INSIDE: News, Herbie’s Horsebox & Much More! November 2012

The Pony Post

Perfect Horse gifts for

Christmas

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Hello!

Beat the Winter with Longlining

Perfect Gifts for Horse Lovers

Monty’s Tour Your Feedback

Herbie’s Horsebox

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

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5

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Contact Us! Intelligentkids@hotmail.co.uk

On the cover This cheeky chap can be found in the new 2013 Shy Lowen calendar—find out more on page 6

Do you have a story or photo to share?

We've got a great Pony Post to kick of winter properly. Christmas just around the corner, we've got some great ideas for presents, both for your wish list and for you to buy for your friends. There also a great article on longlining. I have to say that longlining is probably my favourite thing to do with a horse. Even more than riding, I LOVE longlining. This month's article is just an introduction - don't forget to email us for your IH Kids Longlining Sheet if you want to know more. And if all that isn't enough, there's a fun competition for you to enter, with a chance to win a Shy Lowen 2013 calendar, packed with stunning photos of some of the Shy Lowen horses. Enjoy!

Liz

Editor & IH Recommended Associate

Learn all about longlining on Page 4

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Beat Winter with Longlining!

Winter means short days and not much time. If you do have some daylight after school it's often not for very long. And even if you're lucky enough to have a floodlit sand school, finding different things to do in it

can be hard.

So how about trying something different that's fun, great for building relationships, fantastic for despooking and also good for fitness work? Meet the RAs' favourite tool - longlining!

It's probably easier to understand by looking at the photos, but longlining is really like a cross between driving and lunging. You use two lines attached to your pony's Dually or ordinary headcollar, and use your body language to drive him forwards while you walk on the ground. Unlike lunging, it's not just about going round in circles, although you can include circles if you want to. You can go in straight lines or include bends just as you line. You can do obstacles, trotting poles or even little jumps! Some people even longline on tracks or around fields, but you have to be very careful to make sure it's safe so we would suggest you only do that if you've got an adult with you who knows what they're doing.

You'll need either a Dually or ordinary headcollar (it's best not to longline off a bit), a pair of longlines and either a saddle or a roller. If you use a saddle with stirrups, you'll also need a spare stirrup leather. You have one line clipped onto the headcollar on each side. It then passes through either the stirrup or ring on a roller so that the lines are kept in position each side of the horse. It's much more difficult if they're not. If you're using stirrups, you tie them together underneath your pony by looping a spare stirrup leather between them. That stops them flapping about.

What is it?

What do you need?

How do I get started?

The really best way is to have a lesson with an RA. You can then learn how to hold the lines, how to walk, and how to use your body to move your pony around. If you want to have a go on your own first, though, email us for our longlining sheet. It's all a bit too long to explain in The Pony Post!

Having a RA lesson is the best way to get started longlining

A Dually is great for longlinging as you can use

the side rings

You can use your existing saddle or roller

A pair of long lines can be found on the IH website

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Beat Winter with Longlining!

Lunging is very popular but it's not all that great unless you have had proper lessons and really understand how it affects your pony's mind and body. Going round in circles is hard work and boring, and it tends to use body language that can be very confusing for your pony.

Lots of things!!! It's a great way of exercising your pony for a start. Especially if your tracks are muddy or if it's not safe to hack out in poor light in the winter, learning to do all sorts of fun things on longlines can give you something fun to do in a school or paddock. If there are times you can't ride because your saddle is away being repaired, or because your pony has a sore back*, longlining can again fill that gap. Ponies who aren't very confident can really benefit from longlining as they learn to go ahead of you, even round spooky obstacles. If you're not very confident, it can help you too as you can keep in control of your pony with absolutely NO risk of falling off!

Isn’t lunging just as good?

What is longlining good for?

The RAs use longlining as a way of understanding about a pony. You can stand back and see him move without a rider on, and you can also see if he acts differently with or without a rider. Most of all, though, longlining is BRILLIANT for helping build a great relationship between you and your pony. With all those reasons, you just have to give it a go, don't you?

RAs use longlining a lot!

RA Bridget Hughes uses longlining to help Fliss gain confidence

* If your pony is under the care of a vet or physio, always make

sure it's ok for him to do longlining before you start.

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Perfect Gifts for Horse Lovers this Christmas!

Perfect Manners—An ideal start for you and your pony, Kelly helps you develop a code of conduct to ensure you both have perfect manners .

Perfect Partners—Kelly Marks helps you to achieve a great relationship with your horse through groundwork, long lining and ridden. The book also helps you to solve challenges which you may have encountered.

Perfect Confidence— However ambitious or basic your goal is Kelly is on hand to make your dream a reality and help you resolve your fears when dealing with horses

Dually— great for working with your pony on the ground, long lining or even ridden. It comes in four sizes (green extra small, red small, black medium and blue extra large) available from the IH Website

A pair of 30ft Long lines—ideal if you wanted to try something new with your pony such as longlining. They come in a variety of colours and are available on the IH website.

IH Clothing—Look the part and keep warm this winter by wearing the IH hoodie, available in two kids sizes as well as adult sizes too!

With Christmas just around the corner we thought we would give you our top 10 buys for the horse lover this Christmas—we hope you find something you like and we have included things

for everyone’s budget and whether you have your own pony or not!

£15 Per book

£44.99

£30

£17.50

Kelly also has a range of books for £5.99 on catching, loading and

handling the untouched— all available on the IH website!

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I bet some of you are now thinking "but schooling is so boring!" If you just ride round a school with no plan it is - boring for you and for your pony. What dressage is all about, though, is training you both to become really in tune with each other, to understand each so well you can "talk" through your body without anyone else even being able to see what you're doing - training in that way can be hard work but also quite magical.

Perfect Gifts for Horse Lovers this Christmas!

No Fear, No Force A guide to handling and training unhandled and semi-feral foals in an ethical and gentle way. This guide will help you as a breeder or new owner to train you foal without fear or force. Suitable for every kind of horse lover from the first time handler to the most experienced. By RA Sarah Weston.

Santa Headcollar & Rug A gorgeous festive nylon headcollar with gold buckle, adjustable headpiece and quick

Shy Lowen Calendar As you know, Shy Lowen is a safe home for many unwanted and mistreated horses and ponies. The staff and the kids of the Care Committee us only Intelligent Horsemanship methods. Shy Lowen also lets some of Liverpool's kids solve their own problems through the horses, so they get a better start in life too.

Help them by ordering their 2013 calendar at www.justgiving.com/shylowencalendar and email your

delivery details to shylowen@aol.com.

Horse Massage for Horse Owners - available as a book, DVD, or one day course from www.holistichorsehelp.com. Learn how to massage your pony to help him stay comfortable, and to help him do the work you ask of him more easily. Follow the clear instructions given by Sue Palmer, Intelligent Horsemanship Recommended Associate, Chartered Veterinary Physiotherapist and Massage Therapist. Have fun colouring in the muscles on your pony, practise massage on your own arm then enjoy massaging your pony. He'll really appreciate it!

£12.99 headcollar

£45.99 Rug

release clip. The rug is ideal to get your horse in the festive spirit and decorated with synthetic sheepskin trim and has ’Merry Christmas’ and bells on the left shoulder! Available from the IH website

£16.99

£16

We hope these have got you in a festive spirit so why not check out all these items and much more on the

IH Website: www.intelligenthorsemanship.co.uk

£8 inc p&p

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Monty’s Tour—Your Feedback

Jiggy was so terrified of the plastic it was so emotional when she

eventually walked with Monty over the tarp. Really made me want to

do more courses Kelly! I feel like a little sponge when it comes to

horses, i just want to soak it all up learn to be the best I can with

horse—Jenny

I had an amazing day helping at my first demo. Seeing

Monty and yourself working with horses on tv doesn't

even come close to seeing it in the flesh - so emotional.

I had goosebumps at every join-up and cried at the

coloured mate and again at the tricky loader, you could

see how emotional it was for her owner. I'll definitely help

out again - roll on the next tour! Philippa

We have just got back home Really enjoyed tonight and so did my

daughter Kelis, we can't wait to put some of the things we have

learned tonight in to practice. Also going to enjoy some reading of the

books we have brought - Yvonne

Truly inspirational evening... Thanks so much to Kelly and Monty

Roberts.—Caroline

Enjoyed it all but highlights were definitely Dufus. Came into the arena very bargy and opinionated but obviously a very bright and confident pony.

A few minutes with Monty explaining the 'rules' and he was a much much happier pony and very pleased to demonstrate it by bounding into the

horsebox. Lovely to see.—Angela

My favourite part was when Winnie, the black and white mare who

Monty was teaching to load, ran past him into the lorry after only a

few attempts! Nice to see a horse understand what is being asked of

her when given the chance to learn! Leanne

Key learning points for me were the importance of repetition and

breaking problems into managable, incremental parts. Monty was

inspirational and very entertaining. A true maestro! Susi

We hope you were lucky enough to attend the October Monty Roberts Tour—but if not don’t worry, Monty

will be back in the UK in February and in the meantime we spoke to some IH Members who did attend to

share their feedback and key learning points with you!

Kelly Marks at the end of one demo quoting

the Zen saying:

"After ENLIGHTENMENT - then the

clearing up"

RA Garry Bosworth hands over a Jiggy, a

spooky horse at the Bishop Burton Demo

Rox a starter being ridden by Alex the 2012 tour rider

being supported by RA Bridget Hughes

Been to many IH demos and they keep getting better!

Key learning point: REMEMBER to have FUN. Yves

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Herbie is taking a break this month from puzzles, so he can bring you an exciting new photo competition—do you have a winning horsey Christmas photo ? Yes? Read more below!

Herbie’s Horsebox

In Your Next Issue……

Horsey New Year’s Resolutions? Rugs—What do ponies think of them? IH Christmas Photo Competition winner— was it you?

WIN A Shy Lowen Horse Calendar &

Have YOUR winning photo as the December issue Front Cover of Pony Post!

All you have to do is e-mail your best horsey Christmas

photo intelligentkids@hotmail.co.uk and tell us about the photo and what you would like for

Christmas!

It can be of you and your pony or just your pony. You must have permission for us to use the photo for our December 2013 issue and ideally your photo will be long

ways—just like the images below.

Send your photo to us by: 10 December 2013

IH Kids Competition