Merry Christmas!

We would love to wish all horse lovers a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Horsey Year!

Equestrian Vaulting

Here is a truly amazing sport, Equestrian Vaulting. It is pretty much Gymnastics and Dance on horse back. It used to be a Olympic sport until for some odd reason they took it out. There are still many vaulting teams and events around the globe though.

This is a sport I would love, love, LOVE to try! It takes a lot of balance as you are preforming flips and twists on a moving horse!

We do not own image, it belongs to rightful owner!

This sport would take a lot of trust between the horse and rider, one wrong move and to be honest... You would be dead or very broken.

Not any old horse can become a vaulting horse, the horses that are used have to have smooth and even paces, through walk to canter.

Vaulting in history has been used in circuses around the world.



We do not own image, it belongs to rightful owner!



 

Vaulters perform various movements on the back of the horse. Novice and beginning vaulters may perform at the walk or the trot while higher level vaulters perform at the canter. There are a number of compulsory exercises and depending on class the vaulter perform seven or eight of them
 This is quite an amazing sport that is quickly becoming more popular in Eastern USA.

We have a few clubs in New Zealand but it more popular over seas.

Image belongs to it's rightful owner!


-HorseFrenzy

A Day in My Hooves




Neigh! ..I mean hello, if you don't already know I'm Spec's, Horse Frenzy's horse and best friend.
I'm a 16.1hh ,dark brown and very much pregnant Thoroughbred mare. All the stallion's dig me tehe.
The love of my life is an Appaloosa stallion called Snuffles, we are expecting our FIRST foal together. Yay!
I decided to make a blog post as the humans don't know nearly as much about horses as I do. Well DUH I'm the horse! Anyway here's a bit on what I did this morning.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This morning was turning out to be a brilliant day for me, the sky was overcast but the sun was shining through and it was nice and warm. I was peacefully asleep to SOMEONE woke me up, not mentioning names... HORSEFRENZY!!! Gosh can't a pregnant horse get some sleep around here!
She came running down my paddock to see me and then began stroking my nose and telling me how beautiful I am, well DUH, I know I'm beautiful, just look at the picture above and it say's it all!
After the head she began stroking my neck and it was so nice I began to fall asleep.. That was into suddenly she began touching my pregnant belly. I woke up with a start and turned around to see what the little so and so was up to. And get this! She said "Gosh your belly is looking huge today Specs", of all the nerve. After she was finished feeling my belly and poking around she walked around behind me and looked and then turned around to the front of me where she began looking. She obviously found what she was looking for because she came back to my neck and started stroking me again.
THEN she went to the side of me and peered under my stomach at my udder. Apparently she was going on about wondering when I was due to have my foal. 'That's for me to know and you to find out' I thought to myself. I know when I'm due and that's the only thing that matters. After she was satisfied with looking she started walking back up the hill and then turned around to see what I was upto. I by now was very much awake so I started to walk to a nice looking clump of long grass. Something was irritating me so I began stomping my back foot up and down. Then I went behind the long grass and did my business. After that I began for a tree where I went under the lowest branch and swayed back and forth itching my back.
So that pretty much sum's up my morning.
Till next time :D
Spec's xx

Horses Show Review

So both me and WildHorse went to this horse show and now I'm going to do a review on it.
It had heaps of classes like in hand, kids, show hunting and show jumping.
I saw quite a few of the classes but I mainly watched show jumping.

Summer Time Grass Growth!

This Summer has been amazing. Not only has it been nice and hot but it also has been an awesome time for grass growing. My mare Spec's has been over whelmed with grass!

Here's some pictures of her enjoying the grass and the sun!

Specs thinking I'm going to feed her!

Speckles and me in the long grass

Shade under the tree!

The grass  :O

Shade!

Summer Time: Beat the Bots

So as anyone who owns a horse or even knows a lot about a horse will know that summer time can be a time of misery for some poor horses and owners... Why? The bugs!

In New Zealand in summer we get bee's, wasps, house flies (I hate!!!), horse flies, gnats and BOT FLIES!!!

I hate bot flies and my mare hates them as well! Bot flies pretty much are flies that will lay their eggs on a horses legs or under their belly. As you can imagine the itchy-ness causes the horse to scratch and because a horse doesn't have arms they use their mouth.. And this is how the evil bots work. When a horse scratches the bots with its mouth some of the baby's get swallowed.. But alas this does not kill the evil little minions... No, this is just the beginning of their master minded plan. So the botfly larvae have barbs on their body's that attach them to the stomach lining of the horse which they eat. EWWW! As you can imagine the pain the horse will be feeling to have its stomach lining eaten.

**I Do not own image

Botfly larvae **Do not own image

Bot fly knife **I do not own image

So its our job as horses owners and care givers to get rid of the pests.
From past experiences I can tell you  what helps a lot.



1. If you see botfly on a horses leg there is a big chance the horse has already swallowed some of the larvae so you need to act fast. So go to your local saddler shop and there is a special worming paste especially for botflies.

I Do not own images

2. Using the worming paste does work but if your horse has bot on its legs and stomach
it will just re-infect itself. So that's when a special knife called the bot knife comes in. With this bot knife you scrape the knife down the horses leg to scrape the bot off. (You can't cut the horse unless you do it extremely wrong). Bots as I said have barbs so they do not come off easily. But make sure you try to get all the bot off the legs. Do this about twice a day if possible..

3. One thing I find handy once you scrape the legs is to rub baby oil on the stomach and legs. (It makes the coat slippery and harder for the flies to lay eggs on the horse. Once you have treated the belly and legs worm your horse with the botfly worming paste.

4. Wash your hands! Believe it or not but humans can get infected as well.

5. Other things that help are horse insect spray and fly sheets :)

I hope this helps :)
I guarantee a happier horse after this.
-HorseFrenzy

3 Horse Blogs I Love

There are 3 blogs about horses in this world I truly love. I am always open to find new ones, but when I need something to read, these blogs are where I go.

• Regarding Horses

This is my all-time favourite horse blog. So. Much. Information. This blog is like a horse lovers treasure trove.

• Tales from a Bad Eventer

This is where I go when I need humour. The blog is laid out simply, and has over 100 blogs posts when the writer takes a step back and laughs at things. I thoroughly enjoy reading everything she posts.

• Horse Junkies United

What is better than a huge team of over 20 'ordinary' horse riders that compete in different disciplines? This blog covers so many voids, and I always enjoy reading what is posted.

I am an EQUESTRIAN

Photo belongs to owner

I don't just "own a horse",
I am one half of a partnership,
I untangle manes and scratch itches,
I am a dietician,
amateur veterinarian,
student, athlete, coach,
beautician,
I ride rain or shine,
I mix salves,
nurse bruises,
give kisses,
I can fly like the wind,
and know a horse's love
I am an EQUESTRIAN.

This is so true and I love it!
Anyone that is privileged enough to own, care or ride a horse or just love them would know what the true meaning of this is!

3 Things You and Your Horse Might Want to do This Summer

Here in New Zealand, we are racing toward Summer. I decided to compile a list of things you might want to do for fun with your horse this Summer! Please remember to do everything in a safe way though!

• Go Swimming

Cooling down in Summer is always nice. If you can bring your horse along - even better! Most horses naturally know how to swim. If you have never been swimming with your horse before, Start somewhere shallow and safe. Bring someone along in case something happens.

• Teach Someone to Ride

Maybe there's a kid down the road who would like to learn to ride. If you know enough about horses, and your horse is safe, maybe you could give them a few rides, and teach them the basics like holding the reins, heels down ect. Never go forward with this without parents permission, and remember that you and the rider should always wear a helmet! You never know, it could turn out to be fun for everyone!

• Camp Out with Your Horse

If you trust your horse enough, you could set your tent up in your horses paddock and sleep out with them. If your more adventurous and its safe, take a horse ridding buddy, and ride out somewhere to camp. Remember not to light fires if there's a ban, and always seek parents permission first. 

Happy Summer!

Pic belongs to owner

3 Years of Horse Crazy

Yesterday I had known HorseFrenzy for 3 years! Wow. 3 years since that kind-of-awkward conversation that started an incredibly horse crazy friendship. (Ok, who am I kidding? It was full out awkward) 

It started at the Home and Country Show, when one of the girls I knew came running up and announced that a girls horse had fallen over in the float. While everyone else was like 'thats not good' before moving on, I was interested. Not only was I very horse crazy, I wanted friends who shared my interests. 

I had started homeschooling at the start of the year, and the homeschool community had failed me miserably in the department of horse crazy people. It had been a big change for me, coming from a small country school where there was only other girl in my year was horse crazy as well. 

You have to understand how shy I was back then. Like I hid behind my fringe and a book in public all the time. I almost jumped if someone talked to me, and tried to avoid people so I wouldn't have to talk to them.  I was full out awkward. With red hair. 

I whispered all this misery to my sister who just started at me and told me to go and talk to this girl. 'No way' was my horrified response. I stuck to the small group of friends I had and never talked to anyone else.  'Ok then' said my sister. I was torn. I really, really wanted to meet this girl. So I convinced my sister to come with me. 

I'm pretty sure the first thing I ever said to HorseFrenzy was 'I like your pony'. HorseFrenzy told me later she wasn't really sure what to make out of me coming up randomly. I came back a few times before I finally had the courage to ask about Daisy (I asked about her hight, age, name and breed). 

Our very first conversation was about horses. By the end of the Home and Country Show, we were talking on less awkward terms, and our parents had meet. Needless to say, it wasn't long before a friendship had been established, mostly via email at first. 

Since then, I have done countless things with HorseFrenzy, like Horse Camp, seeing the Kaimanawa horses, a show, watched a dressage show (Vanessa Way smiled at us!) and had the chance to help break in Specs. Not to mention she watched me take my first fall, my highest jump and took me swimming on horseback for the first time. And of course we have this blog! :D 

Your an awesome best friend HorseFrenzy! Long may our friendship built on horses last :) 

(Incase your wondering, HorseFrenzy and I do other things as well, its not always horses... Sometimes :P ) 

And just to find up my long walk down memory lane... Some pictures! 

We attended a horse camp together 3 months after we meet.
(HorseFrenzy is in the front, I'm the one behind her)

After the show we did together

After HorseFrenzy and Specs crushed Rain and I at every
gymkhana game we played. 

The last time I stayed with HorseFrenzy. 

You know, Rain bolting at the truck, and you walking 7km??
 (I feel really bad still). Grumpy old Phoenix at Horse Camp?
Those 'dumplings' when we went camping? YOLO

Riding Specs bareback and double to your place after dropping off Rain?
It hurt alright!

No Comment xD

Our Adventure

Heres a video showing our awesome adventure!

I hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed doing it!!!

Follow us on twitter!

HorseloverNZ - Wildhorse

HorseFrenzy - HorseFrenzy

Our Adventure: Day 2 (Part 2)

This afternoon, we decided to risk the road, and headed off for a nice adventure filled trial ride.
Before we did that however, our charming sisters (thanks!!) took pictures of us!

Our trail ride was pretty peaceful, even though we thought for a moment we may me in sinking sand. On the way however, we saw the weirdest bird. It was like a Chicken/Turkey/Duck/Goose crossed. It was completely white, and the call it made sounded like water dripping in a cave.

We then decided to go for a ride down the road Rain used to live on. Going past her old home, she decided she'd like to go back. We finally got her to go past, and went around a corner. Suddenly, a motorbike passed by. HorseFrenzy leapt off very quickly, but poor me (WildHorse) was not quite quick enough. Rain wasn't sure where she was going, so in her panic, I lost both my stirrups and was hanging on to her mane.

The motorbike driver didn't slow down, and I was left hanging there before I slid off. HorseFrenzy laughed. Oh, haha,

(HorseFrenzy also says that if she ever catches the driver she will throw a big STINKY PILE OF HORSE MANURE AT THE MOTORBIKE)

We went on a little further, before turning around, and having a rather quiet ride back, while Rain and Specs competed for the front and nipped each other. Upon our arrival back, HorseFrenzy and Specs took off up the hill. I held Rain and shut the gate. I had one foot in the stirrup, and was about to swing over when Rain decided to join Specs. I was once again without my stirrups hanging on to her mane. Why do things always happen to me??

Afterwards we decided to do some jumping and get some photos and videos of it.. Rain has a Big scopey jump and Specs has a small professional jump.
We had lots of fun then let the horses go into their separate pens..

And that was our adventure for the day!


Photos:

Out of the paddock- time for a ride! 

Friends!!!!! :D

Over with a huge, huge leap...

Very smart jump! (So sorry about your head HorseFrenzy)

Our Adventure: Day 2 (Part 1)

We seized the day at 7am!
We got up and did some awesome paddock management, we are experts if you ever need any help :P
Now we have two happy horses in their own little homes.

After we did that we saddled up and walked the horses over to some yards where we worked them for a bit to make sure they were planning on behaving themselves.

After that we went for a ride down a quiet road (even though it was nerve-wracking after yesterdays episode)! So we went for a quiet ride and then headed onto the main road for some excitement! As we were passing this girls house TWO (not one but TWO) motorbikes with dogs went past! As you know Rain hates motorbikes and dogs! We have set the world record of jumping on and off horses super quick!
Specs was a perfect angel (almost) till a little lamb came running at her. Specs is afraid of little white lambs...

We ended walking our horses down the road because they wouldn't go themselves...
Once we got to the destination in question we did some trotting and cantering (Horsefrenzy nearly died.. again).

Then Specs the little angel decided to shove her big head under a shelter.. We brought it up in a hurry and now she has a teeny gash on her head which I am totally going to attend to btw.

Well that gash knocked some sense into the senseless angel and we had a calm ride home, via the road and galloping.

We are now planning to take some photos of the horses!

Here are some photos of our adventure this morning:

A quiet ride...

Smile!

Rain's thinking about grass...

Time for food!!!

Specs didn't like being behind Rain...

Waiting by the road

Our Adventure: Day 1

Today was action packed. We live on the dangerous side of life.
We picked up Rain as you know she is staying for 6months.

Wildhorse rode Rain and we were about to swap half way down the road when a truck came..
Rain heard the truck just as we did. A big thanks goes out to the two truck drivers who passed us today - they slowed and stopped.

Anyways, we all turned around, and there the truck is. Without further ado, Rain decided to make a run from the noisy thing. I (WildHorse) was still hanging on to her as she made her break for freedom. I was left hanging there (literally) for a few seconds, before my feet hit the ground and I was jogging on the edge of a cliff (yes, a real cliff). I was not letting go of the reins. The truck passed (and a car who saw this rather undignified feat on my part). We began to calm Rain, and I stated that I was not getting back on. Because I value my life. . Two trucks drove by, and a million cars.

I (HorseFrenzy) am very proud in myself because I walked all the way home from Rains owners to my place which is all up hill and a long distance. Note: WildHorse feels bad about this.

After we got Rain home we Saddled Specs and were about to head off for the ride when Specs graciously tried to buck me (Horsefrenzy) off. So we marched her over to the yards and exercised her to she was good. We had a good trek and no more trucks!

PHOTOS:
Please note I was aware my stirrups were to long!
Sorry about photos that are sideways but YOLO!

I shall behave...

Fun in the sun!

Rain was enjoying herself...

Pink saddle blanket!!

YOLO

Good Specs :) 

FOOD!!!!!

Yummy :)

More tomorrow to come!!

Should We Ride On The Road?

Here in New Zealand, we are very lucky. We have so many places to ride horses, so many places on enjoy from horse back. There is so much to offer around the country. 

*Picture belongs to the owner

However, the big debate is weather we should be allowed to ride on the road. We are biased, as riders ourselves, but take a stop a moment to think about this, as a rider, driver, cyclist, or walker. People on their bikes don't want to ride around there driveway, walkers don't want to walk around their garden - riders don't want to ride around a paddock all the time. 

Sims 3 Pets > Horses: Review

Hey guys!

I saw WildHorse's review on PlantHorse so I decided to do mine on this great game called Sims 3 Pets. Sims 3 Pets is an expansion pack for Sims 3 that comes with animals including... HORSES!

I Do Not Own

Sims 3 is a great interactive game for ages 10+ I believe.
Sims 3 pets comes with a world called Appaloosa Plains which is named (of course) after appaloosa horses!


Great News!

I know Wild Horse and I haven't been posting recently but great news! We are getting together this week to do some epic stuff with horses so we will have lots of stories and photos for you guys!

Also some more great news.. *drum roll*.. The appaloosa pony Rain will be living with me for 6months! Her owner is away on her new job so I will be looking after her and riding her. So you will see a lot of post's with Rain!

-HorseFrenzy

There Was Never a Horse That Couldn't Be Rode. There Never Was a Cowboy That Couldn't Be Throwed. - Cowboy Saying

I love quotes. That's why, when I saw The Quotable Horse Lover on the library bookshelf, I knew I had to get it out. So I did. I have spent the last couple of days book marking my favourite ones. Yes, the title for this post is my very favourite. It makes me smile every time I read it. I thought I would share some of my favourite ones with you :) Feel free to add some more in the comment section! Enjoy :)

Planet Horse Game Review

I don't have a Mac computer. All I have is a Windows laptop.
I gotta tell you, there's not many affordable horse games for windows out there.
So I use our mac for most games.

Book Review: National Velvet

Book Name: National Velvet

Author: Enid Bagnold

Book Review: The Prize

Book Name: The Prize

Author: Stacy Gregg

Series: Pony Club Rivals

Series number: 4

Book Review: The Man Who Listens to Horses

Book Name: The Man Who Listens to Horses 

Author: Monty Roberts

Book Review: Whispering Back

Book Name: Whispering Back
Author: Nicole Golding and Adam Goodfellow

Keep Calm and Love Horses

                        I love this. I found it online so I decided to share it with you lot!

From The Eyes Of a Horse

This post is about understanding things from a horses point of view.

Horses eyes are very active during the day, dusk, dawn and at night. Horse's eye's are designed to provide higher sensitivity vision in dim light  and even better vision in higher light levels.

http://horsetalk.co.nz/2012/11/21/vision-horses-more-than-meets-the-eye/#.UfWadxNxAeE

A Horse has a much lower sense of colour than us humans. While a horse can make out green and blue, it's vision is mostly in grey.


The horse has two blind spot's:
1. Directly in front of it's nose four feet in front of it
and
2. Behind the tail

Jumping a horse is a huge matter of trust because when jumping a horse and you get close to approaching the jump, the horse looses vision and has to rely on the rider to safely guide them over it.

Horse's are also not able to focus their eyes the way humans and most animals can. When a horse is looking at an object in front of it, it will usually bob the head away then into the object as it's trying to focus on what it's seeing.

A horse will usually spook when something moves quickly in it's vision but it hasn't had time to focus on the thing and determine it a threat.


I have this funny story that happened to me last year.

I was outside playing spotlight with a bunch of my friends and we were doing it in the pitch black and in my horse's paddock. We all got told to hide so I went and hid. It had been about 5 minutes and absolute quietness, then a heard a crunch of leaves. I thought It was the spotlighter but I saw no torch flash. I waited quietly for about another minute when out of nowhere something tickled against my neck. Long story short, I screamed! I thought it was a spider, but when I looked up into the glowing eyes of my horse. I knew it was the whiskers on her muzzle. My horse looked at me like I was a freak and then walked off into the darkness and began to graze.



See how amazing a horses vision is???
She found me in the pitch black and could still see well enough to go and have a midnight snack!

I have also heard stories of horse's jumping huge obstacles in the dark.
And it's all thanks to God's great gift of night vision.

Because if you think about it, in the wild, predators would be hunting at night and if the horses couldn't see, how would they know where to run?

Another thing that helps the horse is there great sensing skills, but I will leave that post for a few days.

I hope you guys enjoyed this post :)
Till next time!