Wonderful Red

I received a lovely message a little while ago:

“Hello, I ride up at Briwnant, and found your blog – well actually I decided to try Briwnant out based on your blog.  Red is such a lovely boy, they started me on him back in August after a 15 year break from riding.  I had a fall in December from Major which has knocked my confidence a lot as well as hurting my body too!  Yesterday I plucked up the courage to phone Briwnant up and booked a short lesson and arrived to find Red tacked up ready for my first ride back from my fall. I just wanted to tell you how wonderful he was yesterday – he was perfect for me, very responsive and looked after me really well and I can't wait to get riding again now.  Thanks for reading!  J W”

It is so good to receive such nice news of Red.  I wish I was able to ride him more often myself, but I am delighted that other people are able to enjoy him.  He seems to be a great favourite at Briwnant.

Winter feeds

It is at this time of year that I have to keep a close eye on Dee because she can start to lose condition quite quickly.  Often the weather can seem to be moving into spring but then suddenly it becomes very cold.  Last year it also became very wet.  At the moment it is perhaps the coldest it has been this winter.  Dee needs her extra feed to help her keep warm and in condition before the spring grass starts to grow.  It is mercifully dry at least and it feels quite strange to see the track to Briwnant looking quite dusty rather than muddy.

We got Dee in yesterday and gave her a good check over and groom.  She is fine – still a good weight and with a nice shine in her coat.  Her mane is particularly shiny and silky at the moment.  Today we made a quick visit and dropped her feed over the fence onto her haylage.  She is now quite used to and happy with this arrangement for the days I do not get her in.

It looks like it is going to take some time to get Dee used to going out again.  Last week I rode with T out onto the Wenallt horse trail.  We had not got far into the woodland however when Dee freaked and turned for home.  She did not exactly bolt but she was quite definite about heading for home.  I do not know what frightened her, but I was glad it was me on her back and not a less-experienced friend.  She would not respond to gentle encouragement to carry on with the ride and started to back up and jump up her front legs.  I know from experience that this quickly turns in to full rears if I push her, so we had to abandon our ride that day.  We went a little way up the top trail (the one we are not supposed to use) just to finish on her going forward, and then turned and went home.

Dee had been edgy and wound up even in the barn when I was tacking her up, though she was happy to accept her tack and seemed keen to go out.  Never mind . . . I’m sure we’ll do better over the next few weeks.

As we left Briwnant Red was about to go out on a ride.  He accepted a few treats and cuddles.

Visiting horses in the snow

It is not possible for us to drive up to visit the horses when there is snow on the ground.  It takes a 4 x 4 to get up Wenallt Hill and into the lane, and our van is only an ordinary front-wheel-drive vehicle.  So we get as far as we can and walk the rest.  If time is not tight, this is actually most enjoyable.  It is always possible to wrap up against the cold.

The horses are doing fine in the snow.  I am lucky in that Dee will come to the gate on the lane when I call her, even if she is out of sight in the second field.  She knows I will have a feed with me, so why would she not come if she can hear me!

She is certainly more tolerant of certain horses being near her when she is feeding.  Last time it was a piebald that she was content to have also standing at the gate while she consumed her feed.

The snow has mostly gone over the last couple of days and we have had rain rather than snow, so hopefully we will be able to drive into Briwnant again.

Dee makes a friend

Dee has made a friend – or perhaps more accurately: she has befriended a little horse.  His name is Goliath and he is two years old.  Dee will let him share her pile of haylage and be right up close to her.  I fed her at the gate the other day and she was quite happy for him to be by her while she fed.

Red, as usual, was not too far away from her but she would not let him any closer.  He only had to come within a few yards and she would whip her head round to stare at him, ears laid flat.  I was able to scrabble down to the fence a little way along from the gate though and called him over for a few treats, so he was not completely left out.  He always looks so forlorn but it is just a big act.

When to rug

I always find it difficult to decide when to rug Dee for the winter.  She is a cob so she gets a good thick winter coat, but she is also a senior horse so she needs a bit of comfort.  I do not like to rug her too early, else she doesn’t get a full winter coat – and they are in rugs for so long.  However rugging her too late can mean she loses condition unnecessarily.  I did eventually rug her last week but not in a full winter-weight rug - just a padded cotton under-rug and a waterproof sheet.  I’ve also started feeding her conditioning cubes instead of cool mix.

The rain over last weekend was extreme and the wind really strong, so I felt to happy to think of her tucked up in her rugs.  I think she has got to know the van because today she was walking up to the gate by the time I had parked and got into my overall and wellies.

I forgot to take pictures of Dee today, but thought you might enjoy seeing these little ponies.  They are rescue ponies and one has a gammy leg.  The are not much bigger than a large dog and just as friendly.  They do not mix with the main herd and so did not realise it is not a good idea to try and pinch a bit of Dee’s feed!  Red was in so he also enjoyed fuss and treats today.

The sun was shining beautifully in the distance while I was at Briwnant – I don’t think the photos quite capture how beautiful the light was illuminating the green of the fields.

Briwnant is home

Dee accepting a carrot after being turned out.

We had been thinking of moving house.  I fancied a place, not too far from Cardiff, with a bit of land.  It has been a wish for a long time to live somewhere that the horses could live with us.  For various reasons we think that this particular dream will not come to pass – and that is fine.  We are happily staying where we are.

When I thought about moving the horses I realised that this would not be their preference.  They like living at Briwnant Riding Centre.  They like being part of a large herd and have friends in the herd.  I think they would have not been so happy as a herd of two.  Dee has established her place in the herd and is now relaxed and no longer aggressive.  She is not challenged, so she does not need to do more than put her ears back and the other horses give her space.  All is peaceful in the herd.

I still occasionally meet people who tell me that they knew Dee at Pontcanna.  Usually they find it hard to believe that she is the same horse – living in a large herd, and getting along well with the other horses.  One such lady I met at the weekend, has just moved her fine cob/Irish draught cross to Briwnant.  She told me that this blog was a major factor in her decision to move her horse to Briwnant.  I am so happy that the blog has been useful to someone.

Briwnant is not perfect – but it is close to perfect for us.  Dee and Red are happy and healthy, and prefer living out at grass rather than spending hours a day couped up in a stable.  Red so hated that.

Assertion and accession

We had friends staying for a few days and they were interested in seeing the horses and riding.  I usually tack up Dee at such times because she is the more cooperative horse with unfamiliar riders.  She came to call as always but was clearly expecting to only be fed and groomed.  She was not too pleased that she was going to be asked to work.  To be fair, I have ridden her very little this winter so it is reasonable that she would assume that today was no different, but she is usually happy to be ridden.

I put her saddle on first and she kept almost nipping me as I did up her girth.  This is more characteristic of Red rather than Dee.  I had not intended to ride but decided that I better ride her first in case she was going to be really difficult.  Then I asked her to take her bridle.  Now I always ask her rather than just put it on her, and she responds by putting her nose into the noseband.  But not this day.  She kept dipping her head and then putting it up in the air looking away from me.  She did this again and again.

Hmmm...  What to do next...?  I decided when I bought Dee that I would not force her in the way I had seen her forced to have a bridle on at Pontcanna riding stables – not cruelly, but against her wish and through dominating her rather than engaging with her to receive her cooperation.   But I also did not want her to get away with calling all the shots.  I have to be the head mare of her herd because she is a dominant mare with a strong personality.  I cannot let her walk over me – or she may in fact walk over me.   I led her into the arena and we walked around for a while and she was fine with this.  Then I unclipped her and sent her away by waving my arms about, shooing her and slapping my leg with the lead rein.  She trotted around me and I looked her in the eye.  When she stopped I turned away from her and she joined up with me.  We walked around the arena together for a few minutes and then I asked her to put her bridle on – still no go.  So I sent her away again and pushed her on for a few minutes by swinging the lead rope and slapping it against my leg again.  Then I let her stop, turned away and waited for her to join up with me.  This time she joined up with her head down and licking her lips.  I offered her her bridle and she immediately put her head in the noseband and accepted it.  I stroked her and told her she was a good girl and led her around with the bridle on for a few minutes.

I felt this was quite an important success for her to accede in this way and I was happy to leave it at that for that session.  So I led her out and gave her her feed.   We can build on this.  She will remember it and hopefully the spring energy she is feeling will be something we can share rather than a source of conflict.