Merry Christmas

Hello and Merry Christmas to all you bloggers out there I am looking forward to catching up with all your blogs soon.

But for now I hope you are all having a great Christmas Eve and I wish you all a very merry Christmas.

The Horses Line of Sight

Today I’ll be writing more about the horse’s eyes, more specifically there line of sight, see rough diagram above of the horses line of sight. As you can see the horse can see nearly all the way around it’s self but has a blind spot behind and just in front of the face. Because of the blind spot in front of the face when you walk straight up to a horse you will disappear from the horses sight, most horses will move there head to keep you in there sight or perhaps step backwards to bring you back into sight.

If you approach a horse from an angle it will keep you in their view, this is also the way to approach a horse to show you are a friend. If you are far away from a horse some may turn their head to catch you with both eyes, you should be able to see where both eyes meet, on my diagram, when a horse uses two eyed vision it is binocular view.

Now if we return to the blind spot in front of the horses face. The blind spot is about six feet in front of the horse, but of course you have to take into consideration where the horse eyes are set on the horse. The blind spot can affect the horse when jumping as most horses must jump from the memory of the jump, so if they lose focus or become distracted in some way you may find your horse runs straight into the jump because they forgot when to jump. But with all that said the position of the horses head and the setting of the eyes can all play a part in it.

Anyway that’s it on the horses line of sight for now, I hope you found this interesting if so you can click the link to read one of my older posts with more about the horses eye.

December So Far

It’s my first December post, bad I know, I have been a very poor blogger of late. I hope you are all having a great December so far, my December has been very good but the weather is dreadful. It’s been very windy and we’ve had quite a bit of rain, today there has been a break in the wind and rain but sadly it did rain last night so no riding for today.

All the horses are well if a little muddy, well to be honest very muddy but they don’t seem bothered by it. But this does bring me on to the subject of Pip, sad as it may be, I fear he will have to lose those feathers of his as they have become caked with mud.

In other news Tipper is doing really well. I haven’t see him this good since I met him, he has been trotting about, kicking, and bucking so that’s good, I think he’s quite a happy chap now we’ve had him for a while. Also I’ve started putting his neck cover on at night and sometimes leave it on during the day if it’s very cold.

Anyways that’s about all from me and just before I go, hello and thanks for following to my new followers, and thanks for sticking around to all my other followers.

A HayNet Pick of the Week

Some of you other horsey bloggers out there will probably know of HayNet, but for those of you that don’t it is, in it’s own words, an equine social blogging network. You can put links up to your blog posts or even run another blog from it.

Anyways now that you’ve got a rough idea of what Hay-Net is I was simply going to say that my Mud and Mishaps post has been chosen as a HayNet pick of the week blog post, so I am quite happy with that.

If you aren’t already a member of a HayNet and would like to become one here is a link to the HayNet website.

Sorry about all old photos I haven’t been taking any lately, so I thought I’d just take a look though what I did have.

Mud and Mishaps

Ah just look at all that mud. Obviously I haven’t been able to ride when it’s this bad, it has dried up a lot since this photo was taken thankfully, but sadly I did have to cancel a lesson. So I’ve got awhile until my next lesson, I guess it’ll give me time to practice what I have learnt.

I’ve also started to try and do more work with Madeline now that I have more of an idea of riding in general as when I re-backed Madeline I was hesitant to start her training because I didn’t want to teach her incorrectly. I am now a lot more confidant and would like to get her going nicely.

I was riding Madeline the other day when she saw the other equines were having some food. She immediately decided that she would go and have some as well. But of course I wouldn’t let her so she tried to canter off with me sending mud and dirt flying. I asked her to walk for me which she did, but I noticed she had her left ear back in a rather odd way and I found myself wondering if maybe she had hurt herself. So I stopped her, lent forward onto her neck, reached over and took hold of her ear checking to see if she had hurt it somehow and next I knew Madeline saw a bit of haylage and lent down to get it, sending me slipping off over her neck with the grace of a drunken baboon. I swung my right leg over as if I were dismounting but my left leg was stuck in the stirrup, Madeline looked up from her haylage with a bemused look as I wiggled free. I was so very relieved that she hadn’t ran off, so with everything but my pride intact I got back on and finished the ride.

Now steering away from my little bit of foolishness here is a photo of Niko after rolling. Niko and I had just finished working and I’d un-tacked him, given him a quick brush down and off he went to get muddy. I hadn’t the heart to stop him because he hasn’t had a really good roll like this in some time. I have to say I think it probably wasn’t a good idea, I am still trying to get the chap clean. He loves to rub the mud on his face.

Anyway that’s about all from me, oh and if you were wondering why I thought Madeline might have hurt her ear I am ashamed to admit it, but seriously, I thought she might have flicked mud up into it, turns out she was just a bit put out because I wouldn’t let her go eat.

I know, I know, how have I survived this long?

Back On Blogger

Hello everyone as some of you may have noticed I have been off Blogger for sometime, in that time I’ve had my 18th birthday and been doing I lot of riding. Anyway on to the blogging but one more thing I’d like to say thanks to Abby for the happy birthday comment.


So here is the post I said I was going to do about my riding and Niko and I. Here’s a photo that was taken just earlier today, as normal I have a odd look on my face but I am really not bothered about that, as you may be able to see I am not wearing spurs, to me he looks like he is going quite well and just as well as he goes when I am wearing spurs.

I haven’t really got any good photos of me riding him in spurs for you to compare with the photos of me without spurs, but enough about the spurs. I’ve found I am having trouble with my legs so I have a question for any of you horsey experts out there, how do I keep my legs wrapped around the horse and my toes in, anyone got some tips?

Now that’s quite enough of my whingeing I could go on for days, but all in all I guess my riding has improved and Niko is going really well for me. I am so pleased with him. Niko is slowly starting to get a bit more of a shape to him with all the work he has been doing in a good outline, he still has a lot to build up. Also it may not seem like it but his mane has grown quite a lot too which I am happy about, I would like to let it grow long and then I’ll decide if I am going to do something with it after winter.

Well I think that’s plenty of rambling for one day I hope to be doing some more blogging soon and hopefully my posts will be a bit more organized.

Murphy Show Pony to be?

I’ve been planning on taking Murphy to a show for sometime, he’s such a pretty little Pony and does move quite nicely, but when he moved in with Pip he became good friends and they would groom one another very often which sadly led to the tragic demise of Murphy's beautiful mane as Pip may have um… well… he ate it :(

On the bright side he ate it in the friendliest way, with simple incessant grooming. But it has still somewhat lessened Murphy’s appearance, so the plan is that hopefully I can get his mane on the correct side during winter and his mane to grow back so he’ll be looking good next year and will be ready for a show.

I’ve got to do lots of inhand work with him over the winter months too as I’d rather Murphy did not go crazy and start cantering and bucking around the show ground. He can be very spirited and full of energy at times, which I love about his character but it does also mean that he’s likely to do something silly with all the excitement of a show.

Murphy is coming along really well and I am very happy with him. I have lunged him a little bit and he has been great at it and really listening. All this said I haven’t really much idea about shows so I had better learn a thing or two as well.

Now that’s all from me, my next post will hopefully be about my riding and how Niko's getting on.

The HoneyChop Horses

In the past I have mentioned that we use HoneyChop in the horses feed and how much they love it, well sometime ago I posted that I’d been trying the horses on HoneyChop plus Garlic, which went down very well. I also received a comment from HoneyChop asking if they might be able to use some of my photos, here’s the link to my post.

After HoneyChop had let me know what photos they wanted to use, I was happy to say yes, and as a token of their appreciation they gave me five free bags of HoneyChop and I was allowed to choose the type of HoneyChop as well, thank you very much HoneyChop.

Anyway the HoneyChop website has now received its full makeover complete with some of my photos and many more, the new website is great it’s very informative and helpful. Here is a link to the HoneyChop website, take a look around and you’ll probably spot Tipper and maybe some of my other photos.

Details on Pippin

It’s taken me longer than I would have liked to do this post but as usual lots of things have been getting in the way, but now some details on Pip.


Pip’s full name is, Bayfields Pippin Lord Darby. He was born sometime in May 2010, and he is still entire, his sire’s name is Bobby and dam’s name is Daisy. Pip is a Gypsy Vanner, also referred to by some as Classic Cobs, Gypsy Cobs, or Irish Cobs. Gypsy Vanners were originally bred as wagon/cart horses and children’s riding horses.

My father purchased Pip to be used for pulling (pushing) a trap, but obviously Pip has a long way to go till he is ready to pull (push) a trap, having said that some people say equines can drive at a younger age than they can be ridden, what is your opinion? All that said if everything goes the way I would like Pip will be broken to ride at the age of four and than broken to drive. As you can see from this photo I am having difficulty keeping the little chap clean with all the rain and mud around here.

In this photo Pip is on a tether, many Gypsy horses are kept in this manner. I have seen what harm it can do to an equine and I truly hate tethers, needless to say Pip is no longer kept on a tether and now shares a paddock with the other equines and his play mate Murphy Junior. Pip has become a very happy and sensible pony since he was joined by the rest of the herd.

The breed Gypsy Vanner should have a build similar to a heavy horse/ draft horse, with a compact body a short back and neck with good bone. Gypsy Vanners should also have long manes and tails with lots of feathering on the legs, a Gypsy Vanners hair should be long straight and silky. It maybe hard to tell from the photos but Pip has all these characteristics, he is a great little chap, and I was so pleased with him today as I did a little bit of in hand work with him and he was so good for me, he is getting on very well.

That’s all on Pippin for now, next up I hope to be doing the post I metioned about Murphy. Oh and I just remembered another name used to refer to a Gypsy Vanner is Tinker horse, and now I am off.

Welcome To the New Month

Welcome to the new month, a very special one too (my birthday’s in this one), I hope you’re all well I haven’t been posting a lot lately. I only did 8 posts last month, but I was surprised to see that I had more views than September when I posted 13 times.

Autumn is finally here, a bit late but better late than never, the trees are starting to turn a very nice colour, and the leaves have finally begun to fall, anyways on with horsey stuff.

I’ve got lots to yak about but need to get around to putting it in to a post, I’ll be talking about my riding and how Niko and I are getting on some more.

I’ll also be posting about little Murphy and what’s been going on with him and the plans I have for him, yes I know that makes it sound kind of sinister, but it’s really not.

And I really want to do a post about Pip with more details on him and of course how he’s getting on, but I need to get some photos of him, all the ones I’ve been getting have been rubbish.

So all that is hopefully to come in the new month and obviously I’ll have other stuff to go on about like the other horses and things.

Now I am off, thanks for following and I hope you all had a cracking Halloween.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from, Niko and I.

Murphy.

Madeline.

Pip.


And Tipper but he didn’t want to wear the devil horns.

Hope you enjoyed seeing these photos, have a fun Halloween.

These Boots Are Made for Walking, Riding, and Maybe Sometimes Running

Sometime ago I bought a pair of second-hand Tredstep gaiters, and today my jodhpur boots arrived, they are not Tredstep. Anyways here are my new foot/leg wear I know that to many of you it probably looks a bit tatty but it was cheap and I prefer this to my old riding boots.

The boots are just standard jodhpur boots, they are very comfy but they do have grippy treads, which I have been advised against because they can stick in the stirrup iron and you’ll be pulled along with your horse. Still the other pair were out of stock so I just went with these, and at the moment I am not really going to fall off doing what I am doing. I think if I was to go cross-country I might have to worry. Well I am happy with the boots anyway.

In other news Tipper’s still sound from the walk work I have been doing with him, he’s still not ready to go up a pace but it’s coming along nicely.

I’ve also been trying to get Murphy’s mane to stay on the right side, it really, really doesn’t want to, I tried plaiting it and leaving it for a few days but when I un-plaited it soon went back to the wrong side.

And I am going to have a lesson tomorrow so let’s hope that all goes well. Now I must be off to clean my tack, I'll try to catch up with your blogs over the next few days and reply to your comments.

My Riding

So here’s the post I said I was going to do about my riding. It all seems to be going very well, but I have concerns. I am concerned about the use of spurs, my instructor has me ride with impulsion spurs. I don’t mind the use of spurs as long as they are being used in the right way, they aren’t there for someone that can’t ride properly to bully the horse into doing as they wish, so I am left wondering should I be using spurs, but anyway enough about the spurs.

As you can see from the photos he is going rather nicely for me and I am delighted with him, remember to look at the horse not the ugly mug on top, I think he’s looking more round as well so that’s good. My instructor says his trot is great so I was pleased with that, I do love to trot but must remember to do lots of walk too. My instructor was trying to explain how to do a leg-yield today they decided to show me so hopped on Niko to do a leg-yeld but sadly he threw a paddy so they decided not to stress the matter and go on to different work. They said that someone else has probably tried leg-yeld with him before but not done it right, so it might take a bit to get him leg-yelding nicely.

All in all I am having a great time riding and I am really enjoying my lessons, but I do just worry a little about the spurs, the rest is going great and I couldn’t be happier. If any of you have an opinion on the spurs please feel free to comment it.

Bringing Tipper Back Into Work

I have just started to bring Tipper back into work. We still aren’t one hundered percent sure what’s wrong with him and why he has been lame on and off, but he has had a lot of time off and he seems to be pretty good so I’ve started to do some work with him. I am just walking him around and trying to get him to stretch with a nice active walk. I am trying to make sure he doesn’t get lazy with one leg, when I first started he seemed a bit lazy with his off fore but today he has been great for me and I was really happy with him.

He’s getting a lot better about picking his feet up too. He is still very unhappy about having it done but will at least pick his foot up for me now, he’s still resisting a little but I am hoping that in even more time he will be good about having his feet done.

At the moment I am just walking him around the paddock in straight lines and only turning at the corner and then back to a straight line. I’ve also been getting him to halt when I ask him as he is a bit rude when it comes to people and will do things like just walk straight through you, it’s quite annoying but he is getting better and is learning, well I think he is anyway.

As for why we’ve been having soundness problems I don’t really know for sure, he has poor conformation which could have led to injury in the past maybe even more than one. Still he is on the mend now (touch wood) and all I can really do is try what I am trying and see how he gets on, if he shows signs of lameness again then he’ll just have to go straight back to rest, but let’s hope that won’t be necessary.

I’ve Joined Twitter

On a rather un-horsey topic I have just joined Twitter, here is a link to me you can follow should you so choose: @myequines

I found it quite exciting seeing all those famous riders with Twitter accounts too, sad I know, anyway I followed a total of eight tweeters and then my brother informed me not to get to carried away or Twitter might think I am a spam bot. I haven’t tweeted yet and I don’t suppose I’ll do a lot but it can’t hurt to have an account.


Anyway that is quite enough about Twitter, I’ll hopefully be doing a post about Tipper and how he is getting on soon, also I’ve got lots to yak on about with regards to my riding, all of this to come later.

Also if you are taking part in the N.L.B.P and I have missed the post please do contact me and I will stop by.

Photos That Were Nearly Left Behind - Invitation

A while back I did a post showing some of the photographs that I had taken but nearly didn’t use on my Blog. I received a comment from my follower allhorsestuff suggesting I start a meme N.L.B.P (Nearly left behind photographs) so here are some more of my photos that nearly didn’t go on the blog.

If you like the idea of sharing some of your photos that were nearly left behind then why not join in. Simply do a post with a selection of your photographs, three as the minimum, stop by to let me know you have done so and I’ll post links to all the blogs that are taking part. Feel free to ask your readers if they would like to join in as well and I’ll link to them too.

Hope you enjoyed my photos and I hope to see some of your nearly left behind photos soon.