A False Spring, Tricks Galore, and The Top Barn Challenge is Galloping By

 OMG Its February already!!!! Where did that long long month of January go? And whats with the English spelling of these early months (all this uary endings is stressing my spell check)?  So after a nasty January weatherwise, I'm now being lulled by this false spring and thinking of removing some layers.  Its been a calm, mostly sunny few days with the temperatures hitting double figures in the East. The nights are pulling out, the birds are singing and the snowdrops are out.  In fact on Tuesday I was so lulled by this False Spring that I did indeed shed some layers. Oh what a mistake.  The wind was bitter and out in the fields on the tractor I froze. Must remember that some of our worst snow-outs have been in February/March! But still, Spring is coming.......

I know a lot of people doing the Top Barn Challenge are having much worse weather than us, so Charlie and I are setting Charlies Challenges every week for a bit of fun, and ideas for things to do with your horse without moving from the field or stable. A long long time ago I joined Horse Tricks Club (find it on Facebook). We learned a lot of tricks, and so most of Charlies Challenges are trick related.  We have been going over some old tricks and its amazing that he remembers them all.  I have been working on a Maths Trick with him, but I'm not showing it here, because it will be a Charlies Challenge (Spoiler Alert).  I have to say I am crap at Maths and my OH (Mark the Mechanic and Part Time Horse Whisperer) laughed his head off when I said I had been teaching Charlie Maths! Next up Card Tricks!!

And as fast as the month has galloped by, so is The Top Barn Winter Challenge. We have already completed a Third of it. You may want to check this fact as I have already admitted my crap maths!  So far me and the ponies have kept up with our hours.  Charlie has banked one and a half hours, done all the Rhi's Randoms and 8 Mini Challenges.  Daisy is bang on target and has completed 7 Mini Challenges. I'm taking it very easy with her, due to her age and the length of time she had been retired. But she is totally enjoying the attention.

Both ponies have managed Agility entries this month. Charlie with his WO Liberty and OLHA and Daisy has tried Equagility!!!!  Having been only a brood mare and a Happy Hacker (being ridden in a Dutch Gag) she has never had any formal schooling and is only just learning Clicker Training.  She pulls like a steam train and isn't the sharpest tool in the box, but she is the sweetest Mare ever.  And we have to start somewhere.  Also she sucks her water!!!!!!

And so as a very special person used to say "Onwards and Upwards" and "To Infinity and Beyond".   Keep it up Top Barners.  And Good Luck to all the Agility entrants for the January Competitions.  

Oh and by the way......I have just entered the shady world of Tik Tok.  Charlie now has an account called er....er...Charlie The Trick Pony???? I think.  I'm doing the Tik Tok on my phone and the Blog on my Laptop, and I'm way too old to share any links.  We also have a YouTube channel (Charlie The Trick Pony) and Instagram (also Charlie The Trick Pony) and a Facebook page (also Charlie The Trick Pony) .  While I am plugging Social Media, I have 2 books available on Kindle. "The Ridgeway Romp" and "Tails From The Rda".  Sorry I can't share any links.......Thats Old Age!  

See you in Spring x

The End of The Year Blog ( Track Systems, Sandy Soil and 2024)

Well its nearly the end of 2023 (How did that happen?)  Charlie and I have had a great 2023.  He has done really well in Horse Agility, we have progressed to about 8 steps ridden before the panic starts, and I can nearly get the clippers on his legs!! 

What always amazes me (still) is the fact he comes running when I call him, or if he has spotted me in the Playpen (new name for the 'school' as it really isn't), he is waiting at the Gate. It shows how far we have come from the pony that once took 2 weeks to catch!!!!  This is all down to Clicker Training and Trick Training.  This year I joined Connection Training and I have learnt sooooo much about how the horses mind works.  Our relationship has blossomed and its a real 2 way communication now.  Between Horse Tricks 101 Club, The International Horse Agility Club and Connection Training we now have a proper solid relationship and the ability to have actual conversations. I am now exploring the concept of his consent, and giving him a voice that I listen to. More on that next year.

As well as the Horse Agility and slowly slowly ridden work, during the Year, Charlie and I took part in 2 Top Barn Treasure Hunts.  I love a good Treasure Hunt. Its a brilliant concept ......To get out and seek 'treasures' such as Churches, Pubs, Water, Cows.....you get it. Not only was it great fun, we ventured out of our comfort zones in the pursuit of 'treasures' and spent a lot of time hanging out waiting for them to pass by. 

We have just finished our last Agility Competition of the Year. Having won the WO Liberty Silver in November with Charlie, I was raring to start on the final competition of the year.  However Covid struck!  I went to London (yes a Yokel like me, in the Big Smoke).  I went to see the Lionesses play The Netherlands at Wembley.  One sardines in a tin packed Tube Train later and I was struck down. I felt wretched for nearly 10 days. My Horse Landlord is vulnerable so I kept away, only visiting Charlie when the coast was clear. Poor Jo had to shoulder all the work, while I lay in bed watching crap daytime TV.  So I have only had 12 days to pull off a Competition entry, while the weather has raged with rain and wind. We also managed to film a few Xmas Shorts for our You Tube Channel.  Check them out https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLYQBYhWqo_WPVdz9MFkCtA/about.  If that doesn't work just type Charlie The Trick Pony into the search.  I'm crap with links etc.

Meanwhile Daisy, who retired aged 23 last spring, has been hooning around like a spring chicken.  She has EMS, but living on a track system has given her a new lease of life.  She is a great nanny pony, being fairly bombproof, so Jo and I decided she may as well do something. Like helping Charlie get out hacking.  Having done nothing for most of the Year, and never having done any Agility, I brought her in and took her round the OLHA WO Starter Course in November.  I had filmed it, and it looked Ok.  So I registered her with the International Horse Agility Club, and entered.  To my utter surprise, she came 1st. So Daisy has a new career!!  I have since had front shoes put on, ready for the New Year Challenge.

And that Challenge is of course, The Top Barn 2024 Winter Challenge.  I have entered both ponies.  Charlie at Bronze Premium Level and Daisy at Copper Level which is new for this year. My aim is to get them both fit and ready to try Equigility (Ridden Horse Agility).  I also want to Clicker train Daisy, and will be doing a series of videos on YouTube of our progress. 

And so onto that miracle Track System.  Our Winter Field for the larger ponies is 2 acres. We have always strip grazed it, but having used the Track System in the Summer with success, I thought it was worth trying it on the Winter Grazing. Using electric fence posts we have gradually increased the Track around the outside of the paddock, so now it runs all the way round. Then small strips are made into the middle. They are having very small amounts of hay to supplement the grass, and here we are, nearly at the end of the year, with a load of grass left.  They are using the whole track.  I would like to attach some sort of tracker to Charlie, to see how far they are actually moving. 

Now we are lucky to be on sandy soil.  With all the rain we have had so far this Winter, I know a lot of people are having problems with their tracks becoming bogs.  Ours is standing up well.  No one can chose their soil, but here in The Suffolk Sandlings, I have always had my horses on sandy soil. Yes it brings its own problems.  When the grass is cropped the horses pull it up from the roots which can cause sand colic.  We feed pysillium regularly to combat this.  In a dry hot Summer (Oh I wish) the grass turns to dust and we have to feed hay. Ragwort loves sandy soil, so its a constant battle to pull it up. But on the whole I would much rather have sand than mud. 

So it just remains to Wish You All a Happy Xmas.  See you all in2024.  x

Autumn is Here, Winter Boots, Track Systems, and Black Nightshade

 Well that's it.  Summer is over. The Indian Summer that is. October has been, well HOT here on the East Coast of England.  Way up in the 20's.  Which has been great for us Humans, but not so great for our Native ponies who have been sweating in their fluffy Native coats.  My Dog hasn't been too happy either.  A Belgian Malinois with a thick coat (and black to boot), has been laying outside in the dark to cool off. Today she jumped into a stagnant pond, and at this moment is green and smelly.  Actually that might not be anything to do with the heat.  It was actually bloody freezing today! In comparison.  So on Tuesday I had shorts and t-shirt on. Then it rained, it blew a hoolie for 2 days.  Still not cold though, but the weather man said we had all of Octobers rain in 48 hours. I actually had to sit and wait for a bunch of bathing pheasants yesterday, who had mistaken a road for a river.  Today dawned sunny and calm......and cold.  We only got up to 10c. Bit of a shock from 23c! 

So my thoughts have been turning to winter boots. I hate having wet and cold feet.  When I worked at Poplar Park many moons ago, my boots leaked like the Titantic and I had chilblains.  Someone bought me some Hunter Wellies for a Xmas present and from then on my feet were dry.....but still cold. Even woolie Fishermans socks didn't seem to keep the cold out.  Now we have much more technical boots.  For the last few years I have gone for long 'country' boots. You know the type. Cheaper Dubarrys.  Oh yes they look good. Easy to wear in the Pub as well as the Yard. But do they really do the job?  Well they do when they are new.  My first pair were Harry Halls. On the cheaper end of the market, they were great and remained waterproof for around 4 years.  Then the dog (then a puppy Maligator) ate them.  My OH replaced them the following Xmas with a more expensive pair.  As comfy as an old pair of slippers, they have sprung a leak after 3 years. Last winter I tried water-proofing them.  Didn't last. They leak between the upper and the sole. So I just got a snazzy pair of Joules Goucho boots.  Oh they are beautiful. But they leaked in the same place.  Basically they are more fashion boots and can now be found for sale on Ebay! I started to think of all the years I worked for the RDA and which were the best Winter Boots.  Yup they were neoprene Muck Boots.  Not as pretty. But they do keep your feet dry and warm.  So a pair have been ordered.  What are your best Winter Boots and Why?

As you all know, we have a bunch of Native ponies.  They live out naked 24/7 all year round.  They are tough, cold blooded and designed for the wet, cold, windy British Isles. We like to keep them as close as nature intended for their mental well being. It is quite a task in England where we are land poor. Oh to have 30 acres of natural land so they can graze, move, browse, live in a big herd as nature intended.  That's what makes a happy horse. But we rent around 10 acres.  We have the 3 Acre Field, the 4 Acre Field and the Hill Field (approx 3 Acres). These are rotated. The Herd is split into 2.  We have 3 bigger ponies, a Highland (Daisy), a Haflinger (Lu) and Charlie (Gypsy Cob), plus 2 small ponies, Mini and Coco who are miniature Shetlands. Charlie is the only boy. It would be nice to have them all as one herd. But Lu seems to hate the Minis and Charlie will always follow her lead.  We had an incident a while ago when Coco (who really is tiny) got in with them and they nearly killed her. Lu has been Charlies surrogate mum since I first got him aged 3.5yrs old. He never had a Mum, so she resource guards him. While this isn't ideal, it is what it is. Coco was starved when she was rescued and although has put on weight is still only 120kg, whereas Lu and Charlie are both around 440kg. Its just not worth risking her life.  So although they are all in the same field, it is split.  Daisy (the Highland) mostly lives with Lu and Charlie, but has EMS and prone to Laminitus, so moved in with the Shetlands in the Spring. 

So how to make the best of this small space?  We have a track System in place.  Long narrow corridors that go round the outside of the fields, and do U turns back up on themselves. The corridors are strip grazed so a small amount is opened up daily.  When we reach the end, we close that corridor, and open a new one.  This system is not only making the grazing last longer, it is also making the horses walk much further for the water.  When they move to the 4 Acre Field for the Winter and finally run out of grass, I plan to have different corridors that lead to hay and licks and anything else I can think of to enrich their lives.  Horse Tricks Club on Facebook have a special Section this month on this subject.

This system has been working well, and despite the wet summer and the mad  grass growth, all the ponies have remained sound. Well actually its only Mini and Daisy we have to worry about regards Laminitus. But they have been sound for months (frantically touching wood here).  No I am not touching wood. I believe in the System.  Why didn't anyone think of Track Systems years ago?  They make sooo much sense!!  Wild horses travel at least 20 miles a day, grazing all sorts of stuff (not just lush grass) and all go off miles for water. Funnily enough they do not get Laminitus, long hooves, colic, stomach ulcers.  They do not crib bite or weave. They lose weight in Winter and gain in Summer. They do not have some human come and worm them, so presumably their worm count remains low, due to the constant moving around and not grazing ground full of droppings.  It just makes sense to me to try and keep our horses in as natural environment as we possibly can. 

So the Hill Field where the ponies currently are had not been grazed for a while. We went in, in the summer and uprooted all the flowering Ragwort we could find. We do have a patch of Bracken, but not much and every year it gets eaten without any problem.  Ponies that live on sandy heathland seem to eat it as part of their staple diet. Generally horses know whats good for them and what isn't. They spit out the bad stuff.  Problems only occur when they are starving and literally have nothing else to eat.  Ours will eat right round any Ragwort rosettes which makes them easier to see, however it is a daily job, spotting any baby plants. But last week, having moved a fence back I saw a bush that I didn't like the look of.  Two in fact. They were shrubby plants, with white flowers and green berries.  The leaves looked very potato like.  As we all know potatoes are part of the Nightshade genre of plants, as are tomatoes and tobacco.  We all know tomatoes are fine to eat, and potatoes which are actually the bulb of the plant are fine when cooked.  We have also all heard of Deadly Nightshade which is a rather pretty plant, also called Bella Donna.  In the old days, ladies would take a little as it made the pupils of their eyes bigger, making them prettier. This shrub reminded me of a Nightshade plant, but not one I recognised.  So I uprooted them both.  Lu came over to inspect what I was stealing from her grazing, and turned her nose up which made me even more sure they were not good plants.  Back in the Tackroom, I photographed them and used the Plant-Net app (its brilliant) to identify them as Black Nightshade. Turns out they are poisonous to all mammals, including humans, dogs and horses.  Particularly the berries when they are green.

And so we are heading into yet another Winter.  Charlie will continue his ridden work as well as Horse Agility.  We are looking forward to the next Top Barn Winter Challenge.  And we will continue to work on our trick training. I would love someone (Meg) to take on Daisy who has shown she is not ready to retire, racing about in the field like a youngster. Charlie and i could really do with a Winter of hacking out with Daisy as a nanny..........

Top Barn Challenge 2023, Horse Tricks Club, and Spring Is Coming

 So Top Barners...... We are nearly a quarter of the way through!!  Already!  Keep It Up One Two Three!!!   We Got This!  The nights are pulling out.  Spring is in the Air!!  Charlie is starting to lose his Winter Coat already.  I keep telling him to hang on a bit:  We all know February can throw some Winter Weather at us in a big way. But Nature is unstoppable.  The days are getting longer, and this controls hair loss more than temperature.  

We have been very lucky here on the East Coast of England. After the Mud and Wind and Rain, the temperatures dropped again. But we have avoided the snow I know many of you have had. But that mild spell seemed to have caused a little grass growth.  At least the Big Pony Herd thinks so. They are out 24/7 on 4 acres and are actually still finding grass to nibble on.  Sensible Cob types, they are ignoring the large container of Hay during the day, and grazing, leaving the Hay for the frosty nights!  

So hopefully everyone is finding stuff to do, even on hard frozen ground.  I highly recommend teaching Clicker Training.  I may have mentioned this in the past, but most zoos and film animal trainers use Clicker Training now.  Its a much quicker way to teach behaviors.  I have recently been working on Charlies Fetch, for Certificate 3 in The International Horse Agility Club. Fetch can be well handy if you drop something when out riding (Maybe not your phone though).

Speaking of Horse Agility. We got the final results for December and the League tables.  Charlie and I finished with a 2nd in OLHA Med Level and a 3rd in Bronze Liberty. This meant we finished 41st ( I think) in the OLHA League and 15th in the Liberty League.  Not bad for 6 months with a half feral, half blind pony and a broken 56 year old with Dodgy Lungs and Dicky Ticker.  Even if I do say so myself!!  We have also just completed our Level 3 Certificate. (Blow Your Own Trumpet Day!!!!!).  I couldn't be more prouder of my boy.

None of this would have been possible without Clicker Training, and more specifically The Horse Tricks Club which I joined in 2019.  The Club is currently Open for new members......I highly recommend joining. There are lots of modules to teach step by step the 'How to' of Horse Tricks. Plus a great Facebook Community to join, share and ask questions. Just Google Horse Tricks Club.

I also have to add....None of this would have happened had I been fit and well and/or had an uncomplicated pony. Back in the day when I was fit and well, I had 'problem ponies' but was Gung Ho enough to 'ride it out'. This worked. I had some great ponies and had great relationships with them. Had I have bought the 'been there, done it' type I was looking for, when i found Charlie, no doubt I would still be bombing about the countryside (until I ran out of breath) and going on mad night  time pub hacks.  However, Fate intervened and Charlie has put me on a different path.  And I am still learning Soo Much.

So, Top Barners, Clicker Trainers, Horse Tricksters...... Whatever path you are on, What Small achievements have you gained this month?