8th December, 2012 Stunning Steyning

Jenny and I were off at dawn this morning to meet up with Kate and six other IH students for our IH workshop which included handling work with Kate's two New Forest foals bought through Beaulieu Road Sales just over a week ago. The foals, Sunny and Excalibur, had cost her just 28 guineas in total and yet they are well grown, sturdy colts with good breeding. Since she got them they have proved to be calm ponies and therefore they were great for teaching the No Fear, No Force technique right through from start to finish in just two short sessions.

Newlands Farm Sunny

Backley Excalibur

Older New forest pony, Sky, who can sometimes be funny about being caught.

Foot handling practice.

"It was a fantastic day, I really enjoyed it & learnt lots. It was lovely to meet everyone & the weather really could not have been more perfect! Thanks Kafee for arranging it all & to your daughter for making us a lovely lunch & for the chocolate cake." Helen


"Thank you so much to Kate, Sarah and Jenny for organising it" Sophie

I asked everyone for their key learning point:

"Mine was squeezing the tendon to ask the pony to lift his foot, instead of hauling on the feathers."KS
"For me it was understanding how horses have to think about what we are asking them to do & how this goes against their natural instincts. It was nice watching the foals working this out. I was also surprised how my energy went up when Excalibur pulled against the pressure of the scarf rather than towards it (my natural response wanted to pull back!). A learning point for me was to keep my energy down & remember to release the pressure as soon as we got it right!" HM

"I think seriously, the importance of the right kind of touch - oh, and how to put a headcollar on without needing to flick it over their head!" SJ

"I need to remember not to hold my breath like a predator! Also some clever little things, like the non-flicky way to put on a head collar and the trick of pawing the ground with your own foot to stop your pony pawing the ground." LN

"How to go about putting the first headcollar on from their back."MP

6th December, 2012 Alone again...

When Charly cancelled this morning it seemed a shame to take the tack off both horses so off Theoden and I went on our own again. What a pleasure he was to ride. He didn't stop once (except when asked) and I practised thinking about the path that was 'open' rather than the ones that were 'closed' whenever we came to a junction. This seemed to keep him quite literally on the right track, even when turning away from home for a second time. We did lots of lovely trotting too.

4th December, 2012 Medium reining

Today it was time to see whether Jessica the new starting pony had done any latent learning over the weekend. I was interested to know whether she would revert to flight mode when the long reins were introduced again or whether she would continue to work as quietly and calmly as we had ended the last session.I am pleased to report that she started off just as we finished. I kept the reins at a medium length so that she couldn't wrap herself up in them or take off as easily and then worked along the fence-line to begin with. At each end we stopped before turning and then gradually worked up to narrow figures of eight. Next we did three circuits of the paddock in both directions before changing the subject altogether. We took her along the lane to see some traffic and a bit of village life. Although she her respiration rate and adrenalin went up to begin with, she calmed down after just one circuit of the green and was relaxed after that. I wonder how much of this relates to a horse's instinctive need to recce any new area which we thwart by keeping control of them.

4th December, 2012 Running Bug

Having registered for the Amsterdam Marathon which is due to take place on October 20th 2013, I have been told by Sally to forget about it for a good six months and just enjoy staying fit. What better excuse to get Jack out of the garage and take him out running with me. This morning we did 3.6 miles huffing and puffing side by side.

Most of the time Jack is off the lead rein but once we get near to the road I clip back on just in case. On the way home we met Nelly Noo and she decided she would like a night in so came back with us.

3rd December, 2012 I think we're alone now

Yes!!! This morning I tacked Theoden up and led him over to Janesmoor Pond where I got on board and rode him through King's Garn and Coppice of Linwood, away from the direction of home and back again. He hesitated momentarily at the beginning so I simply asked him to take eight strides slightly to the left and then eight strides slightly to the right. This seemed to unlock his mind and his legs and off we went at walk and trot all the way round. His adrenalin was a little higher than when we have another horse for company but he didn't look for trouble and felt great. Our nearest thing to undoing came when we passed the nursing home on the way back and the cook chose that moment to flap her tea towel next to an open window. No photos as the lighting would have been awful what with my beaming smile and the sun shining out of Theoden's autumn coloured bottom.

2nd December, 2012 Indiana and the Old MacDonald's Farm

After our logistical problems, we have at last been able to move Indiana for Sally so that she is nearer to home and can begin her pre-school education. All of our horses will miss her as she had them all wound around her little hoof. Now she has a little friend called Rosie for company and lots of farm animals including pigs and geese.

1st December, 2012 Rose tinted spectacular

Well not really. Another calm ride out with Rose and Coco this morning. This time Rose had a change of rider with Julie on board. Both ponies went off the lead rein out for the first time and were happy and independent of each other. We put the lead rein back on as a precaution when we were closer to the traffic but otherwise my role is diminishing bit by bit.

Always have some red in the photo - and I love my new Musto ear-keeper-warmer.

This afternoon it was off to another starter pony, a New Forester. She was much sharper than I would expect her to be and I need to get behind her reason for that. I need to see if I can find ways to reduce her anxiety as well as addressing the behaviour that comes out of it. Once again it reminded me that I always like to long rein a potential starter so that I can assess what I've got and how reactive they are. This pony was fine about all the preparation exercises but quite worried about having reins on both sides of her at once. We ended the session on a really good note, with three perfect circuits of the paddock on her right rein. When I go back on  Tuesday we'll see whether this has done any good or whether we need to break the work down to even more incremental steps.