An exciting start of the new year

If one munches on branches, one might get a surprise....

My friend Anne who lives in Germany was home for the holidays, and we had a very nice trail ride together on Saturday with the horses.

The horses enjoyed themselves, and we too.

The weather was lovely, finally the cold has lost some of its grip.

Just a few degrees below zero, and sun in addition - lovely!

The very nice thing about the blogosphere is the possibility to make new friends.
I love to read about all my equestrian blogfriend's experiences and stories, but now I am very excited because we are taking this one step further:

Wiola from Riding Instructor's Diary is coming over to us to throw a weekend training together with her collegue Kari, who is a chiropractor.
They have set up a very interesting training schedule where Wiola and Kari will work close together to assess each rider's problems:

Nordmarka RSK invites to a training weekend with

ASPIRE EQUESTRIAN RIDING ACADEMY
28-30 January, Sørkedalen

”The horse mirrors the rider’s movements”

Most horse riders know what their own personal difficulties are, but many do not understand why  - and therefore feel like they are constantly struggling to correct it.

Biomechanical restrictions can easily cause some of the problems encountered by horse riders daily, such as a weak seat, inconsistent rein contact, locked hips, tilting the upper body and/or legs forwards, and collapsing through the waist.

If your horse is crooked, lacks impulsion, is tense or is going against the aids, the cause might lie with you as the rider.
Would you like to improve yourself?

The training will be a great help to get more insight in your own riding, where you will get help to address the problem that really affects your further development – how your own body influences your horse’s movements.

Schedule:

Friday evening Jan 28: 
Presentation and planning.
Riding in groups of 4, lenght 30 min, assessing riders.
We sit together afterwards and share some pizza and look into each rider’s goals, issues and problems. Discuss what comes up, and plan the training for the rest of the weekend so each rider gets a tailor made program to address his/her issues.

Saturday Jan 29:
AM: Riding 45 min session, two riders pr session.  Part of the session will be filmed.
Lunch: Looking at the videos, and discuss what each rider needs to work with.
PM: Each rider gets ca 30 min session with chiro Kari, with exercises that will address what needs to be worked on based on the riding sessions and the discussions during lunch.

Sunday Jan 30:
Each rider gets ca 30 min session with chiro Kari before the riding sessions start.
Riding sessions 30 min, alone.
We meet and sum up the training. Feedback and help to plan further training.

Instructors:

Wiola Grabowska BHS Intermediate Teacher, founder of av Aspire Equestrian Riding Academy

Kari Duglebby DC BSc Hons Chiro, Chiropractor and rider

Both come from UK, and are a part of the team in Aspire Equestrian Riding Academy,  who work with a holistic approach to horse and rider.

Wiola and Kari will work close together to tailor the instruction and treatment to each participant’s needs.
Read more about them on:  
www.aspire-equestrian.com

I am really excited about this!

We had maximised the number of participants to eight, and it took half an hour after I annonced the training until it was fully booked! 

Let's just hope that the temperature keeps a bit over what we have seen here lately; we have had the coldest November and December here in the last 100 years!

And here, Wiola and Kari, is the venue.
Not very grand, and looks quite deep frozen, right?
Don't dispair.
You'll get a warm welcome even if the temperature is low!

White Christmas with problems

Central Europe is paralyzed by large amounts of snow.

In Belgium they haven’t seen snowing like this since 1945 (in the Ardennes Offensive, “Battle of the Bulge”, the temperature in January -45 gave large problems)

Many are spending their third night in a row at Brussels airport.
The airport has run out of de-icing fluid as the trucks can’t get through due to bad road conditions.

Heathrow, Schiphol and Frankfurt are affected too, where many of the long distance flights take off.

Weather like this is always bad, but my thoughts go to them that are longing to see their near and dear ones for Christmas and can't get home.
I hope the snowing subsides, so the airports can resume their normal activity again.

Winter frozeness

November this year has been the coldest ever measured in the Oslo area.

We have had steady temperatures around -20C (-4F) which is not out of the ordinary in January, but rare in November.

It is cold, but beautiful.

I just love the winter stillness, and the crisp beauty of the frozen landscape.

But riding is cold!

I put on layers of clothes and end up like a Michelin figure, with matching ability to move.
When the cold closes in in the evenings, we often get a cold fog that burns down the chest when the breathing gets deeper.
But I am not complaining - last November it rained every day.
This is much better!

Still, it brings some inconveniences.
We use wood shavings as bedding for the horses.
When the temperature goes down to what we are having now, it freezes in the container.
You have to use an axe to get it loose. And it's dark inside the container too.
It is tough work I can tell you - and I only have one or two horses to supply - poor Helene who works at the stable has 15 horses, and a string of race horses to exercise too.
The racing season is still going on for another fortnight.
Imagine those poor jockeys, in thin racing clothes and no fat on their bodies either - riding in this cold.
Frrrrrrr.

This weekend my daughter and I took a trip to Örebro in the middle of Sweden.
Last year we had a weekend there right before Christmas due to a meeting.
We enjoyed it very much, and my daughter suggested that we should take a trip this year as well.
It is a 4.5 hrs drive from Oslo.
We started out Thursday evening and spent the night with my sister who lives on the way, 3hrs drive from us .

Örebro is a cute little town.

There are several pedestrian streets in the centre, and waterways surrounding the old medival castle.

Last year we were at the castle as they arranged mystery dinners there Saturday evenings before Christmas.

The play was based in local history and some of the persons had existed in real life a century ago.

It gave quite an atmosphere to be seated in the banquet hall, and we all had to participate to guess who the murder was.

My Sleuth of a daughter managed to make a correct guess too.

(can't say the same about me) 

Örebro Castle

They even have horses here!

An old part of the town is named Wadköping, and before Christmas they arrange a Christmas market with sales stalls.

Wadköping

There is also a shop of the old fashioned type.
Not much room, but very cute!

The old shop

They even had Christmas posters of the old type, several with horses too.
We had to buy one of course!

"Tomten" tends to the creatures on the farm.

At home, even King of Hunt stays indoors.
Then it must be cold...
I give the horses more food - I want to see some extra kilos on their bodies now in the period ahead. Fat isolates nicely in low temperatures, and the horses burn more calories just to keep warm too.
We keep the fire up in the hearth, and the horses get an extra day off in between.
Our instructors won't come due to the temperatures!

Thwarted plans

I should never have cleared that terrace from snow.

During the week the temperature started to drop again, and we were down to the -20C/-4F again.
Then the snow came.

At Thursday evening, when I was to have my first training for Jimmi, it was windy and snowing.
Jimmi arrived late from Denmark, so I did not have my training until 10.20 pm.
As the stable closes at 11 pm, we just had to have the session at home in the outside arena. Jimmi was stoically shouting in the wind, slowly covering up in snow.
I was frantically trying to hear what he said.
My hearing has not improved over the years. Hahem.
Still he was happy with the progress from last time, which was nice to hear.

I was to have two more trainings, on Saturday and Sunday.
I had even booked my daughter as a photographer, so I would be able to illustrate this blog post with some pictures.
It is not easy to photograph oneself when training, and as there have been many photos of surroundings on trail with parts of a horse head, or some ears in the foreground, I guess a change would be welcome.
I was really looking forward to the training.

But I had not calculated with the weather.

During Friday both the wind and the snowing increased.
When I woke up on Saturday morning, it was as close to a snow storm as you will get in the lowlands here. Nothing like in the mountains, but strong wind and heavy snowfall.
And in addition -12C/10F.

I called Jimmi as I had a hunch that he would prefer to have the training indoors that day.
Funny enough, he thought that would be a good idea.
(And that is how you cannot see any photos of Fame and me doing upper level dressage. It would, of course, otherwise be filled with piaffes and canter pirouettes left and right.)

I wrapped myself and Fame up in layers, and started the ride of half an hour to the indoor arena.
The wind and the snow were beating against my face, and I drew the scarf even tighter up towards my eyes, bending my head against the snow so the rim of the helmet took off for most of it.
Fame heroically trudged on through the snow and the wind.
When we reached the forest, it took off for some of the wind and it was a bit easier to see where we were going.

I had calculated a bit extra time to get all the layers off once we got to the indoor arena, and to get Fame accustomed to the arena again.
When we got inside and reached her spooky corner at the short side (where I cunningly had planned to undress), the wind and the snow were beating against the wall that was partly covered with some plastic, creating an eerie sound.
My horse immediately turned into an antelope again.
All her suspicions were confirmed.
That corner had bogey men inside the walls.
*sigh*

I started to warm up, and even if Fame relaxed better on the circle around Jimmi at the other side of the arena, she was still somewhat tense.
I guess Jimmi could see the little black cloud hanging over my head.

So we marched over to the scary corner and played Ghostbusters until Fame finally relaxed and accepted that the tigers in the wall would not attack.
Which took most of the training session.
*sigh*


When I woke on Sunday, the weather had calmed down.
Then I got a phone from my friend who told me that they would be keeping the show jumps standing in the arena that day.
I was not happy to hear that.

Dressage riding in between jumps is not the same as having the arena to work in.

*sigh*
I conferred with the rider I was to share my training session with, and we concluded with “if you can’t beat them, join them” and put on the jumping saddles instead.

Now, Jimmi is every bit as good a trainer in show jumping as in dressage, if not even better.
But when we came down to the arena and told Jimmi we could just as well jump, he was a bit befuddled and said that we could work a bit at the circle and casually asked at the same time if we had jumped anything before?
I believe he was a bit worried about middle-aged dressage ladies etc – you get the picture. ..
I could fall off in the middle of a tiny jump and due to brittle bones have multiple fractures in arms and legs and such.
And the blingbling on Fame’s brow band could get dusty.
Now I have to admit I have not been doing much show jumping the last year as my trainer got pregnant, and I have no ambition in SJ except to have some fun, but we do pop a jump from time to time.
I have even done a bit cross country training, also just for fun.

So Jimmi started out very cautiously, with a super low X-pole jump.
When he saw that we managed to hang on, he gradually included more jumps and also raised them somewhat off the ground.
My horse loves to jump, and got going with great enthusiasm.
And I must say I find it fun as a change to the dressage work too.

In the end Jimmi had a big grin on.
He told me he had been impressed with me twice that weekend; first time with the sandwich I had brought him on Saturday (at which time he was ravenous, so that doesn’t count much), and second time with the show jumping (in which his expectations where close to zero).
Thanks mate.
What about the dressage?????

I have to get home and have a pep talk with Fame about that piaffe.

Could you spell that? P-i-a-f-f-e?? Must be some foreign language....

Hello horse, goodbye antelope - and a moose record!

Had two lovely trail rides the weekend before last, in spite of the cold.

It was clear and sunny weather, but unfortunately at this time of the year, the low temperatures comes with it. All of the week it had been from -22 to -27C (-8 to -17F) in the evenings, with somewhat higher temperatures at daytime – but then I was stuck at the office!





Fame has since the snow came been back to her normal self.
I had a session for the Danish trainer Jimmi before Christmas, and he was happy with the progress, even if I felt we had been training more on spooking than on sensible work.
So it was very nice to hear!

With all the snow she can romp around with her friends during daytime instead of having all that surplus energy left when riding, I believe it is a major factor in the equation.

Due to the darkness after work it was impossible to go hacking after work too.
Now with the snow the situation is much brighter in all aspects, and she is happy to concentrate on the dressage work.
I have been riding her bareback in the training too.
Both to keep warm, but I also need the saddle to be checked as I am worried it has become too narrow for her. I am waiting for a visit since before Christmas from the saddler.


We are working on straightness and collection.
Basic work to build strength, and by this gaining more expression in the gaits.
When you discuss the issue of straightness with non-dressage people they often tend to go a bit blank.
But if you instead speak of stiffness in the horse, it is more familiar ground.
You might have trouble to get a correct bend to one side.
Your horse might have problems to pick up one canter lead.
But it is all a consequence of the horse not being straight.



On my ride on Saturday we almost broke our moose record.
My old one was 16 off on a two hours ride, but then I passed a feeding station where I saw twelve of them, so maybe that doesn't count?


Anyway Saturday we saw 7 off on a one hour's ride.
No feeding station!

Here we saw four off.

If you look at the center of the picture, one is standing, and one is laying down, but getting almost run into as the first one is trying to escape from us. In reality they were quite near us. (If you click the pic you might actually see something, or look at the blow up below)

One large male seems to have taken residence in the area between the creek and the stable.
After passing him (as no 7) on our way home, Fame after a while suddenly strays off the path and on out into the snow.
I got curious (I mean, we were on our way home) and let her pick the way.
After a short while, we reach a salt lick for the wild animals. Much tracks in the snow, and the bushes are eaten short.
So she inspects the place, trudges around, and then finally starts off home again.



I believe we were on a sightseeing trip, LOL!





On Sunday another cold, but lovely ride with my friend Helen and their New Forest, Othello.

Enjoy your winter rides, everyone!

-----

Addendum:

I can understand that it is not easy to see any moose in the pic above.

Very frustrating really, as they were only some 10-15 m away from us, and I felt very brave grabbing the camera whilst holding Fame in the middle of all these five moose. Bareback.

And in addition I was freezing my fingers off because of the cold!

So - tada - here is a blow up of the picture:

Can you see them now? One walking, one laying.

Below is a picture of another one beside the two above (yes I know, lousy pic here too):

And below is another lousy picture of another moose, the first one we saw.

If you look at the picture at the top of this blog post, this guy was standing below the large spruces just where the field ended (center of the picture):

Horses and riding in cold weather

Today we have -26C (-15F), and the temperature is falling.

I have been riding tonight, and it was a bit difficult to keep the fingers warm, lol!

Low temperatures is a topic which often raises some questions with horse owners, so here are some facts and tips.

When does the horse get cold?

Studies are made by the Swedish Agricultural University (SLU) on how horses handle the cold.

Food is the most important factor.

When hay is digested, the process also generates heat.
The more the horse eats, the lower temperature he handles without getting cold.

Horses can handle low temperature much better than humans.
They have seven times more body mass than us, but only 2.5 times more skin.
Extra fat is more important than the coat. The fat isolates three times more than other types of tissue. So make sure your horse is not underweight when the winter comes!

All clipped horses need a blanket.
An unclipped horse in medium work (up to intermediate level) normally does not need a blanket during winter time if the temperature is over -10C(14F).
If the temperature is around -10 or below, you might either add extra hay (1-3 kg depending on temperature) or add a blanket.

If it is raining, snowing or hard wind, a blanket is better.
Wind, rain, sleet and snow are harder to handle for the horses than the cold is.
If the wind is 10 m/s you would need to increase with an extra 15 kg of hay to compensate!
On the other hand you might remove the blanket on a sunny but cold and still winter day.

When it is cold, the horse raises the hair to get extra insulation.
If he is very cold, he shivers.
You can be quite certain that your horse is not cold as long as the hairs in the coat lie flat against the body.

Sources:
Jonna Lindås, Ingrid Olsson, 2004: När behöver hästen täcke? Fördjupningsarbete nr 259. Enheten för hippologisk högskoleutbildning, SLU, Uppsala
Johanna Perman, 2000: Behöver hästen täcke på vintern? Fördjupningsarbete nr 111. Enheten för hippologisk högskoleutbildning, SLU, Uppsala

Can I work my horse in cold weather?

Yes, you can.

Horses have a long way from the nostrils to the lungs, and again, their respiration system works much better in low temperatures than the human eqiuvalent does. The air is warm before it reaches the lungs, so you can work your horse as normal even if it is cold outside.

The racing season for harnessed horses goes on all through the winter in Scandinavia.
Horses competing here work at top speed, with maximum air intake.

A study has been made by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences:

Five standardbred horses were subjected to a treadmill exercise in a climate chamber, first in +17C (63F) and then in -25C (-13F).
Conclusion was that the cold exposure (-25C) did not seem to have any untoward effects on near maximal exercise tolerance.
On the contrary the cold environment seemed to be beneficial for heat dissipation during exercise. Further, no evidence of tissue damage in the respiratory tract was observed.
The horses showed no sign of discomfort during exercise in the cold.
(Source: Dahl, Gillespie, Kallings, Persson, Thornton: Effects of a Cold Environment on Exercise Tolerance in the Horse. Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.)
Article can be found here.

Riding in new, deep snow is fun, but it is strenuous work for the horse, and can be tough on the tendons.
(Walk in deep snow yourself. Hard work compared to normal walking, right?)
So have fun, but keep it short!

How do I equip my horse?

When we are closing in on the winter season here in November, we shoe our horses with fixed studs and rubber inlays, Huf-grip®.
If you do, you won’t have any trouble with footing, come what may. We work them all through the winter on the snow, which is a super surface to work on. Jump them too.

Before and after work, cover your horse with an exercise rug. Take it off during work, your horse won’t need it.

If it is very cold, I personally prefer not to ride with a metal bit as I imagine it is uncomfortable to the horse. I use one in plastic, or ride bitless.
If you do ride with a metal bit, remember to warm it up before putting it into the horse's mouth.

Never, ever put a sweat horse out in the cold. He must dry up first. Cover him up and/or walk him dry.

Also remember that the horses might not want to drink enough water if the water is cold. Keep an eye on water consumption, and offer luke warm water in addition after training.

If you reduce your riding during the cold spells, reduce the hard feed but keep up/increase amount of forage to keep the horse warm.

How do I equip myself?

Riding in very cold weather can be…cold!

Use layers of clothes, and always wear wool as the first layer closest to your body. Best there is.

On top of my riding breeches, I use chaps. They are better to ride in than thermo trousers (which can be bulky), and they keep you reasonably dry also in snow, sleet and rain. Give you a good grip in the saddle too!

Invest in a good winter jacket. Mountain Horse has a good range and quality. I prefer something with down because it keeps you warm without being too heavy.

Use a bum warmer on the saddle. Either synthetic, or in sheep skin or reindeer skin (which is the best!)

Metal stirrups make your feet cold. Exchange them for wood, or use some type of isolation/cover.

Your feet and hands are most problematic.
Feet: I swear to Muck boots. Buy them large enough to get a thick pair of wool socks inside, and you’ll stay dry and warm. The riding model is also high enough to walk through the snow without getting it down into your boots. Earlier in the season you can handle the mud without problems when fetching the horses – yay!
Winter boots can be bulky. Check that the stirrups are wide enough to accomodate them so you won't get stuck if something happens.

Hands. Not easy. Thick gloves are problematic to work with. Again, Mountain Horse is my choice.

Keep your training short, but in up tempo. That is the easiest way to stay warm. If you are cold, jump off your horse and walk/run beside him, that will get your temperature up.

Ride bareback! Now is the time to train on seat and balance. It will keep you warm too!

Protect your face. Use a cold protecting cream, and cover up if it is really cold.

AK is desperately trying to get her feet thawed in warm water after a -26C riding experience.
Hjalmar is pretending she is a horse, and she gets a snack for good behaviour (while the rest of us are just cracking up with laughter!)

Days of relaxation...and some extra entertainment

I have had some very nice, relaxing days, with much food but also much riding.
Lovely.


When the snow comes it makes all the difference for us riders, so right now I am a happy girl.
Before we get the snow it is dark after work, and the ground is either frozen (and often uneven) and before that it is muddy. It is not easy to work the horses.
With the snow it is light even when it is dark, and we have a very good surface to work on.
Hooray!





Fame and I have been really enjoying our trail rides again.
We have been happy both of us, Fame striding out, full of energy and with toppled ears and me enjoying the ride and the scenery.
I had planned to do some dressage work too, but until today we have been dashing through the snow instead.


Yesterday after we had passed the frozen creek and were on our way up to the stable, a large male moose was laying down in the snow, just beside the path.
I stopped Fame to see if he was interested in moving.
He was not.
He only moved an ear, staring straight at us and stayed put.
I could not take any photos, because I had my hands full trying to keep Fame in place.
She either did not see the moose (which I doubt, even if he was laying quite still), or she just did not care as she was heading home to her food.
She was one impatient horse.
I finally had to make a detour through the winter jungle, emptying a lot of snow laden trees in my neck (of course) but we came home safe and sound, and Fame got her food...



I have mainly been riding bareback. It has been very cold, and it is the easiest way to keep warm.
Even if Fame has been full of pep I have managed to survive sideways crow hops at full speed and suddenly stops from canter, and all the other fun things a happy horse can entertain herself and her rider with.
But yesterday it was a close one.
We were on our way home, and I had asked her to trot.
Her trot (by magic) increased in speed and I resigned and asked her for canter instead.
Riding bareback it is absolutely to be preferred. Hehum.
Anyway the canter increased in speed too (by magic! has nothing to do with being on our way home) and we reached a T-junction path.
Toot-tooot.
We managed to negotiate a steep turn and Fame gets so elevated by this so she has to launch a series of bucks.
Due to the cold I was riding her with a hackamore, which makes it hard to get the head up. I did my best anyway and in addition growled "NO" loud and clear, trying to stay on, sitting more and more loose for every buck.
And she goes "What?? Oh, sorry" and stops bucking, but I can tell she is quite smug with her little self.
Stupid thing.




In addition to some quality time with the horses, I have been busy with a long standing project.
We listen to audiobooks a lot in the family.
Unfortunately when you have audiobooks in CD formate, sometimes a disc go missing, in particular if you have kids in the house.
I have finally taken the effort to rip the CDs over to mp3-files.
It takes some time, but then we have a safe and versatile copy.
It makes us able to play the books both on our mp3-players and in the car, where the player also can handle mp3-files. Suddenly you don't need 10-20 discs, just one or two which makes life easier. Being audiobooks you can compress down to 48Kbps, which downsizes the files considerably.

I got two very nice Christmas presents from my sister this year.
In the beginning of the 80'ies Trevor Nunn's and Royal Shakespeare Company's version of "Nicholas Nickleby" was sent on TV.
It is a theater show, a marathon performance of 9 hours, divided into several episodes and recorded at one of the world’s most historic theatres, London’s Old Vic.
It was very, very good and we were stuck to the screen while it lasted.
This year I got the show on DVDs and a box of safran and almond biscotti to follow.
Coming in after a cold ride it has been wonderful to creep up in the sofa with a hot cup of tea and some biscotti.
The show was just as good as I remembered it; the cast and the adaption is nothing but fantastic, and the sofa is now full of crumbles...



The spruces are majestic now.
It is my favourite winter tree.
So beautiful, and provides shelter and food to the wild animals too.


Enjoy your winter everyone!

Happy New Year

Yesterday I drove to Sweden to get our daughter who had been staying on with my parents.

She both has a good camera, and knows how to use it (with a little help from my Dad) so here it comes - some Magical Moonlight Pictures!

Isn't it magical?

It's incredible it is at night time.

The world turns into shimmering white and sharp black.

And it is so silent.

Below is the small house that we live in when visiting.

And below is the house where the world's best parents live.

Daytime now.

When we drove home earlier today, the scenery was fantastic.

What a last day of the year!

We are going to round it up with another moonlight ride tonight, my daughter and I.
Tomorrow more snow is going to fall, and on the following days there will be skies. So maybe it is the last opportunity tonight, or even this winter.

I will leave you with the pictures from the ride home this time, but if you want to read some horse stuff, pop over to my friends Siri's blog.
She has gone English, and have put down some interesting posts about her weekend training just before Christmas.

Once again - A Happy New Year to you all!

May it come with many happy horse-y moments, wonderful rides and may it keep you safe and sound.

All the best!

Maria

Thanks to my daughter for all the pictures.