Giselle Hutchings Horsemanship

Time for both of us to get fit again.

Found these pics of River at a x-country open day in May 2010 (before the career ending injury) she was so bold and game!

Well said

Baby Dashing River, can't believe she's 19 already! I had so many hopes and dreams for us, she loved jumping so much she would pop the paddock fences for fun 😁 Brave and bold over the xc fences at the open days, I imagined us flying across country with joy in our hearts 💕 Alas our dream was cut short by a paddock accident where she cut both front legs above the knee. Tragically, I was advised a joint flush wasn't neccessary so we went ahead with the standard antibiotic treatment. Her extensor tendon became infected and the vets didn't understand why she didn't respond to the antibiotics. In hindsight I should have got a second opinion far sooner. By the time I asked another veterinary practice to examine her it was too late. The damage was done and she developed career ending arthritis and scar tissue on her off fore knee 😪 We tried everything possible to rehab her, extensive physiotherapy including laser, but her way of moving changed forever and she is prone to stumbling ever since. Her stay mechanism has also been affected so she falls when trying to sleep standing 🥺
River is my soul sister, we are intricately connected and I will always do everything I possibly can for her.
Life is interesting though...... had she not had the accident I would probably not have bred her to Divine Dream and got my beautiful palomino Dalila. I wouldn't have been looking at young horses on Facebook and spotted Assegai Razzmatazz!
💚💙💜
I now have new dreams with these two youngsters and hope this time the Universe has the same plans I do! ✨️ 💫

Some shots of my session with Dalila today. and developing a natural top-line 🥰 Showing a lovely Flexion already from exercises such as the crab-walk and clock shape. DM me if you would like some help developing your horse! 💚💙💫

Razzy giving cuddles after our session today🥰 Such a special mare 💓

Perfection in a summers day! ☀️

Such a stunning color sea today! 🤩

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Fear of unknown horses.

This is a completely natural phenomenon, often not considered or understood by riders and coaches.

In the wild horses live in closely bonded herds, changes only usually occur when a foal is born or when the stallion drives out colts that are sexually mature and present a challenge to his genetics being passed on or when younger stallions steal mares or fight the dominant stallion.

Hence unknown horses are viewed as potential threats by the herd as they could possibly be stallions challenging the dominant stallion.
Younger stallions often band together and steal mares to form their own harem. The mares current foals may then be at risk.

In the arena/ show environment/ hacking out there is the added insecurity in that your horse now doesn't have the safety and protection of their herd members or stablemates.
In addition there is often high energy at shows and out hacking (think other unknown horses moving at speed, perhaps in water making noises, dogs(predators) and other people in those public spaces.)
The onus is on us to show attunement to our horses, ie recognize their concern and show them we are AWARE of and empathetic to their unconfidence and insecure feelings.

Try to think WHY is my horse behaving in this way? Instead of just classifying the behaviour as "naughty" or "good".
Horses are firstly concerned with their SAFETY and surviving in a world full of possible perceived threats.

The *worst* thing a rider can do in this situation is to "get after" the horse or punish them. This will only exacerbate the horse's fear and destroy any hard- earned trust and rapport that has been built previously.
Imagine being afraid of strangers in a dark alley and then being punished by your friend or partner for being afraid!

If you would like to learn more please feel free to contact me for a consult.

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The words "never" and "always" leave zero room for compromise, and therefore should not be taken literally in every single case, and an example might be the use of draw reins on a horse.

What draw reins do----They give the rider enough leverage, because of the physics of basically the pulley principle, to force the horse's head into positions that can cause extreme pain, and can even cause long term damage.

They also can so thoroughly overwhelm a horse's ability to avoid them that some horses who have been ridden much in draw reins automatically come behind the vertical, like in this picture, even when ridden without draw reins, and once that happens, that the horse just "gives up," it is extremely hard damage to undo.

Now, sure, it is theoretically possible for an extremely gifted rider to use draw reins with extreme tact to correct extreme resistance without causing extreme damage or discomfort, just as some extremely gifted riders can use extreme bits without similar damaging results.

The problem, though, is that lots of riders assume that they are "extremely gifted," when they are not.

I read something that makes sense, "Draw reins should only be used by the most gifted riders in the world, but the most gifted riders in the world do not need draw reins."

So, yes, while there is theoretically a tiny window, a sliver, of wiggle room, it is probably a mistake for any of us to equate ourselves with riders so exquisitely gifted that we can use devices like these safely.

Which means, since many riders use these things daily, that there are more exquisitely gifted riders out there than we realize, or there are lots of arrogant riders out there who think they are, and which situation is accurate, I leave to others to judge----

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Giselle Hutchings on Instagram: "Equine spa patient @gilvarryequinerehab 🥰" 1 likes, 0 comments - Giselle Hutchings () on Instagram: "Equine spa patient 🥰"

Braved the ocean for the first time, all by herself, no lead horse required 😇🥰

Very lucky to spot a caracal on my beach ride this week! Brave Razzie allowed me to take pics 😍

Restart of Bronwyn's lovely Anima, making sure she truly accepts the human before introducing tack and direction from her rider 💫💚😇

On the way to the beach today I was blessed to see a beautiful pair of grysbokkies 🥰 Razz's emotional fitness was tested by a loose galloping horse flying past us, followed later by another horse and rider trying to catch it! She got a little wired but settled with my reassurance and slow, deep breaths to the point we could trot and canter back on the pan! 🤩 So impressed with her connection and trust in my leadership 😍

Had a Psych-K and emotion code session for River today to prepare for the loss of Desert who is moving to Tulbagh. I had some work to do too according to River and the herd gathered around to support me ❤️