Natural Horsemanship with my Haflinger!

well after a good start coming back into work, we have gone downhill a little, and she looks pretty stiff, seems that the more we do, the arthritis looks worse, but this is odd as it should be the other way around, maybe its a haflinger thing

despite this, gonna have a go at getting my Level 2 down on film, we cant currenty do the ridden canter task, but all else is OK (at least it is until the camera is turned on!)

on a good note, the weigh tape tells me she has lost 4 stone!

Three days, and some good progress ;0) Giddy looks to be moving much freerer than she was earlier in the year, whether the break, or the glucosamine is finally kicking in, I dont know, but I am over the moon to see her moving a little better; still not 100%, but she is happy to go on both reins, and looks pretty good

I set up a little game based around some hill therapy and the circling game, this certainly seems to have piqued her interest, and is doing her the world of good; took the car down and marked a nice track around my 22ft line tied to a cone, nice and flat now and easier for her to move on. Put cones in four places, equally around the circle, with poles on the inside of these, resting on the cone, and those little poly pod things on the inside, about 4 inches i suppose

Interestingly, she didnt want to walk them at first, prefering to trot (!), I am unsure if this is because she has to strech her back less in trot? So that kept us entertained, and have moved this on to thing's like can you go over all 4 without running around the outside, or coming inside, can you do all four with enthusiasm, can you walk to one, trot to the next, walk, trot, then canter; over three days she hasnt got bored with this, and has been happy to go, even offering jumps over the cones, and they are big ones, so i suppose 2.5ft!!

Today I also put her out on the 45ft line for some bigger circles, and got a full circle in canter both sides

Have also ridden three days in the row, with all going well, just doing a little and being careful not to do too much (both mentally and physically). I have been reading about the parelli cradle bridle, and the tongue relief makes sense to me, especially as shes so big in the jaw with a massive tongue ;0) Funds tight at the mo, so have been looking at second hand mylers on ebay; popped in the tack shop today and had a long chat with them; they suggested i try a straight bar, flexible rubber bit, and she actually seems to quite like this, and it certainly looks a better fit for her than the confidence snaffle, she offered some nice soft feel and was pretty still in the mouth; will see how we goes

we did have a bit of a battle yesterday when she got a little tired and didnt want to go forward on the left rein, and was just offering bacwards; I got a little frustrated; but today got on with a lot more purpose, and was working on getting some snappier sideways movement off my leg; have been reading some more traditional riding / training manuals of late, and finding that i am now able to put these in context of my parelli studies, and found it all really helped today

I know for sure I am way too "soft" when it comes to the riding with her in the quest to be natural and not to force her, but there is a need for absolute clarity and being firm when needed, keeping this in mind today, had some lovely results

I have ordered The Complete Training of Horse and Rider by Alois Podhajsky and The Art of Horsemanship by Xenophon, hopefully they will be here tomorrow

Well, as per normal, have fallen behind with this!

Anyway, after some good days, I fel inspired to do an update

We had a very tiny brush with laminitis, but it was very fleeting, pulse was up, and a tiny bit footy, pulled them both off the grass, had some bute, so as an emergency measure, used this and upped the magnesium, next day she looked completely fine, but pulse was going up and down for a few days, until, bingo, cant believe have never tried it before, but gave her some Zeolite after coming across this on the web from an american company; thankfully it's available here from Seventh Wave. Makes total sense really as it removes toxins, and within 12 hours her pulse was gone ;0))

so that was some time ago, since then, she is now on 100% soaked hay, and I am going the full hog and soaking for 12 - 24 hours; she seems more than happy to eat it thankfully, no suprise being a haffie i suppose; and for three days, we have been back into work, and they are going out for a few hours late at night. So far so good, both looking good, and Giddy has lost a massive 20 kilos (3 stone), well, thats according to the weigh tape anyway! She certainly looks really good, beautiful shiny coat and very happy in herself, so all being well, we can stay laminitis free for good now.