The Site Is Moving - Please Update Your Bookmarks!

This post today will be the last post here on this site, the site is moving to deannacastro.com please update your bookmarks!

It will be the same information, just with a new location.  I hope you all enjoy the new look and site :)

Deanna

Clip Of The Week - Men Doing Dressage

I thought I was the only one who did this kind of stuff...

October Blog Contest - Winners

Congratulations to blog readers Zahi and Kenley the winners of the October Blog Contest!  

They will each receive a copy  the book Wild Horses by million selling author - Jenny Oldfield.

I am currently working on my next book review to be followed by another contest so stay tuned for more details...

Deanna

You Can't Feel What You Don't Touch

For me as a riding instructor, one of the most difficult things to teach a rider is to feel the horse.  The reason it is so difficult is because as you are learning to ride, your legs are not where they should be, softly on the side of the horse.  

*Note: It's quite natural and common to have to learn to develop correct leg position, as it would be unnatural to automatically have perfect leg position when you are learning to ride.

If your legs are away from the horse's sides, you won't feel it when he takes a step.  The horse will actually have to walk into your leg before you feel him.  

Here is an easy exercise you can do to improve your leg strength, position, and feel:

• Take your feet out of the stirrups.
  
• Keep your heels down with your toes pointed slightly out.
• Wrap your legs around your horse with your entire leg all the way down to your heel (depending on the length of your leg, some tall riders legs may extend past the horse's sides and won't be able to keep the heel next to the horse) while maintaining complete contact with your horse's sides.
• Hold your legs in that position and focus on feeling each step the horse takes.

After a while, if you are doing it correctly your legs should begin to burn.  If your legs don't burn, you probably are not doing the exercise correctly.

There are of course times that your leg will be away from your horse's sides, but if you never put your leg next to your horse's side you won't be able to feel him.

It's kind of like looking a piece of fabric, pointing at it and not touching it and then expecting to know what it feels like.  It's impossible to feel what you don't touch.

Deanna

Stable Scoop Episode 13 - Horse Photography

This episode of Stable Scoop is definitely for me!  I don't know about the rest of ya'll but I take the worlds worst horse photo's.  I can make the best looking horse look squatty.   Hopefully now I will have some better looking pictures ;)

Enjoy this weeks episode,

Deanna

This episode of the Stable Scoop Radio Show is brought to you by the Horse Radio Network.
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Everyone is a photographer at heart. Listen in as we speak with the world's leading horse photographers to find out their secrets. Glenn the Geek and Helena B. learn the top 12 tricks to taking a better horse photo and we take a look at the best cameras for Holiday Gifts. What a fun show this is!

Stable Scoop Episode 13 - Show Notes and Links:

• Hosts: Glenn the Geek and Helena B.


• Co-Host: Carien Schippers is one of the leading horse photographers in the county and founder of the Equine Photographers Network. Carien lives in upstate New York and her websites are imagequine.com & horsedrivephotos.com.


• Guest: Scott K. Trees from Trees Media is one of the world's best equine photographers. He is in demand around the world but took a minute to share some of his secrets with us.


• Guest: Tom Mahan of Porters Cameras give us some great camera gift recommendations for this Holiday Season.


• Here are the top 12 things that the guests agree make a better horse photo. To get more detail on each of the items, take a listen to the show.
  
  
  
  • Read the manual and understand your camera.
  
  
  • Take the camera out of automatic mode.
  
  
  • Best lens for good horse photos is 80/200 or 70/200.
  
  
  • Shoot at the end of the lens, further away from the subject zoomed in.
  
  
  • Timing is critical for action horse shots. Learn when to snap the picture.
  
  
  • Patience, patience and patience.
  
  
  • Learn how horses move.
  
  
  • Framing - eliminate horizontal line in your image.
  
  
  • Take picture of a horse from heart level.
  
  
  • The best light for horse photography is early morning or late afternoon.
  
  
  • Shadows are your friend.
  
  
  • When the horse is done - it's done!
  
  
  
  


• Porter's camera pick's for this holiday season. Follow the links and get those gifts today:

Lower Price Point:

Canon PowerShot SX110 IS Digital Camera - $279.00

Medium Price Point:

Nikon D60 Digital SLR w/18-55mm f3.5-5.6G
Vibration Reduction Lens - $599.00

The Really Nice One: (This baby will get you brownie points!)

Nikon D700 Digital SLR - $2,999.00

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This Week In Horse Blogs

What a week we've had.  We have been up, down, on the edge of our seats, and now we know who our next president will be.  I have high hopes for President Elect Obama as does the rest of the country.  In the beginning I wasn't so sure of this mans capability, after all what did we know about him? But I am starting to firmly believe he can do a great job.

As I made my way with Cristino and the Pug to the polls to vote I kept thinking "You might be a redneck if  you take your dog along to babysit as you vote".  I put the baby in the stroller, the pug in the basket of the stroller and headed off to church to cast my vote.  No lines, no waiting,  and no baby sitter except for the dog who stayed with the baby just outside the curtain (they were both in arms reach of course) just hours before one of the most historic moments of our time.  

I really was the only person there voting.  The pastor was there and so were the other church folk who run the polling place, so bringing down the baby and Pugsly made their day I'm sure.  The only thing that may have been more redneck of me would have been if the three of us rode in on a horse.

Anyway, here are some really cool blog posts I read this week.

Enjoy!

Welcome Home, Brego - The Eventing Percheron

I Am The Goldilocks Of The Horse World - Adventures of A Horse Crazed Mind 

Skywatch Friday - Two Opposing Views - The 7MSN Ranch

Blind Horses Trust Makes Anything Possible - Behind The Bit

It's November, and the Pasture Party's Over - Juli Thorson's Horse Talk

Reader Question - Teaching A Horse To Tie

Recently I had a reader question about tying a horse, and I think it's a great question so here it is complete with my answer.

Hello, Deanna:
My daughter and I are in the position of selling our horse we've spent a lot of love on. But, I am finding that we have allowed an important part of her training to go unattended. Our mare doesn't tie. She was abused nearly to death (as a filly) by attempting teaching her to tie with a stud chain under her chin and one over her poll at the same time. In large part because of her history we have not forced her to tie. We have been at boarding facilities that discourage tying and offer cross ties instead which just allowed us to overlook this issue. We have just never required that she tie solid, she cross ties quite comfortably, but sets back in a panic when tied. She is very well trained with precise showmanship skills and is VERY easy to handle and show and quite respectful with soft responsiveness in every other area of her training.
I really hate the thought of allowing her to hurt herself through thrashing and pulling back with that much force. But I am feeling the pressure to tackle this now. We have lost at least 1 sale because the prospective buyer wouldn't have a horse that couldn't tie. If you have any tips that might help us overcome her very real fear of being tied we are open to suggestions.
Thank you for your help.
Jeanette

Hello Jeanette,

Thanks for the question!  What a shame your mare was abused so badly when she was learning to tie.  I would never ever tie a horse with a stud chain, how awful for her.  I completely understand your concern for her injuring herself that is really dangerous behavior for herself, which you already are aware of.

Even if a horse never experienced anything negative they still can have a problem when tying.  The reason for this, is even though our horses are domesticated the wild instinct is still there.  If a horse was trapped (which is basically what they are when tied) they would become easy prey for a predator.  So when a normally docile well trained horse feels that their life is in danger they can absolutely lose their mind and fear for their life.  Your mare is also experiencing fear but for other reasons.

For me a horse that won't tie will not make or break the sale because I know the horse can learn to accept it.  But not everyone feels the same way, so here's what you should try:

• Work in an enclosed arena.
• Invest in a blocker tie ring.  The tie ring is $24.99 but well worth it.
  
• Use a smooth and long lead rope and tie the mare to the ring.  The reason it should be smooth, is so that the horse can pull through the ring and not feel trapped.  A long lead rope will help with that too.  The horse will pull the lead out long, but not completely become untied.
• Practice sacking your horse out while tied.  The horse will soon see that she can move her feet and that there is nothing to fear.  

This will need to be done over and over again until she has confidence that nothing bad is going to happen to her.  Your mare will begin to relax and realize there is nothing to fear and she is not going to have pain inflicted on her while trapped.

In my barn I use the blocker ties but in the spots where I don't have them I use bailing twine.  I tie bailing twine to my eye hooks that are attached to the post and then I tie the horse's lead rope to the bailing twine.  This way, if the horse freaks out he or she can break free without getting injured.  There is a never ending supply of bailing twine so I just tie a new piece when an old one gets broken.  I just continue to replace the twine as needed.  If the horse just keeps breaking the twine right away and does not stop the pulling back, it's time to take the horse to the tie ring.  But that doesn't usually happen.  It may break the twine every now and again, but the times become very far and few between.

I hope this helps, and you are able to find a buyer for your mare.  Let me know how it works out!

Deanna