Winter is here, are your ready!

It seems that every year winter just appears and catches everyone off guard. Last year was a particular challenge to say the least, so here are some practical helpful hints to make your life easier:

Mucking out is always a chore with out having to wrestle your wheel barrow through a foot of snow – try using a dumpy sack which can be bought from builders merchants or local hardware shop. I was able to muck out into them then when nearly full I used my loading tractor to pick them up and put on the muck heap. If you haven’t got a loading tractor you can easily hook them onto a 4WD vehicle and tow the sack to the muck heap…..soooooo much easier.

Rugs In my opinion cheap rugs are what they are CHEAP. Shop wisely in the sales and look for rugs with a good outer layer of at least 600D which are breathable and waterproof – check that the rug is what it says on the bag or you might not be able to return it. Ideally look for a rug system where you can add or remove layers as this saves on money and space and you can use them as stable rugs as well.

Extreme weather We have certainly had plenty of this in the last few years. As well as buying appropriate rugs for your horse it is equally important to buy appropriate clothing for yourselves. Again, I adopt the same principle for myself, buy wisely and buy a jacket with layers and a good outer denier. Be careful when washing to avoid fabric conditioner as it removes the waterproofing on your clothing.

Frozen water was the challenge of my life last year and I will never struggle like that again. I suggest that if a hard frost is due put two footballs in your troughs to ensure that there are at least two large holes where the horses can drink from and in the stable use tennis balls. If you have to use a domestic area to refill canisters ensure you have plenty and keep them in the house over night or they will freeze in the container. Alternatively, fill up clean refuse / feed bins and put the lid on as the volume of water will not freeze over night then you can either pull them to the field or put them in the boot of your car – be careful not to fill past half way or you will not be able to lift them or will probably fall in the trough when emptying them as I did!!! Not funny. Always have rock salt available as slipping and sliding is dangerous and can be easily avoided. I highly suggest that you invest in some yard de-icer in case locks and padlocks freeze up and some Easy Start for your tractors…they don’t like the bad weather either!

Preparation is the key You can achieve anything if your plan ahead, so ensure you always have what your need. Every season seems to be getting more demanding so there is no point wanting the same thing at the same time as everyone else. If your do get caught out use your imagination and improvise you will be amazed at what you can achieve.

For more advice, hints and tips please do not hesitate to contact Nicci in person

Hello and welcome to my first blog.

I thought I would start with exercise, as many people with older horses or those considering resting or retiring their horse often want to keep them in work for as long as possible prior to complete retirement. With this in mind, I have asked my good friend Rachael Cowie who rides my horse Mr. Darcy and a number of the older horses to give her view on this topic?

Exercising the Older Horse.

Exercising, it’s hard enough to exercise and motivate ourselves, and when you have an older horse it can be hard trying to find different things to do, especially in the winter months. However, it’s all about planning what you want to do and having the time to do it in the first place!

Having ridden in all phases, Dressage, Show Jumping and X-Country, your flat work is the most important, this enables you to have control and engages horse and rider to become a team and work together. All horses respond differently, one technique may not work on your horse. It takes time to learn what works for you both, and like people horses have good days and bad days too.

Coming up to the winter and through the winter months, older horses can stiffen up, even if they have been out in the field, or in the stable. By gently warming them up by lunging them first for 10-15mins, use side reins to encourage them to work through their back and engage their hocks, otherwise they are going to hollow. This does nothing for the horse, as they are not working correctly. You want them to be ‘tracking up’ this is so you can see where they put their front legs and the hind legs are landing in that hoof print or stepping over it, if its falling behind then you want to push them forward, but don’t rush.

If your horse does like to rush forward, or leans on to the forehand, ‘half halt’ with your inside rein use your inside leg and push in to your out side rein – check you are not driving them forward with your seat, use your seat and leg to control and up in to the hand, down in to the contact. For older horses, they may find it easier to walk, canter and then trot; I have found this works much better.

In the walk, have a soft contact and gradually collect the reins as you work them in to the contact if you can set out cones in the corners to encourage you to use them. At every other letter do 10 meter circles, use your seat and leg, and remember inside leg to outside hand, your inside rein should be soft, with a contact but not fixed and don’t drop your inside shoulder, look up and around to where you want to go. Do the same in trot, and increase to 15 meter circles for canter. Make sure this is repeated on both reins.

For a cool down and for them to stretch, keep the contact, stay in trot on a 20 meter circle between B-E, decrease the circle to 15-10meters and encourage your horse to take the reins, as long as they are stretching down, still keep the contact, do this on both reins. This encourages them to stretch through their back. When ready, come to a walk, to avoid them bringing their head up you may want to stay in rising trot and then sit gently in to the saddle once in walk (whatever you are comfortable doing)

Hope the above helps, you can do this with any age horse, it is good for a warm up and encourages the older horses to bend and stretch and for you as a rider to make sure you are sitting correctly, and remember to look up!

Thanks Rachael.

If you have any topics or issues you would like exploring please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards,

Niccola Millar-Foy