Bravely Bitless and Barefoot!

At the Steed Health/Eventing Nthn Hawkes Bay Showjumping Series, August 2009


Brave? Or just open minded?

We were only jumping a max of 85 cm, so it wasn't that scarey. But it certainly caused some comments around the rings. I like to shake things up a bit, so there we were, barefoot and bitless, and having a ball!

I often have people ask how I get on with a barefoot horse. While we are only competing at low level eventing, my competitors are often using studs and wonder how we survive. Then they say, oh she's a nippy little horse, she doesn't have to have studs. Or, you don't need to worry about that with these little jumps. I just smile, and especially when we beat them!

Take, for example, the PARC Christmas ribbon day '08. A tight, twisty show jumping course with several roll backs. It had rained that morning and the ground was still hard with wet, slippery grass covering it. We watched as horse after horse slid through the fences. All they had to do was hesitate a fraction coming in, and BOOM! Poles and stands everywhere, horse and rider parting company.

Out we went, set up a nice little canter and popped around. The first clear round, and one of only a couple in that class. (GRIN)

August Update

Ahem.
I am back, if anyone is watching. Just got a bit distracted with work, and horse and well, stuff. I don't know how people manage to live such interesting, exciting lives and blog as well. Maybe they don't need to sleep?

Anyhoo, the competition season is starting to get interesting. So far we have done a couple of days of dressage, part of a show jumping series and schooled across country. And my calendar has got things for most weekends until Christmas.

But I am struggling with the realisation that my beloved Possum is not getting any younger. As far as I know she is now nineteen, but looking at her teeth, she might be in her twenties. I know she has had a fairly hard life before she came to Hawkes Bay, as a farm horse with minimal cosseting. So she has old scars, lumps and bumps, and is showing some stiffness in her hocks. One of the local vets diagnosed this as "non-specific rear-end lameness". Then charged me $95. Thanks, but I knew that already and was hoping for a bit more help!

I feed her all sorts of additives and supplements - everything from glucosamine, to Devil's Claw to hemp pellets (and no, it has no THC, just the omega oils that are of use). The latest one I have tried has hyaluronic acid which we think has been helpful in getting her moving better. And we've had a visit from the chiropracter this week which I am hopeful has made a big change. Certainly no-one has ever pointed out the damage to the inside of one thigh, and she was moving better after her adjustments.
Time will tell!

Enter at A, try not to freak out

Yikes.
Why do I do this? I know I hate doing dressage tests and I always get nervous and I tend to end up just depressed at the end of the day.
I am trying to learn 2 tests that are horribly similar to each other. At least I will have some support people around this weekend, so I guess I can grab a caller if it all goes pear-shaped. But I have to get used to not having that luxury, because I want to event and the rules are different there...

Slack A*se

Our first ever dressage test, May 07

Oops, so much for blogging every day.
The "best laid plans of mice and (wo)men" as the Bard would say.

Still, here I am again, starting afresh on a Monday morning when it is so early that its still dark outside.
Big weekend with the horse - I rode both days and had a lesson yesterday. Miss P is still quite stiff in her hindquarters, especially to the left. She won't step through from behind and really swing, so it feels very stilted and up and down. We don't know if this is just inherent although she was working much better before vintage (and I stopped riding for 2 months - sigh, but that's my job) after some consistent lessons/work. Maybe it is to do with her back being so badly out last time she was checked?
So anyway, our dressage tests this weekend are likely to be interesting, to say the least! We are only doing the PC tests C and D which don't even have any circles, so it won't be too challenging. And I am looking on it as a learning experience, with my coach there to teach me how to prepare and warm up properly, rather than focussing on the tests.

About Miss P.

My Possum is a dark bay mare about 18 years old. One of the dentists said some of her teeth look as if she were 20 and since I don't know much about her, that could be true.

She is what we call here in New Zealand a "stationbred" horse, which means a horse of no particular breeding, bred on a large farm or station as a working horse. There are several well regarded lines from around the country, St James in the South Island being one of the most famous. One of their horses, Vincent St James is a Grand Prix dressage horse who won several national titles. A stationbred horse is typically sturdy with good bone, a sensible nature and usually the ability to jump. That sums up this girl, a classic "good doer" despite years of rough life with badly fitting gear, ad hoc worming, eating blackberry and no dental treatment till she was 15.

Now she has a more pampered life. She has two vets, a dentist, physiotherapist, acupunturist, chiropracter and a barefoot trimmer. It has been suggested that maybe her owner is slightly OCD, but I believe she deserves the best that I can offer her.
And, what else would I spend my money on?

Possum

Miss Possum - late April 09

In her full, glorious winter coat. I don't know her breeding, but I would bet there's some pony in there. Once she's clipped, the thoroughbred head shows more.

First!

To begin at the beginning,

Well, there's no other way, is there?

Photos to follow...