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INSIDE: News, Herbie’s Horsebox & Much More! October 2012 The Pony Post My First Pony Diva—an ih Kids Member’s Story Let’s talk about…. dressage

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Page 1: The pony post october v3

INSIDE: News, Herbie’s Horsebox & Much More! October 2012

The Pony Post

My First Pony Diva—an ih Kids

Member’s Story

Let’s talk about….

dressage

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Hello!

IH October News Let’s talk about dressage

My First Pony Diva by Isabella

Herbie’s Horsebox

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

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Liz

Editor & IH Recommended Associate

I’m sitting typing this to you at the end of September. Outside, it’s cold and wet—the first day I feel that the summer has really ended. My ponies are standing in their shelter, feeling a bit cold for the first time in ages. Poor girls! They’ll soon grow their winter coats, though, and then will be coping with all the nasty weather this winter brings. We’ll soon be into our winter routines too—beds and mucking out, getting home in the dark and having no time to ride except for at weekend, and long evenings with nothing to do except homework! Ok, and maybe watching just a bit of telly. If you do have a bit of time, how about putting together the sto-ry of your summer with your pony, what you did and where you went, and letting us know. Your story could then be in the Pony Post too!

Is your pony now using his shelter

as we move into the winter months?

Contact Us! [email protected]

On the cover This is Walter a rescue pony from Bransby Home for Rest of Horses

Do you have a story or photo to share?

Let’s talk about Dressage on

Page 4

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IH October News

Kelly and Harry Keep on Learning

Look at Harry and Kelly jump! Kelly says gridwork is fantatic for horse and rider confidence and that it teaches your horse or pony to pat the ground and LIFT THOSE LEGS! If Harry can do it (he’s over 17hh’s) then we are sure you and your pony would do brilliantly! It also shows that even the VERY BEST teachers keep on taking

lessons and keep learning!

Last IH Course for 2012

This year has gone so quickly and as well as the darker evenings this month we have also seen the very last IH

course of 2012— time really does fly!

But there is no need to worry because 2013 courses are already being planned and some dates are already on the

IH website!

www.intelligenthorsemanship.co.uk

Monty Roberts—Jubilee Tour Autumn 2012

This month Monty and Kelly are back this month for the Autumn Tour!

The demo starts on the 13 October at Hadlow College in Kent and the team will be making their way to Norfolk, Hull, Lancashire, Cumbria, Scotland,

Cheshire, Devon, Gloucester and Hampshire.

And remember IH Members go in to the PRIVATE audience and get to reserve the best seats!

Find out lots more on the IH website: www.intelligenthorsemanship.co.uk

Will you be going to see a demo? If so send us your comments, reviews, your best bits and photos to publish in a future Pony Post!

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Let’s talk about… dressage

Ok, so how many of you were glued to the Olympics during the summer? I bet more than a few of you were watching the equestrian sports - especially our medal winning Team GB!

Some of disciplines are more exciting to watch and easier to understand than others. With the show jumping and cross country, you can see if someone got a fence down or if they are going to pick up time penalties. Dressage is harder to understand. Horse and rider, immaculately turned out, doing some flatwork... very flashy flatwork, I'll grant you that, but just flatwork, isn't it?

The word "dressage" comes from the French word for "training". It has come to mean training your horse to perform specific moves willingly and to very light aids. That's very important to remember - it's not about sitting on your horse and making him (and you!) look good by pulling his head in, it's about teaching him how to respond lightly, so that you and your horse work together. As Carl Hester, Olympic Gold Medalist, says, "dressage is like gymnastics for horses." A good dressage horse needs to be very fit and strong, but at the same time be very relaxed. A good dressage horse also needs to listen to his rider all the time - after all, there's no point in the rider giving super light aids if the horse isn't listening, is there?

Training a top level dressage horse takes years, but like everything we all have to start somewhere. If you think of dressage as really just flatwork, so the basic training of your pony to walk, trot and canter with transitions when you ask for them, riding in straight lines or circles, while keeping nice and quiet, we can all probably do some anyway. It is, if you think about it, the stuff that we all learn to do when we first start riding.

Early schooling is early dressage!

Dressage when we’re learning to ride

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Let’s talk about… dressage

I bet some of you are now thinking "but schooling is so boring!" If you just ride round a school with no plan it is - boring for you and for your pony. What dressage is all about, though, is training you both to become really in tune with each other, to understand each so well you can "talk" through your body without anyone else even being able to see what you're doing - training in that way can be hard work but also quite magical.

So if you'd like to do something a bit different and more difficult with your pony but aren't into

jumping and stuff like that, look into dressage. See if you can find yourself a proper dressage

instructor.

If you're in the Midlands, you couldn't to better than Carrie Adams, IH Recommended Associate, who

teaches dressage to riders of all ages. Her website is: www.centrelines.co.uk/

Who knows, in a few years time YOU could be part of the Team GB

Olympic dressage team...

Carrie Adams with Monty Roberts - Doesn’t she look smart?

Why don’t you try and set out your own practice dressage arena?

Some markets are not visible to the rider and these are the ones in the middle (D, X and G)

Markers A, B, C, E, F, H, K, M are set out on

the side of the arena.

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My First Pony Diva by Isabella

This is Diva my first pony! She is a grey Welsh Section A mare, 12 years old and used to be a riding school pony. I first met Diva at my riding school and had a number of my lessons on her. I fell in love with her (even though I rode other ponies too) and her brilliant personality so my Mum asked if she was available and then my granddads both bought her for my 5th birthday.

I have been riding for a year now and Diva is helping me to grow in confidence and ability all of the time. In this photo she is looking at my mum because she was speaking to her and trying to get her to look at the camera. She is quite alert of what is going on around her as her ears are pricked in my mum's direction and Diva’s head is alert too, but she knows this area just outside the barn by the horse walker and therefore is not nervous or worried at all.

Diva is very good at standing still for me (most of the time that is). She will

stand for me to use the mounting block, while my mum checks her girth and even

at pony games at the start of races!

Diva has a lot of likes and a few dislikes! My mum helped me to discover these by asking me lots of questions and now we have started a folder for all of her notes, vets bits, insurance bits and livery paperwork, etc.

Mum calls this her portfolio but I like to call it my Diva record book as I am printing off lots of photos to go into it as well and it is just like my baby record book.

Find out more about Diva’s likes and dislikes—are they the same for your favourite

pony?

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My First Pony Diva by Isabella ….continued

Diva has started to recognise our voices and faces now which is really exciting. She loves parsnips and I give them to her as a treat after our rides. Mum is starting to clicker train her too and is using small pieces with the clicker as well. When we go onto the yard Diva will look up and come over to her box door to see us now and she doesn’t do that for other people that she doesn’t know.

Diva’s Likes

She has several pony friends at the yard called Trevor, Neil, Robbie, Prince and Milo. Her best friend called Merrylegs who was in the box next to her in the barn was retired last week and we think she must be missing her a little bit as she called for her when she first left and wasn’t there the next day! She is more relaxed about it again now but does appear to get annoyed with Robbie sometimes who is now next to her as he kicks his box door for attention and Diva just looks at him when he does this. I am not sure what she is thinking and I am sure she isn’t amused and maybe she is even thinking about her little friend Merrylegs that used to be there and very well behaved before.

Diva loves going out for hacks around the farm and is very good with dogs, walkers and even the lorries that came to the BJSA competition at the yard at the weekend. So hopefully she will be good when I take her to my first proper show next month, although we did really well at the riding school show during my pony care day. We won my first Diva rosette and she won 4 of the 5 races! In the photo above she is looking at two other horses and riders coming towards us from the yard. She does call but does keep an eye on them with her eyes and ears. I had to tell her to walk on twice and get her attention back to me after this photo.

We went out and caught her ourselves for the first time yesterday and as soon as she saw us and my mum called her she walked straight up to us. Mum was really pleased and we both gave her lots of rubs and spoke to her a little before we put the head collar on her. Mum said this was a good idea so she does not think we are always going to just try and catch her all of the time. I led her in then and she walked really well next to me listening to me chat to her. She knows when she gets into her box in the barn there will be some haylage waiting for her and she has never had a bad experience coming in so she is quite happy to be caught.

This is Diva, myself and my instructor Erin—we are all

having fun!

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My First Pony Diva by Isabella ….continued

I am now learning a lot more about ponies now that I have my own and am not just having riding lessons or visiting my mums horses. Diva has a number of things she dislikes or isn’t too happy about. One of the big things is personal space. She doesn’t like people peering over the stable door at her and will put her ears back at anyone that tries to stroke her over the door, especially people she doesn’t know. She is now getting much better with my mum, dad and me now though. My mum explained it to me as someone I didn’t like or annoyed me (like my brothers) trying to get into my own bedroom when I just wanted some peace and quiet so I think I understand a bit better now. I always look to see if her ears are forwards or back and speak to her to back sure she knows it me. Diva is really good in the manage but when we go out for hacks sometimes she like to snack on the grass and I struggle at the moment to keep her head up. We are experimenting with side reins to help me with this but recently I am learning to recognise when she may be thinking about doing it and stop her before she does. If she spots some nice juicy grass she looks at it first and then slowly starts to pull in the direction before she puts her head down. I know say no in a firm strong voice and push her on, as well as make sure my reins are short enough too.

Diva’s Dislikes

Other Things I Noticed & Learnt About My New Pony

Diva has a slight dust allergy and this can sometimes make her cough. Her box is right next to the entrance to the American barn where all the boxes are and this means she gets plenty of fresh air. My mum gets asthma and also sometimes has allergies so I understand how grumpy this must make Diva feel sometimes. It must also not be very comfortable for her either sometimes so I always try to ride her outside either on a hack or in one of the outdoor manages instead of one of the two inside schools especially when it’s dry and dusty. We gave Diva a big wash last weekend as being grey she gets very dirty and we wanted to see how she was with the water ready for getting her prepared for shows in the future. She was really good, although she appeared to be tickly in some areas (like I am too) but she stood really well for us to get her wet and shampoo her. I noticed that she was tickly by her tail, on her flanks and underneath on her tummy. She wasn’t too keen getting her face wet either so we just used a damp sponge there.

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My First Pony Diva by Isabella ….continued

My Goals

My mum has helped me to set some goals I can be working on in the next few months so I can get to know Diva even better and Diva can get to know me as well. Below are my top three that I choose: 1. Get Diva to pick up her hooves for me so I can pick them out. She does it really well for my

mum but I need to learn to do it and show her that I am also confident about it. 2. Learn to recognise more of her likes and dislikes so I can write them in her Diva record book.

This will help me to me help her. 3. Go to our first show and have fun!

I joined IH Kids because I have watched both Monty Roberts and Kelly Marks on TV as well as my mum having a large number of both of their books. I learn French and Hebrew as languages and thought especially as I now have my own pony that I should make an effort to learn their language and help to make Diva’s life as nice for her and as much fun as possible so she knows that I care and try to understand her. I am also hoping to attend the Monty Roberts lecture in the autumn if I mum will let me as it’s a school night and quite late and I am only 5 years old!

Why I Joined IH Kids

By Isabella

Thank you Isabella for sharing your story and White Rosette Entry with us, if you would like to earn your IH Kids

White Rosette go online and find out how!

www.intelligenthorsemanship.co.uk

Select IH Kids from the main menu.

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Herbie has some October riddles for you to solve and a tricky maze with only ONE route—can you find it?

Herbie’s Horsebox

1. It’s small and sharp but a

horse will wear it…..

In Your Next Issue……

The Must Have Equine Christmas List! Monty Tour Report—Your Comments The Art of Longlining and MUCH MORE!

5. My hooves are striped but my

body is not. I can run a great

distance without getting hot.

What breed am I?

2. I may be stubborn but I’m

always ready to listen…..

The Race is on!

Can you help the jockey navigate Herbie’s horse maze to the next fence?

Good Luck!

From here…..

To here…..

4. Because it’s all ready. An eq-

uine of this coloring rarely needs

to do any work….

3. This brush isn’t made out of a

tasty dish.

Mule

Curry

Dun

Tack

Appaloosa

Grey

October Riddles

Pick a riddle and find the right yellow answer—but be careful there is a few

answers too many!

October Riddles Answers: 1. Tack, 2. Mule, 3. Curry, 4. Dun, 5. Appaloosa—the remaining answers are there to trick you!

Shire