Jayne Glenn, better known as Wrangler Jayne from Mansfield in Victoria, is coming to Tasmania for the first time to teach a two day Advancing & Refining Level 1 clinic on September the 16th and 17th.
This clinic offers the best natural start possible for you and your horse. Introducing ground games, building trust, confidence and respect, understanding horse psychology, natural riding dynamics and more - the perfect natural foundation skills for more fun, safety and success with your horse!
The venue is the Topline Rugs Indoor Arena near Westbury and rider positions are limited to 10. There is an early bird special offer of $200 including gst if paid in full a month in advance (by August 15). Riders must send a $100 deposit at the time of booking to hold their place, with the balance of $100 due 15 August. If you pay in full after that date it's an extra $20. Observers are welcome at $50 per day which includes hot drinks. To book a position phone the clinic coordinator, Cynthia Cooper, on 63 695177.
For more information on Wrangler Jayne go to www.wranglerjayne.com

Wrangler Jayne.

 

Ask Cynthia - 'Hoof Handling Problem'

I wonder if you can help me. I have been practising natural horsemanship for over 5 years and am learning everyday. I have overcome some huge problems with emotional abused and damaged horses, but am stuck on the current one. I normally allow a horse to chill a bit and settle into my routines, whilst doing some fundamentals of round pen, leading, respect etc and in time they have all become loveable, well rounded horses that respect me. However this one is in desperate need of getting his feet trimmed so I cannot afford him the luxury of "just chillin".

He is a 16hh, 5 yr old Luisitana gelding (cow hocked), backed in Portugal by tying legs up to the saddle! Have had the chiropractor out which has made him more comfortable and the dentist has sorted the teeth, I am trying the methods I have applied before of stick and string all over, hands all over, working the muscles to soft and asking him to 'give' me the foot. He can now (very different than a week ago when we started) 'give' me all of his feet and is just, and only just tolerating me brushing, rubbing and tapping the front feet. Even then, he just has to snatch them back after a very short time.

Normally, I would hold on and move with him until he can soften, then release the foot gently onto the floor. Bearing in mind his history would this be the right thing to do as his fear is of not being able to get his foot back when he wants it. Also he is so adamant to get that foot back that it is proving difficult to hold on. He will allow me to tap, brush and rub his hooves for ages whilst they are planted on the ground and the holder can even get the head low and ears relaxed whilst I'm doing this.

I would really appreciate any help and advise you could give. This poor chap has had such an unfair start in life and deserves to have his feet trimmed comfortably, before coming to me he had been twitched, sedated and chiffney bitted to try and achieve this, all to no avail. Jacqui.

Hi Jacqui,
It sounds like you are doing some good things to help horses so well done for persevering with the difficult ones - I know what that is like as I have 3 who have come from abusive backgrounds too.
They do eventually trust, but as you know it takes a long time and in the meantime, you just have to go with where the horse is mentally.
If I were in your position, I wouldn't worry about your gelding having to take his feet back - it sounds like he is trying really hard and that is all you can ask of him right now or risk the trust you have built so far.
Think of it like trailer loading a scared horse - we allow them to come out of the trailer as often as they like but then ask them to go back on until they can trust enough to stay there.
It can be the same with the hooves - let him have the feet back as often as he needs so he trusts that he can always be safe with you, but ask for them back again and don't let it bother you too much.
If you 'go with' a horse like this rather than try to hold on and 'stay with' him, you will find that he makes faster progress.
I know this makes it hard to trim but doing a little without having to put the leg between yours is safer and less traumatic for him.
Also, just do a little bit on each hoof at a time - don't try to get all 4 hooves trimmed in one session - he won't die from having bad feet or if his hooves are different lengths for a day or so - although you should at least make sure each individual hoof is kept in balance.
You might start with just doing one front hoof the first day or cleaning out and scraping away dead sole on each front hoof on the first day then using the nippers to cut the wall on the second day and rasping on the third.
Try to think of the trimming as part of his training rather than the end product that has to be achieved right now.

There are a couple of other things you could try to help him be braver - by lifting his legs with a rope around the pastern you can stay with him if he wants to put the foot down without him feeling too trapped but also letting him know that he is not able to completely get away from some pressure.
Get to where you can lift the leg in a rhythm first with him remaining relaxed before you ask for him to hold it up for any length of time.

Another tool I would also try is 'clicker training' where you use a positive reward for holding the leg up for increasingly longer periods of time. If you haven't had much experience with this, read Alexandra Kurland's web site on Clicker training http://www.theclickercenter.com/guide/index.html to get the basics going.
I've found this to be a real help with very scared horses as they have rarely had positive reinforcement before.
I hope these suggestions are able to help you and please let me know how you go with trying them.

EVENT REPORT - Agfest May 2006

Anawa Mahuska has his first close encounter with an Aplaca.

The first week in May is when Tasmanian’s flock to the state’s largest rural event, Agfest, which is held over three days and attracts around 70,000 people to view the latest agricultural related products and services.
Each year, Natural Horse World has a booth there and does demos and displays of natural horsemanship, barefoot trimming and this year, bitless bridles and hoof boots.
Our central arena demo each day featured Joylene and Patrick Dargan’s Pinto stallion, Anawa Mahuska and his equally colourful son, Anawa Sahara, showing how natural horsemanship relates to performance. Both horses event, show jump and hunt, and Anawa has competed in almost all types of performance in and out of the showring.
They also wore bitless bridles and treeless saddles along with Old Mac hoof boots to show that horses can be metal free and a lot happier while performing.
Their best achievement for the whole three days was coping with a huge RAAF hot air balloon which decided to set up right next to our site. They handled the sight of this huge monster looming above them but the whoosh of hot air burners fired things up and caused a bit of eye boggling.
Fortunately the balloon was only in action for one morning as the wind threatened to pull up its anchors (a huge tree and a 4wd).
Other demos featured on site were Ysabella Dean with Bitless bridles , Julie Leitl with barefoot hoof trimming and Cynthia with natural horsemanship groundwork.
Dave McDonald from Old Macs was on hand to talk about hoof boots and the new Pee Wee bit so the site was busy all three days despite the cold and sometimes wet weather.

The balloon was huge but not so scary after a while.

Anawa and Joylene showed off the Old Mac Boots, a Bitless Bridle and the Barefoot Treeless saddle in their central arena performances.

EVENT REPORT - The Whole Horse Workshop

Mid June saw 12 keen students participate in Cynthia Cooper’s second Whole Horse Workshop held over two days at her Golden Valley property.
Topics covered included Natural horse care and health, feeding, natural therapies, hoof care, saddle and tack fit and natural horsemanship on the ground and in the saddle.
Cynthia has set up a model of Jaime Jackson’s ‘Paddock paradise’ where the horses live on a track around the property perimeter. This encourages much more movement and enables grass intake to be restricted for part or all of the day depending on the time of year and the horse’s needs.
It also ensures the horses cross various types of terrain (water, gravel, bush tracks) and are fed hay around the track 24 hours a day to keep them moving in order to help with hoof and body conditioning.
The workshop format was very successful and instigated lively debate on topics such as rugging horses, how horses can live in a herd (even colts) to emulate a more natural existence, and natural hoof care with Jeremy Ford.
Jeremy has recently returned from the USA and is the first Australian to be certified with the American Association of Natural Hoof Care Professionals. He gave an excellent presentation on the benefits of natural living and barefoot horses, along with trimming and boot fitting.
The two day format enabled the information to be presented in a more in depth manner and participants agreed that the extra time was worthwhile, although there is always a feeling of running out of time when you are get onto interesting topics.
The aim of this workshop is to pass on new information that will benefit both horse and owner, especially those that are open minded and searching for better ways to look after and communicate with our friend, the horse.
The next Whole Horse Workshop will be held on the first weekend of November this year, and is a great way to see and hear about the latest methods to benefit horses in all areas of their lives.

Jeremy Ford demos a natural hoof trim.

Cynthia used her 3yo Quarab filly, Fantasy, to demo horse education.

Barefoot Bits & Pieces

Jeremy Ford has recently returned from the USA where he completed his certification to become the first Australian Farrier to be recognised by the American Association of Natural Hoof Care Practitioners.
Jeremy holds regular workshops in Tasmania, where people can learn the benefits of barefoot trimming and how to get started with trimming their own horse. Call Jeremy or Sharon on 63 931135 to book in for one or organise one in your area.

Peter Laidley is in demand as a Natural Hoof Care Clinician, especially in Europe where he has just returned from 7 weeks of teaching in France, the UK, Scotland and Finland. Peter also visited Simon Earle's Barefoot Racing stable and recommends viewing of the slow motion footage of a bare hoof compared to a shod hoof in movement - go to www.simonearleracing.com

For those interested in forums and discussion groups, the Yahoo group barefoothorseinaustralia has many helpful trimmers willing to give advice. Click here to view the group and join.

At the end of June, I had the pleasure of hosting a student from South Africa for a week. Kaitlyn Boyd-Moss is 17 and has come to Australia to study hoof trimming with Peter Laidley in QLD.
Her journey to keeping her horse barefoot started a little over a year ago when her showjumper was lame more often than he was sound. Now that the shoes have come off, he has been sound for a year and no doubt will benefit when his performance career resumes on Kaitlyn's return.

Kaitlyn and Peter enjoy some sightseeing in Tassie.

Product Review - Horse Trailer Design - find out what is safe and what isn't.
I have yet to see a trailer that has no design faults from the horse's point of view. That's not to say they are bad trailers - the construction is often top quality, but as with most things to do with horses, the human's needs are put first and the safety of the horse suffers.

& Book Review - THE HORSE NUTRITION BIBLE – By Ruth Bishop
The comprehensive Guide to The Correct Feeding of Your Horse

Everyone has questions about the type and quantity of feed to provide for their own particular horse. In this book, Ruth Bishop, Horse & Hound columnist and Spillers Horse Feeds nutritionist, explores all the options and offers down-to-earth advice on what to feed. This is one of the easiest to understand reference books on feed....... click here to read more.

Student News & Photos

Send me your pics and news - I enjoy hearing from newsletter readers.

Friesian Horses Star at the Keuring.

Monique Thornley with Berkley Remus - weanling purebred Friesian colt

For the first time in Tasmania, judges from the Netherlands came to assess three of Tasmania's purebred Friesian horses and gave a talk about the qualities they look for in Friesians.
Horses under three years of age are presented for a rating in the foalbook. Remus, a young colt received a 2nd premium and Nanneke a two year old filly received a 3rd. Only the top 5% of foals or young horses receive a 1st premium so this result was very good.
Kestrel TK is just over three years old and was being presented for entry into the Dutch studbook (she received a 2nd premium as a foal). Horses can also possibly be upgraded to get the coveted rating of ster - of which only the top 20% of all Friesian horses get. Needless to say Lee & Nadeen were ecstatic when they announced that Kestrel was not only accepted into the studbook with a 2nd premium but was also upgraded to ster because of her superb movement.
All horses were beautifully presented by Monique & Chris Thornley and Lee & Nadeen Davis.

Lee and Nadeen Davis proudly show off Kestrel TK.

Pony Pals For Kids and Adults too:
Interest in the Pony Pals play days has lifted recently to where 15 young riders and their parents got together for a play day at the Deloraine showgrounds in June.
Steph McGovern, who has two girls under 7 who ride, and started out as a new Pony pals mum herself a couple of years ago, is now the group organizer and helps with directing activities for the beginners.
Cynthia Cooper kept the older riders (eldest being 11) entertained for the morning with various online, liberty and ridden tasks to increase and test their skills.
The group gets together on the first Sunday of each month and aims to help parents and children develop a safe and happy relationship with their ponies, while enjoying the company of like-minded people.
Adult riders are also encouraged to take part, as some of the parents do, and the afternoons are free for them to play with and enjoy their horses too in a relaxed and helpful atmosphere. To find out more please call Steph on 03 63624474. It pays to check on the venue and changes due to weather.

CALENDAR OF TASMANIAN EVENTS

JULY
Pony Pals & play day (see note below)
22nd - Northern Pinto Stud Tour - Ph. Joylene on 63 302538.

AUGUST
Pony Pals & play day. (see note below)

SEPTEMBER
Pony Pals & play day.
16/17th - Advancing & Refining Level 1 Clinic with Wrangler Jayne at Topling Rugs Indoor Arena, Exton.

 

EVENT INFORMATION

Northern Pinto Stud Tour
Hot on the heels of the Southern Stud Tour Open Day comes our Northern one. We will be starting at 9.30 am on the 22nd of July at Joylene and Patricks Anawa Performance Stud 1023 Bridgenorth Rd Bridgenorth moving onto Vicki and Mal Humes Hybrow stud 91 Valley Rd Sidmouth for lunch around 12.30 - 1 o'clock. Depending on time etc we will be visiting either Helen Liddells Damristal Stud at Bridgenorth or my own just around the corner from Helens for afternoon tea we will let you know on that one. There will be available to all a car boot sale for all your old/unwanted horse gear. The cost per car boot will be $5 payable on the day. For more info on Anawa Stud and Pintos click here.

PONY PALS & PLAY DAYS are held monthly in northern Tas. and due to some changes with our members being committed for our regular first Sunday of the month date, we are looking for an alternative. Either the third or the last Sunday of the month could be suitable so if you haven't already been contacted, or would like to have a say, please contact Steph. on 63 624474 to let her know the best date for you.

CLASSIFIED ADDS

FOR SALE - a 17 inch wintec 2000 A/P in exelent condition $480 ono plus a Parelli Level 3 refinement pack brand new unused $200 ono. Ph. Lee on 64 257287.

Wanted - Parelli Level 1 Partnership pack - Ph. 64 372575.

Opportunity: Use of facilities which include exercise track, round yard, straight pool , stables and truck for people interested in re-training or training gallopers. A close by the beach cottage could be available to the right person which is very reasonably priced. Even possibly people with clients for the yearling and weanlings sales or one of our cottages could be rented out to the person or persons. Willing to listen to any terms suggested by interested parties. I would ideally like a natural horseperson, as I am very impressed with the methods. Ph. Tony on 62 931142.

FOR SALE:
15 year old mare 15hh, spirited, loves jumping, has done almost to level 3 Parelli Natural Horsemanship. She has also done pony club, but has been ridden without bit for a number of years now. Reluctant sale to good and experienced home only. $ 500.
Single horsefloat, excellent condition, reg. till August 06. $ 700 ono. Lise Armand (Cygnet area)
Ph. 6295 0774 M: 042 7777 122


If you have an add you would like included in the next newsletter please email it to me by the end of June.
Prices are $10 for up to 100 words and $5 for each photo.

FAREWELL JACK

There are reminders of your ordeal
Left spread about outside
And I’m left sadly wondering
About how and why you died

Sometimes I think I’ll be OK
Some days I know will be tough
I did my best to save you
But my best was not enough

I miss the way you’d greet me
As I open the back door
I miss your cheeky nature
What a horse to score!

You had the funniest big bug eyes
And would always act the clown
I love the way you would try your hardest
When your age could let you down

I pray that you forgive me
For the call I had to make
I could not bear to see you suffer
It was making my heart break

You passed in the bitter cold of winter
Your coat all wild and woolly
Your friends miss you in the paddock
Even though you were the bully

We tried all night to save you
And I prayed to every falling star that shot
I even tried trades with the devil
But save you we could not

All your trophies are in the tack shed
With ribbons I’ll never throw away
You will be talked about forever
Even with my grandkids someday.

I cherish every memory
And although it had to end
You know I’ll never forget you
You were the greatest friend.

Jen Clingly's beloved Jack being the dependable leader he was - sadly he went to greener pastures on the 26th of June after a colic attack that was the result of a limpoma strangling his bowel.

Newsletter 59 - May/June 2006

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