Well Olli has been busy over the past month, we’ve started lessons with Kate, who was quick to join the Olli fan club. He is incredibly intelligent & very sensitive which makes him both fun & challenging (in a good way, you have to be on your game) to work with, he learns very quickly & enjoys the challenge. We’ve been working through some of the Australian Natural horsemanship ground skills & generally encouraging him to relax, stretch & use his whole body, something he appears to have been restricted in doing previously. We’ve worked on backing up through various ground pole patterns, transitions at the end of a 12″ line using his responses to my energy or subtle cues, getting him relaxed in bend & just started the squeeze game & starting with sideways movement. He’s been progressing really well & Kate is pleased with how he’s doing, hopefully next year we can work up to working at liberty.

We also had the equine dentist at the yard for his 6 month visit & Olli had his teeth checked, he had a few edges floated but nothing serious to be done & he behaved very well.

At the beginning of December he enjoyed a shiatsu session with Louise (another member to the fan club). She picked up a couple of things that backed up what Kate & I had observed from the ground, including poorly developed muscle through his mid-back to point of haunch, which will improve once we have encouraged him to work correctly through his whole back. On the positive side his range of rotation & stretching through his legs was above average for his age & shows no sign of under lying joint problems.

Something Louise suggested in addition to the ground work that we are already doing was to get him a snack ball for the stable, as the act of rolling it around would help us to get the muscles through his neck & back working in a more positive way.

So last week I went & got Olli an Elico Equine Decahedron, which doesn’t roll as easily as a ball, so will make him work harder for his treats. It was a huge success from the moment he set eyes on it, much to Basil’s (Olli’s neighbour & best pony pal) disgust as he rattles it back & forth, making as much noise as possible. I use simple systems grass nuts, feedmark’s herbalious treats & chunks of carrot as treats, so its healthy too.

We had a great lesson this morning, although it was trying to snow so Kate & I gave up before the hour was over, just hope we don’t get too much snow so we can keep practicing everything we’ve learnt.

Until next time

With Love

Fiona, Japser & Olli