Today we were delighted to welcome Victoria and Richard to Top of the Hill for a visit with Darrington. Victoria had a walk-trot-canter session with Darr, with many pats, many carrots and a few ginger snap cookies. No wonder he is such a happy guy.
It was interesting for us to hear first-hand about Victoria's experiences with Darr over the last three years, what life is like at her home stable and Darr's hunter and jumper career. It was a treat for Sarah to see how Darr looks from the ground, too, with a rider who is so familiar with him. Certainly there is an obvious bond between Darr and Victoria; he was even perkier than usual (granted, there were lots of carrots involved, and we certainly support carrots). Victoria shared several great pix of Darr that she had on her phone and we especially loved a picture of Darr rolling on his back, all four legs in the air.
We're using the same French-link bit that Victoria does. We asked how she managed his "restless" moments, when he really wants to go, go, go. Victoria noted that a little lunging and lots of cantering time worked well for her with Darr. So, we've decided that perhaps the solution to his excitement lately his isn't a different bit, but simply more time cantering as soon as he is he's ready. Certainly Sarah's had good luck "riding the sillies" out of horses in the past in order to find a calmer place, and accordingly, that's the philosophy we're going to work with for the time being.
Darr's grain was Purina Elite while he was with Victoria. I see from the Purina site that Elite is the feed line intended for equine athletes (horses, not people), so we'll discuss that with Erin, particularly as Darr begins doing more work in the new year and months ahead. We learned that he is quite fond of Tim's apple cider, as well as slightly overcooked ginger snaps. Also, we need to keep an eye on Darr during especially hot weather in the summer in order to minimize the effects of heat stress. There were many other little notes, too many to mention here, but it was certainly was both a helpful and pleasant visit.
We certainly hope that Victoria will be able to make return visits over the Christmas Break, despite the rather long drive.
Sounds great! Wish I could have been there.
ReplyDeleteCertainly speak to Erin, but I did look at the Purina grain (Senior I think) at Top of the Hill before Darr moved and it is similar to Elite in terms of its nutrition, save for a few things. Purina also usually has a nutritionist that will come out to your barn for free for a consult if you have any questions (like balancing his weight with his energy, for example).
I also had a thought on his energy, though this is generic advice whereas Victoria has been the one riding him for the last few years. This worked very well with Ana who always came out with lots of energy, but hated being told what to do. So I would let it be her idea to focus. You could start doing more shapes, directional changes, leg yields, etc. This is like outsmarting them - by constantly changing it up, they are forced to focus, without you arguing directly with them (pulling). Also, while it is easy for a horse to brace/pull squarely against both hands, when you are doing shapes they are bending and it is harder for them to pull on you that way. Especially when you change direction, and your contact changes to the other direction, and so does their balance. Try leg yielding too as it does the same thing. Also, as circles get smaller, if he is going too quickly he will have trouble so he will likely need to slow down on his own. So let him sort that out and just guide him on the shape, and don't let him slow down too much on small circles if he starts to stall when he realizes he needs to slow down - you actually want to squeeze him forward at that point. And then hopefully, if you keep doing this, he will just start to focus, the bending will cause him to start to come round, and suddenly you will be needing to push him forward so he doesn't fall behind your leg. Then you are riding leg into hand, which is what we all aim for!
Another bonus is horses tend to stop focusing on things to spook at when they are focusing on you. If you don't give them something to think about, they'll find something, especially in the winter when they are bored!
I know I have asked a thousand times... when are you leaving for FL? I think I will be driving by the barn on the 23rd or 24th and would love to ride him if that would work out!