I'm definitely a fair weather rider so I find it hard to find the motivation to ride when the colder & wetter autumn/winter days hit. I don't mind the mucking out as I'm inside out of the rain and I warm up quite quick doing that. Especially starting off with about 4 layers on including a thermal base layer. 

This is the 4th winter I've had Legacy and she's been in every winter I've had her, but as she's on a livery yard they have always put her out in the morning and brought her in at night and given her food. After mucking out in the past winters I've always struggled to find the motivation to ride or even bring Legacy in for a groom as I liked her to spend as much time out in the field as possible, rather than cutting it short for a groom. This motivation wasn't even there on the days of the week I would muck out before work.

So this winter hoping it will give me a little more motivation to do more work with Legacy throughout the winter me and my mum have decided to put the horses out and bring them in ourselves. 

I will be the one up early to put them out, depending on what shift I'm doing in work I'll either be up at 6:45am or 6:15am to do them. The earlier time I'll just be putting them out and my mum will muck out and bring in after work. The later time I'll be putting them out and mucking out when my mum will bring in after work. 

I'm really hoping that having to put them out will give me that little extra get up and go in the mornings. If all goes to plan I'm also hoping that I could get a quick lunge in there for Legacy too so she keeps up with the workload, rather than being worked once a week if we're lucky on weather.  

How do any of you keep up motivation to keep your horses exercised throughout the winter?

Legacy's Autumn/Winter Wardrobe

This blog post is to show you all Legacy's autumn/winter rug collection, and explaining what type of weather she wears what it.

I'm currently undecided on to sell these from 100g upwards and just get her one 100g detach a neck rug which allows liners. Has anyone done this before? Let me know.

Lightweights (No Fills)

For her lightweight with no neck she has the Shires Tempest Limited Edition Sheep Print Rug Standard Neck. This is a great rug for when the weathers starting to turn and the rain starts coming in. As Legacy's right across from the sea and has no shelter it's great to keep the wind off of her.

Her Lightweight Combo is the Weatherbeeta Classic Combo. This is great for when the weather gets really wet and windy but it's still too warm for a 100g rug.

Lightweights (100g Fill)

I'm not entirely sure which rug Legacy's 100g std neck is but I know It's an Amigo one, I bought this second hand for Cloudy but it fit Legacy much better. The closest to it I could find is the Amigo Hero 6 100g or the Amigo Bravo 12 100g. Whichever one it is, it's a great rug and there are also loops on the inner neck which I'm assuming is for rug liners.

Her combo lightweight that she has, is a Dr Green Lightweight turnout with a fleece lining. This rug isn't available online so I've found the closest available to it which is the Horze Avalanche Turnout sheet. These are great rugs because the fleece creates warmth for the horse but it's not too much.

Medium Weight (200-220g)

The standard neck Medium Weight Legacy has is the Derby House Pro turnout. I find this weight of rug a good next step from the 100g with a neck, as it's not a 'full' medium weight and it has no neck. This keeps her warm but also makes the next step of a 220g combo a good enough step to last her most of winter.

She doesn't have a 220g combo at the moment as I sold it due to it not being 100% waterproof anymore, but the one she did have was the Weatherbeeta Genero. Due to selling this one, this is why I'm either looking for a new medium weight which is last or a multi use rug with liners.

Heavyweight (300-360g)

Her first heavyweight rug is the Shires Tempest 300g Combo, by the time of year that she needs this the weather is cold enough to need a neck on her rug all the time. I really like this rug and I've written a review on it here. 

The heaviest rug she has is the Weatherbeeta Genero 360g Combo. The winters here have been quite mild and she hasn't needed this the past 2 years, so it's been away in storage. 

Legacy's Take on Bedding

In the 3 winters I've had Legacy I have tried a variation of types of bedding. Most of them have worked well in the beginning and then have just majorly fallen down hill as I thought that plan and type of bedding was working. During the time she's been at the current livery yard she's been in 4 different stables. In these stables her stress levels have been different in each one, this has contributed to how messy each stable has been. Pretty much each variation has included shavings at some point and it even went to the point of trying out different types of shavings. 

All of the stables she's been in have had rubber matting in, so this has been a major help when it comes to putting down a bed for her. When I first had her she was on shavings, in a average stable size she would just poo where she was standing when eating her hay, the only problem with this would be that when she would walk around the stable, the poo would be walked into the shavings. 

Apart from this the main dilemma I've always had with her beddings is that she's very wet, this at times could be to the point there would be a slight puddle in the middle of the shavings if there wasn't a thick enough layer down. 

The bedding variations she's had are:

- Shavings with thick banks and thin bed layer

- Plenty of shavings all around, thick banks and bed layer

- Shavings banks with Megazorb in the middle

- Shavings banks with shavings and wood pellets mixed in

- Wood Pellet banks and bed

- Straw banks and shavings bed

- Shavings banks with straw bed
- We've also tried deep littering her on shavings

Before trying her out on what she's on now she was going through a bale of shavings a day if you were mucking her out properly she was that wet, so I knew I had to find a better alternative for her. She now has Straw all over for banks and bed with a sprinkle of shavings underneath in the middle. This seems to be working well for the time being, and she will probably be on this until she goes out for the summer which I'm hoping will be within the next few weeks if the weather sorts itself out. The shavings layer beneath the straw is enough to soak up the wee from the bedding to make it not so soggy or have wee running through the stable. 

She also seems to be very much less stressed while she's in this stable, she is now next door to Cloudy who she is very close with as their never separated now, being in both summer & winter fields together. He has really seemed to calm her down and it's really helped cut down on her separation anxiety. She still has a few stubborn moments trying to get her into the stable on her own, but with a little persuasion she's much more better and willing to be on her own. 

Here is a quick before & after picture of Legacy's stable. 

Shires Tempest 300g Combo Review

I know it's a bit late on in the year but I just had to write my review on this rug now, it couldn't wait until next winter. Although I bet there are some clipped or even unclipped horses out there now still in medium-heavy or heavy weight rugs the weather has been so awful in this country recently. And with another set of bad weather supposed to be on it's way soon before we get the nice weather I thought I'd throw this in there now. This is a great rug to have if a heavyweight is too warm and a medium weight is too cold. 

This is the Shires Tempest Original 300g Combo Rug. 

Some of the key features for this rug are:

- 600D ripstop

- Breathable ShireTex Outer

- 300G Quilted Polyfill

- Tapered Seams

- Blanket Set Breast Fastenings

- Velcro Closure on Neck

- Adjustable Cross Surcingles & Fillet String

& A Tail Flap.

To the left is a picture of Legacy when she first got the rug, before she went out and rolled in it to cover it in mud. 
The rug fits her body shape really well, she's had no rubs on her shoulders, withers or her mane. I know that some people really struggle to find combo rugs that don't rub away any part of the mane. 
I've always been really lucky with Legacy and all of her combo rugs have fit really well and I've been able to avoid this. 
This rug has a nice sized neck that doesn't leave too much behind the ears exposed, another great part about this neck is that it stays in place and doesn't slip down towards the body. There is a velcro neck closure on the neck where it folds back on itself through rings for security. 
The tail flap on this rug may only be small in comparison to others but it's attached in a way it gives great protection from the weather elements. It always stays down and never flaps back up onto the body of the horse.




Although this rug is only 600D, it's managed to survive 2 winters without any rips or leaks. Legacy is good when it comes to not making holes in rugs and looks after them but there is bit's of barbed wire around the field because of the sheep so there is always that possibility when the horses are playing or trying to get to grass. 
Legacy has worn this rug in some bad weather this winter including some of the recent storms and it has held up really well. Not once has the rain been too much and the rug has started to leak or get damp. 

Overall I would really recommend this rug and I would definitely consider buying a Shires rug when I'm in need of one next. 

I'm Back! Where I've been.. Quick Update.

Hey guys! Long time no write. 

It's been about 7/8 months since I last updated, but to be honest not much has happened in that time. I think that's why I haven't had the urge to get back blogging until now. I haven't been riding much over that time. I was busy with work throughout the summer then I was finding it was too hot for Legacy when I did have the time to ride on my days off. Then on the other scale of the weather when it wasn't too hot we had the horrible winds and rain where I live. I'm a fair weather rider at the best of times too, although I'm working on that after realising how much time out of proper work Legacy has had. 

I haven't had any confidence to ride Legacy out on the road as at the beginning of last summer she took off cantering on the road with me for no seeable reason, I stayed on but it still affected my confidence on the road with her, she was nappy on the road as it was so adding that on didn't help. Where she is kept for livery the roads get quite busy over the summer and the speed limit is 60. The tourists and most of the locals don't seem to care if there is horses on the roads, they'll come past speeding or beeping their horns if they can't get past. So because of this I can't hack out over the summer resulting in me totally losing my confidence on the road with her. 

This is something I'm working on though, I'm back to having lessons every 2 weeks with her. At the moment we're learning for her to respect me and listen to my legs while out on the roads as when she has her napping moments she's either not going anywhere or prancing a little in the middle of the road, the more I try to push her over out of the way of cars the more she plays up. So this is our main goal for now so I can regain my confidence on her out there. 

One of the other main reasons to why I didn't get to ride much throughout the summer was on one of the windy days we were putting a rug on her in the field, we only did this as she's very good standing there to put a rug on no matter what the weather. Unfortunately on this day the wind caught hold of the rug when we'd only managed to get it half on and it flew over her head. Due to this she spooked and took off around the field, falling over the rug as it came around her front legs. She was very lucky to come out of it without any major injuries, just a couple of grazes and burn marks from the velcro on the rug. What happened that night is something I never want to see again, it was horrifying. 

We're very lucky that she's not scared of putting rugs on in a breeze or rugs at all now. Quite the tough one Legacy is. 

The winter weather hasn't been the best on my 2 days off a week so I haven't had much luck riding there either, but as I mentioned I'm working on riding when the weathers not the best to try and combat the lack of riding for next winter.  

That's just a quick update to where I've been and what's been happening and as you can read, there's not much been on going on. I'm back at blogging now and I'm planning to update and post more frequently now.

I have also updated the pages Legacys feed and I have changed the link of my for sale page to my Preloved page now. 

Feeding for time of year & Behavior

This time of year can be tricky when it comes to feeding, as your horses will either be coming out of winter well or needing to be fed up. In recent years and this one for sure there isn't grass always readily available to put these horses onto to gain the needed weight, so that's where people start or continue feeding conditioning feed. That can be fine depending on the horses temperament, how much they are worked, if they are on any grass and how much condition they need.

The fresh spring grass that is coming through is full of sugar, there is less sugar in the grass at night but it's still there (tip if you have a laminitic prone horse that has to come in for some time, put them out at night). If you have a horse that can be easily fizzed up through sugar & starch you will be best putting them on a low starch feed. This can be a fibre based feed with mainly chaff, fibre cubes, or a complete fibre feed. Complete fibre feeds are good as they are typically aimed at laminitic horses meaning they will have low or hardly any sugar, but there are also condition fibre feeds out there such as Dengie Healthy tummy or Spillers conditioning fibre. These 2 I've heard have great results on ex racehorses & the Healthy tummy on ulcer prone horses. I've used both of these for Legacy but as a 'chaff' rather than a complete feed as with the size of her she would be going through the bags too fast.
Cubes are also lower in starch than mixes although they are created with the same high ingredients as the mixes. Cubes also cost less to make which means they cost less to buy off the shelf which is always a handy added bonus. When a feed has high starch the blood sugar levels are always changing which can cause the horse to become fizzy at times but when they are on a high fibre low starch feed the blood sugar levels are maintained, meaning you will have a happy horse.

Some horses can be really sensitive when it comes to feeding sugars & starch while others can have it all and still be laid back (these are rare to come across). 

Here are some ingredients in feeds which your horse may be/or react to:

- Molasses (Pure sugar)

- Barley

- Oats

- Beet (through either Sugar Beet or Speedi Beet) 

Allen & Pages Calm & Condition is good as it's molasses & Barley free but some horses can react to the barley replacer that they use. This is something to keep in mind if you ever use this product. If you are feeding a few of the above list and have a fizzy horse my best suggestion is to try and cut some of them out so you can pin point which one is causing any trouble for you.

Not all horses express their excess energy through being fizzy they can become bargy and boulchy to handle. This is where it's important to sort out their feed as they can learn this behavior if not corrected and if left before changing feed they may carry on like this after the feed has been changed. 

I had a scenario with Legacy the first winter I had her, she was in need of a little extra fat on her so she was on a good amount of conditioning mix and she was behaving as normal as she had since I'd had her and she'd been living out August- December. I then moved yards and be became stabled and had ad lib hay in the field & 2 haynets in the stable at night to get her filled up, along with her usual amount of feed but now in 2 meals instead of one ( can anyone see where this is going? haha) anyway the weight started to come on her and when I was riding her in the school she would like to blot off, and at this point she had not been re-mouthed and hated turned corners in any speed above walk. I just through she needed more schooling and it was the racer part of her that wanted to go in an open space in a straight line, I mean she would go from bolting off in a fast canter to dead stop in seconds she hated the corners so much. In the end it got to the day before new years eve last year and she took off, I tried to stop her and she was having none of it, she was up vertically in the air then down to buck and I think this repeated about 3 times before I flew off in the rear. This was my first fall off her and my first fall ever so atleast it was an eventful one. I had to go to A&E with a bad headache as I could still feel the rim of my hat on my head hours later, and I was completely fine and didn't even end up with a bruise. But I learnt the hard way about feeding too much starch  and feeding mixes to a sensitive horse. She's completely fine with sugars but I have to watch the starch. 

Have you had any experiences like this? Did you find this blog post handy? If you'd like more like this let me know.

Chart taken from the Allen & Page website. 

Horseware Ireland Turnout Guide App

It's now got to that time of year where the horses that are kept in for the winter have been turned out, and the worrying that your horse has the right rug on or if you should take the rug off has started, well it definitely has for me.
Last month I found the Horseware Ireland Turnout Guide App it's available for Android and Apple products.

This app is great because you can add in a picture of your horse, then add in their name, choose your location on the map, say the age of your horse, the breed of your horse, say how good they are with condition out of 3 options, if they are clipped or not and if it's a pony. 

After entering all of this your horse will be added, you can add more than one in. 

You then click on you horse and it tells you the weather for your area for the next 5 days and nights. The weather for it isn't 100% correct as its currently about 13C outside and full of sunshine but Legacy still has a lightweight on as there is a chilly wind where she is and she now has her full summer coat and after checking her over she wasn't warm enough for my liking without a coat. As I said this app might not be 100% correct but it gives you a good idea for what to put on your horse when you have no clue what the weather is going to do.

Some more great things about this app is that after you've uploaded a picture of your horse you can try different Rhino, Amigo & Rambo rugs on the picture to see how they fit. You can also tap on the rugs and see the different weights available in certain styles and the app will show you where you can buy them from.

Do you use this app? What do you think about it?

I thought this app was great and it needed to be shared.

 iTunes Link - Android Link - App Website