The horse and his emotions

I came across an interesting article on Horse Channel called Equine Emotions. The author, Brenda Forsythe, talks about the age old question of whether animals really have emotions or can their reactions to certain events be explained by two basic animal drives (to stay alive and nurture offspring). The article is really a great read for anyone with horses.

In my very armature opinion I would tend to lean towards the "Horses have emotions" side of the argument. I remember a particular event where Red was being grazed by himself in a very large paddock complete with a small lake and forest area. I arrived at his paddock and couldn't see him anywhere and since the paddock was absolutely massive I decided to call him rather then go look for him. I called and within a few seconds I heard a loud whinny from a long way away and he galloped out of the forest a couple of minutes later. He came straight up to me and was lavished with love and affection. To me, he seemed lonely and wanted company. Later when I moved him to Pony Club and he was in with his own kind, he would sometimes run away from me when I went to the paddock to get him and only came up to me every once in awhile. Obviously he wasn't lacking company anymore and so didn't feel lonely. In both these events, Red was fed and so in theory the food could have motivated him to come galloping up to me but if we're sticking with that train of thought he would have had the same reaction while he was at Pony Club. Of course it could have just have been really really hungry when he was grazed by himself, but I doubt it.

What do you think? Do you believe your horse has emotions?

Into the Wild

Waiting to head off

We went for our first ride in the forest today and it was awesome! S took her eventer Rocky and I of course was riding Jack. This was the first trip away from Pony Club since I got Jack and in truth I expected him to act a bit crazy. His previous owners told me that he was a great floater but since I hadn't floated him before I was a bit aprehensive. Well Jack proved me wrong by walking straight onto the float after Rocky! Yay! No bum ropes, whips or natural horsemanship required.

Woodhill Forest is situated a nice 20 minutes from our Pony Club. A Equestrian Park has been established there and has a lot of a great trails to ride on. Endurance Races are held in the forest and there is a campsite that is open to hire. Our pony club camps there every Easter which is a lot of fun. Right next to Woodhill Forest is Muriwai Beach and is accesible on horse back which means if you have enough time to get out there, you can go for awesome gallops along the beach.

The carpark was filling up fast when we arrived. Horses of all shapes and sizes with all sorts of riders were being tacked up and ridden out into the forest. When Jack came off the float I noticed that his tail bandage was no longer on his tail. He had given his tail a good rub on the bum bar and the tail was sticking up in all places. When I looked into the float, the tail bandage wasn't there either. Somehow he must have flicked it out the back of the float in transit. Can't say thats ever happend to me before.

Again I expected Jack to act crazy after coming off the float since it was his first time away from the club in quite a few months. Again Jack proved me wrong. He was as cool as cucumber and was no more fidgety then his normal self. We tacked up and headed off into the forest.

Tacked up and ready to go

And again I expected Jack to be a bit crazy, but again he suprised me. Are we seeing a pattern here? Man I love that horse. Both the horses were calm and we rode happily along at the buckle. The trails are marked with posts with either a green or orange horse on it. Green is going away from the carpark and Orange is coming back to the carpark. We didn't have enough time to make it out to the beach and back so we just meandered in the forest. Its quite hard to get lost in the forest but it can be done (I know because I've done it before). We stayed on the marked trails keeping mostly at a walk. The footing is really deep sand in most parts and hard on the horses legs. Most of the trails were only wide enough for one horse and Rocky liked being in the lead. But Jack was never far behind, he face planted into Rocky's butt a few times :). We found a wider trail that had good footing and was big enough for both of us and went for a good gallop along it. Jack came straight back to a trot when I asked him. Man I love this horse! There were also some great logs set up as "natural jumps" along the trails so we had fun jumping those.

S, Rocky and Jack (S has a very strange smile here haha)

Both the horses were very brave, they both had a couple of spooks at horse eating logs and bushes but were generally well behaved. Rocky actually spooked when he heard the noise of Jack's poop hitting the ground. It was halerious.

Since S's parents were waiting back at the carpark for us we headed back just after an hour. It seemed way longer then that though and we covered a lot of ground in that time. Both the boys were super sweaty so we sponged them down before booting them up and heading back to club. We found my tail bandage in the middle of the road on the way back haha.

S grabbed her pony and we gave the 3 boys a bath when we were back (this was after S and I raced each other to the bathrooms. We drank a lot of water on the ride). After the baths we let them graze on the lush green grass by the pens.

"Munch, Munch"

After a few photos the boys were fed and put back in their paddocks.

It is hard to get two horses to stand nicely when there is
lots of nice grass right under their noses.

I headed home to do housework and clean the outside and inside of my car. I don't know about the rest of you but my car gets fithly, dirty when I have my horse stuff in there. It really annoys me!

Mr "Don't Call Me Crazy" and me
(perhaps I'm a tad more crazy then him)

Anyway, it was amazing day and it really showed me how much more Jack trusts me. He keeps revealing little bits of how great he is going to be one day! I think I am in love :)

Cross Country Lesson

Jack suprised me today by behaving nicely for the lesson today, even though he had the past couple of days off due to New Years. Sue, who helped me a lot with Red, was my instructor.We started off the lesson by doing lots of transitions. First it was 8 strides of trot, then halt and repeat. Then 4 strides of trot, 4 of walk. Then 8 of canter, 8 of walk etc. She wanted him to get much softer in his transitions and soon she had me try getting downward transitions by breathing out and not using the reins. It took him about a minute to grasp what I wanted but he was soon doing it perfectly. He is a very, very sensitive horse and responds beautifully to the lightest aids.

We started off small and went bigger. I had my faithful dad following me around with the camera and part way through the lesson my mum and "auntie" arrived to watch.

It seems that Jack hates having his head interferred with from about 5 strides out of the jump and 3 strides after. As soon as I let him have "his strides" and sung to both of us to keep an even rythm he jumped very nicely. No galloping away after the jumps and no head tossing.

Sue had us jump a ditch during the lesson. I've jumped a couple of ditches before when I was living in Taumarunui but I really don't know much about them. Jack refused the first time but on the second time he jumped it. Really, really big. Even though it was a massive jump I felt really secure and not at all un-balanced... Thank you Red! Sue told me to stay sitting up over the jump, that I don't need to lean forward for it. It looks like I didn't listen to her very well if the photos are any indication. (Click to see the bigger version)

Next it was onto the Water Jump. We all remember my unfortunate incident with the water last time. He jumped into the water like a star and would canter through the water as fast as he could. The cool water refreashed us both I think. One time when we jumped into the water he cantered straight towards a massive bank. I don't know what he wanted to do but I pushed him the other way at the last minute and my knee was almost taken out on a wooden post.

After schooling a few more jumps we stuck most of them together for a course. Jack was a star and jumped everything without looking twice.

I don't know if you noticed but I've got some mean man muscles coming through on my arms. Which shows especially on this photo. They are getting pretty big haha.

We finished off the lesson there since it was our first Cross Country Schooling together. I learnt a lot about Jack in this lesson. Sue really likes Jack which helps a lot. She says he has "unlimited potential" which is very encouraging.

There is an ODE on the 1st of February and I think I will compete at Pre-Training lesson. Hopefully I can fit one more Cross Country lesson in and then we should be good to go.

2008 in Review

I came onto the computer intending to review 2008 in terms of horses and riding. Before I started this post however, I updated myself on some of my favourite blogs including The Eventing Percheron. It turns out that Daun has had the same idea as me. Check out her "The Year in Review" post because it really is amazing to see how far she has come.

I started off the year with my old horse Red. Good old Red. We had our problems but he taught me a lot (read: stickability). At our last ODE together Red finally clicked what Cross Country was all about and he was a hooning monster. I could barely control him, it was exhilirating (although I was swearing the whole time). A great way to end a ride on a beautiful horse.


Then I moved to Taumarunui where a lot happend. I started off riding the little pony called Ghost. After only a couple of rides with her, and had never jumped her in my life we competed at my first Pre-Training ODE. We came dead last in dressage and were eliminated in Cross Country but it was amazing.


Soon I moved on to the gorgeous Toby. He was fantastic and I spent many fun hours going for long rides on the farm with him (often bareback and without a helmet) by myself and with friends. I did my first real release on him.


Then it was back to Auckland where I decided to give riding a break but then couldn't handle not having a horse. I acquired an awesome horse who almost immediately went lame. Finally he is ready to go and I'm looking forward to a very succesful relationship with him.

Goals for 2008

• Compete at Training Level - Well that didn't happen but I did compete at Pre-Training which was one level down.
  
• Learn how to release - After years of not being able to release and having to hold onto the mane, I finally did it. It just happened one day.
  
• Get Red to canter consistently on the right lead - He didn't canter consistently on the right lead but he did canter on the right lead in our last dressage test which is good enough for me.
  
• Get fit - Well I went running on and off throughout the year but now I'm consistently doing it. My thighs, abs and arms are toning up beautifully.
  

Goals for 2009

• Compete at Open Level
• Compete at 1.10 Show Jumping
• Compete at Pony Club North Island Show Jump Champs 2010 (its not 2009 but you qualify for it in 2009)
• Compete at my first Horse Trial

Happy New Year to you all. I pray that you have an amazing year and that it will be your best one yet.

Photo Fun!

Dad came to take some pictures of Jack and I riding today. He has an awesome new camera and I wanted some good photographs of Jack and I since we don't have many decent ones.

We were going to get some jumping but Jack was acting up quite badly and I wasn't willing to risk it so here are a few dressage pics to show you. The colour photo is one of Jack doing his crazy thing. I'm not really sure if he is bucking or not but whatever it is, it is naughty.

Jack's Christmas Wish List

Jack wants to get himself all kitted out before he heads down to Palmerston North with me next February. This is is Christmas Wish List. (I must admit I influenced him a bit with a few of these things).

TC Stud Guard Girth
Jack tends to tuck his hooves nice and tight into his chest when jumping and he wants a stud guard to protect himself.





Dublin Two Tone Silverline Helmet
Jack knows I have been wanting one of these for a long time and he thinks I should get it soon since he dumped me on my head today.








Zilco Leather Gaiters
My long boots are getting pretty worn out now. I've worn them for about 4 years now and Jack agrees that these gaiters look pretty awesome.









Zilco Crusader Lite Combo
This horse here looks pretty cool in this rug but Jack thinks he'll look way better. Plus it will keep him dry and at a good temperature on those in between day. He likes the Zilco rug range a lot since he is a tough guy who likes to test his rugs to the limit and Zilco tends to stand up better then other brands.




Once Jack has got these he'll pretty much be set to head of to Uni with me. Hopefully Santa will drop these in his stocking. Personally I think he might be getting some coal.

Back in the Saddle

I am FINALLY back in the saddle! Thank God! D, the farrier, arrived right on time and had Jack fixed up within half an hour.

First he fitted the shoe to the hoof. But that was a tad too big so he had to go a size smaller.


Contrary to what I said last week about Jack having 3 size 4 hooves and 1 size 3 hoof the farrier actually found that he has two size 4 hooves and 2 size 3. His right side is smaller then his left.

Then he cut the pad to the correct size.


He then pasted the underside of the hoof with a concoction of special things that help heal and harden the hoof and keep all the naughty little stones that like to get in there out. I can't remember the name of the stuff but it has eucalyptus and pine tar in it. It smells really, really good and is incredibly sticky.
He then positioned the pad and nailed the shoe over top.


D's dog Cruise "as in a Cruise Missile not Tom Cruise" hung out with me (between my legs) while I held Jack (dad took the photos).


Once D was finished I finally got on to ride. 30 mins of walking, walking and more walking. Actually Jack decided to have a bit of fun with a few rears but most of the time we walked.


You may notice that Jack is looking a bit on the heavy side of the scale at the moment. He's put on a whopping 30kgs in the last 2 months! I know! Until we weighed him, I didn't think he looked fat at all bit now when I look at him I can see the massive crest on his neck and his huge belly. And its not like any of the weight is muscle. He's been sitting in a paddock for the last month and a half. Its pure fat. What a chubster! Hopefully it will all tone up fast now that we can ride again.

Jack is also a master at ripping and demolishing his cover so he went for a week without a cover and he's faded a bit. I got him a new cover today and as soon as I put it on my friend's horse Rocky, started trying to pull it off. I shooed him away and then put Jack's fly mask on. I ended up tying it to his cover so I would be able to find it easier if he managed to get it off. He looks like a donkey cross mouse with this thing on. Thats Rocky at the side, waiting to pounce.


A couple of minutes later, as I was driving past the paddock on my way home, I saw this...



I had always wondered how Jack got his mask off so quickly and now I knew. It was Rocky. The little mongrel. I yelled at him from the edge of the paddock and he dropped it instantly, looking innocently over at me like he hadn't just been caught in the act. (You can see the peice of bailing twine trailing from Jacks cover to the mask on the ground. In hindsight it doesn't look very safe haha.)


Rocky then picked the mask up off the ground and ran off with it in his mouth. That rascal. The elastic snapped on Jack's mask so it was no longer attached to him. I didn't get any pictures of that as I was too busy laughing at him. I went and recovered the broken mask and then cut the bailing twine off Jack. I'm going to have to come up with a sure fire way to keep that mask on Jack. Any ideas?

So now we're starting from day one with the fitness regieme. For the next three weeks it will be mainly walking with a few trots thrown in the third week and gradually building up from there. I hoping to compete in a Show Jumping competition on the 4th of January but we'll see what happens.

I am FINALLY back in the saddle.

6 Things About Me

I've been tagged by SolitaireMare at A Good Horse with the "Six things about me" tag. I've already done this twice but what the heck... I can always do another one.

Here are the rules:

Link to the person who tagged you.
Post the rules on your blog.
Write six random things about yourself.
Tag six people at the end of your post.
Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
Let the tagger know your entry is up.

Hmm, let me think

1. I'm a self-confessed book worm. I love books and would read one a day if I had the chance (and if that silly thing called life didn't get in the way). If I'm in the middle of a really good book I will read whenever and where ever I get the chance i.e. traffic lights when I'm driving, when I'm watching TV etc. And when I was at school I would often get kicked out of class for reading a novel instead of working (of course I would only do that in the more boring classes). It's probably not suprising that my mum is a Librarian.

2. Cadbury Mint Chip Chocolate and Cadbury Mini Eggs (Easter) are my all time favourites. They both happen to be hard to find.

3. I've got a red birthmark hidden under my hair at the back of my neck.

4. I want to write a novel one day, a good one.

5. I'm a optimist.

6. I am addicted to the energy drink called V. I'm trying to break the addiction at the moment but it is proving difficult.

Since everyone in the blogging community has already done one of these, I leave my tag open to anyone who wants to do it! If you do decide to do it, leave me a comment so I know and can read it.

Whats in store for me?

I spoke earlier on this blog about my plans for next year. I had pretty much decided on going to a place called Kyrewood Equestrian Centre to do a horse management course. Beckz from I will Jump Sweet Jumps soon talked me out of it. Basically it sounds like more of a money making scheme then anything else. So I was stuck with what to do next year.

I knew I didn't want to be working full time. I'm utterly sick of being stuck in jobs that bore me. I wanted to study. But what? Because I left school half way through year 13 (the last year of school in New Zealand) I didn't have the qualifications to do any of the diplomas I would be interested in. So I looked into Foundation Studies Courses. These courses basically bridge you into University if you don't have the qualifications to get you there in the first place. They have Foundation Studies Courses at most Universities and I checked them out but none of them seemed to be the right fit for me. So I prayed. I'm a christian and I believe God can help if you ask Him. So insted of stressing over it anymore (which is what I've been doing for the last year or so) I gave it up to Him. And the next day I discovered that Massey University has a Certificate in Foundation Studies. I researched it and was really excited. Massey University has campuses in different parts of the country. Theres one here in Auckland, two in Palmerston North and one in Wellington. I wanted to go to Palmerston North since I have friends who live there and they also have an awesome Equine facility at the University. And so I applied. My plan is to graduate from this course and then apply for the Diploma in Vet Nursing. I feel really, really good about this plan. I'm finally at peace with what my future is.

My enrolment for the course is still being processed but I'm sure I will be accepted. I've also applied for my accomodation in the Baptist Youth Hostel and for grazing for Jack at the Massey University Equestrian Centre. I'll find out about all these really soon but it looks like we'll be ready to go in late February. Now I have to figure out how to get Jack down there.

Simple Arithmetic

What happens when you add the fact that rain has pouring down for the last two days, plus the fact your horse's cover has no stomach straps, plus the fact your horse likes to roll in the mud continuously and plus the very limited time you have to ride, tack and un tack?

The Answer?

This...




Un-surprisingly I didn't end up riding that morning because my friend who was competing at her first show was running late and her horse was almost as bad as Jack. So I started on his bath for her.

Murphy's Law and Horses

Murphy's Law. Everyone knows of it. That phenomenon that if something can go wrong, it will. Well its true with horses too. Here are some of good Mr Murphy's Law that relate to horses and their slaves aka you and I. Enjoy!

1. There is no such thing as a sterile barn cat.

2. The least useful horse in you barn will eat the most, require shoes every four weeks and need the vet at least once a month.

3. A horse's misbehavior will be in direct proportion to the number of people who are watching.

4. Clipper blades will become dull when your horse is half clipped.

5. If you fall off, you will land on the site of your most recent injury.

6. If you need to take your horse somewhere in a hurry, he will not load.

7. If you are trying to impress someone you will fall off.

8. The very week you start your horse on a conditioning program for the show season, the biggest flood of 30 years will occur and you won't be able to get out to the barn for at least a week.

9. You will make a stupid mistake saddling in front of a guy you want to impress.

10. You will get bucked off a new colt in front of the same guy.

11. If you're wondering if you latched the pasture gate, you didn't

12. Wind velocity increases in direct proportion to how well your hat fits

13. Horses that hate each other at home become inseparable when you try to take a 'potty break' out on the trail.

My Little Pony 25th Birthday

You remember the days when the closest you could get to having a horse was owning a 'My Little Pony'. You would brush her long, glossy pink mane and tail and have fun adventures trotting and galloping her around your back yard.

Well My Little Pony has turned 25! My Little Pony became so popular in the 1980's it even outsold Barbie!

To celebrate My Little Pony, some well known names have designed some new ponies. Here are a few of my favourites!

Designed by Junie Moon

Designed by Jon Burgerman

Designed by Catalina Estrada

You can check out the rest of them here

Say hello to Toby

Well my laptop still hasn’t arrived so I’ve decided to bite the bullet and continue my blog by using one of the local café’s computers. It’s going to be hassle. But I’m committed. Anyway.

I’d like to introduce to you a very special friend of mine…

This is Toby.

Toby is my new eventer. Well I don’t own him. But I take full responsibility for him, and I’ll be bringing him with me when I move away from Taumarunui (whenever that may be).

Toby is a 16.1hh flea-bitten grey, ¼ Arab, ¾ something else gelding. He’s the grand old age of 18. Toby is a seasoned eventer with lots of the big pony club competitions under his belt. He’s grumpy, he’s mean but he’s really just big softy at heart.

I started riding him after I turned Ghost out for the winter. He’s the best bareback ride I ever had and I would spend hours roaming the farm with only a halter to control him. In a bridle he can be hard to stop, but bareback and with the halter I would just use my seat and a little hand to bring him back after a gallop. I took him to the last pony club rally of the season. We did flat work and he rocked! The instructor even used us as an example of a balanced canter. Two weeks ago I show jumped him for the first time. Previously I had done a few of our logs bareback but they weren’t much. I started small with the jumps so we could get a feel for each other and by the end of the session we were jumping 90cm easily. I didn’t realise it was 90cm until Sarah-Anne came home and I told her that I had done some small jumps on him. Later when we went to feed the horses we measured the jumps and I was flabbergasted to see that they were that big. A couple of months ago I would have been scared to jump something that height without an instructor. Obviously Toby has been great for my confidence.

Since its Winter Toby and I are just moving along slowly, getting to know each other before the new season which starts in September. We might be doing some Winter Dressage and some dressage lessons but nothing too challenging. Next season I’m hoping to do my first training on him, and also get to Masterton and Timberlands on him (which are two reasonably sized Pony Club competitions).

Sarah-Anne is going to give me a lesson tomorrow if it’s not too wet, so I’ll get her to take some pictures while she is at it.

Photoshoot

A while ago I mentioned that my Massey Pony Club friends and I were going to have a photoshoot with our horses, photographed by the wonderful Peter and Rosemary at photoshoot.co.nz

Well the day for the shoot came and it rained and rained and rained. So we decided to move the shoot into the studio (minus the horses of course).

These are some of my favourites:

You can view the rest at photoshoot.co.nz or on my general flickr account which is on the sidebar.

Checking in

Its been pretty quiet around here. I haven’t posted recently because frankly I wanted a break from everyday life. Our office closed down the week after Easter so I took the opportunity to go to Auckland to visit family and friends and get my winter shopping done.

I did compete at one Easter show on Saturday and only entered one class… it didn’t go well. We got eliminated. I’d rather not talk about it at this time. I’m still trying to think it all through, process it a bit.

While I was up in Auckland I got the chance to visit my gorgeous man Red. He’s doing really well and being looked after superbly. I’m not ashamed to say I cried a few tears when I saw him, I’ve missed him a lot! His age is starting to show on his HUGE potbelly, he no longer holds his weight on his ribs… its all slid back a few centimeters and is hanging out just in front of his legs.

He’s soon being moved to his new retirement village way out west of Auckland. Auntie Sue has found a place to graze which will be perfect for him. He’ll have a companion of another retired chestnut gelding called RED! What a co-incidence huh? Since the other Red is bigger then our Red it looks like they will be known as Big Red and Little Red. Red was previously known as Little Red at his old home so it won’t be a huge change. The lady whose house he’s going to live at sounds like she is one of those perfect horse owners that dotes on her horses in everyway possible. And she’s happy to feed Red (our Red) and groom him daily. Since the place is so far away, Auntie Sue will have limited visits of only a few times a week but it looks like Red will be in good hands. The new place is quite small which is a good thing because the horses can be seen from the house at all times. He’s also slowly going through the process of being barefoot since he won’t be competiting and won’t be road riding. Since thoroughbreds are known for their bad feet, no chances are being taken. He had his back shoes taken off last week and was only a bit ouchy when he was led over the rocks to the arena but otherwise was great, so I’m pleased.

That’s about the gist of it. Until next time.

Mustering in...

It was cattle mustering time at the farm last night. The herd needed to be bought in so the calves could be separated from their mamas, and then tagged. The Whanau (that means family for those who aren’t kiwi) left for the muster as soon as Emma, Mere and Sarah-Anne were back from school and so no-one was home when I arrived. “Ahh,” I thought to myself “Some time alone to read my book.” I snuggled onto my bed and was soon lost in the world of Show Jumping. After about ½ an hour Lance appeared and knocked on my window. “Did you see my note on the floor by the front door?” he asked. I hadn’t. You see, there is a lot of paper around in our house, and one piece of paper doesn’t stand out from the rest. “Oh well, Ghost is in the yards for you to ride, we thought you could meet the others out the back but their might not be much point now”. I decided to go see what I could do anyway so grabbed Ghosts bridle and jumped on her bareback. We cantered up the hill only to meet the cows coming through the second to last paddock before the yards. I didn’t attempt to get to the others since it only would have sent the cows running back the way they came. Instead Ghost and I stood to the side and watched the others chasing the herd through the paddock. Have you ever seen or rather heard people chasing cows? It’s rather fascinating. Cries of ‘Hey Hey Hey Hey Hey Hey Hey” and “Get up, getttt up” along with the bellowing of the herd resonate through the evening air to create a sort of ‘Mustering Symphony’. Finally the cows were through to our paddock and it was our turn to help.

After the herd was in the yards, Val asked Emma and Mere to go to the river lease paddock to get some of the extra cows and bring them back. Somehow I got roped into doing it also and so off we went. We first had to check the Ostrich pen to see if the cows were in there. Thankfully they weren’t since none of us really wanted to face the ostriches. On the way back to the river lease we passed the hay paddock. One of the herds of feral goats, that roam our farm and eat all our grass, were chomping happily in there. We were soon in there, chasing those blasted goats out of the paddock and down a small bank. Into the river lease we went, searching for the small herd of cows that we knew were in there. Now the river lease is a huge paddock, I’ve spent over an hour looking for horses in there before. There are hills everywhere and dozens of little side clearings that a small herd of cows could hide in. We were riding down the main hill when we met the horses. They came straight up to us and wouldn’t leave us alone. This would have been fine in normal circumstances… but at least two of the horses were stallions. One was only a yearling (I think) colt but the other was fully developed. And two of us were on mares. Emma, who was on Summer, seemed to be fine with them. Summer was biting and kicking anytime any of the horses came near. But Ghost wasn’t trying to fight them off at all. And the stallion wasn’t leaving her alone either.

I tried scaring the stallion off by yelling at him, but he didn’t care. Then when he started getting mouthy I started getting worried. I’ve read stories about stallions trying to mount a mare when a rider has been on and things never ended well. Emma was starting to get worried too and I told her (I could have been over reacting) that if the stallion tried to do anything to Summer (i.e. mount) she was to get off immediately and leave Summer to fend for herself. I jumped off Ghost and grabbed a stick of the ground and tried throwing it at him. Unfortunately I missed so I picked up a huge stick that took two hands to carry and charged at him. He ran off but was almost immediately back to Ghost. I grabbed another stick and vaulted back onto Ghost and got him in front of me and then hit his rump a couple of times. Again he ran off, but came straight back.

By now we were coming to the entrance of a small path that led out to the back of the paddock. Since Mere was on Morrie and was having no trouble with the horses, in fact Morrie was being a hero and fending the horses off, we left her to guard the entrance to the path so we could have a quick look for the cows. We rode along as far as we could but couldn’t find them and was on our way back when we heard a shout from Mere. The stallion barged past her. It came galloping straight up to Ghost and I gave it a good couple of whacks with my stick. It ran on ahead of us and we were soon out in the open again. The stallion was still being a big pest and I was still worried so I made the decision to get out of there. I stuck Mere at the back since she was on a big fast thoroughbred that was doing a great job of being aggressive to the horses and we started up the hill home. At some point we put the horses into a canter and Emma who had been just behind, blasted past me. Mere and Morrie had set of at a canter too and the other horses were soon past her and were fast catching up to us. I felt Ghost getting tired and since I didn’t feel like we were in any immediate danger since we were almost to the top of the hill, I let her trot. Emma had gotten to the gate and was holding it open for Mere and I. I trotted Ghost through while Mere kept the horses at bay, then jumped off Ghost and helped give Mere a chance to get away. We walked home, full of talk of what had just happened.

The cows still haven’t been found.

Questions and Answers

Misha commented my one day event post and I thought I might answer it as a post here since its a relevant question for all horse riders. If you have any more advice stick it in my comments :)

Misha: That's awesome that you have so much fun riding! Don't you ever worry that you'll fall? When I go trail riding the thought of falling barely enters my mind, but I've never jumped before. I would like to learn how to jump someday, though. That sounds like a really super ultra amazingly awesome day! lol-that's alot of adjectives!

Hey Misha

Thanks for your comment. I believe that having a healthy fear of riding is a good thing. Horses weigh hundreds of kilograms, are fast, agile and strong and worst of all… they have a mind of their own. It’s dangerous not to have some kind of healthy fear, call it respect if you will, of horses. I’ve experienced fear many times on the back of a horse. Fear of falling being one of them. But really if I let the fear of falling get to me, I’d never get on the back of a horse again. As Katherine Patterson once said (I have no idea who she is) ‘To fear is one thing. To let fear grab you and swing you around by the tail is another.’ Which is totally true.

And so ‘Risk Management’, as I like to call it, comes into play. You’ve probably heard of the old barrier at the top of the cliff, ambulance at the bottom analogy. My barrier is my balance and independent seat when I am jumping and also riding in general, which will hopefully keep me in the saddle rather then on the way to hitting the ground. For my ambulance I, as a rule (which is only seldom broken), jump wearing a helmet and back protector. Back protectors were the norm at my previous pony club and competitions in Auckland although I seem to be one of the only ones to wear them down here. But really, I would rather be safe then worry about whether I looked cool or not. I also think the horse you are riding can boost your confidence a million percent. My old horse Red was a terrible show jumper in competition and as a result I went into the show jumping round on Ghost feeling worried but I needn’t have been. She flew around like it was nothing and I felt secure the entire time.

If you want to learn how to jump make sure you get in contact with an experienced instructor that will be able to teach you all the basics. An experienced, safe horse is also a must. I hope this answered your questions and one day you have lots of fun jumping too!

Photography

I love photography and at some point in my life would love to be a photojournolist.

Living on a farm provides ample opportunity to take photos and I thought I might share some of the horsie ones with you that I've taken in the last week

Enjoy...