Some Sunday meditation for you all 🙏🕊
I don't get to ride much these days, but these moments are just as fulfilling.
Have a good week everyone
Reindeer hide saddle pads!
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I've had this reindeer hide for a few years, but never really needed to use it on a horse.
However, Cairo lacks a lot of muscle on his backline from when he was emaciated, so it can be tricky to keep him comfortable while riding, even with a fitted saddle. I've noticed he travels so much better with his reindeer hide saddle cloth.
Reindeer hide has been scientifically tested against other types of saddle cloths, and it is one of the best materials you can use. The cell formation of the hairs allows pressure to be evenly distributed across the horses back under the saddle, as well as allowing for even temperature regulation.
Reindeer hides were tested against leading brand pads, numnahs, and cloths of every material, from felt to cotton to gel.
The only material which even came close to the same efficiency, was sheeps wool.
The secret to effective support and weight distribution is natural fibres, as the specific crimp and structure of them far outweigh anything man made.
#equestrian #showjumping #dressage #equine #trailriding #reindeer #saddle #Englishriding #westernriding #eventing #enduranceriding #arabianhorse #wool #gelpad #barrelracing #campdraft
How's that for glow up? And we've only just begun 💪
#stockhorse #arabian #glowup #equinenutrition
This page has somewhat fallen by the wayside, due to so much rain over the last month. What normally takes me a week has taken 2, simply because I refuse to work young horses in slippery mud, especially when I need them to do lots of circles and turns. The possibility of them slipping and hurting themselves is not worth it.
With that being said, this is Cairo's 3rd ride under saddle. And I am so unbelievably happy with him. He goes kindly and softly. There are some bumpy and wobbly moments, but all young horses are rubbery and unbalanced.
I always try to be as neutral as possible and keep out of the horses way, so they work out their balance without relying on me, hence why my hands are so far forward.
Not much else to say really. I'm absolutely chuffed with this young horse and how he's taken to riding. This chocolate box of a gelding is the result of many hours of handling and groundwork over his 4 years.
We have another horse to start as well, a beautiful little filly, who has also been waylaid due to the mud and clay being too slippery. Hopefully we can focus on her now that Cairo is ticking over.
A high intensity session for Hollywood today.
Occasionally I like to push the limits of my horses, see just how much they can give me. Never more than they can offer or are capable of, just see how deep the barrel is. Holly was able to give me 6 minutes of constant high intensity work, which in this case is cantering 10m circles, hard stops, roll backs and shoulder chops. That's a lot of work to pack into 6 minutes.
You can see the point at the end of the vid where Holly gets tired and can't offer me any more without detriment to himself and his training. So I give him a pat and call it quits.
This is like a high intensity session in the gym, a short, but powerful workout, which tests the limits. We don't do this often, but it's a great indicator of where the horse is at mentally and physically.
I should also point out this is all without spurs. As a rule I never ride with spurs. So all this activity is generated through my seat and legs.
Very happy with what Holly had under the hood for me when I ask.
This is Aqna, she belongs to a close friend of mine, and she will be spending a lot of time with us in the future.
We picked up Aqna a few days ago, she is unhandled, but is quiet and has a lovely temperament.
Now that she has been wormed, had feet trimmed and is on good feed, this little 2yo Arabian mare is blossoming into a spirited lady with opinions and sass. Arabians are known for their intelligence, and Aqna is no exception. She is at the stage where she wants to move herself up the social ladder, and is telling off everyone around her with ears back, flying at them, and kicking out. Donkey has very quickly learned his place with her.
I don't mind that behaviour amongst othe horses, but it's not acceptable towards humans.
Being able to be caught, haltered, and handled is the key stone of education. If your foundation is rocky, the rest will be unbalanced.
This is only the first lesson, so we have a long way to go, but here I simply approach Aqna with a halter.
I don't try and hide it, I make no secret about what I'm asking of her.
And she basically flips me the bird. She says nope, not having it, I would rather run about and snort, and show you my rump.
So I say, ok, you can do that, but this is what happens when you do that. I add pressure.
I swing the rope, face her more directly, and whistle more consistently. Once she faces me, I look away, step back, and give her space.
She comes to learn that facing me is easier than running about.
I tell her off at one point for pulling an extra sour face at me, she takes a step back and then relaxes with her ears forward. There's a lot of bluff and posturing that goes on, and a lot of it just show. Notice how she relaxes and softens once she's given reassurance and affection.
This whole lesson started because she was eyeballing a large round bale I was rolling, so I went to catch her and take her to another yard, and it resulted in this lesson.
After we establish that looking at me and facing up is better than wast
Gratitude for this wonderful stallion and my donkey. Such gentle, playful souls they are.
#stallion #stockhorse #Western #horsetherapy
Hoof trimming time!
This time featuring Hector the Donkey!
I wish I had thought to video the other front foot, Hector had a GNARLY abcess which was so satisfying to dig out a remove the sole from. The abcess is not from lack of care, Hector has a slightly twisted nearside front hoof, which is prone to abcesses.
After the fronts were finished, Hector was laid down to finish his back feet.
Hector was never taught to pick up his feet, or even had his feet trimmed until he was 3 - 4 years old and came to live with his current owners. Laying down to do the back feet is simply easier and less stressful for everyone, and Hector knows the routine, taking less than 10 seconds to lay down for his pedicure now.
After several months between trims, Hector was walking on stilts, as donkeys do. The hoof of a donkey grows straight down, flares are very rare. Separation at the wall, thrush, and abcesses are the most common ailments seen in the hoof of a donkey.
Donkeys have the cutest little hooves, and I adore trimming them. If you're in need of a trimmer in SE QLD, don't hesitate to contact me.
A bit late and we're out if frame for most of the last shot, but this was Blue's 2nd ride. He's had 5 or 6 rides total now and is coming along in leaps and bounds.
The makings of an exceptional stop in this colt. Towards the end you see us working on yielding the rump, which Blue is very good at.
Afterwards we try yielding the shoulders. This proves far more difficult.
As horses carry approximately 70% of their weight on their front legs, it makes sense they will find it more difficult to lighten and mobilise the shoulders.
By exaggerated leading out with my direction hand and bringing my leg high on his shoulder, I make it blatantly obvious what I would like Blue to try.
You can see the stiffness in his shoulders, it presents as him simply swinging his rump around.
It's important to let horses make mistakes and give them huge rewards for even the tiniest improvement. Blue giving his first good step ad a shoulder yeild is far from perfect, but it's a start.
I'll have more recent clips soon
First ride for Blue!
I apologise for being MIA on the Blue posts. I had to take some time off, as I had a concern for his health and my boss has had me working 60+ hours a week.
Anyway, here's his first ride! It's not pretty, it's strictly utilitarian. I've taken out all the bits of me off screen as much as possible and kept all the relevant stuff.
Blue was pretty standard for his first ride. He had trouble working out forward movement to begin with, carry weight forward was something he was unsure about. We spent a fair bit of time just turning on the spot until he was confident to step out and forward.
As for the rest of it, there was only one this which you might consider undesirable. As we went into the first canter, a few strides in, Blue humped up and put his head down.
Unchecked and uncorrected this turns into a crow hop, buck, pig root, whatever you want to call it.
By doing a one rein stop and bring his brain back to me, we can take a breath and say, no no that's not quite it, gather yourself and try again.
I've deliberately left this in for you to see, the worst of what happens when I am confronted with this.
After that small correction, we went back to canter a full circle both ways with no issue.
So proud of this Blue boy, very clever, forgiving and sensible.
Driving in preparation for riding.
Every horse that comes to me gets driven before I ride. Every single one.
3 days of driving is worth 10 days of riding.
Imagine I ask you to walk across a plank in heels, without looking down, while balancing a bowling ball on your head.
How about I take the heels off you, and the bowling ball. Much easier, isn't it.
When we do driving, it allows our horse to puzzle through what we ask, without having to balance himself and us at the same time.
You don't learn how to balance a bicycle really well by only driving in straight lines, you have to turn at some point.
As with you horses, lots of small circles, changes of direction help them to work out their coordination and balance quickly and confidently, without interference.
As well as balance and coordination, driving allows us to get any arguments and tantrums out of the way, from the safety of the ground. I'm sure we've all had that horse that wouldn't walk through a puddle or step in a ditch and they fight and argue and you're thinking "Holy smokes, what if he takes off or leaps over it? Am I going to come off?"
Been there done that, not a fan. I'd much rather have a small argument in the drive lines than on a horse's back. Much safer, and much less tiring.
Anything you can do under saddle, you should be able to do in the drive lines before you hop on.
Before I step aboard, I like to have my horses, doing a nice walk, trot, canter, change directions quickly and softly, stop immediately, back up qickly and softly, one rein stop, stand calmly, and tackle anything I point them at calmly and in a sensible manner.
After every drive, I ask for a flex and stand, the hop on and off a few times, this makes the mounting feeling familiar for the horse.
3 days of this, and I can confidently step up knowing what is under the hood.
Blue is doing exceptionally well in his driving. We had to take a few days break, fixing fences and night shift caught up with me.
