• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

A day at the stables

diamondlil

diamondlil

Mice! They taste so nice!
No time for my riding lesson today, because I foolishly suggested I'd need some lessons in stable management. So instead of loafing about while Kim works, I've progressed to helping muck out, and today was promoted to doing my own work without her help. (She's worked in livery yards before and has high standards, so being allowed to muck out and lay a bed is really promotion:)) After that, I had a class in picking hooves out, with Merlin being my very patient model.
It rained heavily for an hour or so, then the sun was out and we decided to get the rugs off and go for some heavy-duty grooming on the mares that are living out. (The bigger ones are in foal, due around May).
 

Attachments

  • 1.jpg
    1.jpg
    91.5 KB · Views: 990
  • 10.jpg
    10.jpg
    110.6 KB · Views: 984
  • 17.jpg
    17.jpg
    93.7 KB · Views: 986
  • 25.jpg
    25.jpg
    59.3 KB · Views: 985
  • 28.jpg
    28.jpg
    73.1 KB · Views: 982
We didn't have time to groom either of the stallions, who have to be tied up for grooming, so they kept their wild look for now:)
 

Attachments

  • 4.jpg
    4.jpg
    119.1 KB · Views: 984
  • 15.jpg
    15.jpg
    88.5 KB · Views: 982
There are so many mares that I'm only just learning their personalities. The chestnut is an arab but I can't remember her bloodline (The owner can rattle off the breeding of all his horses, I know she's not a Crabbet, but I think there is a Crabbet stallion in her line somewhere. So she's carrying an arab x andalusian foal. She's quite aloof, today is the first time I've got a kiss from her. She had a few owners so doesn't trust you immediately, to win her affection I've just made sure she's never felt pressured and took it very slowly with her. (In contrast, the flea-bitten grey has been with the owner all of her life and loves everyone:))
 
Being around the ponies and horses again after so long, and learning to be comfortable around them has been hard work, with lots of help from my friends. From a childhood spent obsessed with them, I never trusted them after getting bolted with at the age of 10. I would never have been on the same side of the fence without breaking into a sweat a couple of years ago. Understanding that they can hurt you without meaning to and learning how to be safe and confident around them again is beyond words. Apart from my human pals who own the horses, it's really down to the sweet natures of Coconuts and Merlin that I'm building up to working with the more difficult characters too.
 
I spent a lot of time while growing up, working at the local stables. I didn't really get paid, but I got to ride the horses and that was payment enough! Your pictures brought back some great memories. What a gorgeous group of horses.. lucky!
 
Thanks! I'm very lucky, I'd never be able to afford my own horse or give the time and commitment they need and lessons are far too expensive around here. I can't wait for the foals to start arriving, and the coloured french sports horse, Gypsy, is going to be backed later this year.
 
Thank you for posting your photos; they bring back such good memories. I sold my last horse about six years ago when I bought my house. Sadly, I couldn't afford both. :( I still have my saddle, bridles, and brushes, just in case!

Kathy
 
Thanks for enjoying them! I've got my own starter grooming kit, in a terrible pink colour, in it's own pink bag! I actually like grooming as much if not more than the riding lessons, because it helps me relax and become more 'savvy' around the horses, and I feel it's a better way of getting to know them than giving treats. My first 'hands on' sessions with Coconuts and a carrot stick used to leave me in a nervous heap, because I just didn't trust her. Because she was so wild (caught straight off the moors with a foal at foot, passed through dealers and no reason to like people), gaining trust was a two-way process, and I wasn't at all ready to be around the big horses until I'd bonded with her.
I'm still working my way through the Parelli games, and my friend got me the lovely Bill Dorrance book for Christmas. Learning how and why the ponies and horses get spooked and how to stay safe around them, then learning how to have fun with them again is a long process but totally worth it.
I was almost killed by a bolting hunter at the age of 10 or 11, and never thought I'd ride again, so never say never!
 
Spent yesterday at the stables, again ground too slippery for my riding lesson, the weather was changing from rain and sleet to sunshine, back to hailstones! The three mares due now are delaying their delivery because of the weather, but little Loulou is starting to bag up at last, with just a hint of waxing so the good news should be any day now. Spotted a cock pheasant strutting his stuff in the stallion's paddock
 

Attachments

  • 1a.JPG
    1a.JPG
    47.2 KB · Views: 202
  • 9a.JPG
    9a.JPG
    109 KB · Views: 203
  • 12a.JPG
    12a.JPG
    150.3 KB · Views: 202
  • 16a.JPG
    16a.JPG
    65.6 KB · Views: 202
Then I went to visit Coconuts and Joe. Joe was full of spring fever, Nuts is so heavy with foal she looks uncomfortable now. She's not bagging up yet at all.
 

Attachments

  • 18a.JPG
    18a.JPG
    60.9 KB · Views: 201
  • 27a.JPG
    27a.JPG
    92 KB · Views: 201
  • 20a.JPG
    20a.JPG
    50.5 KB · Views: 200
I really like that picture of the first stallion - Andulsian? I'm use to stallions that didn't have to be tied, although I'll admit there were a couple that I wouldn't trust without tying them up. I love those mild mannered gentleman.

Those ladies are waiting for a major storm to come through... then they will pop. It's in the Horsie Manual :) I hope to spend a little bit of time with mine tomorrow, but it'll depend on the weather. We've had so much rain that there is standing water in his lean-to :eek:
 
I'm so looking forward to the foals at the stables! I'm to be official photographer for their sales pictures, because I'm starting to get good portraits. I'm working a lot on getting the mares used to me, in preparation.
Nuts' foal won't be sold, but will live with her forever, so I'll be involved in it's life right from the start, in handling it from birth, backing it in a few year's time:)
 
Yep, Ginger, both the stallions are adalusians. They're only 3 and 4 years old, so still babyish in their ways. Which as you know is a bit risky when they don't know their own strength! I only go in their paddocks when the owner is there, they have total respect for him and behave nicely when he tells them to. I usually limit my contact to giving them kisses over the fence! The older, lighter coloured stallion is quite nippy, but I insist he behaves or I won't stroke him until he is being nice:)
 
Not to dis your horse pics but thank you for that gorgeous pheasant picture. Where (and when) I grew up they were common. We called them ringnecks. I haven't seen one or heard that noise for 30 years.
 
Awesome pictures! I miss the sweet, warm smell of a freshly brushed horse...mmm

Okay, for those not in the horsie know..."bagging up" and "backed up" mean what exactly? =)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top