Horse Vision

Good memories from Horse Vision. I was 1.5 weeks internship at Christofer Dahlgren and his wife Rebecca Dahlgren. It was some extremely educational days and I got many revelations. I dream of being able to take Giga there to be in a intense weekend or week training. But right now I ain't got the mony for that. 

It was a life great experience and I thank them from the bottom of my heart that they were so good to me. These are two extremely talented people, their team is absolutely fantastic. I have only praise for the entire HorseVison.

Their website is worth a look.

http://www.horse-vision.se/se

Morning Coffee?

Most of you probably know the feeling if you don't get your coffee in the morning the rest of your day is more or less destroyed.

A thought occurred to me, wondering if our horses have it likewise. Not exactly right with coffee, but concerning their morning hay?
I have noticed that if Victor and Giga are not allowed to go out in the morning and get their hay, they both show a tendency to be easily annoyed or mad.

I know horses are very habit bound. So when you switch a daily routine, you will most often get a negative outcome. Some horses are certainly more sensitive than others. Horses that don't have a very regular routine is probably not nearly as affected as mine are for example. They are used to every morning at 9:00 to come out. And if I only come a rare morning then their routine is kind of ruined and they both get confused and annoyed.


I've been experimented a little. No hay = very low performance through the entire riding session, it actually feels like I've ruined their day completely. So I tried another method, I let them come out, but I only give them 10-15 minutes eating time. Although they only get between 10-15 minutes eating time, it still changes their behavior completely. I can easily go get them from the field, the horses are much more relaxed and happy. Additionally, I have not noticed problems during training. So I have come to the conclusion that my horses just need their hay in the morning  like the majority of the population must have their coffee in the morning.

Rose hip for horses, did you know?

Did you know that Rose hip have a high natural content of natural, powerful antioxidants, vitamin C, beta-carotene and bioflavonoids. Recommended for stress (eks. Competition horses), breeding horses, old horses, or horses with low immune system. Vitamin C promotes the absorption of iron and is therefore relevant to blood ratio. Antioxidants are also able to neutralize free radicals and thereby counteract the negative effects of hard training, competition or race. Works also supportive of joint function.

So it benefits a lot for both people and horses.

After I began adding pure rose hip powder to Victors food (every morning and evening), I've seen major progress with Victor's health and his stiff hindleg.

You can feed them both raw, dried and powdered. My plan is for this summer to pick a lot of them and freeze a large portion so I can feed them relatively fresh for next winter. I think if you have a fussy horse is powder probably the best solution, but I know for sure both my horses eats everything, so I think I can easily feed them whole :-)

Not so picture perfekt

... We all got those days ...

Liberty Still Going Strong

I'm still going strong with the bitless riding. I've come quite far with both Giga and Victor.
Victor has always been easier to ride in a Cordeo due his temperament and gentle mind. His stop signal has always been quite fine, sometimes almost too well trained. While Gigas stop signal has always been hard to get completely trained. However, she has become extremely obedient without a bridle. There is actually a big difference whether I ride her in a Cordeo or with a regular bridle. However, we are not quite ready yet to ride in Caordeo outside a closed fence, but I hope that we this summer can achieve it.

Winter Wonderland

Pictures from this winter.

No More Moving

The winter 2014 I moved Giga to a huge riding school right next to my work, with two hughe ridinghouses, large outside arenas, horse solarium etc. It was quite luxurious to start with. But along the way it all changed. Mostly it was dressage and jumping riders who took their riding very seriously. Understand me right, it's quite okay and I have great respect for those who take their riding seriously and want to achieve a lot of things. But they often seem to forget to have fun and think about the horse's welfare. I like riding in a Cordeo, coming in jeans and my old sneaks. Everyone was really dressed up and had the newest of the newest on. There was of course many really nice girls and I also came to know someone who got a very special place in my heart. In addition of it all, I could feel the short time in the paddocks and many people stressed Giga out. We simply didn't really fit in.

I got a call from my good friend, who asked me if I wanted to move to the place she had her horse. I saw the place and fell in love immediately. The place is a small private farm with only space to about 13 horses. There are large paddocks and a great atmosphere in the stable. Just a few days after I saw the place, I moved Giga. She's now a completely different horse, I've never seen her so calm and balanced. Victor is also settled in well, although he had a rough start. Giga was really mean to him the first several weeks. She simply didn't let him come close to the herd. But it all has changed now. Now he may eat by Gigas side and he's now so high in rank that he's the one who invites to playtime.