Recent content by sbloom

Pure neatsfoot is one of the best oils to use on leather and it darkens significantly in most cases. Fiebings has a range of products including actual dyes but also possibly some tinted products.

By definition a soap is water soluble so no, it makes leather attract water, not repel it. It's why glycerin saddle soap tends to make leather sticky, which then attracts dirt and grease, making grease jockeys. I don't recommend it for cleaning or conditioning leather. Nikwax, Granger's and...

The market is very quiet. Spring usually shows an uptick but it'll be from a very low base.

I have seen criticism of TRT from people I respect so I think there are probably even better groundwork and connection programmes, TRT just has a bigger marketing budget and has been accepted into the competition world. The usual one that I recommend is more postural with connection as part of...

There may be something in this that would help a little, more for ridden horses but she always uses groundwork (though I'd still recommend Intrinzen too) https://www.thepowerofwalk.com/forward-without-force

Stopping saddles shifting forwards IS one of the hardest things out there for a fitter, I've specialised in round ponies and cobs for more years than I care to remember and they can be super tricky. Posture and movement of the horse is a HUGE factor, even the girth groove "forwardness" can be...

Just no. Like I said compressing the neck in dressage (and other disciplines) is already a standard way of going, it's not correct according to dressage rules for good reason, but it doesn't get penalised. So if that's your "paradigm", thinking it's correct, then using draw reins to achieve...

I think the Supervet has a bit to answer for. I can't watch it, too much I disagree with.

He's the opposite in many ways. He changes his mind through the hour on certain topics, especially since he went through therapy (during lockdown I think). He has a blind spot on the economy (from my point of view) and on anything he thinks is extreme left (Corbyn for example), he's a bit...

If you have an enclosed space I would be encouraging play, the old Intrinzen type work, whose new name I can't remember but I'm sure you can find it. Bit of R+ type stuff but in play rather than making the training serious.

Completely agree, very few. The whole industry has arguably been taken over, a slow drip drip from the 60s, and then rapid change since the 90s. We need to cherish the "old dead guys" (and the odd gal) who are still around, and hopefully they're continuing to train people who can take over...

Way back there were two comments that made me 😲 A judge saying hock injections were a sign of working a horse "hard enough" - I mean we should ban equestrian sport right now if that's true. Clearly it's not really, but I do think it's incredibly widespread, and that attitude doesn't surprise...

It sounds like balance is the issue. Compressing the neck never solves anything, "long the neck,.short the body" as Manolo Mendez would say. I would find a different trainer but also play with postural groundwork, tackling the issue from a position of first principles. I recommend my saddle...

I only heard the intro and thought his point was very valid. Absolutely agree that this is not about vets themselves and it's unfortunate if that was show it was couched. It's about corporate ownership in the industry, the level of profit extraction and how they get away with it.

I caught a little of James O'Brien discussing this yesterday and he made a real point of saying it's like undertakers, that when his dad died he almost wanted to give them MORE money to prove how much he loved his dad. I'm so glad our new vets up here in Scotland are small, and independent!