Benefits of Long Reining or Ground Driving Horses

 It can be called Ground Driving, Long-Reining, or Long Lining.  What it is, is basically driving a horse with two long lines while you are walking on the ground.  Sort of like lunging, only with a second line.  It's benefits are numerous! Long lining builds top-line muscles, and teaches softness in the bridle and self-carriage.  

You can see ground driving depicted in old horse training manuscripts and artwork as it was sometimes used in classical training (or high school dressage, such as that practiced by the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, or the Cadre noir of Saumur in France).

One of the things I have noticed in long lining Atticus, is the ease with which I can ask for shoulder-in and half-pass along the fence line.  As I am not always correctly balanced, and definitely stronger on one side than the other when it comes to using the proper aids, I frequently worry that I may be confusing him or inadvertently giving conflicting cues.  I don't have to worry about this with the long lines.

Additionally, I find it's a great way to work on an issue that I would not be comfortable riding the horse through. Here is a short video of driving him away from "home" (the tacking / untacking spot) when he decided he was done working and the ditch made a handy excuse for him to refuse.

Whenever he tried to spin away from the ditch, I would turn him again to face it and encourage him to go forward.  If he was at least facing the right direction, I would verbally encourage him.  After a number of refusals, he realizes it's easier to go over than to continue refusing.  It's the same principle under saddle... take the pressure off if the horse is doing the right thing (or even just THINKING the right thing, as in facing the ditch without backing or turning away).

I find that having this ability to reinforce your requests without danger works really well for under saddle behavior.

First Winter Snow of 2022 on the Farm!

 We have snow!

Amazingly, after a day of weather in the mid 60s (that's 60 degrees Fahrenheit), we had a major snowstorm dump almost 14" of snow.  Here are some pics from yesterday and today...

They got boiled apples and oatmeal with their grain this morning, as the temperatures were down in the teens.  Here I am dragging a couple bales of hay down to the pasture on the sled.

Pimms was trying to take a nap, but then Atticus had to come beg for attention when I went to say hello.

The house actually looks quite adorable with soft snow everywhere and the warm light from the lamp post.

The sun was beautiful as it started to set on the snowy field with the horses eating their hay peacefully.

Atticus and Claire hoping for some grain or other tasty snacks.  And then as dusk was falling, it was time to go in by the fire for some hot cocoa!

So proud of pony Wookie!

My little ornery pony has come a long way! Wookie is my 5 yr. old Friesian/ Welsh cross pony. (Yes, I know, it was an accidental breeding).  Last week, my young junior jockey neighbor Yomar first took him for a refresher ride in the western saddle (as it had been a few weeks since he was last ridden).

Then the following day, his father (Yomar Ortiz Sr., a professional jockey) accompanied him on Pimms for a bit of leg stretching.  This time, he rode Wookie bareback (as he is most comfortable), and managed to urge him into a canter of more than a few strides for the first time.  They did great, I was very proud of both Wookie and Pimms.

And finally, I decided to finally take Wookie on a trail ride.  He did wonderfully, never having had to carry and adult for so long, and even doing a couple nice canter stretches!  I am very pleased with my little guy.

Here are the videos of the younger and elder Ortiz riders.  Aren't they just adorable?!:

Hobble Training: Cruel or No?

I recently got into a discussion with a friend of mine regarding hobbling horses.  She is European and from a dressage background, and she was vehemently against it, saying it's cruel and breaks a horse's spirit.  I argued that while that is perhaps the old West, bronc-bustin' reputation of hobbling, it can be done in a perfectly safe and humane way, and can have many benefits.

The benefits I have found include:

• It's an excellent way of teaching a horse not to panic if it were to get caught up in wire, rope, vines or the like. (Just do a google search for "horse caught in wire" to see some horrific accidents)
• It enforces your leadership position and builds trust.
• It is necessary (or at least preferable) for some trick training. (Eg., placing a horse's foot up on a pedestal, bow or kneel, etc.)
• It desensitizes a horse's legs to being confined or stuck. It may be necessary for a medical procedure, and a horse taught to hobble will not panic when it is done.

One important thing I must point out, is that a horse must be TRAINED TO HOBBLE. Like the one-rein stop it is extremely dangerous unless the horse has been taught what it entails and how to properly respond.  You must teach the horse in a safe, gradual manner, so they understand what is happening and do not panic.

So now I would like to hear your opinion on hobbles... yes or no?

 

Various Horsekeeping Practices of Old

As I may have mentioned before, I have always been fascinated with reading old, out of print books to find out what sorts of things people in the past did when it comes to caring for and training horses.

I did this research in part, because I want to see what sort of progress we’ve made with new discoveries in science and animal behavior.  But also in part, because when horses were a daily necessity, I imagine there was general “common knowledge” of good practices that have since fallen by the wayside.  One would think they would have known a thing or two when the average person relied on horses on a daily basis. 

So, with that in mind, here are a few interesting things I have found from various old, out-of-date books. These are just various snippets, with my comments in brackets []. I will probably update this from time to time with new discoveries.

The following bits are from (Training and Horse Management in India With a Hindustanee Stable & Veterinary Vocabulary, and the Calcutta Turf Club Weights for Age and Class, By Matthew Horace Hayes · 1885)

Stables and Barns

Loose boxes should be, at least, 12 ft . by 16 ft. In India , 10 ft. by 12 ft . would be a minimum . The walls between the boxes should be made about 6 ft. high , so as to be just sufficient to prevent the animals smelling each other over them…

If possible, there should always be a space of a few inches all round, between the roof and the top of the outside walls [for proper ventilation].  The windows of a stable ought never to be shut by night or day; in cold weather , add to the clothing, but never deprive them of the first great source of vitality , “fresh air."

On all occasions, when the stables are empty, they should be thrown open for the admittance of sunlight, which is a powerful disinfectant.

At the entrance of the box or stall, for appearance sake, the bedding should be arranged in a straight line, which is finished off by a piece of plaited straw being stretched along it. [This part greatly amused me; imagine insisting a piece of braided straw was neatly arranged at the entrance for looks!]

Feeding Practices

Sheets may be used with advantage instead of mangers. They may be made of sacking (tat), and about a square yard in size. They are laid on the ground, and the grain is spread over them. They cost little, are easily cleaned , and can be packed up in a small compass. I always employed them with my own horses in India. (Training and Horse Management in India With a Hindustanee Stable & Veterinary Vocabulary, and the Calcutta Turf Club Weights for Age and Class, By Matthew Horace Hayes · 1885)

[I would like to note here that I have used a version of this, being a large tarp spread over damp or muddy ground, to feed hay and hay cubes in the winter.  It has the added advantage of de-spooking horses to tarps, to the point where many of mine will chase after a tarp and stomp all over it, looking for food.]

Bombproofing Ideas and Fun things

So I recently went on a buying spree for items to use in my de-spooking and bombproofing work on my young horse who developed an over-active startle reflex. (Is that a thing?  I think I just invented it! As in, "Oh no sir, he ain't spooky, he just has a light case of OASR.")  

At any rate, he had a few experiences that made him much more jumpy than his actual personality should warrant.  For example, I wear an air vest.  One day while riding with friends, I unthinkingly jumped off my horse (Atticus) to pick up a dropped whip. I totally forgot about my vest, and it inflated with a bang.  The youngster shied sideways at the sound, and his rider came off, which further frightened him into believing the world was ending.  For several rides afterwards, whenever I would dismount Atticus, the youngster would tremble, ready to take off. Had I not witnessed the precipitating event, I might have had no idea why he seemed to have such a strange phobia, but there you go. 

Anyway, I reviewed some of my prior horse training notes and did a little internet research, and found the best thing for him was showing him "scary" things, and convincing him to trust his handler or rider, and that way his reaction time would become shorter and shorter to new and frightening stimuli.  So here are some of the fun things I got:

Party noisemakers - These fun little mechanical things that twirl around on a stick, and actually do have slightly different sounds. Cheap and portable.

Little colorful wind spinner thingies...  So far I have just sort of waved these around, but I think maybe I need to drill some extra holes in a jump standard and have them poking out all over. 

                                   

Bizarre barking dog toy - This thing is also supposed to jump around, but mine didn't do a lot of jumping... it more sort of buzzed or vibrated (hmmm).  Otherwise, it is motion and sound activated, so my idea was to build a small, low sided plywood box to place it in, and have the horses have to approach it and then walk past it.  Sadly (or perhaps happily) my friend's 6 month old puppy fell in love with it, so I gifted it away.  Still a great idea, though! 

Bumble Ball  - Another toy to sit in the low plywood box. (Actually, I found something that would probably work better than the box that you can also order on Amazon!  Try this dog crate tray. You're welcome).   Makes super erratic, jumpy movements, sure to scare the Bejeezus out of any horse! Apparently more or less the same as the Chuckle Ball, but a little smaller.  Take your pick, I suppose.  

Sports Tracker App for recording rides

UPDATE! As much as I loved the Sports-Tracker App, a friend introduced me to a new one which is actually geared toward horses, called Equilab. I actually use the free version, which is still chock-full of great features. For example, you can enter multiple horses, which is very handy for me.  Also, if you have a riding lesson in the arena, or maybe forget to turn on the app when you start riding but really need to track the ride, you can manually enter a training. 

There are additional features in the paid version, such as a "safety tracker" - where you can choose someone to get a real-time notification of your ride.  So for example, if you are riding alone, a friend or spouse can monitor the ride to make sure you get back safely, and if something should happen, they can see on the map exactly where you are.

Here are some screenshots from my phone to show some of the features:

Oct. 26, 2014

So I have a new favorite way to track my rides and horse workouts.  It's an app for your smartphone called Sports-Tracker, and it uses your GPS to record a map of your route, your speed, your time, and numerous other functions.  Yesterday I took Teddy out for a ride, and here's the "dashboard" of info:

I think what I like most is just the sense of accomplishment I get from looking back at what I've done!

200 Acres added to Rosaryville State Park!

*NOTE: I originally wrote this post on February 6, 2020.  I have been trying to find out if the sale has indeed gone through or not, since I figured some budgets may have been cut due to Covid-19.  Still haven't found out anything.

The Maryland Department of natural Resources has acquired an additional 200 acres of land adjacent to Rosaryville State Park (the park that abuts the rear of my property and the number one reason I purchased my farm!).

I haven't found any news on the purchase, other than a few short articles that basically say, "...its acquisition will expand the park’s offerings including equestrian opportunities and an expanded trail network."  I am guessing the property is probably what a local guy referred to as the "Woods Boys"... I couple of elderly gents who were extremely nice the one time I met them riding on their property many years ago.  It touches my property on one back corner.  Here is a map from PG Atlas with the areas shaded:

Great day for riding!

Yesterday was a successful horse day!  Yvonne and the girls (Eve and Sage) came out to see the horses and maybe ride.  They were planning on riding Judge and Brandy, but then Susan texted me and said she planned to come out to ride, and would anyone like to join her?

So as it turned out, Susan, Sage, Maya and I headed out for a trail ride with Brandy, Judge, Pimms, and Atticus. Yvonne and Eve stayed back to work with Wookie in the round pen.  However, shortly after we headed out, my stirrup leather broke, so I had to turn around and go home.  After changing out my stirrup leathers, I decided to head to the round pen to try a new bit on Atticus and help out with Wookie.

The bit (a French link Dutch gag) worked great.  Normally, Atticus goes in a full cheek french link gag with two reins, like so: 

This is because when we started him over jumps, he was prone to getting excited and throwing some big bucks!  The gag rein works to lift his head to stop any bucking.  However, it can be a severe action, so the snaffle rein works as a simple snaffle bit.  The full cheek has been useful in training him to the one rein stop.

I like using two reins, because I can have a mild one for normal work and a stronger one in case of emergency.  I have used various forms of double reins on several of my horses over the years... for example, one rein on a rope halter as a bitless bridle, and a second on a light bit.

At any rate, I wanted to try something with some curb action, to make working him in a frame a little easier, so I thought I'd try the Dutch gag (or "bubble bit").  I also used two reins, so I had the option of only using the snaffle action, or adding curb action.  It worked very well, but I am not sure it would do anything to raise his head if he did want to buck.  At any rate, he seems to be over the silly antics of his younger years, so I am not too concerned.

So all that aside, after working Wookie on the ground a bit, Eve sat on him and had Yvonne lead her around.  Wookie did just fine, and I hope to borrow my neighbor's child, who apparently does pony races, to finish his under saddle training!

A few more products created for the horsey set...

Which design do you prefer? A nice english trotting horse throw pillow and equestrian clock... horse pillow 

Elegant old fashioned horses equestrian clock
by OrchardCreek

The Farmers' Museum: Mangel Wurzels

The Farmers' Museum: Mangel Wurzels

This is a very interesting blog.  The linked article concerns growing mangels for livestock feed.  I've been interested in doing this for a while to give to the horses in the winter. Here is the beginning of the post...

To read more, click HERE

DIY Home Fodder System

DIY Home Fodder System - from threemealsfarm.

There are also some interesting books on the subject, such as Homesteading 101: The Fodder Method and Fast and Easy DIY Fodder System.

Interesting idea for growing your own fodder.  They use it to feed chickens and goats. I'm thinking it could also be used for horses, although I don't know how much you'd have to grow to make a dent in the horses' diet.

The new colt has arrived!

Atticus, my new colt (3/4 Friesian, 1/4 Quarter Horse) arrived yesterday from Wisconsin!  He will be one year old come August. I could not be more thrilled with him!  I bought him based on a video taken over the winter, when he was 5 months old and quite fuzzy, and now I see that he is very elegant and will grow up to be a gorgeous horse!  He has a very floaty trot, and that lovely upright Friesian neck.  He's black with a star and snip on his face.  I can see already that he will have the lovely long, thick, Friesian mane.  He also has little baby feathers on his feet!  I'm very excited to watch him grow up.

Grazing calmly

Teddy seems to have adopted him!

Mom came over to be here for his arrival... here are her Facebook posts on him!

A New Horse is Coming....

He is a Valentine's Day gift from my husband Greg.  He's 5 mos. old in these pics... born August 2011. He is 3/4 Friesian, 1/4 QH. His sire is an imported stallion, Redmer fan Unia-State.  His Dam is a Quarter Horse / Friesian cross. (Her sire is Danny).  He's from the same farm Magnum came from in Wisconsin, so I'm still working out the shipping. We need to come up with a name for his registration papers, and right now we are leaning towards "Atticus".

Side Saddle jumping

This photo, taken in 1915, shows Mrs. Esther Stace, from Yarrowitch, riding sidesaddle and clearing a record 6'6" at the Sydney Royal Show.  It is from the Walcha Historical Society.

Pretty impressive, I must say!  Although from what I've heard, riding side saddle is actually pretty secure.  The saddle has something called a "leaping horn", which the lady can grip with her legs.  I have always been interested in riding side saddle, although I've never been able to come up with sufficient justification to buy one.  Other than dressing up in fancy costumes and riding through the park, of course. Which would really impress the birds and deer, I'm sure.  I'm kinda odd that way... I have a lot of mismatched, raggedy clothes for working around the farm, but when I go riding, I like to have a top that coordinates well with my breeches.  Go figure!

Learning to stop « Life at Pretty Pony Pastures

Learning to stop « Life at Pretty Pony Pastures
(The following is a page taken from the above blog)

Teddy's Emergency - WARNING: GRAPHIC PHOTO BELOW!

Yesterday evening I fed the horses. Teddy was tied to the hitching post to eat while I took Magnum down to the round pen. When I came back with Magnum, Teddy hadn't finished his food and was looking unhappy and making funny little whinny noises. I put him in a closed section of the field, and he promptly coughed up thick mucous mixed with grain, then lay down as if to roll, but got back up.


I watched him for a little while, and he coughed up more mucous and saliva mixed with food... he also had it dripping out his nose. So I took him up to the front field with Magnum and called the vet. She said it sounded like "choke", when they swallow food without properly chewing, or try to whinny with their mouth full and food gets stuck in the esophagus. She said to call her back if it hadn't cleared in another 30 minutes and she'd come out. As I waited, he kicked at his belly and lay down again. He let me sit on the ground with him and rub his ears, and he just looked miserable. He got back up, coughed some more, but I could see he was hurting. So I called the vet back, and out she came.


The remedy is to sedate the horse and put a tube down the esophagus, pumping water down to soften any lodged food until the tube can be passed all the way down to the stomach. Teddy was sedated, and she started to snake the tube down through his nostril. She did warn me that sometimes they get nosebleeds from this, and I'm glad she did, because he promptly started gushing blood from his nostrils. Thank God Lisa was at the farm at the time, and she offered to help, which I happily accepted since I was having a really hard time looking at the nasty food / mucous mix coming from the tube along with the growing pool of blood in the stall. I was starting to feel ill, and didn't want to look at everything coming from his nostrils... I'm usually not that queasy, but as the vet said, "It's different when it's your own horse".


It took over an hour to finally clear the blockage, and involved several removals and re-insertions of the tube. Lisa handled it like a pro.... after a little while, Teddy started to fight, and would back up, then rear and plunge and thrash around the stall. Lisa quickly developed a technique of holding his halter firmly and letting him plunge and spin around her while the vet and I cleared the stall. I was really impressed at how she stood firm and controlled him without letting him toss her around. Of course, after each of these episodes we'd have to remove the tube and start over. There was also blood everywhere from this.... as Greg put it, "Lisa looked like she just walked out of the ER."


So the blockage was finally cleared, and it seems the culprit was partly the brand new bag of alfalfa pellets I bought... since it hadn't been opened, the pellets hadn't absorbed any moisture from the air and were hard as rock. When Teddy gulped them down, (or possibly tried to whinny to Magnum with his mouth full) he couldn't produce sufficient saliva to moisten them enough to swallow. Unfortunately, the trials and tribulations of treating him left him with a horrible raspy breathing issue, partially due to inflammation from the irritation of the tube, and possibly because he could have inhaled some bloody goop during his thrashing. So now he is to be on a 10-day course of antibiotic injections twice a day to hopefully prevent any pneumonia developing, as well as Banamine paste for the pain and swelling in his throat.


Poor boy looks miserable! I put Magnum in the stall with him overnight to keep him company and console him a little bit. Hopefully his breathing will be improved by morning. Of course, this all totalled about a $600 vet bill, because what horse would ever have an emergency during business hours?! But I've very glad I did call, as I'm sure he couldn't have swallowed or coughed up the lump on his own. Just a note of caution to horse owners... it's always safer to soak hay pellets!

Teddy on a Pedestal

This was when I went to pick him up from the trainers… it was the first time he got up on it with both feet. He doesn't seem too concerned.

Teddy's First time under saddle

To back up a little, this was his first time under saddle ridden free.  You can really see his annoyance at having someone telling him what to do and where to go!

Teddy started under saddle

Teddy's third time under saddle.  He's been sent away for training, and we'll have lots of riding to do when he gets back.  I'm so excited!  Click the link for the trainer's web page: http://www.happynaturalhorse.com/