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.

Living alone ...

So my mare is still alone. She spends her nights locked into her main paddock, unless a storm is brewing when she will now go into her stable. I guess part of the reason we don't force her to stay there is that the stable used to be used as a training holding gate for endurance horses, and has a concrete floor. Too long standing on concrete, they say, is not good for horses' legs. Oh?

Well, try telling that to Her Ladyship. After her 6.00 am feed of a morning she paces up and down the fence, wanting out. These days with having had so much rain the grass is quite long and the tips are sweet. Does she want out to graze? No, she wants out so that she can stand at the back door waiting for a carrot, a treat, talking to or a brush. She stands with her head in the door so she has full view of the kitchen and can watch the comings and going. One back leg cocked, gently swishing flies with her tail. Even if we are mean and shoo her away, she will go off, sulking and watch from an area nearby. This is in the sun, but she can see pretty well the entire property from that vantage point. Eat grass, you stupid horse. Nope.

The fencing here is very poor quality and has deteriorated since we have been here. We were promised it would be done when we first moved in, but while they keep promising, it has never been done. We thought at one stage of doing it ourselves, however, since we have decided to move on at the end of the year, it really isn't worth doing. So I doubt if we will get another horse just now.

She is going off at the end of July to get ready to be bred. Once she is safely in foal she will be sent to someone's place in Queensland to await us. Otherwise it is too much fussing around during pregnancy. She is basically a happy horse, but she is always a little spooky if her routine changes too much. I don't want to get her pregnant and for her to reabsorb or abort the foal because she is too stressed.

When she went away in 2001 to get pregnant with Eternal Strangers, they chose the hottest day of the year to send her home. The driver drove to Gosford and unloaded all the horses and gave them water and food for the night, and continued the trip the following day. He didn't charge extra for this and we were very grateful he did this. He explained that with Bell on the truck, because she travels so well, he puts her on first and the others follow with much less fuss. She seems to have a quietening effect during travel as well, and the company loves taking her. I guess I should hire her out in between breedings - lol.

EI was a nightmare, because we should have had her bred for a foal this year. Now when I consider the fencing problem, I guess in some respects, for us at least, since she never got the infection, it was a bit of a blessing. The microchip is forgotten and we just live day to day.

I wish I could show her ...

This absolutely beautiful young man is to be Her Ladyship's next breeding partner. He is straight Egyptian Arabian. His name is Chaswyck Caliph. She was to see him this year but was delayed by the outbreak of Equine Influenza.

This young stallion is heavily bred to Asfour (Malik x Hanan) who was imported from Germany for Simeon Stud. Simeon Stud has bred some of the most beautiful horses in the World, including a World Champion Stallion. They mostly breed Egyptian Arabians.

But Chaswyck Caliph was bred at Chaswick Stud, another Egyptian breeder, by their stallion, Simeon Sochain. He is a beautiful Chestnut stallion, loved and admired all over the world.

I feel if she knew she was going to visit him next year she might cheer up a bit. Alas, our communications are not that good.

The foal could actually be chestnut, since Her Ladyship's dam was chestnut. I am not too fussed over the colour, I would be just as happy with a grey or bay, but I really think the foal will be something to behold in conformation with this breeding. The mare has very good legs and shoulder, as has this young man. He has a very powerful hindquarter, which I am delighted with, and I am sincerely hoping it will be passed on to the foal.

A colt will be gelded at two months. That is the law around here. Meanwhile there are lots of things to do: keeping her in good condition, getting her next EI vaccine, having the vet check she is actually ovulating and so on.

She has been rubbing her neck where the microchip was placed. We have been trying to prevent her from doing this, but she does it whenever we can. I guess all the theory in the world wont prevent her from dislodging it or damaging it if she is really determined to do it. She doesn't know what it is and if it is annoying her, why not rub the damn thing?

So enjoy the picture.

Her Ladyship, the ex-Racehorse ...

She's a sweet old thing, our mare. She is so lonely at the moment she has taken to following the old person around while he does his outside chores. He says it is like having a big, spooky dog.

When we came home from Christmas shopping last Saturday, the boys ran ahead of us with the trolley and parcels, and were calling her. She came galloping up to see what was wrong. She so cares about those boys.

Her hair is so fine, her face is drier than any Arabian horse's head. Her legs have dried out and are just slightly feathered at the back of the fetlock. Her hair is so fine on her body it is smooth and silky. She has blood vessels close to the surface to keep her body cooler - so if she passes that on to her Anglo-Arabian foal, endurance will definitely be on the cards. Right now she is an extremely beautiful animal.

We feed her good food, that we have experimented with over time. She is wormed on a regular basis, she is not supplimented at the moment, because she is getting loads of good grass as we have had some good rain. She is a little spoilt at the moment only because we are not sure of our status with EI and don't want to risk getting another horse here until it is all gone again. We have seen people out riding around here - we don't know if they are supposed to be or not. They don't talk to us: they don't know us.

One day it will be over and we will be able to get her a companion. Till then she only has us.

Something to amuse you ...

(From a thread on Straightegyptians.com)

Diane asked the following:

A list of titles added to a library...

The baby human
The anti-bias approach in early childhood
Family in transition
Curriculum controversies
The art of teaching primary science 12 to 18
Anger management
Assertiveness
Essentials of strategic project management
Children, families & communities
Computers, thinking and learning
Designing a thinking curriculum
Coat of many pockets
Formative assessment in the secondary classroom
Schooling for the knowledge era
Totally wicked!
Miss Lily's fabulous pink feather boa
Teaching mathematics to all children
How to talk to children about art
The psychology of B.F. Skinner
Just Stop and Think!
Not you again!
What else can I do with you?
Seven steps to ICT integration
The millennial adolescent
Learners with mild disabilities
The Differentiated Classroom
Right book right time
Teaching boys
The psychology of B.F. Skinner
Sociology of family life
Biomechanics and Exercise Physiology: quantitative modeling
Seeing red
Managing conflict with confidence
Storytelling in the classroom
Race, culture and schooling
Extraordinary performance from ordinary people
Learning to slow down and pay attention

Anyone like to suggest an alternative title to these with the Arabian Horse as the theme?
egThe baby horse
The anti-bias approach in Arabian Horse BreedingBreeding in transition
The art of teaching analytical Arabian Horse conformation
Foals, families & communities
Miss Lily's fabulous pink feather boa
A few could always remain - Anger managementAssertiveness etc

To which I replied:

The baby human - Imprint training
The anti-bias approach in early foalhood
The herd in transition
Curriculum controversies in Judging
The art of teaching mammalian science 12 to 18
Anger management (for humans)
Assertiveness (for Arabian horses)
Essentials of strategic project management of Breeding Programmes
Children, families, strains & communities of Arabian Horses
Computers, thinking and learning to outsmart your Egyptian Arabian
Designing a thinking curriculum for Egyptian Arabians
Coat of many pockets filled with carrots
Formative assessment in the secondary classroom at Pony Club
Dressage Schooling for the knowledge era
Totally wicked! Carrots recipes
Miss Lily's fabulous pink feather boa for reining horses
Teaching mathematics to all children, families, strains and communities of Arabian horses
How to talk to children about artistically braiding tails and manes
The psychology of B.F. Skinner for thinking riders
Just Stop and Think - does your horse really need that carrot?
Not you again! See these teeth?
What else can I do with you besides lawn ornamentation
Seven steps to ICT integration for Egyptian Arabians
The millennial adolescent two year old colt
Learners with mild disabilities - both human and other animals
The Differentiated Classroom - both human and other animals
Right book right time - duck.
Teaching boys not to play chicken with the stallions
Sociology of horse herd life
Biomechanics and Exercise Physiology: quantitative modeling after the rider has fallen off - again
Seeing red - before your horse shies.
Managing conflict with confidence - for Arabian horse owners
Storytelling in the classroom - how to learn truth from fiction
Race, culture and schooling in the dressage ring
Extraordinary performance from ordinary people - New horse ownership
Learning to slow down and pay attention before you get bitten.

I thought this might add a chuckle to your life.

Picking a pedigree ....

A horse's pedigree is a chart of ancestors of the horse, presented in a reverse round robin chart.
The male side is usually on the top and the female is on the bottom. The father is the sire and the mother is the dam (or in some cases, distaff). There are the father's parents and the mother's parents and then their parents and so on back as far as the chart displays.

The reason for the chart is to check what family or strain or breeding the horse comes from. It can be quite useful to know this, particularly for a breeding or racing horse. It can be useful when purchasing animals as it lets you know the quality of the animal you a buying. It can be useful knowing the potentiality of a foal and even for picking which stallion to breed to your mare.

When selecting a horse to breed with, whether the male or female, it is useful to look at the pedigree and to go and look at relatives of the breeding animal, say the grand parents, their other offspring, brothers and sisters to the parents and also their children. The more you can see, and preferably in person, the better idea you will get of the potential foal/s from the breeding/s. If not, get whatever photographs, videos and dvd's you can of these horses.

The pedigree should not be the be all and end all of the breeding selection, but it can help in determining what the final outcome will look like.

It is also useful to go to a breed society and learn more about the breed, whether it is the same breed as the horse you have in mind for breeding or another breed. The more you know the better informed you will be when you make a decision.

It is also useful to read books. The authors are usually long time breeders in the particular breed you are interested in and are considered experts by their peers. It is a huge subject that I have barely tickled on here.