A Very Merry Christmas

Hello a very merry Christmas and a happy new year to you all. I didn’t really find the time to do all the posts I’d wanted to on the run up to Christmas but I’m here now to give all my viewers a quick merry horsey fix.

It’s been cold wet and muddy but all our beloved equines are soldiering on through it all and in good health, I think they better have some extra oats and mints come Christmas day. We didn’t find the time this year to dress any of them up for Christmas but here are a bunch of pics given a Christmas look.

Hope you liked them and thanks for dropping in have a wonderful Christmas!

Just Keeps Coming Back

Long time no see right? My last post was all the way back in 2014 wishing you all a happy Halloween which I hope you had. Now I’m back with Christmas looming just around the corner let’s hope it’s a good one for all, but back on track now, it’s been fun looking back through my blog and seeing how my point of view has changed so drastically on some subject and stayed so true to others but that’s part of the reason I wanted to start a blog so that in years to come I could look back on it and see all the good and the bad times I’ve had with our equines, so without further ado on with the blogging!

As you can see we’re all muddy and the winter plod of horse ownership is in full swing. For anyone wondering that has forgotten our little herds names or simply for my newer viewers the little chap at the very top of the post is Murphy our Welsh section C and the big bay fella above this text is Niko my Thoroughbred gelding that I believe stands at around 16.2hh I should probably re-measure the old boy. Our herd is still fully intact but I currently don’t have any photos of the others floating around to use in this post.

  

Here’s a pic of Murphy going shopping in our farmshop to make up for no photographs of the others and to think people complain about not being able to load their horses and ponies into a trailer, be patient put the time in and your beloved equine will follow you anywhere.

Trusting that I can find the time I’ll be doing a few blog posts during the run up to christmas and onwards into 2016 and beyond.

Happy Halloween

Just a quick post to wish you all a Happy Halloween!

Hope you and your Equines have a great Halloween.

Everyday Stuff

Just a quick post to let you all know how everyday stuff with the horses is going, if you couldn't care less about this please do feel free to skip it. Well as you can see we've got all the Thoroughbred Horses rugged up and they are getting their fluffy winter coats now, the ponies winter coats are so thick they don't need rugs and most likely won't all winter. 

Above is a photo of our field or one side of it anyway, with all the rain we've been having it had left the fields quite muddy, then we had all the wind that dried the fields out and here you have it one big dirt field, it does have some grass down one end but they won't eat that so I guess they can't be hungry, just as well with all the haylage they munch through.

Of course haylage isn't the only thing our beloved equines are eating, we've still got our portable fencing and although it is a little run down, it's plastic after all, it still does the job. This is a shot to show some of the grazing they get, it's not great and does have rather a lot of weeds but at least they can still get some grass.

Here's what else they can reach, yummy apples, some of our herd are a little too fond of the apples, but we do keep an eye on them to make sure they don't over do it and make themselves feel ill.None of our equines have to worry about getting a shock from the portable electric fence because we don't turn it on, with them in, this does sound a bit silly but they are remarkably well behaved so they're is no real need to turn it on.

  

Coming to the end of the post now with a photo of the wonderful Niko, he is looking over to see when we are done putting up the portable fence. All the equines are well and happy, the farrier is coming tomorrow to trim their hooves, so let's hope that all goes well. 

That's it from me I hope you are all having a great time with your equines or whatever it is you happen to be up to. 

Neue Schule Verbindend Horse bit Review

 Here's my review of Neue Schule's Verbindend horse bit.

I bought Niko, my Thoroughbred gelding, this bit and have been riding him in it for quite some time now so I figured I'd do a post reviewing the bit.Just before we get started I would like to say that no matter how good or bad I make the Verbindend sound you need to pick the right bit for your horse, so just please remember some bits are better for some breeds of horse/equine, it's important to do lots of research before running off and buying a bit just because it's shiny and looks like gold.

If you take a look at the photo above you should see three things, one my bit is a little dirty (shame on me) two the rather curved shape of the bit and three it has that handy little lozenge thingy, which will stop too much nutcracker action going on. Back to the shape of the Verbindend now due to it's shape when in the horse's mouth it makes a channel for the horse's tongue, the idea being to prevent tongue evasion which I can say it's pretty good at, but, if your  horse is the type to stick his tongue out this bit isn't always going to stop it, on the other hand if he is sticking his tongue out because he hasn't got enough room in his mouth with a big bit in there this might do the trick.

Because of the Verbindend's kind of odd shape it actually doesn't take up nearly as much room in your horse's mouth as you might think it would. With all this talk of shape maybe it's got you wondering how harsh will this bit be on my horse, well to be honest the bit really isn't bad and your horse can understand what you're asking with just the slightest rein signals, no it's not a wonder bit that can make your horse's mouth suddenly sensitive if he's dead in the mouth but it's likely to be a step in the right direction.

Now to the sizes, Niko's Verbindend is a 12mm bit with 70mm rings it's a good size for Niko but you might want to consider other sizes depending on your horse/equine's mouth size and breed. Okay now down to the standard stuff you all want to know, the bit is good for sending clear signals, I believe it's comfy for the horse when fitted properly, it's not a overly harsh bit but don't kid yourself it's still metal, it's great for transition, the Verbindend bit in general is a good bit and in the size I have it it's completely dressage legal.

The one downside to the Neue Schule's Verbindend bit is it's made of a very soft metal that makes the horse salivate sounds good right? Well not really because the metal is too soft so this can happen, see photo above. I would like to say that this only happened when Niko my TB was first getting used to the bit and he had previously only been ridden in a straight rubber bit, so please keep that in mind.

All things considered I like the Verbindend bit and would recommend it for many horses. Just remember to check out what types of bit are going to suit your equine best.