Christmas Gift Ideas for Horses

This year I have decided to share 10 products I think would make lovely presents for our horses, because let's admit it - even though they probably have no idea what Christmas is or anything, we still decide it's the perfect excuse to treat them! (I hope that's not just me!) I shall split this into two posts so keep your eyes peeled for the second list! 

1. Likit Snak-a-Ball. 

Retail around £20-25 I think!

You can fill these with either pelleted feed (I use a handful or two or pony cubes) or Likit Snaks and it stimulates natural grazing behaviour as the horse has to nudge the ball around in order for the food to drop out. These are great for stabled horses as it keeps them amused during the night or day. Pea loves his, though it took him about two weeks to work out how to play with it, and then one morning I found it empty in his feed bucket so I think he eventually worked it out and let me know it was empty! There's a few horses on box rest at my yard as well and you can often hear them knocking their ball around keeping them entertained, much better than them getting bored and starting with stable vices!


2. Likit Boredom Breaker.

Retail around £20-£30..

The boredom breaker combines a likit holder and a ball that holds two smaller likits and are perfect for food loving horses that understand licks! The horse I look after at work loves his boredom breaker, just ensure that you hang it away from the stable walls otherwise the horse pushes it against the wall and eats the lick, not quite what is intended! Again these are perfect for stabled horses and can keep them occupied for quite a few hours. There are also a range of likit flavours that can be used such a cherry, apple, carrot, banana, mint...





3. Horselyx

These come in a variety of sizes and flavours and contain a balance of vitamins, minerals and trace elements as well as supporting all round health, vitality and have a unique Healthy Hooves package. These are great for stabled horses and those out at grass and they promote horses to self-regulate so they will only have some when they want it, no need to worry about them having too much! You can buy smaller licks which you can use during stressful times to occupy the horse to large tubs which can be put in the field. However, if you have a grey, just be careful as they make their noses orange and then they tend to wipe it on their legs! Haha!


4. Exercise Sheets
Exercise sheets come in a range of designs and colours. They can be wrap-arounds, cut-away, just quarter ones, waterproof ones, fleece ones or hi-vis ones and are perfect when exercising in winter, such as those early morning hacks or schooling sessions in the cold! If you have a waterproof one as well then it means you can ride in the rain and not have to worry about waiting for ages for the horse to dry! My exercise sheet is a necessity in the winter and Pea is much happier exercising when it's on as he doesn't get such a cold bum! 




5. Leather Headcollar

Leather headcollars look smart and can be personalised. Some people claim they prefer them to other headcollars such as nylon, as the leather can break easier if the horse gets it stuck somehow, although they are also very hardy! They suit all horses and come in black or brown, though you can get pink and blue ones for ponies! 







That is my first 5 gifts for horses! I hope you like this post and if you have any suggestions please let me know! Also, if you're getting your horse a present this year, I'd love to know what you're treating them to! Pea's having another chiro visit and will probably get some treats or something! 

Thanks for reading!
Laura & Pea x

[Monthly Review] November 2013

This year seems to have flown past! As of the end of this week (6th December) I will have finished my first term of my last year at uni, scary! 

November has gone quite well with Pea, he is so much happier working and has realised that he can go faster out hacking now and has decided that trotting fast will definitely mean that he can canter and do his little gallop, which unfortunately it doesn't but he still tries! 

Having a quick power nap before hacking!

His schooling is slowly coming on and he's a lot happier but he needs to learn to relax and soften more, and also to pick his feet up! He has started to get a bit iffy again about right canter, but fingers crossed a few lessons will put us back on track and I'm also going to get his saddle sorted again after Christmas as he's lost a bit of weight recently since I have decided to stable him this winter. We have been doing lots of bending and leg-yield to try and soften him up a bit and bend better and it is getting there, but every now and then he'll start rushing a bit and just throw his head in the air to try and evade the contact. I have also had a little jump on him which he was surprisingly very calm about, though I had them really small so he wasn't particularly putting too much effort in so next time I shall have to raise them! He did have a strop though when I schooled him a bit after as it had started getting a bit too dark to jump properly as for some reason the lights are only in the top end of the jumping arena where the dressage boards are and the other arena has only one jump in! 

This winter I have decided to stable Pea at night as we are meant to have a cold winter and last year he got really tight through his hind-quarters due to standing against the cold so I'm trying to minimise that this year. Luckily he seems to be okay with the new routine and he still gets a good 6+hours out in the field during the day and has decided that he simply must roll in the muddiest puddle every day! 

Sorry about the lack of blog posts lately! I have been busy with my final year of university as well as getting up early every morning to do Pea before work or Uni and also sorting out jobs for after graduation! 

Thanks for reading, 

Laura & Pea x

[Monthly Review] October 2013

Well October has been a quiet month. As I mentioned in my last blog post (read it here), Pea had three/four weeks off waiting for a Chiro to be able to come out. Since then, he has been in light work, just building it up over the weeks. 

The first week consisted of just walking and increasing the trotting, so he was only doing about 20 - 30 minutes work, with the majority being walk. In the second week we increased the trotting and I think Pea started getting bored of just walking and trotting along as half way through the second week he decided it would be a great idea to canter off! Luckily he felt really good, though it was short and he decided to do a massive spook at the horses in his field! After two weeks we were finally allowed to start cantering! Pea was actually really calm the first time we did an 'allowed' canter, very different to the past two days when he had decided to canter on his own free will and took full advantage! However, he has now done a week of cantering, increasing it as the week progressed and he feels really good! Definitely makes waking up early to ride before lectures twice a week worth while! All this work has been done out hacking as it's much more relaxed and no tight turns or anything and I think he has enjoyed it! He has been rather cheeky though, spooking at hedges or gaps in hedges or even a gateway that I thought he had finally gotten over after 5 years, and properly taking spooking to the extreme by launching to the side! He then casually walks past a 100 odd people at the yard on a conference who were shouting a bit perfectly fine...seriously?! 

Early morning hacks like this are perfect

I'm currently considering stabling him at night this year as we're meant to have a particularly cold winter and last year the muscles in his hindquarters got really tight from the cold. He's currently in during the day at the moment and he's well rugged up at night but I'm hoping that someone will eventually employ me, just got to persuade my dad, though the cost won't be much different to now! I think Pea is also wanting to be stabled now as he's rather reluctant about going out...he's seriously getting spoilt and knows he has me round his little finger, so to speak! 

November has started well. I schooled him for the first time in nearly 2 months and he was so well behaved, even with another horse sharing the arena and yesterday he willingly hacked in the rain without napping or anything! Starting to think someone's swapped my horse! Fingers crossed it lasts and November brings about good changes in his schooling. As usual, I shall let you know in the round-up at the end of the month! Scary to think how we've nearly finished 2013!

Thanks for reading!
Laura & Pea x