Alison Franklin Equestrian

06/07/2024

Definitely something one of mine would do!!😆

VANTINO kept Carys Thomas on her toes in the CCI3*-S at Aston-le-Walls today, creating an additional element at the Paddox water complex

20/06/2024

Great read about someone doing things slightly differently, but making it work!😀

08/06/2024

Great post!!

What CAN he do?

The new dawn of equine social media has heralded a welcome influx of information about all the things that can ’go wrong’ in a horses body. And there are many. Dissections reveal all manner of weird and not so wonderful things that a body can be concealing which may (or may not….) have been influencing that horses life.

There is no doubt that we need to know more to do better. That’s pretty much been the thrust of my equestrian professional life. AND, that doesn’t mean that we should end up doing nothing. And that is where I see many people headed with their horses - out of fear of getting things wrong,

In domesticating horses we take away things which are critical to life - movement and challenge being two of those. A horse in their natural environment is constantly being buffered by problems various and is moving her body and mind in response to this. They are solving puzzles, dealing with stressors, moving together over large distances in all manner of weathers. They are constantly honing the skills of being alive by doing. They are acting and being acted upon and it is this which gives life purpose. The world is a dynamic and ever changing place and we all reflect that - horses too. They are not designed to stay statically in one place having food airlifted to them.

When we start to learn how many things can ‘go wrong’ with a horse a logical step is to do less. We want to do right by them so we reduce challenges, make life as easy as possible, take away movement.

There is clearly a time and a place for this, but as a long term life strategy- I’m not sure it’s always truly in the favour of the horses real nature.

All of my horses have bodies with various degrees of ‘wonk’. I have had my eye trained over the years to look for what is wrong with a horses body, so when people tell me I’m unlucky I know that’s not true, I’ve just been honed to look for issues. I can see something in pretty much every horse I come into contact with, there is rarely a perfect equine body. So, the question is now not ‘What can’t he do’, but instead ’What can he….’

Ok, maybe MY aspirations have to be put to one side - but if I’m really in favour of the horse then I’ll learn to live with that. It’s very rare that a horse really can only stand in a yard all day. Almost every creature everywhere benefits from thinking and moving.

While bodies are complex and often compromised they’re also incredibly resilient and robust. Minds are almost always better from being pushed a little as well as being rested. My own broken, wonky herd (and I include myself in that) are all better for continuing to respond to life rather than shrink from it.

That may mean walking out on foot together. Or teaching a horse to pull bracken harrows. Giving them responsibility to bring up a younger herd member. Dropping ideas of dressage tests and playing to their orienteering strengths. What lights them up, inspires them to move, provokes their curiosity- do more of that. They are both incredibly fragile and amazingly strong.

And….it may be that someone other than you could be just the right fit for all the things your horse can do, and that’s OK too.

Photo shows my non ridden horse exploring the world in a way that lights him up.

06/06/2024

Interesting read about nerves at competitions. A lot going on for Will, but I think it applies at any level.🙂

Will Faudree: Facing Down Fears and Grief with Laughter

25/05/2024

Warm-up exercises.

Showjumper Will Fletcher shares three exercises to help you to master controlling your horse's stride length

15/05/2024

Should probably title this "The Kev Owner".😬

A Muddy Mayhem guide: The Thoroughbred Owner

This is the Thoroughbred owner they might seem quite complicated but really they are very easy to understand. They are fuelled by a massive feed bill & alcohol.

The Thoroughbred owner owns The Thoroughbred. This is a horse of utter beauty. It is graceful, athletic & also a bit of a di****ad.

This is the veterinary hospital. They all know the Thoroughbred owner here. In fact the Thoroughbred has been here so much they have their own stable & the Thoroughbred Owner gets invited to the Christmas Party.

The Thoroughbred owner has a bank account. This drains its money faster than Usain Bolt running to the pub. The Thoroughbred Owner’s bank manager sees the speed the money leaves the bank account & wonders if the Thoroughbred owner has a gambling problem. The truth is the Thoroughbred can’t even afford a fu***ng lottery ticket because their bank account is empty after buying the most expensive haylage in the country, which is the only stuff The Thoroughbred will eat.

If The Thoroughbred is in its stable it will want to be in the field. As soon as it is in the field it will want to be back in it’s stable. This is just a simple fact of life that The Thoroughbred Owner must accept.

The Thoroughbred Owner has a lot of rugs. These are essential because The Thoroughbred has to have a different rug for every possible variation in weather & temperature or they will start acting like they need the RSPCA on speed dial. No one knows how many rugs The Thoroughbred Owner owns, even The Thoroughbred Owner isn’t sure. Although The Thoroughbred Owner has around eleventy billion rugs for the Thoroughbred they haven’t bought themselves a new coat for about 3 fu***ng years.

Legend has it the Thoroughbred Owner once went for a ‘nice hack’ . This simply can’t be true. Everyone knows that even if they haven’t batted an eyelid at the 3 tractors, 6 lorries & the village cricket match, the Thoroughbred will turn themselves practically inside out about a clump of blue flowers they have passed every fu***ng day without a previous reaction.

Some Thoroughbred Owner’s call their horses ‘ex-racehorses’ this is very funny because they once took their ex-racehorse on a fun ride. It was here that The Thoroughbred decided it no longer wanted to be an ex-race horse but very much an actual racehorse in a fu***ng race only The Thoroughbred knew about. The Thoroughbred owner held on for grim death, muttering swear words as the Thoroughbred galloped, completely out of control, past every other horse at a speed that made Frankel look like he was pulling a cart.

The Thoroughbred owner is very good at counting to 3. This is because they get a lot of practice counting the shoes left on the feet of The Thoroughbred. They mostly get to do the 3 shoe count late on a Friday evening when they have an important show the next pi***ng morning.

Often The Thoroughbred Owner doesn’t need to do the 3 shoe count. They can see from the fact The Thoroughbred is walking like someone cut off its leg that it has lost a shoe.

The Thoroughbred Owner has learnt many skills. They are patient when The Thoroughbred is stressed, they are kind when The Thoroughbred is nervous & they can knock a nappy up into a hoof poultice in 10 seconds flat, when The Thoroughbred has an abscess .

The Thoroughbred Owner might seem like a strange creature but really they’re not. They know that to have a good Thoroughbred on your side is to have the kindest, most althletic & generous horse you could ever hope for. The Thoroughbred owner is brilliant, dedicated, resourceful & just a touch addicted.

11/05/2024

Another unlikely candidate that got there anyway!!😀

Connemara Wil’Ya Love Me's Seen Waskiewicz Through All of Life's Ups and Downs

10/05/2024

Another TB on the world stage!

Now called “Grandpa” or “Comic” to those who know him well, Jennie Brannigan’s five-star horse Twilightslastgleam was dubbed “A Red-Headed Problem Child” in a 2015 article following his reserve championship at the previous fall’s USEA Young Event Horse East Coast Championship (Maryla...

05/12/2023

More practice! (The rounds at the end of the day)🙂

05/12/2023

Interesting work from Dr Chris Rogers.

In Wednesday’s edition, The Thoroughbred Report examined Australia’s 2-year-old racing environment, and where the numbers sit in a global context. Part two examines the biological considerations of racing and training a juvenile, with input from Professor Chris Rogers.

12/11/2023

Hilarious post about eventing in the real world!😆

09/11/2023

There's hope for us all yet!!😆

It’s common knowledge amongst eventers that what you see isn’t always what you can produce when starting a young horse. Like any elite level of athletics, a top-level athlete is hard to find and challenging

31/10/2023

Interesting reading from Lucinda. I personally always loved the steeplechase, but think it may have had its time. Love her comments about working with Lissa's horse.👍

Eventing legend Lucinda Green shares her thoughts on eventing today, why she thinks she wouldn't be as successful in the sport now, and much more

04/10/2023

😆

🤣🤣🤣🤣🐴🐴🐴🐴

03/10/2023

Great work from our own Natalie Waran.

Professor Natalie Waran presented key strategies for equine sports to proactively consider amidst changing societal expectation at this week's International Conference of Horseracing Authorities.

01/10/2023

Great news!

21/09/2023

Nice read (though of course good horse people are found everywhere🙂).

"[T]his is a mindset of being flexible and creative -- of listening to the horse and trying to figure out solutions ... is recognizing that so much of owning or even leasing horses is about constant learning and spending time with them ..." Welcome to the next installment of Thoroughbred Logic. In t...

21/09/2023

Intriguing findings here by Dr Shelley Appleton.

13/09/2023

Cool story!! Juggler was 8 when I got him, and he started eventing. 🙂

31/08/2023

Hopefully this year guys!!🤞

Information regarding the Spring Trial is now up on Evo Events. Click here: https://tinyurl.com/4kcu5up2 for the schedule. Classes from 80cm to 3 Star plus. September 30th - 1st October at Equestrian Park, Hastings.

20/08/2023

Some handy tips.

I was lucky enough to be born into an equestrian family, climbing onto saddles as soon as I could walk. My parents, Earl and Jen McFall, are both three-day eventers and trainers. They run Dragonfire

11/08/2023

It begins...

👉👉 THIS LOOKS GREAT FOR US ALL THAT LOVES TO JUMP 👈👈
🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎

11/08/2023

Great to see!

The Thoroughbreds in Equestrian Sport programme (TiES) will receive a significant boost for the 2023/24 season with over $76,000 on offer to eligible competitors across two Series.

10/08/2023

Free micro-chipping at Waipukurau racecourse this Sat 12th August.

28/07/2023

Well, I mean...🤷‍♀️

😆

10/07/2023

Micro-chipping event in CHB.

06/07/2023

Hear, hear!!! 👏Maybe a little louder for the folks at the back...🤔

Science is about getting to the truth of something, or to be more precise, getting to know as much as we possibly can, given the information we currently have.

But science is more than just common sense. Common sense can be misleading, in part because it is attached to our immediate senses.

Scientifically, to get to the truth of matters we need to isolate variables as much as possible.

Let's look at the problem of understanding whether a horse can reason or not.

Firstly, we have to ask ourselves what the elements are that constitute reasoning, scientifically known as 'higher-order mental abilities.

There are a dozen or so higher-order mental abilities such as various capacities to acquire a novel behaviour by observing others, arithmetical abilities (such as counting, adding and subtracting), recognising oneself in a mirror, learning and applying rules, conceptual learning, making generalisations, planning, tool use and some elements of semantic and episodic memory.

Higher-order mental abilities are very complex and mostly not straightforward to definitively test and the modern world is full of advice on everything.

When it comes to horse-related problems and questions it is easy to search and find the 'answers' on the internet.

But how do we know these answers are right?

Many of the opinions you will hear in the equestrian world are claimed to be scientific. Maybe some of these claims were written in a book or provided in a podcast. But how credible was that book or podcast?

Remember, anyone can write a book or do a podcast about their untested theories. Verify your sources as much as possible!

Extracted from our latest textbook, 'Modern Horse Training: Equitation Science Principles & Practice, Volume 1', now available to purchase from our website: https://esi-education.com/shop/

18/06/2023

SJ practice.

18/06/2023

Cool story featuring a familiar name!

Several weeks ago, in the heart of Pennsylvania horse country, a sweet reunion took place between retired advanced-level event horse No Objection and the woman who transformed him from a rogue 3-year-old in Tasmania, Australia, to a successful advanced-level eventer who ultimately was sold across th...

15/06/2023

Some great work being done!!