Interesting New Website - www.horsehero.com

I've been looking for an image/video of a horse being 'strapped' or 'banged' and look what I found!
http://horsehero.com/ "Horse Hero is a great new website which uses film to help you improve your knowledge on ‘how to’ look after horses. It also provides an insight into the lives of top riders, their horses and yards. There are guest blogs and some riveting video diaries too! Our presenters include Laura Bechtolsheimer, Harry Meade and Louisa Brassey."

Laura Bechtolsheimer and Mistral Hojris demonstrate:

FAO: All those who leave messages on my answer phone.....

Dear All,
Please note that if you leave a message on my answer phone regarding lessons and ask me to call back but you don't leave your phone number I cannot return your call...It unfortunately isn't enough to say 'please call THIS number' as some of the numbers show simply as "Unknown" and the phone system cannot read them for some reason (hence I cannot return the call).
So, if Dave and Anne are reading this, thank you for calling! I am not being rude not calling you back; your numbers shown as 'unknown' and I just don't have your details! Please ring again.
Thank you :)
Wiola

Back on Columbus's back :)

Pic.: Columbus saying hello...

After winter of various difficult circumstances Columbus and his owners are back on my clients list. For those of you who don't know, Columbus is a 17hh ish Cleveland Bay gelding with good bloodlines and even better appetite! We met in summer last year. He's a good doer who can get himself into a right state after gorging on grass and I must say he wintered very "well" ;) The Big Man has rather substantial fatty deposits but is now back into systematic fitness regime and who knows we might have a play with some local unaffiliated dressage tests once he muscles up and gets fitter.

He had a bit of a strop to start with but once over he remembered everything we worked on last year and I was really pleased with him. He makes me work mega hard as he is so wide that he virtually eats the whole of the length of my legs (not that there is much to it anyway!) but after riding him any other horse seems supple, narrow and easy ;) Riding Columbus feels like being sat on the top of a mountain!
You can find more on the adventures of the Big Man on his blog.

Pic. Ending the day with an evening walk...loved the clouds today!

Friday - day off!

Due to Hamlet being unsound I found myself having a day off all of a sudden! My house certainly benefited from hoovered carpets and thorough cleaning in the afternoon and myself - well, I am still rather depressed about having had to withdraw from Mattingley. The event doesn't hold a waiting list which means nobody who withdraws will be refunded. That's bad.


The morning welcomed us with grey sky and substantially lower temperature but that meant "our" gardens would be relatively free of only-sunny-weather-outdoors-lovers. Excellent! Ricky and I decided to have breakfast in the park and it was a great idea - very relaxing and peaceful.

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For those of you who wonder whether to buy Mary Wanless' new book "The new Ride with your mind clinic" I wrote about HERE - I finished it yesterday and personally found it very interesting. I am going to re-read it making some notes this time as there are so many ideas in there that it was impossible to remember all after reading once. I am actually thinking of attending one of Mary's Teacher Trainings but considering they cost a small fortune it will take me a while to save up to cover the costs...It looks like they are organised once a year in September.
Mary's system "Ride With Your Mind" basically tells you HOW things are really done and not WHAT needs to be done. She challenges the old-fashioned riding tuition which does not offer much insight into how rider's and horse's bodies cooperate and influence one another. For those of you who never heard of Mary Wanless, have a look at the Coaching Articles under "Read and Learn" on her website: http://www.mary-wanless.com/.
The articles are fairly old and she has since further improved on some ideas. I read her very first book a few years ago (the new version of it is called 'Ride with Your Mind Essentials') and started testing the system on myself to start with. I gained much more awareness of what I was actually doing on the horse to get certain results which in turn helped me while teaching. What I like the most about Mary's system is that it is technical yet very purposeful - exactly the way I prefer to teach. It saves the horse and it helps the rider. Definitely recommend.
One of Mary's most famous pupils is Heather Blitz, American GP Dressage rider.

Heather Blitz riding Otto in Amsterdam, Jan 2008:


Online Videos by Veoh.com

Definitely lame

Hamlet is definitely lame/uneven and the farrier didn't find anything of relevance today. Further investigation will be needed while we withdraw from Mattingley.

Long shot but...if anyone has an eventer who needs a run and they feel charitable and want to pay the eventing costs I am always eager to hear from you!

We might have to withdraw from Mattingley :(

It looks like my eventing season is going to crash land before it has even taken off...Hamlet is lame and we don't really know what had happened. There are no obvious signs of any injuries and the only option we can think of at the moment is to have his shoes checked as he was re-shod on Friday (and showed some lameness on Sunday morning only to be sound again on Monday & Tuesday). The farrier is coming tomorrow so keep your fingers crossed.

I am feeling I hope it's nothing sinister, he is such a lovely little horse

When everything clicks in place...

Hamlet gave me a fantastic feel today and although I know it might all go pear shape the next time I cannot help but feel positive again ;) The rollercoaster of schooling! More on today's session on Hamlet's blog.

Little video and a picture from today thanks to Ricky who decided to join me today :)