Stone's Throw Farm Dressage

02/16/2025

Except…we don’t have a creek!

02/16/2025

02/15/2025

Yep

😖😭😖😭

02/15/2025

HORSES CAN RECOGNISE THEIR KEEPERS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS

Research has found that horses presented with photos of humans can recognise their keepers at a rate much better than chance.

Ethologist Léa Lansade of the French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment, conducted an experiment to find out how well horses can recognise individuals from photographs. Their results showed that horses can remember a keeper’s face even six months after having seen the person.

The research team used two computer screens to display a random selection of unfamiliar human faces. 11 three-year-old Welsh mares were trained to choose between two side by side images by pressing the touchscreen with their nose, then being given a food reward. Then over a course of 32 sessions, the team started to introduce photos of the horses' handlers into the selection of unfamiliar faces.

The researchers found that the horses correctly identified their current keeper and ignored the unfamiliar faces about 75% of the time – a rate significantly better than chance. The horses also selected photos of previous keepers – people they hadn’t seen in six months.

These results are surprising for several reasons. They suggest that horses can understand that photographs – two-dimensional images – represent real people, without being given any other cues like voice, behaviour or scent. They actually performed better at this task than dogs have done in previous research.

The findings also suggest that horses form emotional attachments to their human keepers and have advanced facial recognition abilities. On an ethological level this would be very important as of course they would need to learn who to trust so they could alter their behaviour accordingly – knowing who to avoid or who they can approach safely. Of course these results also show that horses have a good long-term memory for human faces.

Study: Lansade, L., Colson, V., Parias, C. et al. Female horses spontaneously identify a photograph of their keeper, last seen six months previously. Sci Rep 10, 6302 (2020).

02/15/2025

So much truth to this little clip, especially when winter weather isnt conducive to consistent training. Going for a hack helps to remind us why we got into riding/horses in the first place ❤️

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1A8hCMYgdp/?mibextid=wwXIfr

02/15/2025

Nuno Oliveira, Portuguese Riding Master told us:
“Normally speaking, a horse should be trained to remain well balanced first, concentrating on rounding his paces, and augmenting his hind legs’ action to compliment the forelegs’ paces. Any extension should not be achieved through the reins’ force, but rather by lowering and empowering the haunches. This is what the French called ‘The Ramener’ -putting the horse gently on the bit to correspond with the degree and length of pace.”
https://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2021/10/putting-the-horse-on-the-bit-gently/

02/14/2025

With 2 more straight days of rain beginning in the morning, you can only do what you can do… and keeping them moving is the main thing.

But he does look quite dashing in his Christmas cavesson!

02/14/2025

Yikes!!

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1527hXfuZT/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Please note, there are updates on this post on our page. If uoubwoukd like the whole picture, the first addresses folks questions and the second is the amazing response from Farm Innovators. Worth the time to read.

—————

So scary!

The ups and downs and daily challenges of life on a working farm certainly keep us on our toes.

It goes without saying that there are daily twists and turns when it comes to running a sanctuary, especially in Winter, but the other morning we certainly did not expect to find this. Oh boy! We are sooooo lucky!

Frigid Northern New England temperatures mean frozen water buckets even in the barn (an absolute no for animal health) and so, like so many other farms, we have long used heated flatback buckets to provide our Rescues the “warm” water the need to stay hydrated. We have never had even the hint of a problem, even in my many years of farm chores long before Tomten - that is until this.

Known for keeping water ice-free during below zero conditions, these buckets have a built in thermostat, a hidden heater (it is in the walls of the bucket) and a storage area for the cord (we run the cord out of the stall through a hole to a plug that sits directly on the other side of the wall).

Of course, we are well aware they are plugged in and we check the plugs constantly as well as handle and get our eyes on the buckets regularly when anyone is in the stalls. These buckets are dumped daily, not to mention they are topped off several times a day and if anything looks off they are immediately replaced. But in this case, there was nothing to see until morning when we walked in the barn. Thankfully, the bucket had been topped at night check and we suspect the water is what led to a charred wall and not a full out barn fire. Thank goodness! Likewise our outlet did its job and shut itself off as well as flipping the circuit breaker for the entire aisle. Phew.

Wren, who was in that stall is thankfully fine although I am certain, a little leary of her bucket now and as for us, we’ll we are just sighing with relief and we are all so ready for Spring.

Update- our electrician has been here and our outlets are fine, up to code and worked as they should.

02/14/2025

Good luck, USA!

US Equestrian announced the combinations selected to represent the U.S. Dressage Team at the FEI Dressage Nations Cup during the CDIO3* Wellington.

02/13/2025

Because you asked what Daily Dose Equine feed looks like:

02/13/2025

And now a word from our sponsor! Daily Dose Equine Feed!

02/13/2025

6”  of rain the last two days… A break today and tomorrow and then a wash out Saturday and Sunday. When you don’t have a covered arena, you use what you can… sympathies for everyone up north under all that snow!!

02/11/2025

If you’re struggling to memorize that dressage test, gals:

https://www.facebook.com/share/18nu5qnUeq/?mibextid=wwXIfr

02/11/2025

THIS.

🐴 Rider Position is Crucial

A rider's position greatly affects the success of their aids. No matter how well intentioned the aids are, if there are flaws or inconsistencies in the rider's position, the horse is likely to not perform perfectly. So it is *unrealistic* and even *unfair* to expect perfection from your horse when your legs are in the wrong place, your hands are moving all around, or you are not sitting correctly.

Here are some common examples (with pictures!) 👇👇👇

https://www.myvirtualeventingcoach.com/articles/dressage_rider_position_is_crucial

02/11/2025

Really nice moment (and more) with Janice and Mattie. Well done!