Long time between bets ...

Not much is happening with the two girls. They have settled into their usual routine, which mostly consists of sporadic grazing, loafing and dozing, and a mad dash at dinner time. Bell can be very bossy at feeding time, as she is Boss Cocky, but they have settled down into it. They have taken to mutual grooming, which has been a while getting to, but I take it as a good sign.

The funniest thing is when they loose each other and go tearing around in opposite directions trying to find each other. Neighing and nickering. Often we have to go out, and hold one and call the other. Usually it is Steph who wanders off and Bell doing the searching.

We might be getting another mare soon, and I shall try to blog more often. I still think of breeding Bell, but I will just have to wait and see what happens this year.

A new horse ....

SH Stephanique joined the creatures and animals of Unicorn farm back in July. She came down from Allyndah Arabians at Tyndale. She is a lovely chestnut purebred Arabian Mare. She is about 26 years old, no longer breeding but a beautiful, gracious animal to have around. She is in optimal health for a horse, and especially one of her age. She is mostly a companion for Her Ladyship the ex-racehorse, but she is an entity in her own right.

A Passing ....

Secret Savings (imp USA) 1991 - 2009

The sire of our first foal, who we called Goldie, had to be put down.  His name was Secret Savings and he won the Doncaster back in 1997 and smashed a couple of course records in his racing days in Australia.  It wasn't much of a surprise that Goldie smashed her maiden in class record time, but it was nice that she did so.  

I do not know any of the details, but apparently he had laminitis a very painful condition in the horse's hooves.  He would have been 17 years old and a painless end is what he would have deserved.  He was owned by HH Nassar Lothar, from the Middle East at Emirates Park.  

We are sad he is gone, he sired some terrific horses, including our Goldie (racing name Zelotti).

...Sooky ...

Her ladyship, the ex race horses, aka, Bell, is a softie at heart.

Last Saturday, she had a hair or dust in one eye. I washed it with water, and opened it up to have a look incase there was something embedded in the ball. There wasn't. She rubbed it on me a fair bit and on her knee. At one stage she lay down and tried rubbing it on the grass. I let it weep, knowing it would eventually wash away, but if I thought she was in pain or it was worse, I would have called the Vet.

She stood around with me all day, just complaining about her eye and wanting cuddles and soft talking to. A couple of times I fiddled with her mane, because she likes it. After a couple of hours, the eye had flushed whatever had been in it and she was okay. But she still stayed close to me until her dinner time.

Most days now, when I am home, I give her rubs with the rubber curry to get rid of her fur. She is in full shed now and itchy as anything. A good rub seems to help this.

Pelage ....

Moulting, shedding, major itching ....

Her Ladyship the ex-racehorse is in full shed. Hair is literally falling off her. We use a brush and curry comb on her almost everyday to help get rid of it. But almost any tree, branch, thing sticking out, including barbed wire is fair game for a shedding horse.

Itching is the worst thing about shedding, and you really need to be careful what your horses use to scratch themselves with. On warmer days a warm bath followed by a vigorous towelling down can help. Her Ladyship also uses an old woodchip pile to roll in. Literally dives into it. You can see her scratching her back. She so loves it.

Some people will clip at this time of the year, but the shedding is still going to happen, and there isn't much you can do about it. Just watch where it is being done. Keep an antiseptic spray nearby and check the old bod out for cuts and scratches.

A dress for Her Ladyship ...

Our mare finally got her new rug yesterday. We drove out to Narellan to the Horselands there. They were having a sale so we got it fairly cheaply. She also got a new halter. She wears a halter 24/7 as she escaped once and my partner, not being a horse person, had to go and fetch her home again. She was very spooky being away from home, so the halter being on her at the time made her easier for him to catch. She has learned to live with it and doesn't get caught up.

We teach our horses distinct words for things, and in the case of the rug it is "jamas". This came about when ES was young and getting his first rug. We wanted him to know it was something positive, so we allowed him to smell it. We folded it up and placed it over his withers, unrolling it a bit at a time. While he was eating, so that he was partly distracted. Luckily it was something he wasn't bothered about because he had seen us put one on his mother. As she did not fuss about it, he did not fuss either.

His older sister, Goldie (AJC Zelotti), grew very thick hair and totally refused to wear a rug. She was never cold. ES never had anywhere near as much hair and really needed one. The mare does not have much of a winter coat and as it is getting very, very cold she really needed one. There will be frost before the end of winter. The rug is wool felt lined and very warm.

Blue Bell Babe in her blue rug and new red halter.

Training issues ...

Training issue come mainly from one source - people. Therefore as the person who has to solve the issue you have to sort of reverse engineer the problem. Get to a stage just before the horse shows signs of the issue and look at what the next step is that causes the issue and stop there. I am not saying to let the horse get away with whatever it is doing, just observe the steps taken to reach that point.

The next step you should take is to do something else completely different. If your horse is anticipating the issue to arise, but you do something else, the interest is taken away in whatever it is used to doing (i.e. the "issue") and now doing something completely different. Do this a few times and then go back to the issue.

If, for example, your horse takes a step away from you when mounting, make all the movements up until the point of mounting, and then perhaps lead him on and around in a big circle. This will break his anticipation of mounting/stepping away and distract him. You would need to do this a few times, to "throw him off". Then come back to the mounting. If he has begun to anticipate you leading him on, instead of mounting, he should stand. Pat him, and tell him how good he is. If, however, he still steps away, another, reverse action can be taken, for example, mounting from his opposite side.

Horses are two sided animals. You cannot do one thing to one side without doing it to the other. However, very few people think to mount from the other side. They just are so not used to doing it themselves, that it is almost as though you have landed from Mars. But - and I cannot emphasise this enough - you must teach your horse from both sides. So obviously you need to learn from both sides as well. If this is awkward for you, practice on a barrel or something for a while till it is easier. You probably have to retrain your muscles.

We only mount from the near side because it is "traditional"; soldiers kept their swords on their right, so the mounted from the left (near). But we are not soldiers and do not have swords (at least I hope you don't). So there is no real reason why you cannot mount from the other side.

This sort of reverse engineering an issue will keep things calm and not spooky and you and your horse can work fine together. Just put a little imagination into it. You will also find that your horse appreciates a break from "routine" and will probably repond more brightly as well.