Week of horsing around

It's been a busy week trying to balance work and horse commitments.  I am going on holiday next week, so have been trying to get in the saddle as much as possible before I have to take a nearly two-week break (I am clearly going through a very keen phase it seems)! Not sure if Rainbow is that happy about this 'extreme' riding but I have tried to keep it interesting by mainly doing hacking out with her and friends and not spend much time indoors. The weather, rather surprisingly, has been quite good, so that has definitely been  an incentive for getting out as well... As I have said before, you never know when the heavens will open yet again for months on end, so enjoying it while it lasts.

Monday we went out for a morning hack with our friends J and O. Tuesday I managed to get us on the very popular 6pm group lesson. We did rider 'gymnastics' on the lesson; riding without stirrups doing various legs stretches and bending backwards and forwards. It was rather fun and luckily the horses were very phlegmatic because of the warm and muggy evening, so could happily give them long rein and concentrate on the stretches. After stretching we also walked and trotted around without stirrups. It's really funny how after about 20 mins riding without stirrups one's leg really stretches and when you put the stirrups back on, they feel so short! Even when my stirrups were on what I call 'the long school setting', after a while without stirrups I could have lengthened them two or three holes and wouldn't have even noticed.

Wednesday we went out with our fairly new friends Sarah and Sampson. Sampson used to be my loan horse, so I know him quite well. Rainbow and Sampson really seem to get on well and I feel I have struck up a lovely friendship with Sarah too. We have a lot of fun going out and seem to be on the same wavelength.

Sarah and Sampson

The hack on Wednesday went well – we didn't do a very long one as we only set off around 6pm. Both Rainbow and Sampson weren't very forward going, but it didn't matter too much. We had a couple of spooks from Rainbow when we came across some sheep in an unexpected place and when some children threw a ball in the bushes we were walking past. 

Cheeky Sampson having some takeaway!

Thursday we had another flatwork lesson and it went really well. Practised some leg yielding, just to keep it interesting for both of us. And also did some canter transitions from leg yielding in trot.

What is known as the 'selfie'.

Sarah and I had earmarked Friday for a longer hack and we set off in the afternoon when Sarah arrived from work. The weather had been a bit changeable earlier in the day but settled into quite a nice warm evening. We headed up towards the Churn. When we got up the big hill after the village, Sarah noticed that Sampson didn't feel quite normal. He was feeling lame in trot. I stopped as I'd been motoring on with Rainbow ahead of Sarah and Sampson. And he didn't look quite right. We had a little discussion on how bad he was and if we should turn back, because in walk he didn't show signs of lameness. Decidedly the right thing to do was to turn back and Sarah hopped off Sampson to lead him home. Rainbow was a good girl happily turned around although I could tell she was quite keen to go continue the hack. So we ambled back with Sarah and Sampson.  While Sarah led Sampson, I felt like a mounted police officer giving Sarah and Sampson a police escort. Bit of a shame that our special Friday hack was cut short, but obviously our horses' welfare is the paramount, so it wouldn't have been fair to make Sampson go on. 

Back at the yard Sampson was assessed and he didn't seem too bad. His shoeing is probably a bit overdue, so hopefully the limp will be fixed by new shoes this week. Fingers crossed!

Overall it's been a good week of riding. Today I gave Rainbow a day off and I think she was rather pleased: when I released her in the field she buck-galloped off towards her friends in the distance, cantering past them and did a victory lap around the back bit of the field. Just a little bit happy. :) 

Back to reality

Birthday festivities done and back to reality. When I picked up Rainbow yesterday I wasn't sure what kind of a wild horse would greet me after 4 days in the field, but she was fine. A little bit alert as it was really windy, so she had to do a little spook jump when the bushes moved, but she was a good girl and followed me nicely back to the yard, although none of the others were brought in at the same time. 

I didn't ride yesterday, as had a friend staying over after the birthday festivities and had been busy entertaining at home. By the time I got R back to the yard I just brushed her a bit, picked feet and gave her her evening tea. She was also quite tired and was dozing off when I was brushing her. 

I felt quite tired this morning and was struggling to get up but had agreed to go out on a hack with a friend and be ready at 9:30am. We had a nice hack around one of the usual routes and we had a little canter on the side of the field too. Rainbow was leading and behaved really well again. Brakes worked and she didn't want to rodeo, which was good. I am getting braver ;). I am gaining confidence with her and have actually started to think I might be able to take her out in 'public' soon. I realised afterwards that this ride was the first ride of my 30s...! So here's to more of the same and good times with my pony.

Royal Ascot

Thursday did involve horses but not in the smelly sense I usually get to enjoy them, but from a distance – donning a hat, a glass or two of champers and a race ticket. 

It was my 30th birthday so Tim took me to Ascot for the day. We went there two years ago, to celebrate my birthday, but this time it was just us two and not a big group like last time. Two years ago the weather was really wet, cold and windy, which made everything a bit drab and difficult... Especially when wearing nice clothes and trying to walk across water-logged lawns...

This time weather was ideal, though it wasn't sunny until the evening the still and warm air made it actually quite ideal. We set off from Henley-on-Thames as we were staying in a hotel there. This  meant we could take the train to Ascot and both enjoy a few drinks too.

I bet on all races except one (6 races in one day) and ended up either winning or breaking even on every race, except the last race when my ability to pick winners must have been hindered by the champers. I didn't bet large amounts but won enough to probably come home with a bit more than I went there with. I hadn't studied the race cards hard but had some idea from reading the Racing Post and also backed The Queen's horse, Estimate, which paid out a little as it won the Gold Cup race. I was so pleased for her for her horse winning the race. The large screens replayed her excitement, it was fab.

But without further ado, here some pics from the day.

Racecourse from Grandstand

Ascot Bandstand

Waiting for The Queen to arrive.

There she is!

The Queen's horse, Estimate, won the Gold Cup race.

The Queen saying hello to Estimate after the race.

Race goers

Yours truly

The sun broke out in the afternoon

Afternoon tea at the Pavilion

Not too traumatised by having turned 30 ;)

Some clips filmed on my mobile. 

- The Queen arrives

- Racing

- Singalong at the end of the race day

Happy hack pics

It's looking to be warm and muggy tomorrow and my friend S (who loans my old loan horse Sampson now) has even booked the afternoon off work, so we can go for a longer hack.... Looking forward to it already! Hoping also that R is in cooperative mood and we can try some cantering again.  I have given her a day off in the field today.

We had a lesson yesterday with Claire again and it was good fun, though I felt quite tired for some reason and couldn't really pull my riding together, so it was a bit hard work at times. I think the muggy warm evening didn't help either and R felt quite floppy too. But we did some poles and a little cross poles at the end of the session, which helped us end on a good note and got us doing some jumps! I do love jumping, it's just the nervy fear of not knowing if she'll go over them or not... Totally in between my ears as she has never refused on me yet (*touching wood). So I should just trust her and point her to the next jump!

These pics are from last week, out with Denise and Zara! I will try and snap a few tomorrow. 

Denise and Zara

"Look at the camera!"

Mounted police officer and her trusty steed ;)

Zara's neck

I do have other exciting times ahead as well. I am having a big milestone birthday this week and to celebrate my partner and I are going to Royal Ascot on Thursday, which is the Gold Cup Day - aka Ladies' Day, to watch a bit of horse racing. Have my hat and dress at the ready. Will promise to post on Ascot too!

Well that didn't go to plan

We took part in a dressage clinic yesterday as the monthly unaffiliated dressage was cancelled due to lack of entries, again. Luckily our instructor A had agreed to come over and run a clinic to those who wanted to do something anyway. 

The format of the day was that each rider had 20 min slot and we'd learn the test as we would for a competition, entering the arena one by one, do the test and then discuss details with A, and possibly practise sections of the test or certain movement. 

I was quite excited to take part as thought it'd be good to have a competition-like situation but without the actual pressure (and no plaiting or dressing up!), plus get comments straight after and some helpful tips. 

I'd asked my partner to come and film us and take a few snaps too. Also my partner's sister came along as she was staying at ours over the weekend anyway, and she had not yet met Rainbow. 

I should have taken it as a sign when R retreated to the back of the stable when I whipped her saddle out. She didn't look very excited to work and was actually nearly dozing off in her stable, after the night spent in the field. 


Warm up went fine and she was her 'usual' self; not particularly keen but did what was asked... When our turn was to enter the arena, I decided to walk her through the arena to greet the judges and thus show her all the boards and letters at the same time too. We've never had any problems with them but Rainbow has sometimes gazed at them during the test in the past, so I figured it'd be nice to give her the opportunity to check them out before we needed to do anything. 

Off we went when the bell rang and started the test Prelim 7. Entering the arena at A and proceeding centre line, tracking left at C. Trotted around the arena and go diagonal at F (F X H). Then the show started: approaching H Rainbow decided it was scary and suddenly evaded to the left. So we had to do an extra circle and approach the letter again. We kept circling around and she seemed to get better but then we decided to re-start the test and the next movement was to canter around the arena after a circle. Again around letters E and H she would start evading, so we had to abandon the test and our instructor came out to just help me get Rainbow past the letters without evasions. 

The letters weren't really scary and I am pretty sure she was just finding an excuse to be difficult. We had been past the letters before the test and nothing, so my instructor is pretty sure she had read on my [competition] nerves and decided to play up. We have had a great few months, so perhaps it was time to have a little blip again...! 

It's just typical that just when my other half and his sister are around the horse plays up. You've got to laugh at the timing. R really is a little madam sometimes. 

I do have a video of the whole 'incident' but I don't want to post it as it's out of focus most of the time, so really blurry and because my instructor and I had to get a little tough on Rainbow, the video is a bit shouty and growly – and therefore not very nice viewing. 

I feel that actually having had this problem with her during the clinic gave me a really good lesson and hopefully have eradicated the problem, so R won't get silly again in the arena. Especially during competitions... But we don't train with the letter blocks and the white arena boards, so I did say to my instructor that would like to sometimes set out the boards for a normal lesson as that would help the horses get used to them – so they definitely wouldn't have any excuses to misbehave.

My other half snapped some photos of us, but they're not spectacular. He's not that familiar with the camera and I can't direct him from the saddle, so they are what they are :)... I think I am only willing to publish the one above as the others don't do justice and are blurry.

Going shoeless... more thoughts on nutrition

Ever since having Rainbow in my life, I have been thinking about the shoes vs. barefoot debate.  Majority of the horse world still believes that shoes on horses are the norm and a shoeless horse is somehow an oddity or even that not having shoes means the horse is somehow not right or can't be in full work. Some native breeds and ponies are kept shoeless, but the idea that a 'normal' working horse can function without shoes is quite alien to many. It has also become quite obvious to me personally how people find it odd, as many of those, to whom I've mentioned going shoeless, often look a little bit puzzled and query reasons for it.

Without going into a long spiel about shoeless horses or about how the act of shoeing a horse is quite an invasive procedure – nails are hammered into a hoof. It's one of those things that hasn't seemed to change over the centuries, despite all the advances in technology and science. We still think that attaching something metallic – with nails – onto a living thing (I mean the hoof, but horse, too I guess) is still the best method. 

Even though many horses are 'used to' being shod, including Rainbow, I have seen her sort of wince when the farrier has begun tapping the nails in. I've seen her stretch the leg that is being shod in discomfort. I didn't like it.

Everyone can make up their own mind about shod vs. shoeless. I am sure things won't be dramatically changing for a long while, as shoeing is the convenient option. The quick fix. By shoeing your horse you basically ensure your horse is able to tackle most terrain without a second thought. By shoeing them you can also feed them 'most things' without feeling the consequences... And that's what brings me to the core of going shoeless and staying there: The Correct Diet. 

I have been reading a lot about horse nutrition over the past few days. Mainly with the view to promote good hoof health for Rainbow and to help her with the transition from shoes to shoeless, but good diet is obviously an all encompassing thing. I also had equine podiatrist come and see her last weekend to assess her hooves. The good news is that Rainbow has good feet. Her digital cushion is in great shape; it's full and firm. The podiatrist said that he's not really interested in the look/quality of the lower bit of the hoof itself as it's only 10% of the hoof's function. The key is healthy 'internal' structures on which to build on.  So diet is the key: what you put in, comes out... In other words: you are what you eat. This applies to horses as well as humans. 

Rainbow demonstrating here the importance of hay.

Horses should have 80-90% of their intake as forage (hay/haylage [higher in sugar than hay] /grass [spring and summer grass are very high in sugar]). The rest is working out the vitamins and minerals needed that are lacking in the forage (each area/region is different) as well as keeping the diet as low as possible on sugars and starches. High sugar content in feed causes 'footiness', which means that a barefoot horse gets tender feet and can't e.g. walk on gravelly ground. This is then often interpreted as lameness or, at least, as not being able to function without shoes, so shoeing is recommended. Whereas by changing the horses diet, this could be fixed. So barefoot horse will show you very quickly what it can and can't do (shoes hide many sins!) if the diet is not quite right. So it takes a little bit of dedication from the owner to be sensitive to the 'changes' and proactivity to improve on things. 

Many manufactured horse feeds and chaffs are high in sugar. Also some manufacturers don't clearly print the ingredients list on their products, only stating 'slogans' on the front (which by the way aren't legally binding to be 'factual', they're just marketing talk) so every horse owner should take some interest in the ingredients list (demand to see a list in the first place!) and educate themselves a little about what is in a typical horse's nutritional wheel. Then it is easier to start thinking about your horse and his needs. Each horse in an individual, of course, but for most the same basic rules apply.

I won't start on my dislike of the horse feed industry and commercialism. Horse owners are easy targets: we need this and that to have a happy healthy horse! What a load of... Again they are playing on the 'quick fix': feed this and you will solve all these things. So when learning about horse nutrition, try and seek out impartial information or books on the subject. Do not read product presentations by feed manufacturers. Get your facts right first and then read about products with an educated* mind. (*I want to say sceptical, but I won't.) One good book on the subject is this one, which has a whole chapter on nutrition as well and is clearly written: Feet First: Barefoot Performance and Hoof Rehabilitation

But feeding a horse should never be complicated. Going shoeless doesn't mean you need a degree in horse nutrition in order to be able to do it. Just a little common sense and willingness to learn. Also there are good products out there to help that do provide all the necessary vitamins and minerals to promote healthy hoof and horse health – as the saying goes: No Hoof, No Horse! And despite my obvious skew towards barefoot, healthy hooves are equally important for a shod horse as well.


I have been swatting on a lot of stuff of late and I am starting to get some sense in which direction to go. I have been lucky enough to have someone in the family who actually has had horses most of her life, hers are shoeless and bitless(!), and who has advised me as well as shown me how she does it.

First dinner of unmolassed sugar beet went down well.

I have now cut extra sugar from R's diet, so no molassed chaff anymore. I am still giving some pony nuts for familiarity for a while, but I now mix them with unmolassed sugar beet (Speedi-Beet). It's a misnomer: sugar beet actually is naturally low in sugar and starch. It is often fed to laminitics. I mix in a multi-vitamin and mineral into the sugar beet: Benevit Advance, which was recommended to me by the podiatrist. It ensures Rainbow gets everything in terms of vitamins and minerals. 

Benevit Advance nutritional table

And finally, another couple of scoops of Linseed, Seaweed, Yeast, Magnesium and Rosehip mix: Barefoot Formula. Because in an ideal world horses would feed on wild flower meadows, eat shrubs and bushes, as well as herbs and whatever comes in their way. Our modern day fields are more than often monocultures, lacking the variety of plants and, thus, the necessary nutrients.

These tubs are not the cheapest and I have been given advice on alternative, cheaper way of doing things by the family member, but these help me to get started. (I will surely post more on feeding at a later date.)

www.feedmark.com

For now, we are letting Rainbow's hooves grow a bit more, so the podiatrist will have something to work with when we remove her shoes in July. I am making the feeding transition now so she will have a good start to being shoeless. I will let you know when the shoes have come off!

For those interested in reading more about barefoot performance, this blog and its writers are a brilliant testament to how rehabilitated horses, with often severe foot problems, can perform and work shoeless and often better than with shoes. Inspirational. The blog is also full of information on everything barefoot: Rockley Farm

Solutions for hot heads?

This time not talking about hot heads in the equine sense but the rider. I rarely post about products per se, but I am thinking it's about time to discuss head sweating and riding hats! 

I have always been a big head sweater... Lovely. Otherwise, I feel I am not a very sweaty person, the exception being wearing body protectors...! But when faced with the reality of having to wear a riding hat on most days, I am aware how my hair is always wet when taking the hat off. Even just after around 30 min of riding.

I have been in search of the ideal riding hat ever since. I have, somehow, ended up buying Champion riding hats. It wasn't a conscientious choice to start with, anything with sufficient safety grading, good fit and reasonably classic look were the criteria. When I began riding, after a very long break, my childhood safety riding hat, complete with a chin guard (early 90s!) was no longer a viable option. I very quickly wanted to buy my own hat as I didn't want to wear the riding school pots, with dirty in-lining and many sweaty heads having been through them, any more times than I possibly had to. So after about third lesson and not even 100% sure if I was going to make riding a permanent 'thing' again –although was helplessly re-bitten by the bug from the 'first' lesson – I went to the shop at the yard and bought a hat for myself.

I ended up buying this one, Champion Junior hat (CPX-3000). 

I thought I wanted something classic with a velvet top, as that had been the height of sophistication in the 90s when I first learned to ride. But I very soon noticed the lack of air vents in this model. Absolutely soaking wet after most lessons and it did look a little potty-like on my head... And it is a junior riding hat...

No, Rainbow hasn't suddenly changed colour; this is Sampson, a horse I loaned before I found Rainbow. He is lovely too!

I kept seeing other people wearing a slightly more streamlined looking hat – with air vents! I had to investigate... 

Costing almost double to the previous hat, at around £90, I bought this Champion Ventair hat last summer. I had heard good things about its ventilation qualities. It also has a slightly lower profile at the top, so looks better overall. Because I had always imagined all riding hats to be black, I wanted to push the boat out and go mad, choosing navy blue! I like navy blue and like it also on Rainbow, saddle cloths and numnahs... Plus many of my riding clothes are navy blue, including my show jacket. 

I still very much like this hat, but now that summer has arrived I am again reminded that its air vents are not quite as efficient as I would like them to be in the warmer weather. Then the inside padding, especially over the forehead, is very plush and comfortable but boy does it suck in moisture. I often have to air the hat after riding and – as I often store it in the box by R's stable – I have to leave the hat on its head in the box so that it dries at least a bit until I need to use it again. And more than often when I return to it the next day it's still moist, if not wet... Ugh. But for winter and colder weather, as well as competitions, it's still very much a hat to wear.

My latest acquisition is Champion Air Tech hat, which I happened to see on some online shop and was instantly taken by its apparent lightweight style as well as the promise of even more ventilation! I don't have a chance to go to stores on a regular basis, so decided to order this one online. Choosing the size is easier than with other hats as this one has only sizes Small, Medium and Large; but it comes with an adjustable head sizing ring which makes it fit an array of head sizes.  

The hat slightly reminds me of cycling helmets with its air grills and plastic casing. It's very light as well. The inside is comfortable but harder than e.g. Ventair – but it's still very comfortable in my opinion. And I like the head adjuster. 

I used it for the first time yesterday as went on a hack with D and Z. We trotted a lot and even cantered, so the hack was active in its pace, I would say. It was also sunny, so it was quite warm. I was soaking wet under my body protector, as I always am, when we got back. But, lo and behold: my hair was dry! The hat had done its job brilliantly and even the moisture on the forehead strip disappeared very quickly after removing the hat. The strip was never wet, like with my previous hats, just little bit moist as it should be after a good hour's brisk hack. Very pleased. So for all those hot heads out there, I think a new breed of riding hats have finally landed.

Good workout

We were meant to go on a hack again this morning but it didn't happen as my friend had to take care of a family member. I didn't fancy much poodling around the village on our own, so I thought I'd school R a bit and practise the things we did on yesterday's 'dressage lesson'.


My seat is a bit funny and yesterday truly discovered that on the right rein the 'steering' is much harder than on the left rein. My instructor helped me improve my seat and taught me to turn Rainbow by rotating my hips to the direction I wanted to go – coupled with turning my head (and shoulders) as well and picking a point in the school and going to that direction. I have obviously been aware of this turning of hips and rotating slightly to the direction you want to go, but I haven't been doing it consistently – or very successfully. 

I have also had problems with the placement of my hands; my left hand (outside hand) shoots forward when I try to bend R on the right rein. Right rein really is my bug-bear at the moment! My instructor identified the problem with me trying to compensate as R tends to hang on to the outside rein on that rein. The key is, I now realise, to keep the contact consistent in the left hand (outside rein) and shake her off the outside with the right hand if needed, simultaneously making her move in front of the leg and come soft...Then add bend to it (in corners and circles) by steering the horse with your seat – rotate those hips, pick a point in the school you are travelling to! And once you are achieving this, the horse should be 'steerable' mainly with your seat, no need for using reins really, they're only for keeping the contact and keeping the horse soft but forward-going. Easy!* 

The problem with riding is that the more you do it and the better you get at it, the more aware you become of how rubbish you are! Ignorance, truly, is a bliss...

(*I basically want to shoot anyone who says that dressage, or horse-riding, isn't a real sport and is easy.)

But sometimes you just have to ride and not think too much. I told to my instructor yesterday that we hadn't been doing any schooling since the last week's lesson, mainly hacking out. My instructor heartily agreed that sometimes it's just good to get out and do fun things with your horse – and take advantage of the summer weather. It will hopefully help with work as well, as she will find that you are not just all about work but also able to relax and not always demand something... And then, hopefully, she will be more cooperative when it's time to work again. 

I was pleased with my session with Rainbow today, as we didn't have an instructor and I was just repeating the lessons learnt from yesterday, hopefully enforcing them to both of us. Rainbow behaved impeccably. We also did some canter transitions, and practised not running into canter (as Rainbow tries to!) and I am pleased to say that she, on the first go, actually raised canter from the first cue – and on the right rein (our tricky rein)! Later, we did regress slightly and she tried to run into the canter again, so I pulled her back and collected her before trying it again. My instructor also said that I need to follow up with the stick if she doesn't listen to my leg. So I had to remind her a little, but overall it was quite good. Also, it's important to prepare the transition with a little half-halt, to let the horse know there's a gear change ahead... Perhaps it's bit like pressing the clutch in a car...? I paid more attention to the transition preparations and it did help as R listened and made the transition as soon as I told her to. 

We also tried a few transitions from canter to walk. They were OK and R did listen, but I think I need to practise more, also that she understands what's being asked. I found the downward transition was easy to ask but then she trotted quite a few steps, me bouncing on top, so it was not flawless... But overall, very pleased with today.

Rainbow's out in the field today and tomorrow, but on Sunday we have a equine podiatrist coming to see us as I am planning to going barefoot with Rainbow... More on that later!

Evening hack!

Have decided to enjoy the summery weather and ride out with Rainbow as much as I can. This is the second hack this week and planning on another one Friday again... You never know how short-lived summer can be here...!

Summer meadow this afternoon

As we were walking up to the open fields, I was saying to my friend that days like these are those picture-postcard days and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else than on my horse, enjoying the view. The sun on our backs and the nature in its lush green early summer's outfit. Nothing better...

Enjoying myself... Can you tell? Grinning like a Cheshire cat!

Camera snapped a pic...

Summertime...

Well I don't have much to report as it seems that life is quite samey at the moment. I am riding Rainbow 2–5 times a week, weather, mood and work permitting. This week's been fantastic as the weather seems to be holding and it's been rather gorgeous. So to celebrate this unusual event, I thought I'd give R the whole weekend off. After Friday morning's lesson, I took her down to the field and I didn't collect until Sunday evening. I could have left her in the field even until this morning, but I thought I'd bring her in for a little respite as she had somehow managed to get rid of her flymask on Saturday (popped by to check on her), so thought she might appreciate having a little bit of shelter from the pesky flies. They really do circle around her eyes. It's disgusting. 

Funny sight on Saturday: when I popped to the field to check on R – I just walked up to the mares when they were grazing under this big oak tree – all the other horses and ponies were grazing on the ground but my mare decided she was at least a distant relative to giraffes and was reaching, reaching as much as could to get hold of some  branches. The end of her lip trying so hard to reach the leaves... Finally she got hold of some, she pulled the branch down and gobbled it in her mouth.... Standing there happily with half an oak tree hanging out of her mouth.

Today's hack route. It was another slow and gentle one... :)

I am starting to look towards the summer months 'proper' and I am also beginning to plan our diary a bit. Nothing big but I am hoping to go to an event or two with her before the summer's out. We might end up doing our first trips just as companions to others but at least this will get us out and I can see what R is like in a new place.

My chickens enjoying the summer evening last night.

My cat Percy