Tracing Horse Families

It's always interesting (IMHO) tracing your family history, and no less so when tracing your horse's history. Many people like to see if they can find royalty or famous people in their family tree, and for horses this means finding a 'famous' champion.

Of course, with racehorses this isn't exactly difficult, since all thoroughbreds are highly inbred. It's also rather irrelevant, since stallions can be covering over 100 mares in a season. There is also little correlation between winning horses and successful breeding stock - although the breeding industry would not like this known. There has been very little change in the speed of racehorses in some hundred years of flat racing, that cannot be accounted for by better racing surfaces. So really, the difference between 'champion' and dog tucker is not all that great.

Nevertheless, it's nice to look back on your trail buddy's family. I found a photo of Yoda's granddad, Kenmare in an old magazine. Ooh la la he has a French connection, and like Imp he also has some grey genes.

Such a shame that the NZ Studbook doesn't allow easier searching. The information is there - brands, year, owners etc but you can only search if you know the horse's racing name (or sire\dam) already. I'd love to know who uses this internet database the most; I'd put money on that it is all the owners of former racehorses not current owners.

TB Brain or fear(pain) based excitement...

I have downgraded Yoda's bit to a rubber mullen. He started in a sweet iron french link. He seems to like it, is still stoppable and our rides in the forest continue to improve. I really like the idea of making things milder in the event of problems. We had one ride recently which was completely foam free, and the silliness that sometimes accompanies a few canters, is getting more manageable and we seem to be coming to an understanding. I still think that much of Yoda's behaviour is pain (or fear of pain) based.

The only way to get over that sort of thing (in my head) is to ensure that the cycle of pain\fear does not continue. OK, so I could stop him faster and retrain his high-headedness with martingales and twisted wire snaffles - but at what cost? and for how long? In the long term would it make things worse because the pain\fear causes an endorphin rush to cope?



Imp is enjoying Autumn, he has his beautiful soft teddy bear winter coat on. I've never felt another horse with a winter coat like his. Always seems a shame to clip it, but he does get very hot when working over our mild winters.

Autumn

 

We are just starting to get some Autumn weather. The leaves are turning, the nights are clear and crisp while the days stay warm (even hot) and dry. I've been harrowing my boy's paddocks, in preparation of the Autumn rains arriving. Trying to kill off the buttercup (by ripping it to shreds) that has taken over one field and just tidying up the others.

Daylight saving has just ended (yay - my body always wants to return to 'normal' time before the clocks turn back officially) and we are about to get our first bits of rain. Our paddocks are very dry, so I will be really happy to see some water and get some grass growth before winter sets in.

The horses are also enjoying the cooler weather, and Imp has turned into a rocket-ship giving Yoda a real run for his money in the racehorse stakes. 

Quiet rides in the Forest

Yoda is loving the forest, and the workouts are really helping his muscle development. Our first few rides were pretty much walk only, and he would come back in a lather. He quickly learned to relax, and not get himself into a state. So we have slowly been building up ride time and adding trot and canter.

Today's photo is a slightly lathered Yoda, after we made it back, and had been walking on a loose rein for the last 20 mins of the ride. He does still have a fairly limited attention\brain span, and today I 'overcooked' him a little. As we reached his limit, we had about 10-15mins of silliness, with lots of 'racehorse' behaviour. But the nice thing with Yoda is that he doesn't think of getting rid of his rider, he just has lots of adrenaline and doesn't know how to deal with it other than running, and throwing his head in the air.  

I don't think this will be a big problem to retrain. His ability to cope with life calmly, goes up each ride and he is reasonably easy to control even when he is very hyped.

Yoda

Yoda cracked me up today.  I left the farm with him loaded normally, got to the forest and found him peering over the ramp at me. Happy as larry, I think he turned himself around on the driveway and travelled the entire way with his head hanging out the back like a big dog! 

The first time I saw him turn around in the float, my heart went to my mouth.  I had asked him to reverse out on his own, but he decided to turn around and come out frontways.  As he squished himself around I was sure he would get stuck and then panic, but he didn't.  

I did consider letting him travel back home backwards, but in the end just tied him in normally.  It seemed to hard to load him backwards, and the risk of him turning around at the wrong moment seemed too high.

In the forest he was calm and happy today.  He strides out with purpose and really seems to enjoy all the new sights and sounds.   He doesn't worry about his feet too much, although I had to stop him hitting the deck a couple of times when he was too busy gawping at something instead of watching his footing.  I was really pleased that we got back to the carpark without him even sweating much.  Even though he has been calm on the last couple of rides, he still returned a lathered mess.  He hardly even had any nervous poos, it's a miracle! (the one when the deer shot out from under us was perfectly understandable).  

He loves going out, seems to be a thinker - but not so much that he is neurotic. Despite his reputation, and his physical problems - he gives me fewer problems than the old bugger!

Speaking of whom, Imp is still rocking along.  He's looking great at the moment, I had to stop and admire him tonight when I put Yoda back in the paddock.  I love his neck these days, that big sweeping topline (shame it doesn't continue along his back - but hey, you work with what you got) .  

Horse Heaven

The perfect day

I took Imp to the forest in the morning, and we checked out some new trails that take you through to one of my favourite areas. It was great, a fantastic long rolling trail that had that perfect combo of interesting terrain and scenery. It was also pretty much under the cover of the forest canopy all the time, so it was cool even as the day started to heat up.

We saw the biggest group of deer I have ever seen; in fact we rode right into the middle of them. I often wonder if they are less wary of Imp because we are such a similar colour (and perhaps being barefoot we don't make as much raquet either), because we always seem to get quite close. In this case the 'lookout' definitely had a double take, at first just giving us a glance and going right back to feeding and then 'oops! not another deer' the head popped back up again.

There were 4-5 females and young on one side of us, and then at least a dozen males and some more females without young on the other side of the trail. Even when we were almost within touching distance they didn't seem to be in that great a hurry to leave - almost embarrassed to have been caught off gaurd it seemed.

I was really happy to have had a great ride in the morning, as I was expecting the afternoon to be another adrenaline filled walk with Yoda. Best to get some enjoyment, before you are killed ;)

However, I couldn't have been more wrong. Yoda was awesome! Still a little nervous, but so much more happy, relaxed, and (importantly) thinking than our first outing. Certainly choosing the mid-afternoon was an important factor - fewer horses, less excitement to blow his mind before setting out. I was so proud of him; and he seemed so happy to be out and willing to trust me. There were several times when we were definitely a team. Even the couple of 'scarey' things were dealt with easily - simply allowing him some time to have a look without applying additional pressure, and he happily made the decision to continue on. When I did provide some direction, he was willing and attentive, even when he had to take it on trust that I wasn't asking him to do something stupid.

It was so nice to feel him so happy and relaxed, and I now really hope that I can sort out his physical issues - his mental ones seem to be down to err "personality clashes" with previous owners.

All in all a perfect day, two perfect rides and a huge sense of achievement.

Yoda's big day out

Have been slowly bringing Yoda (yes, he has been promoted from Dogmeat now)along. Working on assessing and strengthening his physical problems and riding him with a focus on gaining a mutual trust and language. His feet are getting better (although the process of rehabilitative trimming always seems very slow), and he is only slightly lame on one leg (ok sometimes his flatest front foot is a bit touchy too), as opposed to being horrible on 3 legs.

I ride him fairly regularly and we have gone from no trot (a horrible waddle that caused him to panic), to a strong waddle and even a nice uphill trot (if I help). First rides included quite a bit of head tossing, upside-downness and panic-stations about contact - to a lovely elastic contact on the outside rein. In short we are making progress; albeit slowly. Lunging him on a slope that caused great problems and worry, is now something that he can do quite easily.

So the other day I decided it was time to take him out to the big unknown - may as well get it over and done with early. To work on some of his strength issues we need to do some miles.

I practiced getting him on the float - no real problems there, and the next day we set off for the forest. It was an interesting experience. He came out of the float a rather different horse than the calm one I am used to, and I did have a number of thoughts about the stupidity of attempting to ride him. However, I put on my calm face, acted like he wasn't doing anything and set off.

Poor dear, he didn't quite know what to do with himself and it was mentally tiring trying to keep him from totally freaking out. However, I was very pleased that he came to his senses about 30 mins into the ride, and actually enjoyed being out. Once he relaxed and started to respond to some aids and listen, I ended the ride - hopefully he will remember the good bit and stash the memory away for future reference.

He trotted up to me in the paddock, happy-as-larry to see me the next day - so obviously the experience didn't mentally scar him for life.

Ugly Feet

I thought I should show you Dogmeat's ugly feet. Poor dear, I don't know who has been dealing with them over the last few years but they were a right mess when he arrived. I should've taken photos initially, but I still count these as reasonably disastrous. This is after I have managed two trims (rather close together), but you can clearly still see that the fronts are terribly asymetrical - one a pancake the other a grade 1 club.

Of course, it would be easy to say 'he's a thoroughbred' or blame his poor conformation, but it's hard to say whether anyone has attempted to sort out the issues. The horn is good quality and doesn't immediately collapse again when trimmed hard and the weight goes onto the new wall area.

As with everything else on this horse, it's a matter of wait and see. I hope that the combination of physical rehab and hoof rehab together will see some good results. It remains to be seen whether the feet are a reflection of bony changes within the hoof capsule, or vice-versa.

Lunging with a rope halter

Found the perfect way to lunge with a rope halter, probably lots of people know this but I only clicked today.

Take the normal rope loop (fiador knot)and feed it back up through the two ropes that run under the horse's head (jaw) toward the throatlatch. Simply clip the lunge rope onto the loop as usual, but so that the clip is behind the throatlatch rope. Why? Ever noticed how the rope on the side of the halter can creep toward the horse's eye on the side opposite to the one you are lunging from? Well this method pulls down at the back of the halter and prevents it from going near the eyes, it doesn't stop any feel on the horse, or create any other problems....

Abcess...!

I was away for a week at Equitana, and came home to find my lovely old man lame as a dog. A quick dig around found a small abcess near his heel buttress. I leave him for one week, and you'd think he had a broken leg. He has NEVER had an abcess or a day's lameness (excluding major injury) in his life with me, so I was rather disappointed to say the least - feeling like a real bad mother...

I set to work poking around the affected foot. Using my knife to dig out anything that looked vaguely suspect in the area with my hoof knife, I struck paydirt near a heel. There was an inital high pressure squirt of grey gunk, but seemed to be little else wrong with the area. He seemed much better as soon as the tiny amount of fluid was drained. I then soaked his foot for a while as there was a tiny ooze coming through the little hole I had dug. He went back into the field with a poultice and bandage in place just to provide some extra padding, cleanliness and to draw out any additional infection. Although, there are a number of boot options available these days I haven't seen any that are as good as vetrap at staying in place.

Next day, he came in from the paddock happy as larry. I soaked him again in Epsom salts and copper sulphate just to be sure, then rode him in his old macs boots (just to keep the area clean more than anything. He wasn't lame in the least.

Put a new bandage on with a poultice in it just to be sure, and today he was happily leaping around the paddock when I lunged him without any padding or boots on. It did make me wonder about all those horses who a) seem to get abcesses constantly and b) then have to wait for a farrier or vet to sort them out.

Even though I was only away a week, I suspect this started simply as a little infection coming a small pressure crack or fissure in a slighlty overloaded heel. Something that could easily have been prevented, by my normal day-to-day regime of cleaning and trimming.

However, having occurred I was able to quickly resolve the situation because Imp is barefoot and I have a reasonable knowledge of footcare (although I certainly don't count myself as a trained expert). I wonder how many horses, have to stand days of what seems to be acute pain waiting for a vet or farrier (or even the owner to notice)? And given how large some of the abcesses I have seen are, do they all start as the tiny little thing I excised? Is it the delay in treatment that allows the infection to take such a hold that large chunks of sole or hoof wall need to be removed? The 'holes' I created to solve the problem were maybe the size of my little fingertip and just a few millimetres deep. I was not even digging in to live sole, although obviously the pressure into live sole above was causing the pain.

Rivalry

With Imp being top horse on the farm, I knew there could be problems handling him and Dogmeat at the same time. However, he has been reasonably good at listening to my 'leave' commands. Well, there's no missing skin or flesh from Dogmeat so far.

However, I wasn't really prepared for the overt showing off and posturing when I rode Imp within sight of his rival. I brought both up together today, and set out to ride Dogmeat first. Imp watched intently from the yards, and made faces of disapproval.

I was really pleased with Dogmeat's second ride, he gave me backup, lateral movements and tried his best to trot properly (instead of being as balanced as a 3 legged childs highchair).

So when I popped on Imp to give him some exercise, I wish someone had a camera. I got extended trot with head on the ground (long and low), back lifted, (look I'm better than him I can lift my back!!) and each time we went toward the yards, ears back and neck snaked like a stallion. He was very light to all my aids as usual, but there was definitely an air of competition toward his unwanted rival... bless 'im

Dogmeat

 

Meet horse #2, currently known as Dogmeat. Yoda (racing name) is a 12 year old TB, who has seen better times. The horse has obviously had at least one major injury and not had the required rehabilitation to deal with it. He was on the way to the hunt (dog meat), but he has such a lovely personality that it seemed a shame not to give him another chance. He is currently completely unsuitable to ride, he doesn't have the strength to carry a rider, so our first goal is to put some muscle on him and teach him how to use his body correctly again.

Bloody Trailbikes

In Woodhill forest, as with many other places there is an increasing problem with trailbikers assuming that they can zoom around anywhere they please. At the Southern end of Woodhill, this is despite having to drive past signage with 'no trailbikes' symbols, further signage and barriers on the Coast Rd entrance, fences and barriers to stop them crossing the dunes... and general knowledge (not to mention media coverage) that they are neither permitted or welcome.

In their defence the signage is small and badly placed, and the forest owners do allow trailbike events (organised) in this area, so an unwitting visitor might well hear bikes on most weekends and assume it is okay for them to find their way in.

Last weekend a whole group decided to hold their own 'event'. Basically coming across the dunes (which are meant to be protected) and illegally entering the forest. Normally, I don't worry about them too much. Their noise is annoying, they can be heard for miles. They stay out of your way (hoping not to be reported I guess) and most are fairly polite if they do come across a horse rider. However, this lot roared around like they owned the place, blasting past walkers, runners and dog walkers with little regard for their noise, or stones flicking people. When I came across them they had little regard for Imp, and while he doesn't mind a couple of bikes being surrounded by a dozen noisy machines was a bit much. Only a couple of riders at the rear of the pack had any idea of politeness - seeing that Imp was a bit freaked they kindly switched off and trundled past with engines turned off.

Fortunately, no real harm done. But it could easily have been a disaster with a more nervous rider or horse. Would they even have cared if the rider got hurt? (or killed). Do they really wonder why they have a bad rap if they act like that? ...

Road Riding

About this time of year I feel the need to take to the roads. Not because of any great desire for travel, but to keep Imps feet in good shape. With our wet, muddy winters, a horse's feet take a bit of a hammering, or to be more precise the frogs do.

Road riding gives the feet a good workout on a fairly dry surface, and can challenge the frogs to keep them healthy. Rather than sticking just to the asphalt, I like to take to the forest roads. I'm not usually a fan of the wide (boring!) forest roads, but they are great for this purpose. Plus if you get a sunny day, it seems a shame not to take advantage of it instead of sticking to the shade of the forest.

The forest roads can be anything from sharp metal to gentle gravel or anything in between and Imp manages on all but the ugliest new metal, with barely a flicker. The gentle gravel and rock shown in the photo is Muriwai's Coast Rd. This sort of surface is easy for Imp and he can happily stride, trot or canter along while giving his feet some needed work.

Today we. actually got a lot more traffic than normal. A trailbike event at Muriwai\Woodhill meant that lots of cars and trailers rattled past us at one stage, and at others we clopped along and watched the bikes play on 'our' forest trails. Imp was quite amused at their efforts, and tried to join them a couple of times (well, they were only going at a brisk trot! he could show them how to get around the tracks)

Riding a 'Geriatric'

Imp is 19 (20 this year), but to me seems to be getting better and better with age, although I am certainly aware of the passage of time. I keep an eye on all the horse health news about "Geriatric" horses for updates on the latest in nutrition and supplements for the older horse. His muscular condition is certainly better than ever, but there are more and more grey hairs in the mane and tail. His hind pasterns are a little 'sticky' if you look hard, and I am always alert to his fitness levels - wondering if I am asking too much.

Perhaps I am more careful than I need be, the old boy certainly has more fiestiness than when he was younger, but I love that I can take care of him now like he has taken care of me. The true schoolmaster, he has always acted in a manner appropriate to my riding skills (oh and how dire they were, when I first got him!). Now, he still gives me challenges, but I love his tricks, speed and fiestiness now. He would have scared the be-jeezus out of me, when I first got him, if he acted the way he does now. He seems to enjoy the freedom this gives him; we are real partners able to enjoy each others company, and rely on each others strengths.

I hope this geriatric keeps going for a few more years, before deciding he'd rather just wander around the paddocks.

Land Speed Records

Not quite sure what has possessed Imp in the last few weeks (or is it me?), but we have been seriously attempting some land speed records on some of our favourite trails. Today we went out on a quite rainy day and shot around one of our favourite blocks of forest at breakneck speed. I was particularly impressed when he fired off the top of and down a slope, we have named the Hickstead Bank, at a decent canter. It was fun and exhilarating, and I must say that I am thrilled to be able to ride cross-country without fear and in harmony with my old freight-train of a horse. He seems to be saying, ha-ha I may be 19 but I am still a thoroughbred (and now that you can ride I will show you I am).

This isn't to say that he is bolting or uncontrollable, far from it (well, okay half-way down a 'run' I know better than to suggest stopping if he is having fun time). We can drop back to a walk on a long rein at any time, but the moment my body suggests any interest in speed, we are off. Talk about your subtle aids!!

Icy blast announces winter's arrival

Well, it was too good to last.... the long lovely autumn turned into winter last weekend, with a blast of gales, hail, torrential rain and in the south, snow. I don't think the ground temperature has dropped enough to stop the grass growing (yet) and since the solstice has past, the lengthening days will make it interesting to see whether we last through to Spring without feeding out hay again this year.

When listening to the rain and hail on the roof, it is always hard to think of the horses out in the paddocks, but they always seem happier there than in what we think of as comfort. Here in New Zealand, most horses live outside 24x7, 365 days of the year. Although Imp is clipped, so that I can continue to ride him through winter without him sweating too much, a good warm rug is very effective for keeping them happy and cosy. On days when I am worried, I turn up damp and cold, to find a horse who is snug and for the most part dry.

Winter Flora

One of the things I love about riding in the forest is the constanly changing natural landscape. Even though the two forests that I mainly ride in are both plantation pine forests, there is still an amazing variety of scenery and flora, you just have to look a little closer (or longer) .

This year winter has been amazingly mild, there are even jonquils and pohutukawa trees flowering because they are so confused about whether this is winter or spring. No doubt winter will show up here in the north soon, so we had better enjoy it while it lasts.

At the moment there are lots of fungi out. They are usually quite fleeting but there are many that I had not seen before (as well as the common ones like the beautiful classic red and white toadstool).

The moss is also thriving, little thickets where a tree has fallen can be quite luminous green with moss. It can be quite a stunning sight when you have been riding through the reds, browns and russet colours of maturing pine forest for a while.

The nature of riding

I find it very interesting comparing ideas on riding amongst my friends and acquaintances. Some of us enjoy riding as a journey (learning to ride in harmony with the horse) and as a spiritual partnership with our horse. Others are more passengers, enjoying the recreation that a horse provides - the scenery and environment. Yet more are purely sports or competition based, they tack up and ride but little more. That's not to say that this latter group don't care for their horse, but the relationship is certainly different from that of the first group.

I'm surprised by people who don't constantly think about their riding, when riding. Perhaps this is a peculiarity of adults who learn to ride, but I think about everything when I ride. The feel of my feet in my boots (and the balance of my boots in my stirrup), knees, toes, hips, the balance of my body, how much spring and stability I have, during each and every stride, change of pitch and direction. How responsive my horse is to each change in weight, or cue... At the same time I enjoy the environment, the smell of the trail, the sunlight through the trees, the plants and animals along the way. My brain is both relaxed and ticking along with numerous observations at any time. I get the impression from some riders that they almost never think about their riding, or what they are doing on the horse. I don't know how this can be... how do they improve if they aren't constantly comparing themselves to an ideal of balance and harmony?

I think about this all the time when I ride. Some days I have rides where I finally think "this is it, this is true harmony, this is riding." I can think, and Imp changes speed or direction, I move with him effortlessly - we are one.

On these rides (or sometimes it may only be part of a ride) you feel weightless on your horse. There is an odd thing that happens when you are no longer putting any particular weight on your stirrups or your seat - instead you are hovering 'around' the horse. So balanced, that you seem not to touch anywhere in particular and it intrigues me (even while doing it) because I wonder where the weight goes?? I must be putting it somewhere yet there is no part of me that seems to be putting more pressure on the horse (or gear) than any other, all are just a fraction of an inch from the horse and yet all are connected.

This feeling of harmony is what drives me. Each ride I want to feel that feeling all the time, no matter how fast or difficult the terrain. So I constantly compare my riding to this 'ideal' feeling, and strive to attain it. Simply staying on the horse is not enough, nor jumping a certain height nor any of the other measures that some seem to use.

Spring is on the way

It's early yet, and I hope I don't jinx its coming but I swear I smelled spring in the air over the last couple of weeks. The plants agree with me plenty are getting rid to bud or bloom, and there are new lambs and calves bouncing around the fields too. Some people bemoan the lack of seasonal change in New Zealand, or at least in the northern temperate parts. But the seasonal changes are there, they are just more subtle and I like them like that. The pines are already flowering and some are releasing their pollen. Most people probably don't even know that pine trees flower but they are spectacular when they release pollen enmasse and the flowers are quite lovely.

Imp and I have been having some great fun rides recently. Having been on the big cow paddocks over winter, the old boy is looking nicely rounded and is full of vigour. We haven't even started feeding out hay this winter yet, I've cut right back on any hardfeeds and the grass will be growing again soon. This has certainly been the easiest winter we've had in a while - effort wise that is.

On the down side, the ticks are biting and as well as the nasty itchy lumps on his body, he's scratched out quite a bit of mane. I had thought we'd gotten through winter without mud fever - then it struck a few weeks back. All up his legs and currently on his face. I think the tick bites were the killer, once one of the little beggars bites its a perfect site to let in bacteria. Fortunately I've been waiting (as you do in winter) for it to appear, so I have caught the scabs early and we don't seem to have had any of the really nasty stuff- hot swollen legs or total hair loss. Just little scabs.

I guess if I have to choose, I'd rather have fat happy slightly tatty looking horse than skinny, hungry horse with beautiful skin. :)

Winter sets in

After having a very warm and pleasant autumn and start to winter, the cold and wet have arrived in spades. As always the weather has closed in on the weekends rather than workdays, so I haven't ridden for a few weeks now.

Imp has been keeping himself fit having fun with his herd mates in the new paddocks. Each time they are put into a new area they all have a great time charging around the place.

The new paddocks are full of grass still and this has made a huge difference. He's also putting on some nice condition in preparation for the next few months of harder living coming up. This is such a luxury. Normally we would be feeding out hay (as the others are now) and keeping a constant vigil on weight and how much extra feed is required. Although Imp is quite a good dooer, he is an older thoroughbred and can lose a little condition in a hard winter if you don't keep an eye on him.

There's quite a lot of water running through the new paddocks, so I will be interested to see whether this affects hooves and legs over the next few months. Some areas are like a marsh and in others we have mini streams in the paddocks. Its not muddy because of the excellent base of grass and because of the varieties of grass. Normally we have to deal with a lot of mud fever in winter but even though in some areas they will be walking through water a lot of the time I'm not sure it will be as bad as constantly standing in mud with its abrasive properties. Hooves should be able to cope, regulating their own moisture content as long as owners don't get in the way and start applying grease or oils.

Autumn\Winter Riding

We're just starting to get the first bits of nippy winter weather now. Had a few windy days (which is always quite exciting to ride in) but the temps have been fairly mild till now. Imp was clipped recently. He turns into a fuzzy teddy bear and sweats copiously without being clipped. The only thoroughbred I know who grows quite such a soft shaggy coat.


We've had some autumn hi-jinx. I think the combination of fresh autumn grass and some additional feeds went straight to his head. Quite a bit of spooking and shying and the occassional outburst of straight speed. I did find that the rope halter is no substitute for real brakes - but I took that too as a learning curve. When your belting down a track unexpectedly and your horse flips his nose as if to say 'you think a bit of string is going to stop me?', you can either get on with riding or get off...(unceremoniously usually) I chose the riding option :D Very good to have to cope outside of your comfort zone sometimes. After the initial 'oh, oh' it is kinda fun once you realise that you can actually cope and just go with it, plus its nice to know the old boy still has quite a bit of life in him yet.



Have been riding in some new forest areas, from the usual lately. I enjoy exploring and its great to be able to get off familiar tracks and check out something new.

Its also a good time of year to have somewhere with more 'road' riding to help fitness (trot, rather than canter or gallop) and keeping his feet tough. The forestry tracks in this area are not the terribly sharp stones in some other places and quite nice to ride on.

Since I trim Imp's feet myself it's also a fairly cheeky way to get out of work - letting him pretty much self-trim. But also a good way of checking my work - after a decent ride you can look at his feet and tell exactly where his breakover is and have a pretty darned good idea of dynamic M\L balance too! Just based on chips and wear from the tracks. Been pleased to see that he and I seem to agree on what his feet should look like ;)

Playtime

Sometimes there is no one around at all and it seems to good an opportunity to lose so instead of travelling to the forest or beach we have a little play in the paddocks.

It's an opportunity to pretend that we still know how to ride like civilised 'people' instead of bush bashers. I can check my riding position, Imp's responsiveness to the aids and work him through some suppling exercises all without having to get too formal on him. My friend Helen took some photos of us today. It's always interesting and revealing to see yourself when you ride. It's one thing to think that you know what your body is doing but photos never lie.

In a rope halter I have discovered more about the 'outside rein' than I think I did after years of patiently listening to and working on dressage lessons using a snaffle (of a variety of types). Weaving down a line of cones with no direct rein aids is a great test of whether your horse is listening to you.

The old boy still steps out smartly when asked to
What's so funny?

Apparently some people think a saddle is held in place by a girth... fancy that as a novel idea. Just proves if you sit in the middle of the horse you don't need a tight girth.

The Round Pen

The Round Pen Blogsite from another 'mature' owner\rider. The trials and tribulations of new horse ownership seem all too familiar ... :)

Am very glad to have not had to deal with such severe temperatures on a regular basis though, one brief stint in Canada was enough to make me know that I don't like real cold

Hot Days

It's been really hot and humid recently (more humid than absolute heat I guess) which makes riding a bit of a problem. Simply because you (or at least I) do worry about your horse being put under too much stress in such conditions.

Yesterday, we managed to have a really great ride which combined some fun fast action with lots of relaxed mooching around, which both of us quite enjoy. Rode through the forest at Muriwai to make our way up the slopes of Kopuakai (which I have recently learned is the name of the tallest hill at the back of Murwai) through the little bits of eucalypt plantings and around some really fun tracks that run along the sides of this hill.

We then made our way to the water troughs that lie about half way up to give Imp a drink and on up to the summit.

I love it up there, the views are fantastic and the peace is always welcome.

The bonus on hot days is that there is always a good breeze coming off the sea up there. Yesterday was fantastic - a really good cool wind coming through the shade of the pines on the summit to help us both cool down after the long hot climb (I got off and did the last bit on foot).

While we had a breather, I took a few photos of the views down to the beach and Imp enjoyed a nice graze on the grasses.

halter knot for riding

Having experimented extensively now I have settled on the following configuration for my rope halter knot while riding.

It starts with a 'normal' quick release knot, I then tie a half hitch above it and bring the remaining end back through the loop of the original quick release knot. Works well, doesn't slip under pressure, is easily untied and uses up most of the free end of the halter that otherwise dangles annoyingly.

More on the bitless riding experiment...

Been out several times with just the rope halter now and so far no major calamities. Today we went to Muriwai and had a lovely time. Think I may have gotten to the bottom of the spooking and generally twittiness - a little lack of confidence in our new arrangement. Today, after the first few episodes of snorting, dodging and swerving stops that would make most cutting horses green with envy, I put my legs on and got a bit more hands on with the steering. After only a few rark-ups we were back in the groove again. Big sigh from him and no more twitting about. It was like he just needed to know I was still there (hello, giant lump on your back is a bit of a hint) .

Also tested some limits today, a couple of steep and difficult downhills gave me a bit more confidence in our brakes - am a bit dubious about whether the current arrangement would be enough to control a homebound journey on the beach. Sometimes these are calm and happy - sometimes they are quite 'strong' shall we say.... good fun if you have a bit of control but I dunno whether using the leadrope loops really gives me those sort of brakes. Guess we'll find out in time.

In the last few months I've made it my habit to walk a few kilometres of our ride - to try and get a little fitter myself and also to give Imp a break\proper cool down (I usually jump off in the last couple of kilometres from home for my walk). During this the halter is great, Imp much prefers it to the bridle. The bit definitely creates some minor resistance. Albeit very minor, its there and so its nice to even be able to jog along together and know I'm not going to bang him in the mouth even by accident.

Will need to improve my knot tying skills I think. My side knot does tend to slip, particularly if I am putting pressure on. Not a lot of movement, in a ride of 2-3 hours it's allowing the halter to slip back along the neck (as shown in the photos above) but that's about it. I have been tying a quick release knot and then looping the end back through to make sure it can't release but there's probably multiple variations on this that are more or less secure, just a matter of finding the right one.

Bitless Riding

Well I finally did it. I have been faffing about looking at bitless bridles for ages and none of them seemed to really give me anything I wanted. Some were 'plastic' which is very annoying to Imp (as I found after buying an endurance bridle a while back) and some included leather with strong (too rough) nylon. So I bought a nice rope halter and then had a play session in the paddock to check out where to put the reins and how Imp would react. He was completely unfazed and seemed to respond best to just attaching the reins to the leadrope loops.

Today I went out in the forest and was really pleased, we walked, trotted and cantered and Imp responded somewhat better in most cases than he had to his normal bridle. It helps that I rarely use the bit anyway, so most of our signals are legs,seat, weight and neck reining when normally out in the forest. I checked brakes a couple of times and found that cantering seemed to be more controlled rather than less - none of the racehorse reaction that becomes conditioned to taking up the reins in preparation and no 'go faster when there is pressure on the bit' reactions.

I think the halter I bought is slightly too large, for some reason 'full' must mean - horses with heads the size of tree stumps' and I never think of 'cob' as actually having smaller heads than Imp but since it seems to work just fine I'll live with it for the moment. We even had a fairly major adrenaline rush with invisible monsters in the bush (I still have no idea what was so scarey) and yet control was maintained and we went on for nearly half an hour (shying and spooking and generally being a git - but we'll gloss over that bit) without any problems in steering or speed control.











The photos were taken at the end of the ride - no I don't have my girth that loose when I ride! :D

Weird Spring Weather and Forest Riding

As usual the weather can't make up its mind what to do, howling wind, snow in the south, cold one day, tropically hot and humid the next.

It was hot riding today, even within the actual forest with very little breeze to get any relief from the humidity.