The Ludo Logbook

SEL

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Updates need photos & videos for those of us who have the attention span of a goldfish and like pictures!!

I had fire breathing dragon Appy tonight....
 

McFluff

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What a lovely thread. You have two lovely horses and your enjoyment of them is contagious.

It’s funny reading about traits that my mare shows (the snort, inspect and ignore and the ‘helping’ by doing what we did last time). But mines just a plain cob, no appy, so no excuse!
 
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Definetely describes my Appy! He notices if anything is out of place on any of our hacks but once he has seen it once he's fine. But we do do the dramatic snorting etc - and he is now 19!
 

ycbm

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But, but, but...you promised!!! (cue best 'pleeeeeeezzzeee chuck us a carrot' face)

Just for you then.

Ludo is beyond special. His trot is fabulous ... And it's his worst pace by a long way. I'm struggling hard to stop myself riding him while he is so leggy, he is just .... un.be.lievable. What DID I do to deserve to find him?

Henry at his second lesson with a new trainer was working hard to keep connection, which is what we are working on because it's his weak spot. I was really happy with this video of a random bit (OH doesn't know a trot from a rein back :D).

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=p95TmjHYi7U
 

DabDab

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Aww, lovely Henry. Looks like you're settling in with the new instructor too - you look less like you're holding something back than in the last video.
 

ycbm

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Aww, lovely Henry. Looks like you're settling in with the new instructor too - you look less like you're holding something back than in the last video.

I'm holding something back more. My dislike of being judged by strangers :D. And I've started to ride him in spurs because his round rib cage means I can't get my heel on his side without twisting my leg. I've spent the last two weeks insisting he goes forward to the bit but not through it, and with a neck like he's got that's no joke!

It's doing me so much good to have lessons again. I am riding twisted, with my right shoulder up and forward of the left. The correction feels weird.
 

ycbm

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He looks a lot more settled and working out what to do.
Love his trot

He's got two. That's his normal one, and he's got another that bounces right up of the floor and is almost passage :)

He can do it all but his big problem is maintaining the consistent contact. He leans horribly given half a chance, and in stopping him leaning we lose connection and rhythm. But I have to be so fast to adjust to keep him with me !

Sarah has given me a great idea, to ride constantly scoring the connection in my head and try to react before we lose it and not after.

I'm going to be testing that soon.

He's never going to look absolutely brilliant, because he cuts off his breathing if he flexes too far and starts to gurgle. So we work with what he can give.



PS if anyone thinks that he has a head nod upwards at times, it's mechanical and it comes from his locking stifles, with the right one being much weaker. I've had him x rayed twice to make sure he is OK, and they are both good, but slightly differing shapes. He is doing it less the stronger he grows but there is a glimpse of it at times in that video.
 
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ycbm

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Ludo's fans aren't posting when I write updates. I feel like it's going into empty space.
 

DabDab

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:( was hoping for a Ludo vid. Thought about this thread the other day but assumed that you were just having some quieter time with him for the moment.
 

Sheep

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I must admit that I am a Ludo follower but not a poster - mainly because I sneak on HHO in work the odd time, but don't usually post (that would be a bridge too far of course) during working hours.
Hope he is still continuing to surprise and delight you ycbm!
 

ycbm

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Of all right, since you all asked so nicely.


There's no video for you because he's been teething and very unsteady in the mouth. I am also struggling to find a bit which he doesn't flick up into his teeth and crunch down on, a habit I want to crack sooner rather than later as I find it intensely annoying! Next try is a straight bar plastic, then a straight bar metal, and after that I'm out of ideas because he hates everything with a joint in it, and I've already tried barrel straight and barrel curved.

I put him on the lunge in side reins to try 'making' his mouth without a rider, but he's very athletic and has a very long wriggly neck, and he finds it too easy to duck half an inch behind the contact and evade it. I'm not a fan of lunging, either. I considered long reining but I don't really see the point. On board, I can follow his mouth wherever it goes and get it through to him that he simply can't evade a constant mild contact. The moments when he accepts it and works with me are lovely stuff from a three year old.

His mouth is definitely his worst point. Quite the most difficult in the mouth of any horse I've backed. I have a horrible suspicion that he may end up as a horse who would always be better in a hackamore, but hopefully we can find a bit he doesn't dislike.

We've had some very interesting times with food, to say the least!!!

We lost the goodness in the grass so I am increasing his bucket food. He had been doing fine on bran, and we already knew that alfalfa is a compete no. Adding oats had a milder but similar effect to alfalfa. Nervy, twitchy, a bit scatty. So that's oats out. I added linseed, which he had been fine with a little of last winter.

Oh god, that was a mistake! We had days when he pulled away from me and went round and round the arena on his own refusing to be caught. And I now have a hat with a hole in the front of it where he reared up and boxed out and I didn't get out of the way quick enough. It would have been a serious head injury if I hadn't been wearing one. I cut the linseed out, back to normal in a few days.

So then I increased the bran and added a little veg oil. Nowhere near as bad a linseed, but still not quite normal. I stopped the bran. So that's every trace of cereal and legumes removed from his diet. And he's the best he's ever been. Really quiet and sensible, especially for a three year old.

Thankfully, Spillers have introduced a new sugar beet product 'Quick Mash' which is apple scented and he loves it. So do I, it soaks in less than two minutes, so no frozen buckets of beet in the winter. And Henry also loves it even with his minerals in and it's about as low calorie a food as you can buy, so that's good as far as he and the girls are concerned. And the girls love it too. So for the first time I have every horse on only one kind of food, plus oil for Ludo.

And he's doing really well on it, putting on some weight unexpectedly, which he can do with for a winter up here. It looks as of cereals not only affected his brain but that he wasn't digesting them and using them properly anyway.

Strangely, and very pleasing, even when he's going doolally on the ground, he's been a doddle to ride. No spooks, no bucks. Some evasion, always over which way we are going to bend, which is always related to whether he is or isn't truly going forward. He now leg yields in walk and trot. When we've cracked the unsteady mouth and erratic head carriage, we'll be fit to video.

We did have one very exciting day when I got off, and forgot to hold the air jacket clip in my hand as I always do, and somehow it reclipped itself to a d ring, he stepped back, and it went off like a gunshot. He ran off about ten feet, and stopped. What a waste of twenty quid! I got back on immediately to show him that I wasn't going to explode every time I got off, and he was just a little anxious a couple of times after that, but no harm done except to my pocket :D
 

Mule

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Lots of things have happened. Interesting about the bits. I've no suggestions as I don't know much about them. I'm glad you haven't a head injury!

It's good he didn't get much of a fright with the air jacket. I know someone that happened to out hunting. I'd say it's pretty common :D

He sounds very athletic and fun.
 
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Slightlyconfused

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Mine is fussy in the mouth. The best ive found so far is a ns hanging cheek snaffle. But he can still go btv with if I am not careful to keep him forewards enough.
I do think I will eventually change it as I have a feeling he wont like it for long.
There is a company called the Horse bit Fit that helps find the right bit for your horse so I will be getting them out when his work load has increased a bit more.

Mine also cant have cereals or alfafa either.
He does well on just hay or hayledge and thunder brooks grass chaff and grass nuts, if he has a lot of the nuts its soaked up for him as they absorb a lot of water.
 

DirectorFury

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It sounds like all is going well :). Shame about the air jacket but at least you know his reaction to it.

Thankfully, Spillers have introduced a new sugar beet product 'Quick Mash' which is apple scented and he loves it. So do I, it soaks in less than two minutes, so no frozen buckets of beet in the winter. And Henry also loves it even with his minerals in and it's about as low calorie a food as you can buy, so that's good as far as he and the girls are concerned. And the girls love it too. So for the first time I have every horse on only one kind of food, plus oil for Ludo.

Do you have the sugar and starch stats for this to hand, ycbm? I can't seem to find it on the Spillers website. Mine has gone fussy (again) and I can't get her hoof supplement into her with anything other than heavily molassed sugar beet, which rather defeats the object of the low sugar diet.

I feel your pain with bitting/fussy mouths/contact problems. Could you try him in a straight bar pelham and see how that goes? I know it's not dressage legal but it might not be a bad starting point. Otherwise Nathe, Trust or one of these: https://www.equiport.co.uk/products/horse/bits/harmony-loose-ring-snaffle-ebx74/ . The Poponcini is supposedly incredible for teaching horses to take a contact but the price is a bit :eek:. Having been through the full rotation of metal bits mine is now moving onto a Nathe, and then a Trust if the Nathe doesn't work for her. And if they don't work I'll bite the bullet and get the Poponcini though that is also not dressage legal (though no one can tell me why).
 

Art Nouveau

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Thankfully, Spillers have introduced a new sugar beet product 'Quick Mash' which is apple scented and he loves it. So do I, it soaks in less than two minutes, so no frozen buckets of beet in the winter.

ooh I've just had a look, do you mean the speedy mash? It looks amazing. I'll have to try it with my mare, I've got her on copra with a splash of apple squash to get her to eat her minerals. If this is already apple flavoured it could be much easier.

Thank you for your update, I'm another who has been reading and not posting, I'll try to comment more often as I have loved reading about Ludo
 

paddy555

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because I had Peruvians I learnt that way of breaking. Firstly a bosal was used then the horse went into four reins with the bit rein tied back to the saddle, then he moved onto four reins and finally when all the work was complete he moved onto the bit rein.
 
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Oh bless him. He sounds such a cool fella. Funny he is so funny about food though. Would you recommend the Speedy mash btw?

Keep us updated please! He sounds as if he is coming along really well, and I'm not sure why you have such an aversion to being videoed: you're a stunningly good rider, on a stunning horse, so what's not to like?
 

Cortez

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Gosh, he's only three; I wouldn't be too worried about a bit of twiddling around with the contact at this stage, just ride him forward and ride him straight, as they say at the Spanish Riding School....and pretty much everywhere!

Food-wise I can't help you as I don't feed mine anything at all except for hay/grass.
 
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