This video shows one of our recent equine students, Poppy. She is owned by a friend, Moira, who had previously bought a horse, Ellie from John. Ellie passed over rainbow bridge last year. Ellie was quirky, but totally Moi's heart horse and impossible to replace Then, Moira and husband, Rob, saw Poppy in a kill pen and had to rescue her. Of course, you never know the full story with these horses, but she certainly hadn't been schooled to the best of their knowledge . I believe Poppy is 11 years old.
Apart from being an utter cow to horses next to her in the stables, she was a pleasure to work with.
Initially, she didn't have a clue what I was asking her to do re: outline. Through a process of rewarding any behaviours heading in the right direction, she soon grasped the concept and offered the answer willingly. It is important, in my opinion, to keep sessions short and sweet when teaching new concepts like this. This is particularly important for unfit/young/untrained horses that will be using muscles that they are not used to using. You don't want the horse to come out of the session feeling sore as they won't be as co-operative in the future.
Moira had to hand the phone to Rob to video as she was too busy crying. Hopefully, I will see them soon to help build their ridden partnership (Moira and Poppy, not Rob๐!)
Sparrow
Yesterday was rather special. It was the result of the breeding programme of the lovely Julia Letham (whose aim is to breed children's ponies) and a bit of training on my part.
Yesterday, Sparrow had his new little person on board. Of course I was a little nervous, however, as usual, Sparrow totally stepped up and looked like he had found his calling. I felt like a proud mum watching him. Did I mention Hannah came to ride him during Storm Darragh? Sparrow just carried on regardless.
Absolutely thrilled with him.
I shall be sad to see him go, but will love watching his journey with his new family, which is exactly how it should be.๐
A very belated glow up for this wonderful lady and her superstar mare Dolly.
When Jane first started having lessons, she spent a lot of time apologising and asking me if i was still ok to teach her. This meant many sessions involved her crying through frustration and feelings of inadequacy. The truth is, Jane had never really been taught to ride and as a result of a bad accident she was left with nervousness that was almost crippling. Jane also has very bad arthritis in her hands making contact an additional challenge. Through developing her understanding of the aids and working on her position, Jane can now position Dolly where she chooses (except when Dolly wants me to give her a cuddle๐) and is tackling her nemesis...canter. I am so proud of what she has achieved, not only in terms of results but also attitude.
So, gorgeous Mouse has returned home (she really was the most fun pony) and in her place, the wonderful Sparrow has returned. His breeder had found him a new home, but there were some welfare issues involved, so she brought him home to recuperate and heal. Now he is back to rights, he has returned to CES for a refresher course before hopefully going to his new home with a little boy who hasn't quite mastered the 'Sp' of Sparrow, so calls him 'Darrow'. His mum has informed me that he has requested all equipment to be in red...creating a winning mindset!
First day, starting off with revisiting long reining. Thanks to John for volunteering to give Sparrow a bit of a confidence boost at the front end and for videoing.
Here is the very sweet Rolo (see what i did there) who is on his last few days of his stay with us. As you would expect with such a baby, he can be a little apprehensive at times, but throughout his stay he has been completely genuine without a nasty bone in his body.
Shown here is his first outing over pole patterns and his first canters. He really is a poppet; even if he doesn't understand, he tries to come up with the right answer.
Ideally, his owners would love to find someone to share the ride with their grand daughter who for the foreseeable future will be on the lead rein.
He is based by West Felton and would stay at home there. There would be no expectation of any financial contribution. So if you are calm and experienced with youngsters and fancy having some gentle fun on an approx 13.2/3 coblet let me know in the first instance and i'll pass your details on.
So, on Sunday afternoon, Mouse had two very special visitors...her first child riders! Many thanks to Alice Trevor-Jones for lending them to me๐.
Although a little uncertain at first, Mouse soon adapted to her little people and behaved beautifully. I was so proud of her as i was of the girls who followed my instructions so well (i probably scared them a bit with my pre ride lecture!)
Her owner is thrilled and will be offering Mouse for loan to a very special family for up to 2 years. Please get in touch if you are interested.
Baby Blaze
We love getting updates (hopefully positive!) about our equine students.
Featured here is recent graduate Blaze who came to be started.
The first pic was during his stay at CES on his first hack in company (i do mini hacks on their own first to build independence).
The vid and final pic are at home totally bossing the hacking out game. He needs mental stimulation and is outward looking, so i was confident he would handle it well.
Thrilled for his owners.
Feel free to message for a chat about starting/schooling/coaching๐
Who recognises this little girl? It was lovely to have the gorgeous Pixie pony back at CES for a refresher course. I was thrilled how quickly she tuned in to what i was asking despite having mainly hacked for a while. What a little superโญ.
Feel free to message for your schooling/starting/coaching requirements ๐
Gorgeous little Section A, Mouse has been with us for starting off, but her breeder/owner would love for her to find a loan home with a loving knowledgeable family for the winter.
She has been easy to do, hacks out alone or in company, but obviously she is a baby Welshie so whilst she is a good girl she isn't dope on a rope. Drop us a message if you think you would like a 'Mouse' on loan! Also please message if you need your horse/pony starting/schooling ๐
Finty (Deniro x Fรผrst Heinrich) x Belissimo Vita (Bellissimo M x Sir Chamberlain) have got something cooking!
Miss LB went XC schooling Radfords Equestrian on Monday; her first XC outing for a year.
Once she gets used to the job I think she'll be epic! I will also put a snippet of video up.
She enjoys approaching at a faster tempo and is actually more settled like this. She needs to learn not to overjump and travel through her getaway.
Very proud of her and pretty impressed with myself sitting on LB Airways in a fairly straight cut WHP saddle๐.
Now to sort out an advert ๐ช. Someone will have enormous fun with her.....but we are going to be very picky about who she goes to.
Gorgeous little Miss LB strutting her stuff schooling between the white boards at Radfords Equestrian on Monday. She really is becoming a super pony.
We will just do a cross country school, then I will sort out an ad, then she will be officially 4 โต๏ธ๐ฅฒ
