Horse books

There are plenty of books related to horses; some of them are thought to be read by "beginners", some are for intermediate riders and others are for those who are at an higher level. There are books about training techniques, luonging, nutrition, diseases, etc. Do you have your personal horse bookshelf at home? Which kind of book do you prefer reading? Would you like to share your best title with us? In this post I will leave some of the titles of the books that I found more interesting, would you like to do that too? If so, please leave us a comment! 

The first book that I would like to put on my list is Tug of War: Classical versus "Modern" Dressage by Dr. G. Heuschmann, edited by J.A. Allen. I buoght it some years ago at the price of 15.99£ by the internet. G. Heuschmann is not only a rider but also an equine veterinarian and he explains quite well the mistakes that many riders/trainers do and their consequences. The book is divided in seven chapters where he analyzes the differences between the "old" classic school of training and the new one. Thanks to the great number of photos we can clearly understand what he is trying to explain (even if you are not a vet). Infact there are photos taken during competitions that show us what's good and what's not, there are many illustrations that refer to the skeletal system, to muscles and ligaments and the main point is that hyperflexion and the tension related to it bring physiological problems. Reading it can be of great help even if you are not a dressagist; so, in my opinion, the book is not only interesting but very useful and well written, it's clear although speaking about a complex topic.

Horse people

There are some people who know a lot about horses but they share only part of their knowledge under payment. There are some who think that they know everything and they talk and talk and talk without stopping. There are others who know only few things but they use their brain to understand what they ignore and try hard to improve their knowledge. There are people who think that their level of knowledge is much higher than any other and they do not listen to anything. There are some that thinks that by doing elementary competitions they are much better than people who don't. And so on. There are many different kind of horse people and I met many of them during the years. The first thing that I understood is that you never know everything. It's simply not possible because there are too many things to know. You can be a perfect trainer but maybe you are not a vet; you may be a wonderful teacher even if you do not know every name of every muscle or bone of your horse; you can be a perfect trainer for horses but a bad teacher with people; you can   be a good therapist or a great "horse whisperer" but you need help if your horse has colic symptoms.  I could go on for a while in this way just because working with horses is not so simple and there are many things related to them. Put your trust in people but always think about what they are telling you. Secondly talk with many different people about everything: there are many good ideas, maybe very different from ours, but always useful. Third advice: everyone has something good to teach you because there will always be something that we don't know.  So don't be scared of trying new solutions: if they work everything will be ok but if they do not you can simply go back and do what you used to. Keep in mind that you always have to look at your horse and he will simply let you know if things are ok or not. Misbehaviour, changes in their phisical  condition or mental attitude give you a hint: think about your training programme, your horse's diet or his living condition to find out where the problem is. Too many times people think that if a horse "doesn't work" thay can simply change him. This way of avoiding problems can bring you to repeat the mistake on and on. Work on yourself and you will be able to solve many things!  

Foal in progress!!

February, 4th 2011

Few hours after... 

Cherubino 3 days after he was born

Cherubino and his Mom

Such a good boy!

Cherubino one week after he was born

So much energy!! One week old

Cherubino is 4 months old

Cherubino at 7 months

Cherubino at 10 months

Cherubino, 16 months, near Hermano, 8 y.o.

Cherubino, 20 months 

Cherubino, February 4th 2013

What is hay?

As always I'm not here to teach you anything but only to share my own experience and what I've learnt thanks to that. When I brought my horses at home I knew only few things and I didn't know how many others there were for me to discover. So, during some years, I improved my knowledge by reading books, trying different solutions and asking for informations to different people. With horses there are no rules and what works for one doesn't necessarily works for another. While what is generally true is the hay composition. First of all, hay is grass that is cut and dried so it can be stored and then used according to your needs. In Italy we generally have 3 different cuts: the first one in May, the second in August and the third one in September. The first one often contains more nutrients than the second and third one. After cutting the grass it is left on the field to dry for about three days and then, when it's dry enough, it is baled. It is very important that during that period of time hay doesn't become wet because this can cause mould development. Hay contains water too but your horse always needs to have free access to fresh and clean water. There are three different types of hay: legumes, cereals and grass hay.In legumes hay we can find alfa-alfa and clover; they are rich and contains many nutrients so, even if it's very palatable for horses, be aware of the fact that giving them too much of it can cause too much energy in your horse. After legumes hay there is the grass hay that is a little less rich in protein respect to the first one and it generally contains timothy, bluegrass, orchardgrass, fescue, etc. Last but not least there is cereals hay that is made of oat, barley or wheat but it is not often used because it's not as nutrient as the other two types. Straw sometimes is used instead of hay or to complete the horse's diet but it's not nutrient and it doesn't give enough proteins and energy to your horse. It's quite common that some horses eat it when we use it to make their bed and in itself it's not such a bad habit but straw shouldn't be their only source of nutrients.

The evolution of the grey coat

 This photos help me to explain how the grey coat of a horse changes in time. Nothing better than see the "evolution" of it in these pictures that I want to share with you. In the first one on the left we can see an Andalusian grey horse at the age of 2.

 And on the right the same Andalusian horse at the age of 4.

Same horse at the age of 6

 Same horse at 7.

Same horse at the age of 8.

 Another grey Andalusian horse at the age of 9 here on the right.

Same horse as before at the age of 10.

Grey pony, 17 years old.

Do you want a new horse every year? In that case a grey horse is the right choice. Many people refer to grey horses as white but that's not right. In fact white horses are less common and they have got pink skin underneath their coat while a grey one has dark skin. The grey horse changes his coat during the years due to a gene, that is dominant, and this causes the coat depigmentation. When a grey horse is born he can be black or bay or any other color. The grey horse usually has brown eyes while a white one often has light blue eyes with pink skin around them. 

You can find grey horses in every breed but they are quite common in Andalusian, Lipizzaner and Arabian. Every horse shows a different way of "greying" and you can see many differences among grey horses of different ages; some of them become "white" in a little time while for others this evolution takes many years. For this reason you can't rely on the color of a grey horse coat to understand his age.

Grey horses are prone to develop cutaneous melanoma but it's not malignant in many cases.   

Horse's diet - more about hay

 The one on the left is an example of a hay bale made up with alfa - alfa

 The one on the right side of the screen is a bale made with mixed hay

Both this image and the next one are examples of bad hay that you should avoid using: there are traces of mold in it, probably due to humidity.

Ponies and cardigans

What do you think about that? I love this picture! Fivla and Vitamin are the names of the two guest stars of this campain by The National Scotland Tourism Organization and you can find more photos and videos here! So cute!!!