Lucan Lodge

Friday the 17th

Saddle sampling

While Vogue samples some saddles with her nose, I'm sampling them for fit.  She is around 15hh, but being an Arab she does have a very short back!  From the shoulder blade to the last rib, I can only fit three hand widths.  It's not a very scientific measurement, but a hand is four inches (as we know from measuring horses at the wither), so I make that 12 inches.  That's pretty short!  The shortest saddle I have is about 14".  That's the one she is wearing in this picture, and it's too long.  So we are in contact with Aitkens to see what options we can come up with for this little mare - we need a saddle shorter than this one, but with the same sized seat or larger.  Thorowgood custom make short-paneled saddles with normal sized seats.

Thursday the 16th

Currently in training  - Vogue

Did you know we maintain a Flickr set for all our client horses, so the owners can see their progress in pictures and videos?  This video comes from Vogue's Flickr set.  We also have current sets for Baahla, Sam, and Echo right now, as well as all the other training and board horses for the last several years.  Click through to revisit them!

Wednesday the 15th

Equissage-induced sleep

Our Equissage system has several settings - we use the first one, which cycles up and down from slow to fast quite quickly, for stimulating horses who are about to compete or who are having rehabilitation therapy.  We use the standard, constant speed cycle for maintenance and while we are working with the hand unit on target areas.  But the last setting is the favourite of the horses - it's a clycling setting like the first one, but the cycle is very slow and gradual.  It's almost guaranteed to put them to sleep within a few minutes.  Obviously this one is great for horses who get slightly anxious before competing, but we use it most often as a warm-down after riding and as a treat on non-riding rest days.  This was Echo's first time with the Equissage on, and he like dit so much he didn't move a muscle in 45 minutes.

Tuesday the 14th                                                                                            Currently on board - Sam

Monday the 13th                                                                                   Currently in training - Baahla

Sunday the 12th

Dressage in the rain

Manny had his first real weather challenge today - a dressage test in a rainstorm!  He handled it very well - the ground was slippery and we took it slow, but he seemed unworried by the rain and soldiered on.  We both got completely soaked!  This was the NCEC Dressage at Dawn Training Day at the Canberra Riding Club this weekend. 

Saturday the 11th

Rehabilitation

This gelding has a tight, sore back, hamstrings and shoulders.  He needs to do some serious suppling work to make him more comfortable, and so more rideable and competitive.  Some of the exercises that are good for horses like this are walking over poles.  We start with poles on the ground, then raise one end and walk over the low side.  After a few days we can start walking over the middle, then eventually we can raise the poles to about a foot off the ground.  As well as walking over the poles in a straight line, once the lower back is looser we can start going over them in a figure eight, and then later in a small circle.  All these exercises make a real difference to the softness and balance of a horse with soreness and resulting tension.

Friday the 10th                                                                     Stormy Romance - Glennis Barrey clinic

Thursday the 9th                                                   Manny trying to teach Ty how to do allogrooming

Wednesday the 8th                                                                        Replacing the tailgate on the truck

Left to right: removing the old rubber and cleats; preparing the surface; gluing on the new mat; and the finished product!

Tuesday the 7th                                                                                  Manny chilling out at ACTSJC

Monday the 6th

Partial brands

Did you know we can look up your horse's brands for you? We just need a photo or description of the stud brand and the numbers on the other shoulder, and we can tell you your horse's registered name, pedigree and race history. In this case, this stud brand didn't appear in the registry. That's because it is incomplete. This brand is actually a K inside a D. It's not that uncommon to have incomplete or unclear brands, and they can take a bit of detective work to decode, but once we work out which brand it is, the rest is easy. We can even find details for unraced and unnamed horses.

Sunday the 5th                                                              Stormy Romance - first showjumping event

Manny's first ever SJ event at ACT Showjumping Club this weekend, 50cm and 60cm.

Saturday the 4th                                                                         Stormy Romance - first cross country

These are Manny's first ever cross country fences.

Friday the 3rd

Touching

Every horse trainer does this in some form or other.  Parelli practitioners call this the Friendly Game.  Cowboys call it sacking out.  However you do it, at some point every horse needs to come to accept being touched all over - stroked, bumped, flapped on and tapped - without moving away or becoming anxious.  Not only is acceptance of the contact a good indicator that the horse is calm and confident with the handler, but touching exercises like this also desensitise the horse to all the unexpected contacts that happen in riding.  That's why it's very important to do it on both sides!

Thursday the 2nd

Training track

One of the most important training areas on our property is the purpose designed training track.  It is a 1km loop with a downhill gradient, an uphill gradient and two flat stretches.  The track is graded with good footing all the way around, and the corners are wide and open, so we can use the track for fast work as well as warm-up and cool-down rides.  Because the track is unbroken, we can do multiple laps, which means we can do a ten km ride without leaving the home paddocks.  And the track adjoins the gateway to the road, the fenced arena, the cross country paddocks and the jumping pad, so we can incorporate schooling into laps and vice versa.     

Wednesday the 1st                                                Stormy Romance - first showjumping session

With his strong foundation on the flat, Manny is a natural at jumping.  Today we did his first jump training session.  We started over poles, and he quickly progressed to cross rails, verticals, then oxers, then a double.  He has a naturally good form over the fences, with tidy front legs, good use of his hocks, and scope up through his shoulders and neck.  Plus he takes it all in his stride mentally - he didn't get at all stressed or confused, and hardly knocked any rails.  I am going to take him out to a training day this weekend to see if the style in the arena can translate to the competition ring!