I could never have imagined that the first time I actually experienced Passage, it would be on my own Standardbred mare! We practiced some stepping on the ground a few times before actually getting it done, under saddle, but I was honestly surprised by how it felt and how we got there without a trainer (I guess I have to tap my own shoulder for actually being my own horsetrainer!) In a few weeks time, I will make a proper video on collection and I will show you how I train my Standie mare, but for now I will share this little clip of the magical moments I shared with her!
Stop fence riding!
I have decided to post media on very few selected platforms and never in social media groups where I don’t know at least some of the people in person. Having realised that it gives me no satisfaction having people comment on how to train horses, when they don’t even know me.
I have cleaned up in my online presence, because having scrutinized my ideals and wellbeing I have concluded that I have very little craving of attention from strangers. I want to help, spread the word about sensible horse training and other amazing things about our environment, our planetand so on, but not at the cost of trolls picking on me or telling me what to do. No one tells me what to do with my life.
Why do people fence ride? Why do they think they have ownvership in telling or giving advice to someone they don’t even know, on how and what to do when it comes to training? Or anything else for that matter? Are their lives so empty that they can’t train and advice themselves? I have no room in my life for stranger’s opinions. I would call this straightout bullying.
Only give advice to someone who is asking for your advice. And if you still have a need to dominate others then go to spinning class.
Hacking out with 4yo ISH
It was so nice to go out on a hack with 4yo Irish today, accompanied by Jargonaut and her sharer. Finally, finally, we are on it again, me and Irish. I have ridden her less than 20 times, so backing is taking its merry time, but then again she was extremely difficult when she came to me as well. After problems with rain rot and abscesses, I’m back in the saddle and Irish was surprisingly positive – and her attitude completely sensible. For our ride, we used the Cavallo Sports boots, which sat really great on Irish’s front hooves.
Jumping combinations
Had a lovely lesson practising combinations and I must say horse is so clever, learning the techniques in less than 30 min… I can’t wait for our next outing showjumping! I wasn’t feeling a 100% after having a bug, but I now feel much more pole confident, and I also realized that I need to ride horse in my own softer and freer way, rather than the traditional way. As always I use a soft Nova bit on Rollo.
The best morning and Scootboots
11.6 km, not bad, Jargo. Today we tried Scootboots, and with complete honesty, they are the best hoof boots we have tried. Over the years we tried Swiss Galoppers, Cavallo, Renegade Classic and Wipers… but the Scoots are the absolute best. We rode in various terrain, walked, trotted, trotted fast and cantered, and the Scoots didn’t twist or snap or rub. I’m seriously impressed and even though I think the Cavallo Sports are good for light-medium hacks, whenever I’m going to do some serious endurance training, the Scoots are my go to.
Good to mention is that we used the over-reaching mudstraps. I could see no signs of rubbing whatsoever so I think that is the hoofboot for Jargo. In the pics you will see that the extra padding has turned a bit, this is my fault, I forgot to fasten them properly. I’m excited to see how many miles these will take us! For this ride I give 5 stars to Scootboots!
Note: I receive no monetary benefit from links, I simply want to direct you to a fabulous product!
Interested in liberty training your horse? Here’s a how-to video!
I’ve wanted to make this video for a long time and while nothing is perfect, I hope it might inspire you to try and communicate with your horse. Remember, establishing leadership and respect is everything – trying liberty training before this step is not recommended! I show you some of the work I have done with horses over the years – and there is also some bonus material on desensitization 🐴🌞🥕
Jumping in the sun
I took Cool Beans to Courtway Equestrian for arena hire today, it is his first outing to do jumping and I was pleased with how well he was trying to do his job ❤🐴 For being a Standardbred he has got a pretty exceptional quality canter, and I believe that he can learn to jump well. This outing was mostly to go out and experience a new setting for him. We got pretty tired in the sun so had an unfortunate knock down of a pole on a jump Cool Beans cleared easily at previous attempts 🥕🥲
Super fun and useful jumping exercise
This was such a fun jumping exercise, so I really wanted to share it! Basically you put one jump in the central bit of the arena and then add four jumps from each corner of that middle jump. You can experiment and add even more jumps, creating combinations too! It really helps with getting lines right, turning, getting the right lead. And I was so happy with Cool Beans, who seems to enjoy jumping more and more!
Let’s have some fun!
A thinky post for people who might not thrive in their own appearance… Own yourself!
So… Having a bad hair day? Feeling extra wrinkley and aged? Forgot to shave your legs? Do you spend time in front of the mirror, sighing about your hopeless hair, nose, chin, neck, eyebrows, eyes, anything…? Thinking you will never have that special thing which you find so beautiful?
I know, someone saying Get over it! isn’t going to help. It’s like being stuck. But those thoughts and emotions aren’t worth responding to. It is almost hilarious how many Youtube videos, blog posts, magazine articles there are out there, researching into minute detail how to make your hair shine and dance, how to plump up your skin with various creams and ointments to make yourself look forever glowing young and “beautiful”, or how to choose the right fashion wear to look taller, slimmer, and what not. It almost feels like the agenda is to exploit you as an audience, to shrink your confidence into a tiny dot in space so the industry can guilt you into buying a product which will “make you feel more beautiful”, a product you actually might (read likely) never have needed in the first place.
What people look like, how they style, dress… These things don’t matter. At least they shouldn’t. If you get judged by how you look on a daily basis, then those people judging you definitely have a screw loose, minding a business which is irrelevant to their own. And in most cases, it is likely that actually no one really cares about what you look like. Do you feel surrounded by group pressure, to style yourself or look in a certain way? The question is, do you think what you look like actually matters, when it comes down to your choices and actions?
If I may suggest it, things that do matter are what you choose to do in life and how you treat other people, not what you look like from that one perfect angle.
When there are things around us like global threat of nuclear war, crime, climate change, extinction, discrimintion, violence, planet killing pollution… Do you still worry about whether someone is going to judge your wrinkles? Do you still have energy to care whether someone/anyone cares what you are wearing or what your hair looks like or if you have hairy armpits? Now I’m not saying stop having a shower every three days or so, or regress in personal hygiene, of course it is important to take care of ourselves… But I’d say there is more merit into looking into healthy eating habits and food choices, than staring endlessly into that mirror seeking answers that aren’t there. Or at least learning what others may think of you, can’t be found in that mirror…
By the way, there is no cure against ageing. So maybe own it instead, be the older wise wit, because people who own their age are people we look up to. Or maybe it is just me – I always admired people who were older than me, who accomplished what they set out to do… Perhaps because they weren’t so obsessed with dressing up for others that they actually had time to do what they wanted to do. There is beauty ad elegance in age, there are scars, there are wrinkles, and a smile never gets old…
So if you’re reading this, I just want to say, be the best you, be kind, be smart and do what you set out to do, don’t waste time worrying about things that aren’t real, like speculations of what people might or might not think. Because it isn’t really useful to you, it is wasting you and you can use your brain power to do something you love instead.
Bad hair day, wrinkly skin, odd clothes, no make up. It almost sounds refreshing.
Read two stories for free this weekend!
This weekend you can read short-story Remember Melkor and novella Behind the Gate, for free, on the Kindle app and available on Amazon! 😇🐎 Both are in the equestrian story genre and have harness racing as a common theme!
Snowelf Art & Racing 