Wolfie is fed half haylage half hay at night. I've always put his feed/ hay etc on the floor for him to eat, which he seems to prefer. I try to mix the hay and haylage so that he can have enough to keep him occupied during the night. It's a long time to be standing with nothing to do and if he's occupied the less likely he is to get up to mischief. He eats every blade of haylage and then plays with the hay, dragging it through his bed and burying it at the back, resulting in me having to throw away large amounts of hay every day, and with the price of hay at the moment I can't afford for him to be wasting it. He can't have haynets as he paws them and ends up tangled up in them. I thought about various alternatives including a hay bar, but decided he would just haul the hay out and chuck it on the floor or destroy whatever the hay was kept in (wolfie has rubber everything in his stable). My dad kindly fixed up an old hay rack and fitted it in his stable. The plan being that he could still have his haylage on the floor, but the hay would be in the rack, so it was there if he wanted it, but he couldn't waste it. He was less than impressed when I brought him in, snorting and pawing the ground at the hay rack. He didn't touch a blade of hay out of it the first night, however the next night and last night he has eaten a little. I think the cold weather has helped, making him a little hungrier as I thought his haylage protest would go on for longer. However, I may have won this hay battle, but I very much doubt I will have won the war I'm sure it won't take him long to start pulling the hay out of the rack and dropping it onto the floor.

I was thinking about getting a waterproof exercise sheet, however decided on a fleece sheet in the hope that keeping him a little warmer may make him less inclined to leap around. I got a cheap one out of the saddlery and put it on him yesterday before going for a hack. He looked like a little race horse! It seems to do its job, as although he was still like a bouncing ball, he was much less tense through his back and hindquarters.

I've decided to try and be really disciplined and ride in the school 3 times a week (weather and ground surface permitting) and then hack twice at the weekend. It's difficult as it is an outdoor school and the flood lights create shadows everywhere. Wolfie normally spends his time spooking at his own shadow. I rode him for half an hour in the school tonight. It took him a good ten minutes to settle, but after that he was fantastic. I have started to ask him for a bend. We concentrated on 20m circles, serpentines, figure of eights in walk, with alot of halt transitions in between. Towards the end I asked for a couple of strides leg yield from the three quarter line back to the track. By the second attempt he had really got the idea and managed a couple of correct strides. He was really trying tonight and with both of us concentrating on something new, he started to really work through his back, walking really forward with that big long free stride of his.

Rodeo

Wolfie did a pretty impressive rodeo horse impersonation today. He was really fresh and the air was icy cold. I dismounted and worked him quite hard from the ground before getting back on. I think I'm going to have to work him before getting on in the future, just to take the edge off him a bit. He has such a soft responsive mouth and is readily accepting and looking for a contact. I remember an instructor once describing the feel of the reins between the rider's hands and the horse's mouth as being like a knife slicing through soft melted butter. For the first time, I can properly feel that sensation with Wolfie. I just hope I can keep him this way, it's a huge deal to be so responsible. If he gets hardened or less sensitive it will be my fault.

Bouncing Ball

Wolfie has been stabled at night now for three weeks. It's taken a good fortnight for him to settle into his new routine. He accepted it pretty much straight away last year, but that's probably because he had been on box rest for a long time and he's a lot fitter and stronger this year. It's been a struggle over the last few weeks with the weather, dark nights and mucking out to keep him in consistent work. Where he is stabled, the horses get all year turnout, however due to the weather last week they were kept in for one day. By the time I got there after work, Wolfie was doing the wall of death around the stable. The only hard feed he is getting is a little chaff and sugar beet, nothing heating, but it's clear that he needs to be turned out every day, even if it's just for a few hours. He's just a fit, healthy 3 year old with a very active mind.

It was a nice day yesterday, so I decided to long rein him down the railwayline. We went out with Wolfie's next door neighbour Jake , who was being ridden. Even though Jake is a lot bigger, Wolfie has a much longer stride and a faster walk, so we took the lead. Wolfie was like a little bouncing ball or it was like he had springs in his feet. We haven't been out properly in ages and he was obviously full of the joys of life. I half halted him and did a lot of halt/walk transitions until he eventually settled. He does have the most amazing forward going walk, I almost have to jog at the end of the long lines to keep up.

Wolfie's mind is always active, if he gets bored, you end up with a potential battle on your hands. I try to prevent him from getting bored by setting him challenges. This can be changing direction, transitions, going up or down steeper inclines, through puddles, over ditches etc. It seems to work and keeps his mind on the job in hand. If he gets bored, he tends to stop, try and take his boots off or chew on any tack within close proximity to him.

There were two horses in the field next to the line who came galloping down to the fence. Both Wolfie and Jake had seen them, although they did not look overly concerned. Just as the horses stopped at the fence, one of them must have stood on a branch and snapped it. Both Wolfie and Jake took off at a flat out gallop, me at the end of the long lines with the sound of Jake's hooves thundering in my ears behind me. The whole thing must have lasted less than a minute, but was in slow motion. I remember thinking if I manage to stop Wolfie, and don't get dragged to the next village, Jake will career straight into us. I managed to get my wits together, my whole body weight behind him wasn't going to stop him, so as a last ditch effort, I used voice commands. He stopped instantly. Jake ground to a halt just behind me, so close that I could feel his breath on my neck. I'm glad Helen decided to ride him in the Myler bit yesterday. Wolfie settled back down and we continued on. That certainly got the adrenalin going and also was a sharp reminder that you can never become complacent or let your mind wander for a second when out with horses. Jake couldusually be considered pretty much bombproof, but it just goes to show. Wolfie enjoyed every second of being out and returned home tired but happy.

We are family

I found the picture of Wolfie's maternal grandsire on a website. His family tree on his dam's side can be traced back about twelve generations of pure bred highland ponies. His sire's side only goes as far back to his grandparents. Looking at the photograph of Macgregor of Achnacarry, that look or expression on his face is Wolfie all over. Wolfie has definitely inherited his father's movement and action, his mother's mane and the appetite of the highland! As a foal, he was the same colour as his sire. He is now termed as blue and white but he still has one splodge on his hindquarters of dark chesnut brown.

The Missing Shoe

After our fantastic hack on Sunday, I gave Wolfie a day off on Monday. When I brought him in on Tuesday, he had lost a front shoe, typical. He was only shod a couple of weeks ago, but as his front feet had grown, the farrier put on a bigger, heavier shoe on the front. This has slowed his front feet action and he has been forging a bit - a combination of the heavier shoe and him being unbalanced. He's obviously pulled the shoe off. The farrier came up today to put another shoe on. So now he's got a double clipped shoe on his near fore. When he gets a full set on in a couple of weeks, he'll get double clipped shoes on both front feet to see if this makes a difference. I find the whole art or science of shoeing horses really interesting. And it really is true the saying 'No foot no horse'. He didn't stand great tonight for the farrier, he just had a kind of 'I don't think I'll bother with shoes today, thanks' attitude.

I went to a Monty Roberts demonstration at Gleneagles Equestrian Centre last weekend. I have seen Monty Roberts demonstrating his methods about 8 times now. He gave a really interesting demonstration on two line lunging and the effects one line lunging can have on the anatomical structure of the horse. He had a young horse in the round pen moving freely. This little horse had been lunged but was not backed. She showed a definite one-sidedness and became disunited and rabbit hopped when put under a little pressure.

As part of my Equine Studies degree, my dissertation was on laterality or 'handedness' in horses and how this is influenced by age and training. Although symmetry of appearance and locomotion in the horse may be desirable, it is seldom the case. There are very few mature horses that show totally symmetrical development, with the majority showing a marked tendency for a stiffer side or a favoured lead. In the case of a quadruped such as the horse, the tendency to exhibit lateralization of posture is referred to as sidedness and is commonly displayed as ipsilateral limb dominance. This is revealed by asymmetries in the movement or weight bearing patterns of the horse. Under the weight of the rider, the young or unschooled horse is often found in the early stages of training to have one side stiffer than the other. I have been conscious since I got Wolfie to try and handle him and lead him from both sides. I always use a mounting block to get on him, but the other day I thought I would mount him from his off side. The problem wasn't him, it was me. It was completely alien to me to get on from that side and I couldn't co-ordinate myself at all. I am inherently right sided, but couldn't move my body the correct way with my right foot in the stirrup. I think I will have to work on my own posture and sidedness as well as Wolfie's.

Rockin' Horse

The last 4 months have been spent backing Wolfie. In some ways, he is so simply straightforward, you wouldn't think he was only 3 years old. In other ways though, he is very complex. He has an opinion on just about everything and will voice it at every opportunity.

I backed Wolfie by doing a lot of groundwork using the Monty Roberts Dually halter and a lot of long reining. Getting on for the first time was no problem, as I expected. However, with me now being on his back, he no longer had his 'rock' on the ground and that proved to be a bit of a stumbling block for him and a knock to his confidence.

As I had no willing victim to sit on him whilst I was on the ground, we had to persevere. I have backed youngsters in the past and worked with and ridden many, but Wolfie has been a challenge. He is so bright and the whole process has been like a game of chess with me lying awake at night trying to think what my next move is going to be. He is very independent to the point that he will not even bother following a lead horse, even when he is out of his comfort zone. The last few months have been an incredible journey for both of us. There have been moments when it has been emotionally, physically and mentally draining as he has challenged and tested me at nearly every turn. But we have got there.

The hours spent long reining up and down hills, basically the groundwork, has been the foundations and preparations for the riding. Wolfie is going really well at the moment and is proving himself already to be a lovely riding horse. Although he only stands at approx 15.1hh, he has the stride length of a much bigger horse. He carries himself in a natural outline with three naturally elevated paces; with a particularly stunning and flamboyant trot. I really only concentrate on transitions and getting him going forward in straight lines at the moment, although he has shown that lateral movements come naturally and easily to him.

I have been hacking along the tracks behind the stables, he is used to this whole area as this is where I long rein him. The local farmer has given me permisision to ride through one of his fields to enable me to get Wolfie down onto a great hacking track without having to ride along the road. On Sunday I decided to brave it. Normally taking any young horse out I would always go with another horse, but as it makes no difference to Wolfie whatsoever, I decided just to head out on our own. We had the most amazing time. It's a great track in that you can see anyone or anything coming towards you and it's good ground. We had a few nice trots and a short canter. Wolfie was brilliant. He was so soft and responsive and felt as though he was enjoying every minute as much as I was. This was a huge achievement for us as we've been a bit restricted up until now where we can go, but this opens up a whole new world for us. Hacking home I couldn't stop smiling. People passing must have thought some village had lost its idiot.