Fir Tree Stud's Equine Massage 1 Day Course

Fir Tree Stud will be holding an Equine Massage 1 Day Course on the 10th September 2011, in conjunction with Liz Harris BSc (Hons), PgDip AM, EBW, CBW, MMAA, BCMA Reg (www.lizharris.co.uk).

This course will enable participants to spend the day learning basic massage & stetch techniques, that you can use on your horse.

The day will take place on 10th September 2011, and is a full day course. The course will cost £65 per person, and spaces are limited to just 10.


Course Overview:

• Introduction to massage – history, benefits, contraindications
• Basic anatomy – superficial and deep muscles
• Massage strokes
• Practice on each other, working in pairs.

BREAK
Demonstration and practice of massage techniques, working in pairs

• The neck
• The shoulder and forelimb

LUNCH BREAK

Demonstration and practice of massage techniques, continued

• o The trunk
• o The hindquarter

Demonstration and practice of stretch techniques

• The neck
• The forelimb
• The hindlimb

• Conclusion of day, including question and answer session and feedback

For more information or to book a place please contact Fir Tree Stud on 07999880296 or email Janice on fts@firtreestud.co.uk

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British Dressage Competitions

Andrew & Marchje, who is a Friesian mare that Andrew trains for her owner Lisa Ebnet, took part in their first British Dressage Competition, Preliminary 12. They came 2nd in the class with a good score. The pair have grown into a very good combination that should continue to do well.


Janice and Borris II did their second British Dressage Elementary competition and came third with a respectable score. The pair have only just started competing Elementary and are pleased with the result so far, but it is still a work in progress!!













We also have a new arrival, Jack, a 5 year old piebald gelding, who has come to stay with us for starting, and when he is ready, he will be for sale.

Fir Tree Stud / Natural Horsemanship Update!

First, sorry for break in the blog. We have been too busy to get around to it!
Where do we begin...
Toby the lovely Section D pony we had for sale sold almost immediately to a lovely home in North Yorkshire.
Rubin, who you will remember is the remedial horse we have been working with. When we last wrote about him we had him long reining in the round pen. As this work continued Rubin struggled with the confidence to work with the two lines. We came to the conclusion it was best not to stress him by insisting that he followed the 'expected route'. Instead we looked at his strengths, he had no problem with dealing with the plastic bags on a stick, infact he was one of our best performers where that was concerned. He worked loose in the round pen with Janice beautifully, it was almost like dancing, and to say he was joined up, was an understatement!
With this in mind we introduced him to a dummy rider which he took to easily, and then trained him loose in the round pen with his friendly 'auntie lil' as she is affectionately known.
From here, we tried to introduce the real thing in the shape of Thomas. Rubin knew the difference and was too dificult for Thomas to mount in the round pen.
Knowing Rubin as we now did and having sucessfully introduced new concepts to him in his stable, (saddle, bridle & dummy) which is the place he feels the safest. Our instinct told us that if he was going to let someone mount him, that would be the place it would most likely happen. We were right. Rubin allowed Thomas to mount him.
The work we had done with the dummy was invaluable because the first time Thomas put his leg over and sat on, Rubin slightly relaxed, and seemed to understand what we wanted and stayed with us.
It clearly wasnt going to be a quick fix to progess from the stable to the round pen and his owner felt it was time to take him home with the view to returning when they can.
In his time with us we helped Rubin to:
Accept a headcollar easily
Pick up his feet
Allow the farrier to trim his feet
Have rugs taken on and off easily
We taught his owner strategies for catching him in the field when he resisted
How to lunge & long rein
Work loose in an enclosed area with people
Accept the saddle and bridle
and finally
Allow someone to sit on his back

Fir Tree Stud March 20th

Mel & Darcy had hoped to get out to their first competition last year, then the snow hit!
Finally, they went and had a great day! Mel had never entered a Dressage competition before and neither had Darcy. They had a go at prelim 10 and got a very creditable 58% score! Someone should have told Darcy that flying changes were not needed!!














Toby a 14.1hh Welsh Section D, who we have produced over the winter, and is currently for sale £2600 ono, also did his first dressage competition. His young rider Kalama helped him to an outstanding 70% 2nd place, also in prelim 10.




























Andrew took one of his horses out just for some experience after the long break and came 4th with 69% in his class.














Well done to all of them for a good days work!

Congratulations Kieran!

Andrews client Kieran, aged 7, has been nomminated for the Selby "Superkids 2011" award after impressing staff at the Doncaster Racing College last year.
Everyone at Fir Tree Stud is very proud of him and wishes him the best of luck in the competition.

Natural Horsemanship / Rubin in the Round Pen

Rubin has been struggling with the concept of the two lines, however, today he took a massive step forward with his mum Michelle.
It has taken patience and perserverance, but Rubin settled enough for us to feel like we were able to begin communicating with him when he is being long lined. He very much goes into the pressure, so we have to be very careful what connection we give down the lines. This means that we have to rely on the body language that we have used previously to move Rubin around. Using these techniques we are able to change his direction and by doing so, are gaining more control of the situation.
Here are some pictures of Rubin and his mum Michelle, long lining in the round pen.