Wow we are nearly into Autumn (Yes Please). We moved the Ponies onto the Autumn Grazing (The Hill Field) as it had some regrowth. We hoped for the usual September growth spurt....but it hasn't happened. Its still HOT with little or no rain. So the herd ate the grass....and we have been feeding hay for a week! The Biggies have all lost weight. They needed to, but its unexpected in September. As they all live out, naked, through the Winter, we need them to go into the into the cold months a little fat. So Hay it is. Happy Hay Man !!!
Yesterday Lu and Charlie had a massage from Jade Monahan. Lu as usual communicated very clearly what hurt! She even bared her teeth. Lu is never subtle and very easy to understand. Anyone that wants to learn how to listen to what a horse has to say, should come and spend a week with Lu. She might as well write it down!! Lu had a few sore places and let Jade know! Fortunately Jade doesn't need a week to get to know a horse. She instantly reads the horse and responds accordingly.
Charlie was a bit of a dick. After 5 minutes his attention started to wander. What can I eat? What is that on the floor? Is it edible? Can I go get some grass now? Can I untie the halter rope? Shall I bite Daisy over the stable door? It seems Charlie is very healthy in the muscle department, so nothing was tight. He has got an over developed muscle on his near-side shoulder, but Jade figured out it was because of his dodgy off-side eye. If something is happening on his off-side, he turns his head right round to that side so he can see with his good eye. As Jade massaged this muscle, he relaxed and gave several yawns. Then he got a bit bored again....until Jade got to his quarters. He like that. He liked it so much he dropped (willy out!).
Daisy, who was just in the Barn so she wouldn't be alone in the field, really wanted a massage as well. She wickered to Jade when she saw her. Sadly (or happily) for Daisy, Jade fixed her last time. She has been moving so freely in the field. I had Shaneece (Who helps on Saturdays) ride her today in the "school" and I couldn't believe how she was going!! She looked like a dressage horse!!!
As I am working on a dance routine with Charlie (for the last in the 25 Things To Do With Your Horse On The Ground series on Youtube) and also have The Maligator with me, I have taken to pulling up in the Hill Field, first thing in the morning and doing 5 mins dance practice with him, while the Maligator yaps in the truck. Charlie has been doing well. The Maligator then gets five mins out of the truck on the lead, as I try and get her to sit calmly and just watch the horses.
But last Sunday, I had a whole puppy free morning. Work done, I got Charlie in with his mares as Lu was being ridden. Charlie was a complete arse to lead, not wanting to leave his mares heading for the Barn, while we continued to the Round Pen. I quietly drank coffee, while he careered round, bucking and squealing. Eventually I got his attention. For a nano-second. Lu appeared, to be mounted, Daisy was bashing the stable door in the background. Charlie lost the plot, and raced through the wire fencing, pulling up several fence posts! I could put this down to jealousy of the time I am spending with The Maligator, but Charlie is not a deep thinker!!! But he does go feral quickly. While he is happy to spend 5 minutes in his field dancing with me, if he is not properly worked away from the others, we lose our bond, and he quickly becomes herd-bound.
So yesterday i was reading a post from Karl Greenwood (horse trainer, people trainer). He was talking about our relationship with horses throughout time. How they have empowered us. They gave us speed and strength we don't have. They were our transport (our taxis, trains and lorries), our Farm Machinery (ploughing, harvesting) and our war horses. Without the horse, we would have evolved much slower. Nowadays horses are mainly just for sport and leisure. But they haven't changed. They are still brave, bold and obedient. If we let them! The Horse hasn't changed, but we have. We don't give them enough credit, or trust. We treat them as big wimpy pets instead of hard working brave companions. We may go to the Barn/Stables and decide not to ride because its Wet/Windy/Hot/ or its Bin Day, or the road is busy, or there are sheep in a field a mile away. Maybe there is a combine in the next field, or a rook scarer, or its Pheasant season. We have somehow come to believe our horses are brain-dead wimps!!
Its time to give our horses the credit they deserve and trust them. After all Ned who pulled the milk float in 1878, went out every day, whatever the weather. War horses rode into gunfire and flames. They faced shield walls, while their friends pulled heavy loads of post/coal/firewood over the hills. Meanwhile small ponies went down mines, heavy horses ploughed fields, and carriage horses transported people around busy cities.
When Tess and I did our 120 mile ride for charity (The Ridgeway Romp), we had to ride each day, whatever the weather. Even through the worst storm Oxfordshire had seen for 50 years. We went through towns, over motorways, up ravines. We had no clue as to what was coming next. But we had trust in our ponies. And we didn't die!!
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