetic predispositions, conditions, or environmental influences. It is also used when the exact cause of the symptoms is not fully understood or when it is not connected with a well-defined disease. In this case, "New Home Syndrome" is connected to a horse being placed in a new home where its entire world changes, leading to psychological and physiological impacts. While it might be transient, the ramifications can be significant for both the horse and anyone handling or riding it.

Let me explain...

Think about how good it feels to get home after a busy day. How comfortable your favourite clothes are, how well you sleep in your own bed compared to a strange bed, and how you can really relax at home. This is because home is safe and familiar. At home, the part of you that keeps an eye out for potential danger turns down to a low setting. It does this because home is your safe place (and if it is not, this blog will also explain why a lack of a safe place is detrimental).

Therefore, the first symptom of horses experiencing "New Home Syndrome" is being unsettled, prone to anxiety, or difficult behaviour. If you have owned them before you moved them, you struggle to recognise your horse, feeling as if your horse has been replaced by a frustrating version. If the horse is new to you, you might wonder if you were conned, if the horse was drugged when you rode it, or if you were lied to about the horse's true nature.

A horse with "New Home Syndrome" will be a stressed version of itself, on high alert, with a drastically reduced ability to cope. Horses don't handle change like humans do. If you appreciate the comfort of your own home and how you can relax there, you should be able to understand what the horse is experiencing.

Respecting that horses interpret and process their environments differently from us helps in understanding why your horse is being frustrating and recognising that there is a good chance you were not lied to or that the horse was not drugged.

Horses have survived through evolution by being highly aware of their environments. Change is a significant challenge for them because they notice the slightest differences, not just visually but also through sound, smell, feel, and other senses. Humans generalise and categorise, making it easy for us to navigate familiar environments like shopping centres. Horses do not generalise in the same way; everything new is different to them, and they need proof of safety before they can habituate and feel secure. When their entire world changes, it is deeply stressful.

They struggle to sleep until they feel safe, leading to sleep deprivation and increased difficulty.

But there is more...

Not only do you find comfort in your home environment and your nervous system downregulates, but you also find comfort in routines. Routines are habits, and habits are easy. When a routine changes or something has to be navigated differently, things get difficult. For example, my local supermarket is undergoing renovations. After four years of shopping there, it is extremely frustrating to have to work out where everything is now. Every day it gets moved due to the store being refitted section by section. This annoyance is shared by other shoppers and even the staff.

So, consider the horse. Not only are they confronted with the challenge of figuring out whether they are safe in all aspects of their new home while being sleep deprived, but every single routine and encounter is different. Then, their owner or new owner starts getting critical and concerned because the horse suddenly seems untrained or difficult. The horse they thought they owned or bought is not meeting their expectations, leading to conflict, resistance, explosiveness, hypersensitivity, and frustration.

The horse acts as if it knows little because it is stressed and because the routines and habits it has learned have disappeared. If you are a new human for the horse, you feel, move, and communicate differently from what it is used to. The way you hold the reins, your body movements in the saddle, the position of your leg – every single routine of communication between horse and person is now different. I explain to people that when you get a new horse, you have to imprint yourself and your way of communicating onto the horse. You have to introduce yourself and take the time to spell out your cues so that they get to know you.

Therefore, when you move a horse to a new home or get a new horse, your horse will go through a phase called "New Home Syndrome," and it will be significant for them. Appreciating this helps them get through it because they are incredible and can succeed. The more you understand and help the horse learn it is safe in its new environment and navigate the new routines and habits you introduce, the faster "New Home Syndrome" will pass.
"New Home Syndrome" will be prevalent in a horse’s life until they have learned to trust the safety of the environment (and all that entails) and the humans they meet and interact with. With strategic and understanding approaches, this may take weeks, and their nervous systems will start downgrading their high alert status. However, for some horses, it can take a couple of years to fully feel at ease in their new home.

So, next time you move your horse or acquire a new horse and it starts behaving erratically or being difficult, it is not being "stupid", you might not have been lied to or the horse "drugged" - your horse is just experiencing an episode of understandable "New Home Syndrome." And you can help this.❤

I would be grateful if you could please share, this reality for horses needs to be better appreciated ❤
‼️When I say SHARE that does not mean plagiarise my work…it is seriously not cool to copy and paste these words and make out you have written it yourself‼️

09/07/2024

Wow. What an arena. Here’s the main arena where we’ll be jumping.
Rode in the warm up and the indoor this morning before it got too hot. There’s two indoors and four outdoors as far as I can see! Wow!

09/07/2024

Morning from George. He’s really hoping he doesn’t have to go back on the lorry today!

08/07/2024

We’ve arrived!!! Long old day. Got the horses settled in their stables and setting up camp. Waiting for the vet to check the horses then we can relax!

07/07/2024

George enjoying a morning roll before a long day on the lorry. Dijon to Nice today.

06/07/2024

Local paper getting behind us!!! 👍🏼👍🏼. Great to have such support.

An equestrian is set to represent Great Britain at the FEI Jumping Veteran European Championships.