For those of you that can’t be bothered to read more and just want to see the photos, check out:
Pete’s: HERE
Frank’s: HERE
Re being persuaded to go to the show in the first place, Badr had given me a lesson in the “art” of in-hand showing. Well I’ve done working hunter pony and other ridden showing, showjumping and eventing - even Prince Phillip Cup! But all of that was prior to about 1987 when I had my nasty riding accident that put me in hospital. I had since done some judging of working hunter pony and showjumping classes, but not judged since 1994. But the one thing I’ve never done is in-hand showing! One thing I did find out is that I am definitely better coordinated (well, I like to think so!) on a horse than running beside one!
Anyway, Badr was really patient with me - it never occurred to me that you’d have to run that fast on the ground to make sure your horse is really trotting out to his full potential! And I am not the lightest weight lady any more
I’d also spent some money at Robinsons on some in-hand showing gear: a nice in-hand bridle with brass clincher brow band and buckles and chain lead attachment thingy, white jods and shirt, tie - all the bits of horse show clothing that, if I did still have them, I’d never be able to fit into any more!
So the day dawned. Rolly hadn’t been loaded since he arrived in a massive horse lorry from Germany, so we played with them in Ann’s horsebox a couple of days before the show. Rolly, of course, was great to load - no problems (long may that last!) - except the stress made him very sweaty so he was rather disheveled on our arrival at the showground at Plumpton College in East Sussex. And we found I was due to go on in just a few minutes. So Ann and our other friend, Sara, kindly organised Rolly leaving me to organise getting myself organised!
..and into the ring for the first class we went: the spotted/coloured horses in-hand class. Once I was in there, my nerves went as I was so focused on not letting Rolly down. So we really strutted our stuff and came second! Rolly took it all like an old-timer - of course he did breed society shows and gradings when he was with his breeder, but that was a few years ago!
The next class was the “foreign breeds” class - by this time I was quite happy with the whole thing, and my dear husband, Pete, and best mate, Frank, were there taking photos from the sidelines making me - and Rolly I think - feel rather like stars! …and we couldn’t believe it - we won!
When the judge came up to give Rolly his apple, rozette and little trophy, she gave me some great advice in a very tactful way. I have about 5 ear piercings each side and a nose ring, and was wearing some rather jazzy tinted glasses (albeit prescription). She said that all this is rather a no-no and I made her laugh with “what, you mean the bling”? So at least that will prove useful in our next outing - I must just tone down a bit!
The worst thing that happened was that my nice new boots gave me a horrid blister on the back of my heel due to all the running!
But I was so proud of Rolly and can’t wait until our next outing!
]]>So, for a while I considered eggbutt/D-ring, but preferred the look of a loose ring and the movement it causes in the horses mouth that encourages him to mouth the bit. The solution was to spend around £90 on a Sprenger - I found the new-style Sprenger KK Ultra Type II that you can see here. The reason I - and Rolly - seem to like it is that the design of the cheeks stop the rubbing problems, and they also give slight steering improvements because it is kind of a cross between a loose ring and an eggbutt. Finally, it has the "tranz lozenge" which - according to the research - sits in a kinder fashion on the horse's tongue. The final thing I liked about this bit is that the mouthpiece is slightly thicker than the rather thin mouthpiece of the Shires training bit I had been using previously - so is kinder on the bars of the mouth.
Well, the result is is a bit that Rolly really seems to like - so much so that when I try to take his bridle off, he doesn't seem to want to let go of the bit - the patented "Aurigan" that the Sprenger bits use seem to be preferred to the "German silver" used in the Shires and other "cheaper" bits. Also, the Sprenger Aurigan doesn't corrode/tarnish the way that these other bits seemed to - a quick rinse and it is still shiny! We like that!
So here's a vid of Rolly not wanting to let go of his Sprenger!
]]>Rollo is a very itchy horse and, very nearly, suffers from sweet itch (an allergic dermatitic reaction caused by a protein in the saliva of the biting Culicoides midge). Sweet itch can be a devastating condition resulting in sometimes such extreme pruritus that skin damage can result - the horse scratches its skin to try and rid itself of the persistent itching (often centered around the mane and tail areas) to the point of seriously exfoliating the skin at worst, and at best really messing with their mane and tail often losing a lot of hair in the process! So horse owners are very keen to try and wage war against said Culicoides midges, not only to save the horse agro, but also because the horse looks a mess if Culicoides wins! Also, they are bloody annoying to me too as they seem to like me! Bastards.
So I have had to be really careful as a result of Rollo displaying early signs of sweet itch - he goes out in a fly rug (or perhaps that should be called an "anti-fly rug") during the day because of that - you can see the rug in the photos. I also liberally spray him with fly and midge repellent, also wiping this around his face. The midges are most active during sunset and sunrise, but then there's all the othe nasty biting bastards around so at least he is protected from everything as much as possible!
Anyway, as a result - and anyway most horses do - he loves a good scratch and this is an important part of equine bonding rituals - that's why you will often see horses giving each other a mutual grooming session. Very often they start this by nibbling at one another's withers (the thoracic verterbrae for those friends of mind that don't know about horses; it is from where a horse's height is measured as it is the highest point of the back just below the neck). The withers are an easy trigger for endorphines (one of the body's "feel good" chemicals) which are released during this process and the horse also gets a dopamine hit! I remember many moons ago when I was a Pony Clubber doing Prince Phillip Cup and our "chef d'equipe" (!) told me to scratch the withers of my very excitable pony to chill him out - and it really did seem to take some of the stress out of him!
One of the things they get you to do in Natural Horsemanship (e.g. Pareli) is to rub your horse all over as a way of desensitization and bonding. I take this one step further because rubbing is great (why does all of this sound kind of pervy? It really isn't meant to!), but what many horses really want is a darned good scratch - done in a way to mimic a horse nibbling. I believe some of the techniques of the Tellington Touch technique also mimic this but then that is my opinion!
The moral of the story is if you spend a little while each day just scratching your horse then you become another horse to him - great bonding exercise. Even better, if you visit your horse in the field and give him a scratch for a while without any expectation of riding, you'll develop a bond to the point that your horse just walks up to you - no catching problems - the horse won't be associating you with work every time you enter his field! That's an old story but it works! Rollo always comes up to the gate for me, though sometimes I have to go a bit closer if he is asleep! And we even join in the other horses for grooming sessions which is very funny! So many people just grab their horse from the field, ride them and give them a perfunctory pat if they've done right and then bung them out in the field again. We *spend time* stroking and scratching our dogs and cats, so why not our horses?
Here's my tips for helping avoid midge and fly irritation:
As a last comment, the number of Culicoides midges appear to be becoming increasingly prevalent in the UK, as does the length of their survival. Global warming is most likely to be the culprit. Hence the increase in the occurrence of sweet itch over the last several years. However, sweet itch aside, there is another, more sinister, reason for us all to become more vigilent about protecting our horses from midge bites and that is that the UK and northern europe are now for the first time being faced with diseases that were once termed "tropical". African Horse Sickness (and Blue Tongue virus which affects ruminants, e.g. cattle) are also carried by Culicoides midges and these diseases are spreading northwards. African Horse Sickness is really nasty and almost always fatal, so we all need to be even more vigilent to protect our horses from biting midges.
Hope that this is useful! Enjoy!
]]>...and this video shows him on a horrid day in June - sorry about the noise of the wind!
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