It's official...

Nell is barefoot. Tony came out last week and pulled her shoes as I've finally got enough money for a set of Cavallo simple boots. Not only will this save me money in the long run (good thing seeing my work hours have been docked), but it will hopefully stop her being so footsore over harder terrain. She'll be ridden barefoot when we do roadwork but off road will be made much more comfortable with her soles and frogs covered by the boots. She was fine immediately after the removal but incredibly footy the next day. I read that it may be due to an increase in circulation or the numbing effect from shoes wearing off. Other people have assured us its completely normal and within a few days she was feeling better and had her first ride in the field barefoot yesterday.

Tralee is getting a bit like an old man whose had too many beers. He's not fat as such, but he definately needs more muscle definition to stop his belly hanging. I've been riding him a lot lately as mum hasn't had the time. I am hoping that I can use him for a little jumping this summer now that the ringbone has near enough fused. We tested him over a single jump yesterday and changed it between a crosspole, parallel and fake ditch to see what needs working on. I havn't tried a spread or oxer yet because its been several months since he or I have jumped. I was a little nervous seeing as Nell was my usual jumping horse up until a few months back. Tralee is much narrower and there's a lot less to hang onto when he refuses or prats about. He was being a bit silly by cantering instead of trotting and trying to stop halfway over a jump (a bad habit his Loan rider got him into) but I was comfortable enough getting back on him. Like a favourite old seat that you'd forgotten about then sat on again on a whim.

Nell's action photos

I ♥ my new camera...

New Tralee photos

I was only thinking last week that I hadn't taken any new photos of the horses for a while and as they are all starting to come back into their summer coats and the weather was beautiful we decided it was high time to take some new action shots.

And just for shits and giggles...

Jump up

Nell might be a bit fat at the moment but it has hardly hindered her jump. In fact we are jumping roughly 1 1/2 foot with no effort at all. I'm actually holding back more than she is because I haven't had the confidence to jump as big as I used to - but we are both gaining trust in each other and jumping bigger and better.


Got a bit close to me in an attempt to run out - but still jumped the stick we placed there to prevent her running out instead!


A real long shot here but such fabulous form! She did one of these jumps with me on top the other day and almost threw me out the seat. Thankfully a substantial neck with plenty of mane helped me stay aboard that one. With her jumping like this you I feel confident we can do a few small shows this year.

Due to a tendon strain last summer I'm wary about how high I jump her but she seems to be clearing them with plenty of room to spare and no signs of it playing up.

You can see here that she really is enjoying herself! Last years action photos had a lot of ear pinning and threats to kick - this year is so much different! I really think she has bonded better with me now and feels happier to work for me. There wasn't a single pinned ear in any photo. On the downside I think the camera on my phone is getting worse. Ah well, you can't win them all.

Why do I end up working harder than the horse?

Mum took my uncle's ex riding today. Beverly has said for a while now that she wants to get back into riding so give's us £10 when she uses Rocky. She's still very novicy and hasn't rode in about 14 years so has very little balance, therefore mum rides out with her. I didn't go with them but took Nell around the lakes in the hopes of burning some fat off her due to her putting on some unwanted weight. We whizzed round the lakes in about 15 mins, trotting flat out pretty much all the way but it took about an hour to do the full ride. I'm careful about trotting on the roads for too long as it doesn't do Nell's hooves or legs any good and I wouldn't dare go faster than a slow walk down halammaning hill so it takes at least 20 mins to actually get down to the lakes. After Croft Gothal we'd still only been out for half an hour so I extended the ride a bit. By the time we got home, Nell was warm, tired and breathing quite heavily but she didn't even work up a sweat. There was a small patch under her thick saddle pad where the saddle sits but otherwise I had sweated more than she had. On the plus side I wasn't as hot, tired or sweaty as usual so I must be getting somewhat fitter.

Sarah said she would accompany me to the show jumping on the 9th August with Gully. We went to the beach last week and he was so well behaved for a 4 year old. I think thats Cobs all over though - you can't beat Cobs for temperment and amiability. We got some action shots and are hoping to go down again to get some more - possibly closer this time.

Rocky's nose, which was badly sunburned, is now looking lovely again and is smooth as a baby's bottom. He is developing some muscle tone now and seems to be more eager to go out these days. Tralee on the other hand is feeling rather grumpy and we may need to up his No Bute. His ringbone is getting bigger and seems to be more painful as the heat in his hoof today was much more than the other three. We knew when we got him that the ringbone would probably be the one thing to put him out of work but the riding does seem to ease it more so than just standing in a field.

Well, I'll try to get the photos up here soon but if not then you'll just have to be patient.

Wet weather blues

The glorious summer is once more being clouded by the forecast for another spell of rain. Riding is, unfortunately, not on the top of my to do list and I'm in a bit of a slump at the moment.

On the positive side, I schooled Nell bareback last week. We practised neck reining which she did fantastically well in. Serpentines, circles, diagonally across the school; she did it like a pro. I woder if she was ridden western at some point in her life or whether she's just learnt from how I ride her. We did a little bit of free jumping as well. She jumped about 1 ft but wasn't overly excited about doing so. She prefers being ridden really and kept running out. We ended on a good note by making her do a small jump so that the last one she'd remember doing would not be getting away with a run out. I jumped up again and did a bit more turning and stopping then finished for the day. I'm hoping to do it again this week and possibly do some jumping in the sandschool.

Finally some photos! :) but none of the ride :3

Emma and I took Nell and the Rockstar for a beach ride yesterday and as you can see from the top photo, Nell and Tralee's friendship is blossoming!

It was the nicest day we had had for a while and although Mum couldn't come along it was still a nice ride. I had planned to get some photos but like last time, didn't check the tide times.

When we got there, there was only a small stretch of beach and it was already quite crowded with people. The tide was heading out but we decided that it was best we just spend a short time there and let the pedestrians have the beach.

The first canter resulted in a bucking fit from Nell. I think she was probably protesting about how hard I had kicked her. Rocky came along behind, doing something between a trot and a canter.

The second canter, Rocky was starting to feel excited and overtook Nell and I. There was a hair-raising moment where he almost didn't stop, but Emma pulled him into the sea.

We didn't stay long, as it was not in our interest to annoy the people sitting on the rocks and staying away from the horses. A few canters, a few trots and that was us done for the day.

On the way back, after the beach farm is the two fields I have mentioned in a previous post. The grass was much longer this time but the field is certainly not being used, so once again we used it as a canter spot.

This was only the second time we had used the field, but Rocky knew where we were. One minute Nell was cantering steadily in front, and the next Rocky had flown straight past us at the gallop. I had never seen that horse move so fast!

Emma and I were both surprised at how fast and fit the Rockstar had become over the past few weeks. By the time we got back he only had a bit of sweat under his saddle, girth and mane.

We didn't get any photos on the beach but I got a few nice ones of Nell to add to my album. Oh and look! Lucy isn't a yak anymore!

Makeover Time!

Well, the day started sunny at least... but slowly got greyer and wetter. So Mum and I decided that the beach ride we had planned could wait, and istead we spent the morning prettying Nell and Lucy up. Tails, manes, legs and bottoms were all given a thorough clean and Lucy - after a good brushing - is actually looking half decent for a change. Nell allowed me to clean her udder; something she was very sensitive about not long back. It looks like its been a long time since it was last washed, if ever. She had sudocreme put on the area to get rid of the dry sore skin and her legs were washed with hibiscrub as she seems to be getting the same reaction she did last year where hair falls out and forms a few scabs. I am now certain it is something in the chicken field as that is where they were when it happened last year.

Overall, things have been quiet lately. Rocky is paid for now and officially ours, Tralee is his usual grumpy self, Lucy will hopefully be going home in June and Nell is doing what Nell does best. Eat, poop and occasionaly run around like a mad ass.

Duracell pony

I think Nell has a couple of duracell batteries stuck up her ass... she is that fit at the moment. We went on an intense ride with LOTS of trotting. The first trot was exhausting... for me anyway. She was somewhat lethargic to begin with after stuffing herself all night with grass so I had to sqeeze everytime I sat. Driving her up that hill was painfully hard.

Halfway around the ride she started to perk up and the trotting was steady rather than *rise... Squeeze! rise... Squeeze!* Nor was it at the other extreme of having to stand because her trot's too fast to sit then rise to.

We had a couple of nice canters with good clear aids, resulting in a canter straight off the leg instead of the awful extension. Both canters were steady and controlled.

Overall it was an enjoyable ride but all that trotting really tired me out and I sweated buckets. As for Nell? No sweat. literally. Not under the girth, saddle or the elbows. She was as clean as when I took her out.

The weather is set for rain tomorrow but on the off chance that it is clear in the evening, Emma and I are heading down to the beach. I'll work her hard then and see - after the climb up the cliffs - if she actually sweats.

Oh and update on Rocky: He's absolutely fine. Just a pulled muscle as we suspected although after his fall he had a couple of small nosebleeds. They havn't come back since though so he's almost back to normal.

Salami!

I swear, I'm going to make salami out of Nell! The damn mare has now learnt that if she canters off while I'm leading her I'll let go of the rope and she can run back to the field. I was so angry with her. The sooner we give Lucy back the better it will be for both me physically, and Nell mentally.

It didn't help Lucy crawled under both electric fences then came galloping towards us. Mum took Lucy and walked her back up to the paddock, fixed the fence, hooked it up to the mains then came to look for me. By the time that was done, Nell had shoved her shoulder into me, pushed me into a field half way down the lane, took off in the canter then buggered off back in the direction of Lucy.

And people think Haflingers are all sunshine and butterflies! Huh! I would like to let anyone considering buying one know that THEY DO NOT POOP RAINBOWS! In other words, they are not all well behaved little ponies who will be perfect show ponies for your little darlings.
In fact some are just hell raisers. I can't fault Nell when I ride, in fact I had a very nice ride that same day, but every horse has their bad side. Nell's happens to be her bad ground manners.

We got from Kestal, round the lakes and back in record time - just over 1 hour. Nell was sweaty and a bit tired but not enough to lead quietly back to the field. The safest option was to lead her through the fields as I knew she would have to get through 3 gates before getting to Lucy wheras it would have been too easy for her to get back to the field if I had led her down the lane.

At the first field we got half way up before she tanked and left me standing alone. She got to the gate and unable to go through, ran around the field screaming. There was nowhere to go - neither towards Lucy or back to the stables - so I walked calmly over to the gate, pretending I was going to open it. Smart as Nell is, she fell for it and I took her rope, led her back down the field towards the barn, then turned and walked her to the next gate.

As soon as we got through the gate she surged forward. The same process as above followed for two or three times before she walked the length of the field.

At the next gate she didn't even wait for me to get through before shoving her shoulder into me and galloping to the next gate. I repeated the process. Catch, take back to previous gate, lead. By the third attempt I was getting tired of being pulled through the gateway so I tied to to it.

As I opened it, she tried again to shove past me but found herself stuck. I gave her a good whack with the end of the lead rope to let her know it was not acceptable behaviour. Eventually after much pulling and sidestepping she stood waiting, so I undid the rope and she walked on to the last gate. I tied her again, opened it up then retrieved her.

We did eventually get back to the field - both in one piece - but it took a whole hour to do it. Yesterday I practiced leading her away from Lucy, which worked fairly well with a bridle on. I have decided to get a pressure halter instead though, as I know leading her in a bit will only make her hard mouthed. The halter I want is quite thin so she should quickly get the idea that trying to pull away = discomfort. I'll be getting it as soon as possible so watch this space to see how that goes!

Beaches and Banners

Spring really is here now. The daffodils are blooming, the sun is bright and the horses are losing their winter coats. Oh and up there ^ is our new banner. Lovely is it not?

So today was another beautiful day that makes living in Cornwall absolutely magical. Every colour was rich and vibrant, each green leaf sunkissed and beautiful to behold. Today I noticed everything in all it's beauty for finally the long, barren, colourless winter is over. Look through the eyes of an artist, a poet, a writer; and you will know exactly what I talk about.

A ride to the beach was in order. I normally go down once a week to school anyway but I haven't really had the energy to ride all the way down there for a while so it felt good to be down by the sea again. We had very little beach left by the time we got their but we made the most of what we had. I now have my dad's old camera which is by no means old. As you can see it takes stunning photos. Rocky quite liked the water and must have enjoyed the taste as he found a salty rock and started licking it. Nell got her feet wet but backed up the beach very quickly when the waves "chased" her. She didn't spin but it was an odd sensation having her run backwards.

We finished with a couple of nice canters although it was difficult to do with so many people on such a small amount of beach.

Keen to get home as ever, Nell charged up the slipway nearly breaking a canter to get up the steep slope. At the top of the coast and beyond the Skewers's farmTwo large fields with an opening in the hedge between them offered a fantastic spot to canter. At first Nell did her long extended trot, refusing to move up a gear but when Rocky was put in front to canter she didn't want him leading. The result was an explosive haflinger. She went from a standstill to an extended canter, surging past Rocky. They were next to one another as we passed through the narrow hedge opening - a little too close for comfort, then Nell carried on past Rocky; obviously making sure she was still boss.

I just can't get enough sunshine at the moment! We're going Rocky Road tomorrow as long as something doesn't go wrong again. Last time Nell threw up lame so I really am looking forward to going there.

Lame

Went for a ride with Emma today. Nell seemed to be a little off but it wasn't until I got her trotting I realised something wasn't right. The more I watched the quicker I realised she was lame on the near fore.

We were meant to have gone for a long ride, as Tralee is in the stable with only 3 hours turnout a day, for a whole month to re-seed the fields. However half way round we turned off to Croft Gothal instead of Rocky road. I didn't want to push her.

I will give her a week of just light riding and if no improvement we will have to call out Otty to have a look at her.

On the plus side, I got some good pictures to send to the Westphalian horse association. I hope they can ID her or at least e-mail me back if they can't. I hate it when people never reply.

From white to brown

Well, the snow dissapeared by Wednesday and as we all know snow is just frozen water. So now we are wading through its remains in the form of knee deep mud and puddles. Thankfully the top field is still dry and most mornings the girls are up there.

In other news, Rocky's fieldmate, Dubai, has been sold so he was meant to have the mares move in with him. Unfortunately most of the mares owners did not like the field having a pond in it - referring to it as a marsh - despite the fact that it was dry and had GRASS. Oh well, their loss. Now Rocky has to eat all that grass to himself. He has company in opposite fields and isn't worried about being on his own anyway so its not our loss.

Tralee is fine. No real news to report on him other than all the boys are very very hungry. He is being bought in during the day and turned out at night while Rocky is in by night and out by day.

Overall their is not much to report as the weather is far too wet and cold to ride in. Perhaps we will get a break in the weather in the next few weeks but I don't hold out much luck.

Groundwork

Nell is an especially bargy mare. She is incredibly hard to turn away from you as she walks ahead of you. If you speed up to put her inside the circle she gets quicker as well. I don't know if it is a dominance issue or whether thats just what her past owners let her get away with but I need to get it under control at some point. I did a few basics like walking a straight line (very difficult when Nell is trying to pull you back to the gate), turning my back to her and changing direction when she walked ahead of me and trotting poles in hand which she was not very keen on at all. It's going to take alot of work this year and their are lots of bad habits that need breaking. We did manage a few jumps in hand though. I did have to turn the leadrope into an extra noseband to stop her shoving me around but once she did a couple of jumps she seemed to start enjoying herself and I didn't need to encourage her much after that. At the end of the seesion when Lucy came back from her ride I attempted a free jump. We have a gate that opens to the top field that consists of two wood planks that slot into metal resters(?) which can be simply slid out of the resters to open the gate or a piece of metal attached to the resters can be pushed down into grooves in the planks to lock it. I simply placed the lowest plank so it was sitting half on the rester and half on the ground. I then tempted Nell to follow me with an apple.
I ran towards the gate and she followed. I jumped over but at the last minute Nell ran out and decided it was safer in the top field than to jump that scary 1.5ft plank of wood! Not worth an apple! The second time she realised that she would have to jump it or stay up their so we tried again. I ran. she followed. I jumped and lo and behold! She followed! She ignored me and cantered straight down to Lucy, looking rather pleased with herself. I did give her the apple though. ;)

My mum has agreed to bring a fellow boarder at Kestel's horse in for her on days she can't. In return we asked if she could teach me to lunge. Its strange that in all the time I've seen people lunging down their I've never thought to ask about it. Its one of those skills that you should know but have never needed. If I can get Nell to follow me over jumps then I will but if not the lunging would be helpful. Especially as I don't think I can even get over 3 ft jumps anymore, I'm so unfit! As that is my goal for this year (ride Nell over 3ft jumps) I might just need to know how to lunge. I don't even know if Nell knows how to so that should be fun!

Cough! Cough! Cough!

Last week Nell broke into the mouldy haylage on the dung pile. Now the bloody mare has a cough. Its her own fault- we taped it off, electrified the fence, fed her in the evening and she still thought it neccesary to break in.

So now we've called the vet and he should be out to take a look tomorrow if all goes well. Lovely, another big bill to pay no doubt. Worst case scenario is mold spores in the lungs and possible irreparable damage. Best case scenario is that whatever it is can be cleared up with no further problems.

I'll let you all know tomorrow as soon as I hear.

Oh, and mum took Tralee hunting this year again. ;) He was good as gold and mum had a great time.

Numbers...

Useful things, numbers. We now know most of Nell's german registration number in fact. I haven't got a reply from the english letter I sent the westphalian registry so I'll have a go in german. This should be good; I haven't done german since yr 9 secondary school - thats 5 years ago!

I know enough to get the message across though and a german neighbour of mine can proof read. So far her registration number would be as follows.

either 41???9992 or 42???9992

The first two numbers represent the westphalian area. The next three numbers are her german registration number(currently unknown), the two numbers after that are her brand number and the last two is her (suspected) birth year.

Thanks to Kerstin Dreborg for the info! We are getting closer!

History lessons

I was browsing the net for Haffies the other day when I came across something rather unexpected. I discovered an old show picture of a stallion named Aristo.

Lo and Behold there on his quarters was a familar firebrand. I had noticed the mark during the spring after Nell shed her winter coat and we had been searching for a lead on what it may have meant. Suddenly out of the blue we find Aristo bearing the same mark and the excitement starts to build. Finally we have something on our horse without a past.

Whether it was fate or purely amazing luck a few moments later I came across this:

This is the brand for Westfalen Haflingers. Unfortunately the site is all in German so I cant tell you what that means. We sent emails to people who seem to have a connection in the hopes they understand english and can tell us more about the brand.

It is strange to think that my Nelly Noodles came all the way from Germany. We always had an incling that if she was british she would have come with more history and its not unusual for dealers to buy horses abroad and sell them for more over here. It is a shame that all her past was lost along the way but now at least there is a chance of finding out who bred her if there is a registry. I always wondered why Nell never really listened to me. It was probably because she speaks German! ;)

The most wonderful thing so far about finding her brand is that we now have proof that she is PURE haflinger. I always knew there must have been a mistake when we got the passport saying she was a cross. Hopefully on these facts and pictures alone we will be able to re-register her.

I'll update you as we get more information but even if we don't it has been wonderful just knowing where she came from.

Horse Profile: Nell

Nell came to us in January 2008 in an awful state. Rode into the ground and fed little, she had no energy left to show personality. What was worse was that she had come from a knowledgable stables. It was the speed at which she recovered that really told us how neglected she had been. A horse who is hard to keep weight on will stay underweight for months at a time before recovering wheras Nell took only a few weeks. It was obvious that she was a good do-er who had just been run into the ground. 6 weeks into good feeding she started exhibiting more personality. She was headstrong and would walk well ahead of you and it was obvious she was getting bored standing in a field all day so we started to ride her slowly and gently.

A few months later and she was looking very well. We did notice that although still a bit ribby and roach backed, she was shaped very roundly. Our vet confirmed that in the past she had been a broodmare which is why she looks like she does and pees so often. We often joke about how she needs Tena lady!



Summer came and we moved her to Kestal Farm with the others. Lucy came along too and they spent the summer munching on long, lush grass in a field all to themselves. Her condition was fantastic by now; her coat was soft and shiny, her roach back disappeared and her personality really shone. She proved herself to be a wonderfully bombproof and fun ride, although exhibiting a stubborn streak which is well known in Haflingers.


This summer me, Emma and my sister took the horses to a show. Lucy was a veteran to showing, Tralee was a hunter so unfazed by large crowds and Nell was just Nell. It is possible that she was loved once upon a time and she too wore a blue ribbon but for me it felt like the first show. All around the in-hand ring she acted like a bitch, pulling me and standing on me but looking back at these photos, all I can think of is how beautiful she looked. She may have only won a 5th and 3rd but I think she looked wonderfully conditioned and clean.

Nell has a home for the rest of her life with me. We may not know about her past, whether she was ever loved or just used as a foal factory, but as for her future; she is secure and in a home where she will never go unloved.

A quick run down:

• Name: Nell


• Height: 14.2hh


• Gender: Mare


• Breed: Haflinger (x?)


• Colour: Flaxen chestnut pangare


• DOB: 1992
  
• Strength: 4/5


• Stamina: 4/5


• Speed: 4/5


• Riding Comfort: 4/5
  
• Temperament: 3/5
  

Bloody horses! Bloody Weather!

I could have killed Nell last week. After not being able to ride for 2 weeks thanks to atrocious weather, Tony Marr puts a brand new set of shoes on the mare. A few days later she's thrown one off. Tony shoes well, and even with her hooves she normally keeps them for at least 6 weeks, but somehow managed to pull it off. The hoof was in great condition - it hadn't cracked at all - and it looked like the shoe had just slid off the hoof, it was that clean. Thankfully Tony came out again and replaced it and today I finally managed a short ride 'round the lakes with my friend, her horse and our dogs. The weather has been as unpredictable as ever - wet and windy one day then warm and innocently sunny the next and now it's half term its just Sods law that it will pour down until the day I get back to college. On a tremendously positive note: Sarah's selling her half of Nell to me! The grumpy, bolshy, stubborn old mare will actually be all mine after christmas. Yes so she might not appeal to everyone with her headstrong character but I can't help but love her all the more for it. First things first though; I must buy her a new girth as her current one lost a buckle a few days ago and I went riding with only one buckle on the left today. Probably not a brilliant idea, but I was NOT going to miss another day of riding. If I hadn't been able to use the saddle I would definately got on her bareback. I was that desperate to ride.

Horse Profile: Tralee

This picture was taken on the day we bought our first horse home. Tralee is a 15.2hh connemara x Gelding who is now 19yrs old. We had owned a loan horse before him which hadn't worked out so before buying Tralee we took him on loan for 2 weeks. He was previously owned by Captain Sparrow of the Western Hunt so naturally for the 14 yrs that the Captain owned him his job was to be a hunter. Not the kind of hunter that trots around a ring and then has to jump a few logs; no, Tralee was a real fox hunter, hardy, tough and reliable.

His vetting didn't come back all clear - He has low ringbone in his near hind - but his eyes are bright and heart strong. The ringbone does not seem to bother him although he will rest that leg more often than the others. We introduced him to Harriet on his first day home. Large ladies must do something for him as now he thinks he's a stallion. ;)

This was mum's first hunt. Tralee was keeping an eye on the Morgan stallion that he thought might try and steal his girlfriend, Harriet.

Years of hunting and little schooling has left him somewhat ewe necked but overall he's a fantastic little horse that is built to last. He has a pony stride and generally takes his time in everything but is so reliable and bombproof its not worth moaning about. He can go fast when he wants to, however and his age sometimes comes into question when he's prancing down the road or spooking at an ice-cream sign. Last christmas Mum took him hunting and he was behind the red-coats all the way and was in his element to be back hunting.


This year Tralee got a sprained ligament which was a long time healing. Although we were still able to ride him it was very slowly. He seems to finally be getting over it and Emma even did a small jump on him the other day.

Captain Sparrow, and Tralee as a 4 yr old; not long after being imported by Tregurtha from Ireland.

Not surprisingly, Tralee is very well known here in the lower parts of Cornwall. Many times while hunting last year did Mum have people come up to her and say: "That's Captain's horse, that is". It was great having all the history of our old boy and knowing exactly what has happened throughout his life. Quite often people have no knowledge of what there horses may have suffered previously much like how it is with Nell, our 1/2 haflinger mare.

A quick run down:

• Name:Tralee
• Height: 15.2hh
• Gender: Gelding
• Breed: Connemara x (Welsh D?)
• Colour: Chestnut with Flaxen mane/tail
• Place and DOB: Ireland in 1989

• Strength: 3/5
• Stamina: 4/5
• Speed: 3/5
• Riding Comfort: 2/5
• Temperment: 5/5