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Fun Friday

January 27th, 2012, 6:33 am by

A fascinating bit of history and horses today.

In the British countryside there are several so-called “hill figures.”  Many of them are horses, although not all.  A hill figure is a huge symbolic animal that was created by digging out a hill side and then filling in the dug out parts with chalk.

The one pictured here is called the Uffington white horse.   It measures about 374 feet in length and is about 110 feet in height.  The trenches that mark the lines of the white horse are between 5 and 10 feet in width and 2-3 feed deep. What’s amazing to me is that you really can’t appreciate the horse from the ground.  It is so big that you need an aerial view to get the idea that it’s a horse.   As Britain’s oldest and most famous figure it’s dated at more than 3000 years old.  Obviously   it was created long before anyone could see it from the air.   The earliest reference to it was in the 1070′s when the white horse hill was mentioned in some document.

The actual meaning of the Uffington white horse is debated.  Many believe it represents the Celtic horse goddess Epona, who is known for fertility, healing and death.  Among the theories for why it exists is that it may have been created to be worshiped in religious ceremonies.

-Hollie McNeil, Author:40 Fundamentals of English Riding, Owner/Trainer:Riding Right Farm

 

 

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A Star Is Born

January 26th, 2012, 6:18 am by

There’s the old story of the down-on-his luck guy who manages to be in the right place at the right time and somehow hits the big time and becomes a successful movie star.  It looks like the same inspiring story could be told about a horse.  The big star of the Oscar nominated movie War Horse is proving he’s made of all the stuff that Hollywood loves.

The former race horse, who couldn’t run to save his life, is not only the premier equine star of War Horse but he also did Seabuscuit and has a string of new movies ahead of him.

The New York Times did a great piece on him. Check it out:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/25/sports/finders-key-from-far-back-in-the-pack-to-the-lead-in-war-horse.html?_r=1

Hollie McNeil, Owner/Trainer:Riding Right Farm, Author:40 Fundamentals of English Riding

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If There’s Trouble

January 25th, 2012, 5:50 am by

There’s a old saying, that if there’s trouble a horse is going to find it.  Truer words have never been spoken.

Take a look at the picture here.  This is Oakie, our school horse, firmly attached with not one but two blanket attachments to the so-called “safety” fence in his paddock.  Now, you’d think we were starving the poor boy because this all happened as a consequence of him reaching over this fence to get to that little bit of dry, withered grass on the other side of the fence.  Trust me, we don’t starve our horses. I think he’s just into survivalist mode.  You know, the people who have perfectly good food on the table but opt to go out to the woods for a week to prove they don’t need modern society to survive.

Upon finding Oakie snagged to the fence you might think it was just a matter of unhooking the snaps.  Nope.  Can’t be that easy.  Every time I tried to unlatch the snap Oakie would pull back in his effort to free himself from his imprisonment.  Tension is not what you’re looking for here.   Solution for freeing him was to take the blanket off him- not the fence.  He ran with glee to return to his herd and eat the hay that is generously provided.

The next quest was to free the blanket from the fence.  Easier said then done.  I don’t know how he managed it, but those snaps were around two sections of wire fencing where the wire squares come together as a knot.  I couldn’t do that with the dexterity of all my fingers so I haven’t a clue how he managed with no fingers at all.  Getting it off the fence was about a 10 minute enterprise, where I even contemplated getting out the wire cutters.

As the saying goes- if there’s trouble.

Hollie McNeil-Owner/Trainer:Riding Right Farm, Author:40 Fundamentals of English Riding

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Trapping Skills on a Horse Farm?

January 24th, 2012, 6:07 am by

When venturing down this road of running a horse farm I really had no idea the number of skills I would pick up along the way.  Truly, if someone asked me for my job description I would laugh out loud.  The list is so long and so varied.  I can now proudly say I can add “animal trapping” to that list.

If you are a regular blog reader you know that when we got a hay delivery last week it came with the bonus prize of two six month old kittens. Well, we thought two.  But then determined it was one.  But now we’re thinking maybe two again.

The story goes like this:  we had a black kitten spotted running from the hay wagon as we were unloading the hay.  Clearly this kitten was a stow-away on the hay wagon.  I don’t think she was trying to run away from the farm she was at.  She was a victim of staying warm buried deep in a stacked wagon of hay.  Good insulation really.  When the wagon was delivered to our farm, she came along for the ride.   Now, when the black kitten jumped ship there was also a flash of something grey.  It was presumed that we saw two cats.  The following day our dog treed the poor black cat in a lilac bush.  Our attempts to retrieve were not rewarded.  She jumped and ran like her life depended on it.   That’s when we moved onto trapping.

A “have a heart” trap was brought in.  Cool set-up.  I like catching unwanted things without hurting them.  We caught our poor little barn kitty, Tigerlily, the first night.  At least it proved the trap works.  Then Sunday morning (remember how cold that was?) we found a grey kitten in the trap.  Yeah!  She’s been returned to her rightful owners.  Now the question remains- did the grey cat just look like a black cat, or do we really have another one around?

The trap was set up again in the hopes of catching the mystery “black” cat.  Instead with caught a white cat.  Andrea’s cat Fritz found himself behind bars when trying to get the food in the trap.   We’ve set it again.  Who knows what we’ll catch next.

Hollie McNeil, Owner/Trainer:Riding Right Farm, Author:40 Fundamentals of English Riding

 

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Lendon Gray and Education

January 23rd, 2012, 6:38 am by

I got back late last evening from a trip to Woodbury, Ct.  I was presenting one of my educational powerpoint/videos at the Dressage4kids Weekend Educational Program, otherwise known as WEP.  This was the 10th annual WEP and the brain child of two time Olympian, Lendon Gray.

You really have to hand it to this woman.  She has truly dedicated herself to the education of riders.  Her focus has been on kids, as they are obviously our future riders and the caretakers of our horse knowledge.  However, education is for every age and the door is always open and adults are encouraged to attend these events.

Here’s a brief overview of some of the topics that were offered this weekend.  Dr. Hilary Clayton, the country’s premier researcher on equine bio mechanics, gave lectures on horse back pain, bits, bitting and rein tension.   Other presenters talked about everything from animal cruelty investigations, to speech therapy and therapeutic riding, to improving performance through sports psychology.

There were also sessions for professionals in the business that tackled the tough subjects of difficult client situations.  Examples:  how to deal with difficult boarders (and tell them to leave…), and the sometimes dicey relationships between students, parents, and horse owners.   Lendon was one of the presenters for this one and it was great to hear how she’s dealt with these difficult client situations.  After decades in the business and running facilities with more than 50 boarders she’s pretty much seen it all.

Personally, I found every session I attended interesting and informative.  There’s never an end to how much you have to learn in the horse industry (and in life itself for that matter).   A big thanks to Lendon for doing her part to make all this knowledge accessible.

-Hollie McNeil, Owner/Trainer:Riding Right Farm, Author:40 Fundamentals of English Riding

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Cool Mo-Cap

January 20th, 2012, 6:21 am by

The technology that is turning movie making into a computer project, almost rather than an acting project is the future.  Take for instance, Tin Tin, Avatar, and Lord of the Rings.  It’s the melding of what’s real and what’s not and sometimes and it’s tough to tell the difference.  For our Fun Friday today a look at how one film company took on the project of motion capture with horses.  This is some fascinating video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbNeRjfEPkw

-Hollie McNeil, Author:40 Fundamentals of English Riding, Owner/Trainer:Riding Right Farm

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A Mishmash

January 19th, 2012, 6:36 am by

A mishmash of things today.

First, in looking for an image of a hay wagon I came across this old photo.  It’s a six horse team pulling a bob-sled or sleigh (I know there’s some difference but not sure what) full of hay.  Horses are called hay burners and I can imagine that these guys got to where they were going and then needed to turn around and eat all the hay that they delivered. Tough work.

The discovery of this photo came about as a consequence of yesterday’s blog about the delivery of hay that we got that came with the bonus delivery of barn cats.  As I used to say in the news, “We have an update this morning…”

It looks like the image of two cats scattering away after being stowaways on the hay wagon was probably just because of the blur of activity.  We think now that there is only one barn cat.   We’ve spotted a lone black fluffy cat darting between the barns.  My dog is always a good one for letting us know when a cat is around that doesn’t really belong here.  She’s been on high alert and running around the barns with her nose to the ground.  Last night we actually found the cat in the branches of a lilac bush.  The great hunters that we are (not) gathered around with a cat carrier, ladders, and a force of five people.  You can probably guess the rest of the story.  We didn’t stand a chance of collecting up this half wild, scared out of her wits, black cat.   Today, we are resorting to food in a cat carrier as a method of catching her.  Even if this system doesn’t work she won’t be starving.   We’ll call it a win-win situation.

To close out the mishmash, reminders to all that this weekend you can attend a great program put on by Lendon Gray’s Dressage for Kids organization.   The program is called the Weekend Education Program and it’s held in at a high school in Connecticut.  It’s not just for kids and it offers multiple educational opportunities.  I’ll be presenting on Sunday afternoon with some very neat video taken from our work on the book/dvd 40 Fundamentals of English Riding and also from some of our video for  a new book/dvd that we’ve been working on that focuses on dressage and kids.   For more information go to:http://dressage4kids.com/educational_programs%20at%20Dressage4Kids%202008.htm

-Hollie McNeil, Owner/Trainer: Riding Right Farm, Author: 40 Fundamentals of English Riding

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Bonus Hay Delivery

January 18th, 2012, 5:56 am by

When you get a load of hay in from your local farmer you would usually expect it to be a simple transaction: hay.  How about a load of hay and two kittens?  Either it’s a clever way to get rid of too many barn cats or it’s like opening a checking account and getting a free toaster.

In reality it’s neither.  Apparently when the hay was loaded late last week, two six month old kittens found warmth and comfort deeply buried in the hay.  When the hay wagon was hooked up to a truck and brought the several miles to our farm the cats were stuck.  Stowaways if you will.  Innocent, non-intentional stowaways at that.

The wagon then proceeded to sit at our place for two more days until we started to unload it yesterday.  Imagine the surprise of our barn workers, when pulling hay off the wagon and seeing two very scared little cats scatter like mice. I’ve no idea what the cats did in the interim.  We had our coldest weather of the season while they were apparently seeking warmth in the hay.  Did they come out for food or water?  There’s no way to tell.

I would love to tell the rest of the story but that will have to wait.  The cats jumped ship and scooted to some other unknown hideaway.  It could be that we have two more barns cats.  On the other hand they could have started hitchhiking back to home.  Cats do seem to live up to the old saying about having nine lives.  I suspect these guys have more adventures to live.

-Hollie McNeil, Owner/Trainer:Riding Right Farm, Author:40 Fundamentals of English Riding

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Hay Dunkers

January 17th, 2012, 7:20 am by

For all of you blog readers out there that haven’t been around horses a whole lot here’s another confirming sign that horses are as individual as we are in our likes and dislikes.

Today’s example: the hay dunker.  Not far from the concept of Dunkin’ Donuts (originating from the idea that we like to dunk donuts in coffee ) comes the hay dunker.   This is the horse that has to take his hay and each little mouth full of hay goes into his water bucket for a moment or two before being chewed and swallowed.

Hay dunkers can be messy.  First, they need to have a couple of sources of water.  Once they dunk enough hay that particular source of water becomes filled with debris and turns a lovely shade of brown or green from the sugars and whatnot leaching out of the hay.  Second, there tends to be hay and water slopped all over the place.  The floor of the stall between the water and the hay will need cleaning attention on a daily basis.

The question that comes to mind now is why?  You’ll find varying opinions on this question.  One fairly obvious answer is that dunking makes the hay more palatable.  The water makes it a bit softer to chew and therefore easier to go down.  It does appear that if a horse has any dental issues they can quite often resort to the dunking process as a way of dealing with what’s not working right with their teeth and jaw.  Age can be a factor as well.  It seems the older the horse the more likely they will become a hay dunker.  Again, probably because their teeth aren’t working as well as they used to because of age, wear and tear.

In my own opinion, aside from dental and age issues, I think once a horse starts to dunk it becomes a habit and they don’t like their hay dry again.  They enjoy the dripping mixture of hay and water and that’s that.

Hollie McNeil, Owner/Trainer:Riding Right Farm, Author:40 Fundamentals of English Riding

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Against the Odds

January 13th, 2012, 6:36 am by

If you are a regular reader of this blog or if you just keep up with the industry news you’ve no doubt heard the come back story of Neville Bardos. He’s the eventing horse of Boyd Martin who nearly died in a horrible fire.  Martin arrived at the barn and heard that his horse was not out yet and even though every one told him to not go into the fire, it was too late, he ran in anyway and saved his horse.  The chestnut gelding came out with massive burns both internal and external.

Here’s a really nice video piece on this great story from the New York Times:

http://video.nytimes.com/video/2012/01/12/sports/100000001282992/an-unlikely-comeback.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=thab1

Have a great weekend- and stay warm!

-Hollie McNeil, Author:40 Fundamentals of English Riding, Owner/Trainer:Riding Right Farm

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