Recent content by Aeolian

Here's a wasted journey story with a different ending: I drove about 40 miles to see a 4 year-old TB filly, substantial jumping type, never raced, 16.2 hh, fit and going well on the flat and over grids. Sounded like just what I was looking for, maybe to go eventing with in time. What I was...

I've also been through this, and although many go peacefully, as several posters have written, some do struggle and I think you need to be prepared for this. The first time I wasn't. Hopefully it won't be the case with yours. One other thing: despite what some claim, horses generally if not...

You're right to shudder, littleshetland: the chariot race in 'Ben Hur' allegedly accounted for 100 horse fatalities. An early version of 'Charge of the Light Brigade' supposedly up to twice as many. When those films were made it was apparently cheaper to shoot an injured horse rather than treat...

Just thought of another big favourite: 'Crin-Blanc' or 'White Mane', a fairly corny story about a poor young fisher-boy in the Camargue who befriends a wild white stallion. Never mind the corny storyline, though, the photography is fantastic. It won the short film prize at the Cannes festival in...

Try 'Of Horses and Men'. The film is a series of episodes set in Iceland in which people interact with horses, with generally unusual and often highly comical outcomes. The horses come across as far more generous, dignified and sane than the humans. It was made by group of horse-loving Icelandic...

I would be careful about assuming it's not ulcers. I ride a horse every week who has definitely had ulcers (ex-racehorse, very common with them) and is prone to recurrence. If his girth is tightened in his box he can stagger about and looks like going down, but outside walking around he's fine...

Many thanks all for the info. Trite, but it's a testament to online forums that connections which might have taken forever to make happen so quickly. As for the subject of how we understand, manage and train our horses, people have been at this for at least 5,000 years, resulting in some...

Many thanks for this, Ms Chickens, I've just been round the ISES website. It seems just what I was looking for. I'm particularly encouraged, for example, by the 'Position statement on restrictive nosebands', when most of the horses I see are in tightly done-up flashes, and you're called a ****...

I, too, am interested in finding out more about how horses perceive the world, communicate and behave, naturally and when stabled. Like you, and after 50 years around horses, I also believe that what seemed 'bleedin' obvious' is sometimes not and some traditionally accepted practices for...

All true, as an example Sadlers Wells (note one 'd', or online searches don't work, as I've just found out after swearing at the Racingpost site for 10 mins) was an exceptional sire. Just three of his many outstanding flat racing progeny - Galileo, Montjeu and High Chaparral - together won over...

Good point EKW, that that breeding only increases the the horse's chances in racing. By how much? There were two studies, one by Prof Patrick Cunningham in Ireland, that looked at the performance of around 1,800 racehorses in relation to the form of their relations. Both studies put the...

EKW's remarks remind me of a what I was told years ago by one of the first equine dentists in the UK, Gary Singh. He did the teeth of a huge number of racehorses, and I used to hold the horses for him when he came to our yard just to listen to him. He said he always asked a horse's breeding...

Interesting thread, I owned two TB mares over 25 years, both decently bred, but once they're out of training and breeding that really doesn't mean anything, as the other posters have said. It's now much more about temperament and the relationship you build with Mantuana, and also soundness as...

Like you I love TBs, not just their looks, but their responsiveness, aliveness and the spring and athletic feel a good one gives you. There's nothing quite like it. I've owned and ridden virtually nothing but TBs for over 25 years, all horses both in and out of racing. There is a lot of...

PaddyM, you should definitely start the thread - look at the interest your post has generated. It doesn't matter that you are not a professional and you're embarked on a learning process (we all are, aren't we?), my point was that any professional worth using should have the attitude and...