5 Day Challenge - Day 2

6. Favorite equestrian book and movie

Current favorite equestrian book is The Eighty Dollar Champion. Love that book, I highly recommend reading it. Also, I really like Seabiscuit. 

Favorite equestrian movies are National Velvet and Hildalgo. 
 
7. Most common riding misconception

That all horse people are rich people and that all you have to do is sit there on the horse. I know very few people that have horses and are well-off and I know no one that "just sits there". Horses require a lot of hard work, commitment, fearlessness (at least to some degree) and blood, sweat, and tears all go into this sport/passion/hobby.

8. 2 riding strengths and 1 riding weaknesses

Strengths... This one's pretty hard. I guess I love learning. I feel like I learn quickly. I read everything I can get my hands on about nutrition, training, etc. in addition to watching videos, auditing clinics and taking lessons.


I'm easily able to apply what I learn and often if I have an idea of what the horse is supposed to feel like for a certain exercise, knowing how to ask for it is intuitive. Sometimes. Not always. Or maybe it's just that it's not intuitive, but it was learned so long ago it feels intuitive? Anyways.

Weakness... I tend to be lazy. I think "I'll do that next time" with regard to harder or more tedious exercises that I should be doing now instead of later. Also, this applies to waking up early and leaving the house when it's hot/cold and I don't feel like braving the weather. But, for the most part I'm able to work through it.

9. Least favorite thing about horses and/or riding

How it takes all of your time and money. While I wouldn't ever give up horses, sometimes I wonder what it'd be like to have a "normal" life. But then again, what would I do with all the free time and extra money?!

10. What do you feed your horse(s)?

Misty: 
Grain - 3 pounds of Equilux Wellness grain (a low NSC/starch type grain) AM & PM
Supplements - Equerry's RX vitamin/joint supplement/probiotic and Cool Calories fat supplement PM
Hay - 2 flakes Orchard grass and 1 flake Alfalfa PM
Turned out roughly 12 hours on pasture so she doesn't get breakfast/lunch hay. 

Jetta:
Grain - 1 pound Equilux Wellness grain AM & 3 pounds PM
Supplements - Equerry's RX vitamin/joint supplement/probiotic PM
Hay - 3 flakes Orchard grass minimum sometimes more depending on size of the flakes PM
Also turned out roughly 12 hours on pasture per day.   

Jetta with her dinner

The Endurance Bug

I went to the horse expo yesterday. I hadn't really been sure all week if I wanted to go or not, I didn't go last year just because I was disappointed in the year before and I knew it would be the same old stuff. But I was bored and I noticed that a certain speaker was going to be there, so I went.

I've always wanted to try out endurance but never really got around to it. Partly because I had no idea how to get involved and also because I don't have any close horse friends who do it. When I had Jazz I wanted to do it with her because when she was fit, she could go all day on the trail, nothing phased her, she had awesome feet, etc.

Now with Jetta, I still want to do it. She's not as bombproof on the trails as Jazz was, but we could manage it. She loves being on the trails almost as much as she loves jumping. I love trail riding and I am a very goal oriented person, plus gorgeous views from horseback, sign me up!

AareneX over at Haiku Farm released a book on Endurance for people just getting into it and I've been eyeing it for a while... and she was speaking at the expo! So I woke up earlyish (for me - hey it's spring break!) and headed over to the fairgrounds.

First of all, geez it's expensive to get in. $12 entrance fee plus a $3 parking fee. I'm sure it's expensive to rent this fairgrounds because it's super nice, but holy cow, I wasn't planning on spending $15 just to get in.

Anyways, I walked around the booths and had fun window shopping but didn't buy anything. My favorite tack store was there with some good sale stuff, but nothing that I particularly needed in my price range. There was also a really neat booth with vintage equestrian fashion, some new clothing and used quality saddles. Drool. Everything was way out of my price range but fun to look at!

After finding the conference room (it's hidden!) I really enjoyed Aarene's talk. She's funny and a good speaker. Plus she showed some amazing pictures from endurance rides, the scenery was awesome. Nice to put a face to a blogger that I've been reading! Her presentation made me want to do endurance so bad! I ended up buying a book from her (autographed to boot) and talked to the local endurance group about how to get started. Everyone was super nice and the lady at the booth didn't live too far from me so she told me which rides were the easiest to drive to.

Can't wait to get started. My summer plans are still up in the air so I have no idea what rides I'll be able to make it to, but hopefully we'll get to do one or two limited distance rides. Already planning what things I'll need to for endurance (oh dear, more things for the tack whore to buy, though I'm not going overboard yet and buying a new saddle or replacing my leather tack with biothane, lol) - but I do need saddle bags that fit my dressage saddle since it's the most comfortable saddle I have, need to make sure the camper shell for my truck is still alive (it's hanging out somewhere in the forest at home...), new saddle pad that won't become an absorbent mop for our ride, some sort of way to keep Jetta from running away from the trailer overnight... and of course we need trails to practice on so I need to get to work finding some local trails that allow horses. I know of one (need to remember how to get there first) but then I also need a trail buddy.

Definitely bitten by the endurance bug so I hope I actually get to do at least one ride this year!

Book Review: The Eighty Dollar Champion

Wow, so these last two months I have read one book for fun. Sad, I am used to reading anywhere from two to five books a week!

I had placed the Eighty Dollar Champion on hold at the library and got on the waitlist for it. So when it was my turn, since it was a new book that's pretty popular I knew that I needed to read it asap otherwise give up on reading it for a long time!

So last Saturday I sat down and read it completely... and I really liked it! Granted, it doesn't take a lot to please me in a book, but I found it fascinating learning about past jumping practices, the difference in jumping position and other practices, plus I can't help but cheer for an underdog.

It was neat to see actual pictures of Snowman in the book and I found myself holding my breath as he competed. Snowman's owner Harry is a very likeable person and he embodies the horseman who succeeds on skill, not money. It would even be a good book for a non-horse-person or non-jumper since the jumping competitions and practices are explained in simple terms for every reader. Overall a great read and I definitely recommend it. Two hooves up!

Equestrian Bookshelf

I am slowly building my equestrian bookshelf and I'm proud of what I've got so far!

My horse books plus some others...

Currently on my shelf are:
Tug of War: Classical versus "Modern" Dressage by Dr. Gerd Heuschmann
Feet First- Barefoot Performance and Hoof Rehabilitation by Nic Barker & Sarah Braithwaite
101 Jumping Exercises by Linda Allen
Horse Training In-Hand by Ellen Schuthof-Lesmeister & Kip Mistral
Equine Fitness by Jec Aristotle Ballou
Hunter Seat Equitation by George Morris
Horse Tack Bible by Carolyn Henderson
Horse Journal - a guide to equine supplements and neutraceuticals by Dr. Eleanor M Kellon

I'm sure I have a few other books floating around my room, but I can't find them right now. My room is just a little bit messy... Ok, more than a bit, but I digress. I'm always looking to add new books so, what are your favorite training/health books? I especially am looking for books on dressage theory or exercises and books about horses that are more technical since my knowledge is starting to expand and I want to learn even more!

Barefoot Performance

I just finished reading the book, Feet First: Barefoot Performance and Hoof Rehabilitation and I love it! It was chock full of information, examples of horses that were lame and transitioned into being sound barefoot horses, the proper diet for a horse, function of the hoof and more. It gives a ton of information about how the hoof works and why improper diet/conditioning/shoeing interferes with the hooves' natural mechanisms. And it's not a book that talks about how "terrible/evil" shoes are, but simply says that horses can be happily barefoot and in full work. I would recommend it whether or not you're interested in barefoot because it is so informative about the hoof in general.

Here's a couple interesting facts about hooves:

* Did you know that a horse with healthy bare feet can grow a new hoof capsule in 4 to 6 months? But that a shod horse will take 9 months to a year to grow a new hoof capsule?
* A healthy barefoot horse can easily do road work without worrying about wearing the hooves down too far - when you gradually increase roadwork, the hooves will respond by growing faster to replace wear.
* A barefoot horse doesn't usually slip more than a shod and studded horse. They often slip about the same or sometimes even less than a studded horse.
* Have you ever paid attention to the amount of magnesium in your horse's diet? Magnesium is an important component of their diet and contributes to overall health of the horse as well as hoof health.

And there is of course a ton more. I think I'll have to read this book once or twice more so that I can absorb all the information it has!

I also found this awesome article about Thrush and the frog which are super important to having a healthy hoof, shoes or no.

And if you want some more information about hoof structure and function, smazourek (click for all of the posts tagged 'hooves') did some great posts on her blog. Here's some of my favorites: here, here, here, here, and here. Whew. I think I got them all :)

I hope to post some pictures of Jetta's hooves soon. I rode her down the gravel driveway with absolutely no issues! There was no soreness, no stumbling and no unwillingness to walk on the gravel instead of the grass.This is a huge difference from when I first got her and she couldn't even comfortably get off the trailer and to the grass by walking across the gravel driveway. The new angle of her hoof has almost completely grown down, so I think when she gets trimmed this week her feet are going to look fab!



Not Jetta's hoof. But soon! There shall be pictures :)



Free Stuff is Always Good

I love free stuff. I don't think I know anyone who doesn't like free stuff :)

I've gotten this magazine a couple times from a bookstore and I really liked it - it's all about natural care for horses and alternative therapies. Very interesting and I, of course, like it because it promotes barefoot performance! And has some good articles and research to back up claims.

So I was happy to find a free online subscription to the Equine Wellness magazine. And you get access to all the past subscriptions! I found this through the Ecolicious Equestrian Blog. Go here for the code and happy reading!

Conditioning

I received my conditioning book and I have to say that I really enjoy it! My one complaint (and it's barely a complaint) is that I wish it was a little more specific/technical on why exercises work and what they are doing exactly to the horse's body. But really, this book is easy to read, complete, full of information and has great exercises.

It has great illustrations and the feature with the removeable cards in the back with exercises is really smart. There are also lists of recommended exercises to do together, or you can mix and match to your liking.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone. It is very informative and will help at any level of training, whether it's for dressage, jumping or eventing and more. There are stretches on the ground, in-hand exercises, exercises to do outside and on the trail, arena flat work, and gymnastic work. This book was very well thought out and I am glad I bought it!

I've already started integrating a lot of the exercises into my training, many of them are things that I commonly used, so it's great to see that they have a use not just in training the horse's mind and improving performance, but also works well on their muscles and helps get them truly fit. Two hooves up!

What to buy... That is the question

I love late Christmas presents :) I got an Amazon.com gift card in the mail the other day and I have been trying to decide what to buy with it.

I've been eyeing this book on conditioning for a long time, so I am going to buy it for sure, but then I can get one other book.

 

I've narrowed it down to these two books.

They both got good reviews and sound like they are chock full of information. I would just like a book that has lots of clear step-by-step exercises that are illustrated, stuff that I can browse and add to my own training program. Has anyone read/owns these books? Or are there other young dressage horse training books that you like?