Valkyrie Ranch

11/19/2024

11/17/2024

Come check out the Bit & Bridle Club booth at the Silver Star Farm LLC tack sale today! 11/17 10am-2pm. We have a little bit of everything and there's plenty more booths here to look through.

11/14/2024

❄️ For some, it is rug season again! ❄️

Whilst there may be differing opinions on if/when is the right time to rug horses, there is one thing that we can all agree on, the importance of SAFETY and fastening rugs correctly. Here are some key guidelines that are all to often overlooked. Using the correct way to fasten rugs should help avoid accidents such as getting attached to hay nets and getting legs stuck in straps. 🐴💙

👉 Face hooks inward. Always position clips towards your horse’s body to prevent them from getting snagged on fences, hay nets, or anything else. Outward-facing clips can get caught or come undone, risking injury if your horse panics.

👉 Cross those straps! Belly straps should always be crossed (some rugs do have a different arrangement now, i.e. 3 straight straps, follow the manufactures intentions) to prevent twisting. A twisted rug can cause rubbing, discomfort, injury, or even panic if your horse feels trapped or gets a leg caught in poorly fitted straps.
Leg straps must also be crossed in a loop, this prevents rubbing on the inside of the hind legs and keeps the rug level, it also stops the straps hanging to low and risking a leg getting caught as the horse gets up or down.

The image shows visual examples of correct and incorrect strap and fastening placements.

11/10/2024

One of the consequences of today's discipline isolation has been that many disciplines now have their specific "correct" horse. For example, dressage judges no longer score horses performance on their movements in the context of an individual horse's breed. Judges now measure and score every horse against the "ideal" movement of the Warmblood type. Dressage used to mean "training" for all breeds. There was no single "correct" horse based on one breed type's supposed "ideal" movement.

Dressage competitions, not long ago, included a diverse range of breeds. But now a dressage horse has to be a Warmblood because that breed type is thought to have the exclusive ability to demonstrate "correct" movement above every other breed. I think this concept is absurd. This idea of a "correct horse" for each discipline undermines the idea of the versatile, all-around horse. This has produced many unintended consequences.

It means that every human body type, if they wish to compete in modern dressage, must ride a Warmblood, the only "correct" horse. Whether it be for dressage, reining, or other equestrian pursuits, horse-rider mismatches are now inevitable. If you are a large heavy reining person you must ride a small QH and if you are a tiny dressage person you must ride a large Warmblood.

Before this narrow idea of the "correct horse", riders rode horses that related to how their individual body type fit with a horse's body type to make an effective unified team. Yes, there are breeds that are generally better at a discipline. Thoroughbreds have the speed required in racing, for example, but most equestrian pursuits are not based on only one trait as racing is.

The "correct breed" concept has resulted in changes to equipment and training regimes. These changes are intended to overcome rider-horse body type mismatches. In reining, oversized riders on small horses, doing 30 foot plus slides, means that those small horses begin receiving hock injections as early as 3 or 4 years old. In dressage, small riders must now use very different dressage saddles that allow them to leverage their low body weight to achieve the required hyperflexed bend in the neck for competition. See link below.

The tail is wagging the dog today when it comes to matching horses and riders. Riders now must adapt to a prescribed horse type for a discipline instead of finding a more rational horse-rider match. This ridiculous artificial concept of single correct horse must change if authentic horsemanship is to be reestablished and if reason is to prevail.

*link to post about how and why dressage saddles have changed to overcome rider-horse mismatches -

www.facebook.com/BobWoodHorsesForLife/posts/pfbid029ziRUXRMJtPUTxu8kvPmoWkygycfoek6j1KGTKfNXejdp7BE8S1N95d87vZFjrqkl

11/06/2024

Come check out the 4H Bit & Bridle Horse Club this Friday for our first meeting of the 2024-'25 year! We have a guest speaker doing our educational program.

11/01/2024

10/30/2024

Preparing for the upcoming dark-pocalypsy with new arena lights 💡

10/29/2024

🌟Echoed Starlight🌟 2022 Arabian X Welsh Pony Mare
Expected to mature right at 14hands. DNA tested black! AHA registered and eligible for Welsh Pony & Cob Society and Virginia Pony Breeders Association. Has already had tons of handling, ground work & desensitizing. Will excel in eventing, hunter/jumper, fox hunting, endurance, etc. Parents pictured- Dam (13.2 welsh) does youth hunters in our lesson program and Sire (14.3 arabian) competes in endurance, western dressage, & SHIH.
Asking mid 4 figures, expecting our first human baby in the Spring so motivated to downsize for the winter! Located in Locust Grove, VA

10/27/2024

Western & English saddles, pads, boots, girth, misc. Tack, show clothes, bits, breeches, vaulting harness, fly masks, blankets, etc. Come check us out! Everything is OBO! Don't make us pack this stuff back up! Come out to support your local 4H club! At Valkyrie Ranch 2:00-5:00 on Sunday. Halloween candy for trick or treaters. Educational events, horse jeopardy game, hot chocolate bar, etc.
At Valkyrie Ranch LLC 10053 Barnes rd Locust Grove

10/27/2024

10/27/2024

https://mailchi.mp/1458813afa13/4h-open-house-tack-sale

10/26/2024

The transition between seasons, with abrupt changes of weather and temperature can increase a horse's likelihood of developing digestive distress or colic.

Here is an article with some handy tips for any horse guardian to remember. Ear TTouch, Belly lifts, and the gas point can be excellent tools to have at your disposal while you are waiting for your vet and/or banamine to take effect.

Over the decades we have received countless letters from guardians who have used some of these techniques to help alleviate colic symptoms, often crediting them for saving their horse's life. These exercises are never meant to replace vet care but do provide effective, non-invasive techniques to use while you waiting for help to arrive.

https://www.ttouch.ca/2020/09/27/coping-with-colic/

10/14/2024

Please join us Oct. 27th for the Bit & Bridle Club Open & House Event! There will be a tack sale fundraiser (loaded with tons of great stuff, including a few western & english saddles, lots of show clothes in great condition, etc.), refreshments, education & fun!!! This is great opportunity for prospective members to come check it out!