ByRobyn Harris
Last week I looked again at some important questions that this journey with Dax has raised recently and the answers that I have found so far. This whole process has been a very interesting one for me. It has caused me to question so many things – myself, my approach, my abilities and my beliefs. …
ByRobyn Harris
Isn’t it interesting how allowing our horses to say ‘No’ can bring up so much stuff – both for them and for us!? Since Dax arrived there have been some changes in his behaviour, as those of you who’ve been following this blog will know. At first he was like a little lamb, meekly following…
ByRobyn Harris
Those of you who’ve been following this blog – or even who’ve just read last week’s post – will be wondering what I meant by Dax’s ‘darker side’. Let me start by saying that overall this boy is very sweet and he has a cheeky, playful, intelligent character, but as the weeks went by following…
ByRobyn Harris
Around the time that the changes I outlined last week were going on, the trimmer, Caroline Wang-Andresen of Hoofing Marvellous, came for her second visit. I spoke with her about what was going on with Dax and mentioned that he seemed unhappy if I tried to lift his front feet, often turning round to bite…
ByRobyn Harris
The weeks rolled on and Dax’s behaviour started to change subtly. When he’d first arrived in Bristol he’d seemed happy to walk around on a lead rope and follow me wherever I took him: into the stable, into the field or around the yard. He was less confident about going out into the lane, so…
ByRobyn Harris
In the last couple of posts, I’ve shared some of the techniques that I’ve been drawing on as my life has been going from ‘busy’ to ‘more than a little crazy’! I’m aware that reading this sort of thing can sometimes make it sound that the writer – in this case me – has got…
ByRobyn Harris
Last week I started the story of how a handsome young gelding came into my life. This week I’d like to formally introduce him! In his previous home he was known as Lucky, however I felt drawn to giving him a new name to mark the start of this new chapter of his life. I…
ByRobyn Harris
Oh boy! What a journey this is turning out to be! As I began writing this I was waiting in excited anticipation for the arrival of the horse that I’ve taken on permanent loan. He was travelling from St Albans to join me here in Bristol, so had a long road ahead of him, but…
ByRobyn Harris
Something we need to consider when our horses are stabled is what and how we feed them. Think about how the horse eats and drinks in the wild. Here they graze for up to sixteen hours a day, eating grass growing on the ground. In contrast we often feed concentrates at set meal times and…
ByRobyn Harris
Many of the situations in which we keep horses mean that it’s not possible for them to be turned out all the time. We therefore need to think of ways of making their time in the stable more ‘natural’. For example, think of how the horse interacts with his surroundings when within a herd. He…
ByRobyn Harris
Last week I mentioned that stabling can be stressful for horses, so what can we do to provide them with a more appropriate environment? Where at all possible it is best to try to create natural conditions as far as possible. Ideally this would be for the horse to be turned out, day and night,…
ByRobyn Harris
Last week I looked at some of the similarities and differences between us and our equine friends. One of the ways we can see this is in our use of body language. For example, when two horses meet, they introduce each other by approaching slowly, often at an angle rather than directly. They are very…