An Earley Start

15/02/2022

If you are a fan of Oki and I pleaseeee go into this post and like the picture of Oki and I so we can try and win fan Favorite!
Let's see if we can beat the ones with the bigger platforms 🤞🤞🤞

!!FAN FAVOURITE VOTING OPEN!!

The judging for the 2021 Ultra-Mox Freedom to Friendship competition is now complete, with the final results being revealed on our page over the coming days.

To maximise the exposure for our sponsors and trainers, and not overwhelm everyone’s newsfeed, we have made the decision to announce one class per day, sharing the videos submissions of the top placegetters for your enjoyment.

During this virtual Prize Giving we invite you all to vote for your 2021 Fan Favourite! Simply like the photo of your favourite/s Kaimanawa and Trainer, in this album, anytime over the next few days, with the winner being the photo with the most likes/reactions.

If you've been particularly inspired by any of the combinations we'd also love you to leave a comment to give our trainers some love. They have been on a huge journey with their once-wild-stallions over the past 9-months and we are incredibly proud of them, as we know you are too.

Voting closes at 5pm on Saturday, so you have the chance to watch everyone's videos on the KHH website (https://kaimanawaheritagehorses.org/) as they are uploaded before you cast your votes. The Fan Favourite winner will be our final award presented, being announced Saturday evening.

05/02/2022

Well it is finally over! The last 9 months have been full of some major ups and downs like the postponement then cancelation of Equifest but we made it through and submitted our online videos for the KHH Freedom to Friendship Stallion Challenge.
I couldn't be more proud of this little pony and how far he has come.
Entries for the challenge officially close midnight tomorrow then we find out the results on the 15th of February!
Here are our conditioning portion photos I took today, unfortunately it was a bit overcast so you don't get to see the effects of the half bottle of showsheen I showered him with 😂... and do you think I could get him to look remotely interested... these were as good as it got 🤦‍♀️
Also a quick pic from our freestyle ❤

29/10/2021

Oki has really started to take liberties with his time off.
The last 3 days he's decided there isn't enough grass on the 'right' side of the tape and has managed to escape to greener pastures with little to no regard for his 2 cell mates who are left to apparently 'starve'. An investigation is under way to prevent future security breeches.

His tummy has grown quite a bit 😬

03/10/2021

Oki has pretty much recovered from his gate incident now.
He's had 2 'flinch lock' body work treatments by Anna from 'Otamatea Contact Care' and will have another one next week.
Anna also invited us to her place today for a play and to introduce Oki to a small crowd and a little bit of controlled chaos 😂
He handled it really well and hardly even blinked at our clapping excercise.
He also got some pats and scratches from kids and mums who couldn't resist his cuteness.

I'm still hopeful for Equifest this month but after today's news it's hard to remain optimistic ... I will continue to keep everything crossed though🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞

10/09/2021

Yay for level 2!
Yesterday Oki and I were lucky enough to be invited over to Tori Banta's from Tori Lee Equestrian for a play in her arena. Tori is also competing in the 'freedom to friendship' stallion challege. It was a great safe place to take Oki for his 1st big trip in the float, and 1st time off the property.
We spent more time talking than anything else but we still had a play with some obstacles like a bridge and seesaw.
He even relaxed enough to have 2 nice rolls in the sand.

07/09/2021

How could you not love this face ❤❤❤

23/08/2021

Oki can add professional gate opener to his CV now.
We've been working on gates for the last week and he has really picked up on the pattern.
He isn't a big fan of the gates where there is a hot wire on the latch side though. Electric fences are always a cause for concern for him, I guess he doesn't trust that it won't jump out and bite him.

20/08/2021

Oki has been a proper little work horse lately.
Today we went to gather and sort some cows.

We've been riding about 4 days a week and working on our trailer loading and going on short trips down the drive to build his confidence.

06/08/2021

🐴🐴Oki update🐴🐴
Oki had last week and the previous off as he had a bit of a sore eye and then Tim and I were away, he had no human contact last week.
I was intersted to see how he would be once I got back, thinking he might be a bit cautious to start off with.
He wasn't at all, the time off has really done him good!
He's always been very obedient and a quick learner but still had a tendency to 'shut down' and withhold outward emotions.
This week he has really started to open up, he has been quicker to release tension and is starting to interact with me and his surroundings in a more relaxed and inquisitive manner. He now outwardly shows he's enjoying scratches with a goofy face and has started rubbing his face on me after I take the bosal off (I allow it as I always initiate it with a scratch first and it's not allowed to be rough). I even caught him trying to untie himself the other day!
I rode him 4 days this week and today he was officially on the pay roll when we helped to move some cows.

06/07/2021

Oki had his 11th ride today.
He is doing great, we could do with a bit more consistency but the weather doesn't always play the game.
He had his 3rd session trailer loading today. He is such a star, today we made it all the way on, we could have made it all the way in on the 1st day but he gave me such good trys early on I put them in the bank and walked away.
When I question how much I should do with a horse in a session, I hear Russell Higgins Foundation Horsemanship say 'You're better to end with something to build on rather than something to fix'.
Sometimes we say ' I'll just do it one more time then quit'... I'm sure most of us know that that doesn't always work out 😬.
We are always better off putting our gains in the bank and seeing what interest we might gain by the next day 💸💸💸

26/06/2021

Ride 6 & 7 have been in the Bosal.
Thursday we played with more point to point at the walk and trot and improving our forwards.
He had yesterday off and then today we did a little on the flat, where we had our first canters and then went off for a ride over the farm with Tim. Again we lead the whole way, he always seems so happy to get out and about ❤❤

23/06/2021

This is starting to get ridiculous now...but OMG this pony!

Today Newt, Oki and I went out to help Tim gather and sort some weaners. I rode Newt out and ponied Oki.
After sorting the weaners at the yards on Newt I swapped gear and decided to ride Oki back while Tim lead Newt from his horse.
We rode out in front the whole way back (about 2km) along the main track and through the home paddocks. The only time he wasn't in front was when Newt got a fright and took off bucking and farting! We bent to a stop and watched the dork gallop around before he very nearly bowled us over as he returned at a flat out gallop 🤦‍♀️.
Murphys law...Newt is usually the coolest cucumber around but the one time you want everything to stay quiet and under control!

It was a beautiful evening and Oki couldn't have handled it better for his 5th ride ❤

22/06/2021

You think I would be used to how cool this pony is by now but he continues to blow me away.
I've avoided taking him over the bridge until he was better prepared with more obstacles as it's a bit scary and not the kind you want to spook in the middle of... well apparently he didn't think it was that bad as Newt lead an escape to greener pasture today.
He was completely unfazed as you can see on his 2nd crossing.

Ride 3 was only a short 10min ride in the paddock as the weather packed in. We did hindquarter yeilds, walking and a little bit of trotting.

Ride 4 today was amazing.
I rode him in the paddock again while my partner, Tim, continued work on the round pen behind us with a chainsaw, skillsaw and 9 dogs for company!
We did some point to point at a walk and trot and finished off with riding through the creek and back up to the shed.
This pony is just the coolest!

19/06/2021

Oki had his 1st ride yesterday and 2nd ride today ❤.
He did amazing, zero worry about me up there.
The work we did on the ground payed off with him being soft in the face and very responsive to my leg when asking for his hip to step over.
Obtaining substantial forward movement took some coaxing yesterday but was a lot better today, where he was more forward at the walk and trot.
Our aim is to get out of the roundpen next to help free him up a bit and get out of the mud!

This last week he has made some awesome changes in his overall demeanor, for a while he wasn't to keen to be caught as he was getting jabbed or drenched twice a day for the last 4 weeks!
Now that that's all done with he is coming up to me to be caught and is a lot more relaxed and happier about me fussing over him.

17/06/2021

After 2 days with the ba****ck pad, Oki graduated to the western saddle yesterday.
He handled it like an old pro but we definitely need more forwards and with the round pen being so wet I don't want to push it too much in there.
Newt got the call up today for another ponying session. We went out over the farm, walking, trotting and cantering up some hills while wearing the saddle.
Oki also had a brief 'tying' up session, I left him wrapped under a tree while I warmed Newt up.
He is so accepting of everything I introduce him to, he's a neat little pony!

13/06/2021

Oki has finally turned the corner with his gelding dramas🤞🤞🤞 He has almost finished his last lot of antibiotics and is just about healed up.
This past week we've been doing a little bit with obstacles and jumping on and off ba****ck (notice the block of wood in the picture...he's small but I still need assistance 🤦‍♀️).
I've been wanting to work towards saddling for a while but decided to leave it until he had recovered enough as I'm sure it would have been painful if he happened to buck around a bit.
So today we introduced the ba****ck pad and it was essentially a none event. I thought he may buck a fair bit as he's so introverted, but he only threw two out there while transitioning into the canter, he then decided it was too much hard work and stopped to turn and face.
He is such a good boy and it will be great to progress more towards riding 🐎

03/06/2021

Another less than ideal day for poor Oki.
After talking with the vets yesterday it was decided that the chunk of tissue needed to be removed, it hadn't shrunk as much as we'd hoped and was leaving him open to infection.
The poor boy had to be knocked out all over again to cut it out!
He had a terrible time coming out of the sedation/anesthetic, the combination of the oral and intravenous sedation really knocked him. He struggled to get to his feet and fell over numerous times, rolling and scrambling, It was awful to watch as there was nothing we could do. He eventually got to his feet and took about 2 hours before we could leave him on his own.
With another round of penicillin and the wound tidied up hopefully he can finally heal up from gelding.
Fingers crossed he is now finally on the road to recover 🤞🤞🤞😁

01/06/2021

Oki is still recovering from his gelding. He still has a bubble of swollen tissue protruding through the wound but it has shrunk by maybe 50%. He had a 4 day course of penicillin to ward off any possible infection. He wasn't exactly a fan of me jabbing him twice a day but tolerated it. He's much happier to see me now that I haven't pricked him for a couple of days.
I'm also having to clean it out daily with betadine which he is surprisingly good about it considering it must hurt to touch!

We've been doing ground work and ponying expeditions as part of his mandatory excercise.
He is pretty accepting of be being above him which will come in handy later on 👍

24/05/2021

Poor Oki had another rough day.
Over the weekend we noticed a piece of swollen tissue protruding from his gelding site so we contacted the vet and they came out this morning.
Because of his slightly traumatic needle experience last time we gave him an oral sedative first so we could inject him with less stress to everyone.
After physically inspecting and cleaning it the vet said it is part of his sc***um which has localized swelling, forcing it out of the wound. At the moment there is nothing to do but keep it clean and give him another dose of antibiotics. We just have to wait for the swelling to go down and hopefully it will go back in. If not he will have to be knocked out again and have another surgical procedure 😥
Vet said it was unusual as there isn't a lot of swelling elsewhere...just our luck I guess!

On the plus side the vet thinks he is around 5 or 6 as some of his incisors aren't in wear yet or something like that 😬

22/05/2021

Can anyone help me out with an age?
He doesn't have a 'Galvaynes Groove' yet so I'm picking somewhere between 6 and 10ish?
But I really don't know 😬
Thanks in advance

21/05/2021

Today was a first for Newt and for Oki.
Oki needs to be exercised atleast twice a day for 30mins to keep the swelling down, so I put Newt on the saddle horse payroll.
Oki wasn't too sure about me being above him (like waaay above him 😂) at first but gained enough confidence for us to take a short stroll out on the farm.
Newt did amazing and his low/slow energy was great for building Oki's confidence.