From the Teeth of a Disaster

I had a very stressful telephone call from Ruth last week to say that Prince had gone missing from his field, leaving his two companions behind. At 6 a.m. he had been there but at some time during the morning he had done a bunk. I gave my usual advice in this situation which was to alert the police to a possible stray horse and then to check the ditches of his own field and those nearby first. Prince had been more adventurous than that and fortunately turned up in a completely locked sheep field in Whiteparish. What had begun as a disaster ended with Ruth catching him and bringing him home triumphantly although she did have a blister on her foot!

Proof that the grass is not always greener...

You will all remember the horrible events in London last year where a handful of Cavalry horses went galloping through Central London after being spooked by some construction workers. The grey in particular looked badly injured with blood all over his chest and legs. People wondered if he might have to be put to sleep.

I met a man last week who had met the horse, who is called Vigo, when he was running a camp at Longmoor, near Portsmouth. They had coincided with the Household Cavalry's visit and were taking the horses down to Hayling Island to go swimming in the sea. Lo and behold Vigo was there.

Another reunion

It must be about twenty years since I last saw Christian. We met again today at Driving for the Disabled. I started his Mum's pony, Horace, under saddle - well actually bareback to begin with - and he went on to win a rosette in a local show for best riding pony for the disabled with Christian on board. 

We has such a lovely chat. He is still the decent, polite and kind young man that he always was. 

Reunion

 

Another really pleasant afternoon with the New Forest Carriage Driving for the Disabled group and their three horses Daisy, Jerry and Mollie. Today I learned the importance of having a shaft-holder when people are mounting and alighting from the vehicle. Other than that I was photographer and litter-picker and general chatterer. 

I recognised one of the cyclist who goes out with the horses who told me that after the one occasion I had been out to help load her pony, the pony has never refused to load again. I remembered the visit well as we had to park the side-loading lorry on the pavement as there was nowhere else to load and just as we had got to the critica point of loading, the congregation from the nearby church had come out after a service and weren't very pleased that they couldn't use this side of the road. Luckily Molly was never a problem after that.

I also recognised a man I knew from Mopley Riding Club who I had always thought was gentle and kind to his horses. Sadly he has no horses anymore and now comes to the group to get his weekly horse fix.

Shade

There's an old oak tree on Woodgreen Common which has seen more congregations than any church. For hundreds of years, it has provide shade for the New Forest animals during the hottest days. Fortunately there is a trough near by but there is absolutely no grass to be had.

Drought

 

Most horse owners will be having the same dilemma at the moment. Do I use the last of my summer fields - and even then the grass is more like hay - or do I hold onto it until the horses start to lose weight. All of my other fields look like lawns, grass eaten back to the roots and all of it a drab beige. I have been feeding the last of my hay for fibre, and scattering barley rings around to give them some protein and vitamins and something to do for half an hour. They are all surprisingly round despite spending most of the day in the barn to keep out of the heat and away from the insects.

Jack is wearing a summer bonnet for the first time in his life. He has always objected to net curtains before now but now realises the advantages. 

Nelly decided that Pie shouldn't be allowed to have any of the one patch of green grass but he soon crept back again and she had her come-uppance later when I put her and the other rounder ones back on the tennis court grass. 

Theoden likes to stand in the barn until it's a lot cooler. 

Henry likes to keep him company.

Normality

The easy answer to the question "Why does my horse...." has always been, "Because he can." Yesterday I accompanied Jacqui to see her friend's horse, Maverick, a four year old bright chestnut German Warmblood. For a while now, and particularly after Maverick had some serious surgery on his hock, Jo has been seeking a new path with her horse, wanting to make sure that he has the best life possible. Rather than spoil him though, she was seeking my guidance as to which behaviours that he expresses are acceptable and unacceptable, and how to address the latter. All of his behaviours are of course normal for a horse of his age and situation, it's just that some are more inconvenient than others.

I should say that he has met with a Recommended Trainer of Intelligent Horsemanship previously and a lot of her work was evident in the way that he behaved and how well he led and could be manouvred around. Some of it just needed tightening up or revising in a small way.

Since his operation, Maverick has had six weeks of box rest with only fifteen minutes or so out in the school, and by necessity, at the end of a lunge line. It's hoped that he will be able to go out loose for a couple of hours each day by the end of this week. Considering his situation and pent up energy and emotions, he was an angel but sometimes an angel with an edge!

First of all, he has a long term - pre-house arrest - habit of pulling ghastly faces with his ears right back over the stable door. Fortunately these don't escalate to anything more and don't really seem to represent the way that he is feeling or what he is after but the face is intimidating. His mother, just a stable along to keep him company, does the same thing. I was insistent that he should smile - ears either forward or neutral - before I would give him my attention and a lovely rub. He seemed to work this out to some extent and it will need to be practiced consistently for the penny to completely drop. 

Similarly, in the stable, he is fne about being approached but pulls a horrible face as you go to touch him. Some of this may relate to when vets were giving him painful injections but it is something he's always had a tendency to do. Once again, I waited until he was more relaxed and then gave him the lovely rubs that he really likes. Over time, he began to put his ears into neutral much more quickly, and Jo, Jacqui and I took it in turns to walk up to him, wait for the right ears and then give him some lovely attention. This slight pause also addresses any ambivalence he might be feeling about who is approaching him and why. It made a big difference and the nice thing about this lovely young horse is that he can be touched anywhere and he doesn't mind. There's no defensiveness around his back end at all.

I was astonished when he allowed Jo to put his headcollar on slowly and carefully with the door wide open. Considering his energy is effectively 'on charge' whenever he is confined, his age and his breeding, he was a star.

In the little sand school, Jo anticipated that he would explode at some stage and this usually followed a good roll. Having rolled, he stayed calm but as she led him around the school with the open field in his rear-view mirror, he did take off and kick out, but was polite enough to make sure he was well away from Jo. This occurred a few times and it always seem to be triggered by having his back to the open field next door. At least there was one element of predictability. On each occasion he took himself out of kicking distance from Jo. Even though her adrenaline went up, she was clearly not frightened of him.

After this we did some nice in-hand ground work, asking him to go forwards and backwards and tidied up a few aspects such as the position of Jo's hand, left and right turns, and how to ask him not to overtake. Much as we don't want a horse to dictate everything that happens, I do think that it is unfair to ask a big athletic horse, or indeed any horse, to entirely match the owner's walking pace - it is fun to see what they will do if you slow down and then to a funereal pace, but the rest of the time you do need to walk smartly so that they are set up for success and don't automatically overtake you. Of course, Maverick has long lanky legs and Jo not so much!

This pair are already so well-connected that there was not much to do and once he is settled in the field, we may work on his understandable fear of needles. Meantime, Jo can trust herself to do the right thing by her horse.

On the way home we popped in to see Chancer and then to check my own horses. When I got home I was absolutely exhausted. 

Daisy, Daisy, give me you answer do

Another warm and pleasant afternoon on the Forest, this time in the company of Wendy and the New Forest Carriage Driving for the Disabled Group. The assistants, and in particular the horse owners, are to be highly commended for preparing and transporting their horses and carriages to various venues on the Forest and to be congratulated for owning so calm and cooperative creatures. Each horse has an entourage of at least 5 people, all ready to support the person with a disability (disabilities) by adapting the equipment for their particular needs, making sure the horse has the right harness and reins on, head-holding, and then escorting the horse through the Forest in bicycles and with a sign-written car. Needless to say the horses are loved by everyone involved and I was particularly pleased to meet Daisy face-to-face as I have seen her many times being driven along Roger Penny Way with her owner Felicity. 

I became Daisy's head-holder at three change-overs and apart from tryng to rub me (my fault) she stood like a rock while everything went on around her. 

Wendy was allocated Jerry to drive and like of all of the disabled visitors, she was given the opportunity to take over the reins if she would like to. Some people have more severe disabilities which prevent them from doing so but the joy is being in the presence of horses and people who love and care about them. 

Jerry wears a fly-rug to protect him from the insects

These good and honest ponies were quite hot when they got back and they were washed down before they went home. We all know that horses are addictive - and Wendy misses her two Highland ponies very badly - and I have no doubt we will be back. 

Moss, the whippetosaurus

This group needs the following if anyone can help: funds, other drivers and quiet steeds, light-weight safety steps.

Molly with her team of helpers