We never know what is coming up next on our Facebook page. Many photos and stories find their way to us but this week was a tragic tale. Horse photographer, Sian Lewis, from South Wales (some of her images are on our greetings cards) told us about a young friend of hers who was involved […]
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Welcome to our blog page, HOOFBEATS, where we talk about the countryside with a main emphasis on training and caring for horses and ponies. If you would like to contribute ideas and information about your own experiences, we would be delighted to hear them. Please email to [email protected]
The opinions expressed here are from personal experience and we strongly advise you to contact your vet or your riding instructor if you are seriously worried about your horse.
How much should you do with a 2-y-o horse? Most of us would leave them in the field to grow up, keep an eye on them, teach them to lead if they don’t already know, worm them, vaccinate them and have their feet pared by the farrier. That’s it! It’s amazing, however, how many people […]
Traininghorses/coilogyellow.jpgFrench StudentsOur French students returned again this year and their visit lasted seven weeks. We had a lot of fun and plenty of riding. The horses and ponies were taken to schooling rounds at CoilÓg, a fun show jumping competition and (what the boys like best) around the cross country course at Stradbally. Hosting French […]
Sprite had a new experience last week. He made an appearance at the Pony Club Rally with a 10 year old girl on board. I’ve posted a photo of Sprite Being Good at the Tullamore Show (see left), safely on the end of a lead rein and ridden by an 8 year old boy. That’s […]
Welcome visitors Warmer weather and April signals the return of swallows from South Africa to our stable yards in Ireland and the UK. We asked for first sightings to be recorded and so far we’ve had two on Saturday, 2nd April in West Sussex and Leicestershire, one on Sunday, 3rd on the coast in Co. […]
Well, I’m not complaining about April so far. We’ve had a weekend of lovely weather, birds singing happily in the trees and a visit from a family with two teenage girls who like riding our horses and ponies. The only blot on this idyllic landscape is the lush, green grass shooting out of the earth. […]
I’ve started training our yearling pony. He escaped from his field on the day he was born by sliding under the fence and now, it seems, he’s got a taste for it. After several phone calls from my neighbours to say he was out on the lane, I’m now bringing him into a stable during […]
I’ve got two successes to report: Number One, the rosettes have arrived for our Online Show so here is a photo of our Zimmerman modelling them. And Number Two, I’ve finally worked out how to access a blog on blogger.com that I apparently set up in 2008 and promptly forgot how to find it again. […]
What’s under your horse’s rug?Modern horse rugs fit so well and the same ones can often be used in stable and field. There is a temptation to forget to take the rugs off regularly and not look to see what’s happening underneath them, especially if we have a lot of horses at grass or not […]
Problems with keeping a horse in an outline are very common and, first, it’s important to know what a correct outline is. Basically it’s to do with a horse’s head carriage and way of going. Young and untrained horses find it difficult to work in an outline and will take time to find the correct […]
Why are so many people afraid of thoroughbreds? I can honestly say that some of the easiest horses I’ve had to ride have been TBs. I know we shouldn’t generalise about any breed of horse or pony but I think the view of an ex-racehorse as an excitable, impossible to train equine is often unjustified. […]
Archive Newer | OlderFriday, December 31, 2010 Top 10 Favourite International Riders for 2010The last day of 2010! Has it been a good year for you? It’s certainly been a cold and snowy one in Ireland and yet, if you ask the Met Eireann weather experts, they’ll tell you that 2010 has been the warmest […]
Hallowe’en has been and gone for another year and hopefully our animals have survived all the bangs and flashes associated with fireworks. Fireworks are actually illegal in the Republic of Ireland but authorities turn a blind eye to the displays around the countryside at the end of October. One of my horses hates the noise […]
Last week we received a query about the connection between filled legs in horses and feeding and, three days later, I went out to feed my own horses and found that the Irish Draught x had four extremely puffy, filled legs. Sometimes, especially with a larger, older horse, his legs are slightly filled in the […]
We asked our friends on Facebook yesterday for their advice to an imaginary best friend who was about to buy a horse or pony for the first time. To our surprise, nearly all the answers were a resounding ‘Don’t!’ Some good suggestions were made, such as putting off buying until the friend had more experience, […]