Anky back in the school and Remy tries out the saddle.

Anky in the school this morning, first time for a while. She was pretty calm, if a little lacklustre and inattentive, but not tense and softer into my hand than the last time we did any schooling. I was tired this morning and a little lacklustre myself so we worked on walk halt transitions and added a little reinback towards the end of the session. So, not too bad a session, lots to work on. If she continues to improve healthwise, we can only get better.
Put the saddle on Rem for the first time and did a little in hand with him. He didn't bother at all. Next time I'll take him in the school and lunge him with it on. He's walking on and halting quite nicely now with me walking at the girth.

,kbjgsdr.n

Rode Anky out again. She was very jumpy, not naughty, just edgy, frightened of her own shadow.
We did the same ride as yesterday, and she didn't refuse to go, just looked and shied at everything.
She seemed fine when she came in, ate her breakfast and then started on her hay, so I'm sure she was feeling ok. Just one of those days then.
She had started to calm a little by the time we got halfway round and came back much calmer than she went out.
A short session with Remy in hand, concentrating on the walk and halt and him keeping out of my space!

Hee hee!!! :-)

Another beautiful morning, sunny and warm.
I took Anky out again and it was great! A couple of hesitant moments, but that was all. She felt soft and forward going. She was alert, but not tense. The ride only took us about 35 minutes, farther than yesterday, around the little lake, past the stone cutters building and back down the lane. I was smiling all the way round. Hee hee!!!
Corky was ready booted when we returned ( Jim's really getting the hang of the boots now)so we went off for our walk with Remy.
He was a little hesitant this morning, but followed calmly, investigating everything as usual.Our neighbour was in her garden as we passed, so we stopped to have a little chat and to introduce her to Remy , then further down the track towards the little wood. This is where the electric fence is and the last thing I want is for Remy to touch it. Remy and I have been taking the lead on our walks, but just to be safe Jim and Corky went on the side nearest the fence and we walked down the track side by side. Unfortunately I forgot about the silage bales on the other side of the hedge which suddenly came into view! Remy was worried by them and his little eyes came out on stalks, he didn't do anything silly but backed away a little - towards the fence. I asked him to stand and he calmed so we walked on a few more yards before turning back towards home. I love the way he deals with new things, no over reacting, just calmly accepting and trusting that he's perfectly safe. Another big smile on my face!

I'm off to see a friend this morning who's recovering from a broken leg - Ouch!!! , I haven't seen her for a while and I know she's been doing a lot with her youngster, so I reckon we'll be chatting for ages about the progress of our gorgeous horses!

A Beautiful Morning

The sun was shining and I was over my hangover - totally NOT my fault, forced to over-indulge on a day out at Trudis'.
No, seriously, thanks for a lovely time Trudi!

I took Anky out for a ride (oh it does feel good to write that) down the track. She stopped a few times, but nothing we couldn't handle and we made our way across the road and into the wood by the lake. This was further than we've been before on a solo ride, around the lake and back towards home. Trudi took some pics of me riding Moo with the Torsion and I really didn't like the position it was putting me in, so I rode her in the Trekker which felt ok,more comfortable than I remember, and, I think, allowed me to sit in a better position. I like the treeless saddles, you really can feel their backs moving and I like the feeling of being more connected, but I've got to make sure that when I buy one, I get the model that's right for us.
We returned home, happy and (Anky, quite) relaxed!

We then took Remy and Corky for their walks, this time in the other direction, up the lane, past the very noisy dogs and up the track to the school, where I introduced Remy to my newly acquired trotting poles. We'd stacked them up against the fence in the corner of the school, so we checked them out and then I dragged a couple to the centre of the school. As I dragged them, he just followed me on the line. We then walked over them a couple of times each way.No problems, he's a very good boy. We came back to the yard through the field and the garden, where he really spooked as a blackbird flew up from the barn. But then, he just stood still at my side, no bother, no worries. We walked round to the stables and on the way he poked his nose at the lid of the water container - he likes to stop for a drink.
He trusts me. What a wonderful feeling that is!!!
My two stars.

I think therefore........

This might just happen to me!!

Necks, Lies and Videotape

Just to keep up the momentum, here's another link to further information on the recent Blue Tongue scandal.
http://epona.tv/uk/news/show/artikel/blue-tongues-at-world-cup-qualifier

A ride out! Remy walks out again.

The title says it all. I rode Anky down the lane, onto the track, through the wood, across the road and all the way back again :-) 30 minute ride, didn't have to dismount and while I can't say she was relaxed exactly, she was forward, alert and responsive.
The boots don't seem to be affecting her at all.
Again, on our return, Corky was booted up so we went for our second walk with Remy. Just a little further this time, lots of new things to see and I think he enjoyed himself - he's very curious!! He sniffed and huffed at lots of things, but was really quite happy with the whole process. Another good day.

Aaaagh

Trudi posted this on her blog, it is obsene, but in the interests of getting it out there for people to see I'm putting it here also. Not sure how many people will see it here but it's on my facebook page aswell.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hIXGiV4N4k

http://epona.tv/uk/news/show/artikel/blue-tongues-at-world-cup-qualifier/

Gerhard Heuschmann has written a brilliant book and made an excellent vid, here is an excerpt from it.

If only more people would listen.
See more links here

A ride out - of sorts and Remy walks out.

I decided I had to ride today. I have to start getting Anky out- 1. for practical reasons, she has to get used to the boots and 2, for the sake of my sanity, I must ride!
So, boots on, we set off. Anky decided she wasn't going anywhere without Corky from the start, but after a little persuasion and, rather ungenerously, we made it onto the track and towards the little wood. It's only five minutes, but by the time we reached the electric fence just before the wood she was backing off and, with the thought of her backing into the fence, I got off. I'd taken a long rope with me and put her bridle over her headcollar, so I clipped the rope to the headcollar and started to lead her. She wasn't very happy and kept trotting ahead, but when she does this I just make a little circle to reclaim my leading position and carry on. After a few minutes she settled and followed calmly. I continued to lead for another few minutes and then, with the help of a convenient log, I got back on and rode her home. She was very calm going home and felt quite relaxed in her back with a good stride. I rode her in the Torsion saddle and I'm beginning to like it more and more. The really positive thing about today was that I now know that I can get her out on a ride and if we have a problem I can lead her until she settles and I can remount.
I feel that if I do this often enough she will gain enough trust in me not to worry when we ride out alone.
While I was out with Anky, Jim had been wrestling with the Old Macs, so when I returned he had Corky booted up and we went for a walk down the lane with Remy. This was his first ever walk out and as expected, he was absolutely fine. I think it helped having Corky with us, but we took the lead and he was quite happy to follow me, investigating this new world outside the gates! A very good boy.

Pretty Chilled........

how I feel today. I'm off to play my sax.

What makes riding so..........

These are not my words, but they do sum up what I feel about riding and why it is so difficult to do well - I thought I'd post them here.

"What makes riding so interesting and addictive is that it is a lot of things. It is a craft. It is an art. It is a sport. It is also a science. In some ways it is simply applied physics. It has parallels with the practice of medicine. It is a healing art in the sense of physical therapy. It is applied psychology. It also has an intuitive, psychic side that must not be underestimated. It has things in common with yoga, pilates, dance, and music. These different aspects draw different types of people, and in order to go to the top and fulfill one's potential, the rider has to try and become as competent as possible in all these areas. Nobody can possibly master them all, which is why especially the truly great riders always emphasize that it takes more than one lifetime to master dressage.
Focusing on one aspect to the exclusion of the others lets the rider fall short of his or her potential. Somebody who sees riding exclusively as a sport and wants nothing to do with the other aspects will always remain on the surface. Somebody who sees it only as an art and does not take the technical, craftsmanship side or the athletic side seriously, will be held back by these shortcomings. Someone who gets too wrapped up in the physics and technique and never develops feel and intuition, will not get very far, either, etc. The best riders I have met all combined a fairly high competence level in most of these areas. They were all fit and athletic, highly intuitive, with an excellent understanding of psychology, biomechanics and conformation, and they had spent their entire lifetime practicing the craftsmanship side until it had become second nature, so that they were able to transcend technique and leave the text book path behind when necessary in order to find a practical solution to a problem through the application of intuition and artistic creativity."

Diane - trawling the internet and fed up because she couldn't ride today.

Où est le maréchal ferrant ?

I have gained a deep hatred for Old Macs!
Ankys' boots are very easy to use and this morning they went on with no problems, but Corkys', as I charmingly put in my last post (sorry about that) are a nightmare. I'm over reacting, I know and I'm sure they'll get easier, but shoes seemed like a very good idea this morning.
We did eventually get out for a short ride, about 20 minutes as we need to go easy until they get used to the boots, but actually they didn't seem to have any problem with them.
We met our neighbour coming back and he was telling us about the wine he's just made from his small plot of vines. This evening he came round with a few bottles, a lovely gesture which made us both feel good.

Fitting the Hoof Boots!!

We decided to try the hoof boots today, which meant cutting the pads to size and putting them in before we could use them. Jim did a good job of cutting the pads and putting them in the boots and I cleaned the hooves off and tried on the snazzy little pastern wraps which supposedly stop any rubbing.

We tried Ankys first and my initial thoughts were that they looked very big and clumsy, although after her first few steps, Anky didn't seem to mind them at all.



The pads are very thick, too thick I thought for the boots, but after walking her around for ten minutes, they have compressed and look ok.


I'd heard that the original Old Macs were a bit of a pain to use and after today I have to wholeheartedly agree. Ok, my energy levels are not very high at the moment and my patience level is about the same, but in the words of Catherine Tate "what a f***ing liberty!! Corky was acting like an aging diva and the boots wouldn't go on properly, but eventually we got the wraps on (not actually wraps but pull on, not like the cavallo ones which are a much easier wrap around design and secured with velcro) and the boots fitted, the inside strap tightened, the outside velcro tightened and eventually the back buckle buckled!! They looked even more clumsy than the Cavallos, like a cross between carpet slippers and wellies, but Corky didn't seem to mind.
So, even if we'd wanted to ride I wouldn't have had the energy. I can't believe it took so much effort to fit a couple of pairs of horse boots, but at least we're ready for our ride tomorrow!!


Anky stood very patiently, even if she did have her eyebrows raised!!


Final word goes to JENSEN BUTTON, Formula 1 World Champion!!

It's two weeks since I've ridden Anky. Today I rode her up to the school. She was full of energy going down the lane, but quite relaxed when we got into the school. I only walked her around and introduced her to the trotting poles that we bought yesterday. I really miss not riding and I enjoyed it immensely. My friend has lent me the Torsion treeless saddle that I tested here and I like it very much, the pommel is much better placed and doesn't interfere with my legs. I think if I buy a treeless, I may go for the Barefoot Lexington which is a similar design but a dressage model.

On the way out of the school I popped over the jumps shown in my last post...............I wish!!!!

The frost is doing a good job of finishing off our veggy plot. Most of the plants are now dying off so Jim harvested the rest of the pumpkins and squash. He picked the last of the tomatoes, most of which were green, so hopefully we'll have chutney. The only plants doing ok are the choux fourrager (like spring cabbage) which will withstand anything and will still be going strong into next summer!!

I'm being optimistic!!

Our horses stayed in last night. Surprisingly it wasn't my decision. Jim came back from putting them out to say that he wasn't putting them out as it was too cold!!
We've sorted the rugs out today and just have to try them for size!! Anky could fill a shop with her rugs, being the smallest she has lots of cast offs from Remy and Bonbon, I just hope we have a sufficient number of rugs big enough for our growing youngsters.
We've been after some trotting poles for a while and today we went to collect half a dozen from a friend. She also had 3 pairs of small jump wings so we bought those. Talk about being optimistic, my jumping days are long over, but you never know!!

Boots and Pads and Rugs for Winter.

The hoof boots and pads that I ordered arrived today. The pads recommended by the trimmer are VERY thick. I hope that they compress easily otherwise the boots won't go on properly. I gave Anky a good grooming today, she was glad to see me (well, she was glad to see my treat pocket!!) They're all getting pretty hairy now, except Bonbon who, just like her mum, never gets a thick winter coat. Hopefully, I'll be able to cut the pads to fit tomorrow and try the boots for size. The Old Macs are very fiddly, I can understand why people look at other models, but unfortunately these are the only ones recommended for Corky type feet(wider than long).
Time to dig out the winter rugs also. so I may do that tomorrow. Both Bonbon and Remy have grown such a lot since last year, I hope we have rugs to fit them.

Im typing this on my spare laptop as my sterling efforts to fix my other laptop have ended in failure. I hate to admit it but I may have to call the techy guy. We are very, very sad folk in this house, we have a total of 4 computers between the two of us. Well, that's not entirely true, because Jim only has one and I won't let him anywhere near mine!!

Sigh

Another sitting around day and my laptop has gone on the blink!! How will I cope!!

Kick up your Heels Guys!

I had a good day today when Trudi came over for a visit. It really cheered me up, thanks Trudi. An added bonus was that we got to see the horses in the field, playing and kicking up their heels and Anky looked full of energy and life.
It's a bit nippy tonight and I'm wondering if the horses need their rugs. Oh dear, winter's on its way. We've had a stray cat in the barn for a few months now, we've called him Tiger and he's lovely, we feed him every day. He nearly came through the kitchen window tonight - bribery is a powerful tool! Isn't he beautiful!

IDK

The view from my terrace.

This was today, we'd had cloud all morning and the sun was just starting to appear. The dogs had decided to get out of their beds and have a play in the garden.



This is the view down the garden and fields

And in our front field Remy (who seems to have got very hairy almost overnight) is watching me watching him


My horses doing what they do best.

Bitless Dressage

Still mulling over bitless I came across this vid. It happens to be the same person shown here
I presume that the horse was trained to this level with a bit.

It's interesting to compare the two vids.

I want to be here........

.......stick me in the corner with a large brandy!!

Wow!!

Wow indeed!!

Bitted - Bitless?

With nothing to do but sit on my **se and be grumpy, i've been mulling over Trudis' recent threads on bitless.
I've no doubt many people ride their horses this way with varying degrees of success, but having done many searches for videos of collected riding bitless, I've come up with very few examples.
This guy crops up quite a lot,I don't know anything about him, but he seems to be quite controversial.

I know Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling rides some of his horses in collection, bitless, but I don't know if they were trained bitless as it seems he feels the need to also ride with a bit.

It's a very thought provoking subject and I will be following Trudis' findings with interest. With a youngster ready to start I feel that I owe it to him to go there and investigate, but I have to admit that I'm pretty scared to do that as it may turn my thoughts on bitting completely upside down!!

Hoof Boots

Anky's hoof boots have arrived sooner than expected thanks to a fellow barefoot horse owner. Unfortunately pads are also needed inside the boots as a temporary measure during the transitionary period and these haven't arrived yet. I'll try them tomorrow for size but won't be able to use them until the pads arrive. They're the Cavallo make, Anky's are the snazzy red white and blue version, UK flag!!

No, I'm only joking, they're just the plain black version!!

Corky needs the Old Mac G1's as these are the only ones suitable for her slightly wider than long feet!!

Voca People

I like this.

Feet!!

The barefoot trimmer arrived at 8.30 this morning and left at 1.30pm.
He was very thorough, took the shoes off Corky and Anky very carefully and trimmed and measured them so that I can order boots and pads to protect their feet during the transition phase.
Corky has always had flat feet, we got her when she was eleven and her feet have never really changed. Every farrier has said the same, her heels are very low and her soles are very flat. And as the trimmer pointed out, years of shoeing hasn't helped. So we are optimistic that slowly the angle of her feet will improve and her heels will grow.






Anky has very good feet and has only been shod for a couple of years, but the trimmer noted how her toe had been left too long and the heels were becoming underrun(sp), he's quite confident though that in the long term she will have great feet and will be able to be ridden without boots.






Remy and Bonbon have good feet and should be fine to go without shoes in the future, although Bonbon has a couple of cracks on one hoof which I've queried with the farrier the last three trimmings, he told me not to worry about it, but neglected to tell me that she had a fungal infection inside the cracks. Although not serious this does need to be treated. This is going to be a slow process for Anky and Corky, but I'm sure it's a step in the right direction.

We also chatted about making their environment a better place for conditioning the feet, for example putting in an area of concrete which helps with wear, perhaps where they come up for water and an area of pea gravel which , in effect smoothes and polishes their feet. Of course there is only so much we can do to try and emulate their natural environment but I think we will give it a go.

A good day

Our appointment today with the new barefoot trimmer was postponed until tomorrow ( now that is a surprise!) so I went for a hack on Anky with Jim and Corky. She was a really good girl and I made the most of it as once her feet are trimmed we won't be hacking out until I can get her some boots.
I took Remy in the school and we had a short lungeing session,just a few minutes each rein at walk. He was very calm and although it's very early work he's starting to get it.
Jim took this little video for me ( and, no, our arena is not really that slopey).

God, I can talk!!

Too tired tonight, but will post tomorrow, just wanted to say that I had a lovely day today over at Trudis, but I think I talked her head off!!