Murphy makes his acting debut.

25/04/2009 by admin.

We have just had an excellent evening supporting the Scottish Casualties Network by hosting one of their training scenarios.

 

Scottish Casualties Network is a non profit making organisation, which provides Casualty Simulation Services and training support throughout Scotland to all types of organisations including; mountain rescue, voluntary first aid organisations, International rescue corps, hospitals and local councils.

 

Tonight their scenario was an RDA lesson that had gone badly wrong leaving many casualties with special needs littered across the riding school and all in need of first aid and reassurance. There were people with back injuries, obscure conditions, sight problems, and one lady in a wheelchair. The actors ranging from age 11yrs up were superb, the make up was unbelievably real, and the care they received from the first aiders that attended was spot on. It was obvious how important the Scottish Casualties Network is and how lucky we are that there are people out there who are prepared to hang out in riding schools in the cold to ensure that, someday if this really happened, everyone would be in good hands!

 

Our Murphy made his debut as a horse that had bolted (Ha! Murphy bolt?! That’ll be the day. Sounds far too energetic for him!) and got right into the part trying to add extra drama by attempting to roll when he was taken into the school to stand near a casualty on the ground who had supposedly been thrown off. We quickly persuaded him that it was overacting and we didn’t want any real casualties! The first aiders who attended immediately cleared the area of any further dangers so Murphy was asked to leave making his role rather minor but no less important!

 

We would like to thank everyone from Scottish Casualties Network for coming along and being so pleasant and enthusiastic, but more importantly for doing a really important job.

 

If you would like more information on the Scottish Casualties Network you can go to www.scottishcasualtiesnetwork.org.uk

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Suggestions Needed for the New Dog Pen

20/04/2009 by admin.

We are just starting to design the new dog pen for the huskies summer exercising and we want to know what you guys would like to see in it? It will include a “den”, a pond, and a sunbathing platform, but do you have any thoughts or suggestions about landscaping or toys that we can put in it? If so then email us or send us a picture.

For more info on the dogs who will be inhabiting it you can go to www.highlandwildrides.co.uk and look some of them up under “Adoption Packages”.

 

We would also like to hear your suggestions about our new yard whilst we are still building it so if there is anything you think would make Wildrides wilder then just let us know!

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WILD NEWS

17/04/2009 by admin.

Pre School Kids Ride Free

This year we have started a new initiative to help promote natural horsemanship by offering free riding to all Pre School Children. We hope that this will boost interest in horse sport at a grass roots level. We are happy to accommodate younger siblings of Wildriders during Saddle Club whenever possible.

 

30 min extra riding

In a bid to move forward the field of natural horsemanship and display to the public the alternative ways of dealing with horses that have been forgotten over time, we have decided to go “Bitless” in all our riding ventures. Training for this started last year with some of the horses, and had fantastic results. Whenever possible we will be taking out guests and teaching Wildriders to use bitless bridles. There are many advantages to this – better balance, use of the body, and not least the comfort of the horse. Over the next couple of weeks all the Wildriders lessons will be focusing on teaching them to change over to this style of riding. In addition we will also be giving all guests that are new to us or this style of riding a 30min lesson prior to their first trek. This extra half hour of riding will not increase the cost of £20 for an hour or £17 for a member of the Wildriders Club.

 

 

Car Boot & Disabled Riding Group

Over the past few years we have catered for a huge range of abilities. It has been noted that there are a lot of people in our locality who have special requirements or disabilities that would currently have to travel a great distance to enjoy riding in an RDA centre, therefore making it difficult for them to do so.

We have decided to form a charitable riding group here for anyone who is challenged and we will be raising funds for it on Sunday 3^rd of May by holding a “Horsey” car boot sale. It will be a great opportunity to pick up bargains related to all pets. Pitches are £5 and we will be having pony rides, BBQ, Lucky Dip, Hug a Husky, Guess the name of the rabbit, and a bake sale as well as a raffle that has already had some amazing prises donated to it.

 

We would love to get the support of the Wildriders so if you would like a pitch, can help with a stall or bake a cake please let us know – we will be very grateful of all help given.

 

Workshop for Wildriders with Sue Wilson

Equine behaviourist Sue Wilson has kindly agreed to come and give a small talk to the Wildriders at Saturday Saddle Club. This will mainly be about the very important areas of saddle fitting and care of the horses back.

 

Annual Events

This year we will be putting on a lot of events for the public and some purely for the Wildriders. We will be holding workshops with many professionals including Sue Wilson, and Emma Cornell who does TTouch and will be providing coaching for dogs and horses including a special on fireworks. We will let you know once we have dates for these.

 

 

Here are more dates to put on the calendar;

 

April 23^rd – Parelli Play Day Fund Raiser

April 26^th – group of staff and riders invited to attend Parelli Play Day at Bankhead Farm Fife to help us get more ideas and information on this fab way to spend time with horses.

May 1^st – May Day Parade. Come along and decorate your riding hat before we ride out and parade to the village.

May 3^rd – Horsey Car Boot Sale Fund Raiser

June 1^st – Wildrides Anniversary BBQ and Ride out. Come along and get your pony ready before we head off on a long ride and come home to a BBQ.

June 12^th  - closed

June 21^st & 22^nd – Summer solstice

June 27^th & 28^th – Closed for Sarah, Stacie Troy and Sandy to attend a Parelli Level 2 course with Alison Jones at Easterton Farm, Perthshire

July 10^th – closed

July 8^th – Wildriders Club Camp. Come along and pitch a tent and stay with us for the night. We’ll be doing treks, workshops, quizzes, simulations, mounted games and treasure hunts. Parents welcome to stay over and join in too.

July 18^th – Highland Wildrides Open Day – Perfect opportunity to bring along friends to try out the activities that enjoy every week.

August 15^th – Wildriders Club Summer Show. Over the summer we will be pairing the Wildriders up with a horse that they will work with solely and then we will hold a show at the end of the holidays to show off everything that everyone has learnt. You will be able to prepare your horse for the show yourself and there will be prizes handed out for trying your best as well as coming 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd.

 

 

Weekly events

 

Tuesday Daytime – Own a Natural Pony Day. Come and own your own horse for the day and take care of it naturally. Includes riding and is fully supervised.

Tuesday Evening - Animal Healing Classes with Norma Roche

Wednesday Daytime - Treks

Wednesday Evening– Mounted Games Training and Vaulting.

Thursday – Parelli Play Days and Trail Riding Day

Friday Daytime – Treks and Mounted Treasure Hunts

Friday Evening – Parelli Play Evening

Saturday Daytime – Wildriders Saddle Club and Lessons, Sled Dog Trips.

Sunday Daytime – Treks and Sled Dog trips

 

 

 

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“Horsey” Car Boot Sale May 3rd 10.30am. Fundraiser for Disabled Riders

13/04/2009 by admin.

On Sunday 3^rd of May Highland Wildrides will be holding a “Horsey” Car Boot Sale to help raise funds for their new Challenged Riders Group. Over the past few years Highland Wildrides has held regular lessons for disabled and challenged riders of all abilities and ages so now they would like to form a group, in association with the RDA, for riders that would like to learn natural horsemanship. The committee hope to organise many fundraising events that will help to pay for the riding and workshops that Highland Wildrides will provide.

 

“The car boot sale is the perfect opportunity to get rid of all the horsey things you no longer need so go and get spring cleaning your tack room!” said Stacie MacDonald, proprietor of Highland Wildrides and organiser of this first fundraising event.

They are also selling equipment that is for use with small animals and dogs so that non-horsey locals can get rid of old hutches, beds, bowls, leads etc or get a great deal on essentials.

In addition to the boot sale there will be Pony Rides, BBQ, Hug a Husky, Petting Zoo, Lucky Dip, & Raffle.

 

Pitches are £5 each and there will be a lot of goods for sale including saddles, head collars, lunge cavessons and whips, nosebands and bits that have never been used so get there before 10.30am and grab a bargain!

 

Anyone wishing to donate a prise to the raffle for this very worthy cause should call Stacie on 01863 766 771 or email her on stacie@highlandwildrides

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OWN A NATURAL PONY DAY

09/04/2009 by admin.

OWN A NATURAL PONY DAY

 

 

Highland Wildrides has become even more natural than ever!

 

Our “Own a Pony” days have been changed to “Own a Natural Pony” days so that all you horse lovers out there can get a taste of what it is like to own a horse and keep it like a natural horseman does.

 

The basic idea is still the same and everyone has their very own pony for a day, but we will be giving you all an extra treat by making you care for them naturally. This means that you will be getting help on how to groom and do hoof care naturally, how to feed naturally, and how to ride naturally.

You will be taught how to play games on the ground with your horse and see how that improves your relationship.

You will be given the opportunity to try out riding “bitless” whilst playing mounted games and see how it makes you use your body more to work with your horse.

We will have informative quizzes and chats on natural horsemanship and some of its most famous pioneers.

 

“Own a Natural Pony” days are open to anyone of any age

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Our First Parelli Play Day

07/04/2009 by admin.

What a fantastic day was had by all at our first ever Parelli Play day. There was a super turn out but best of all the weather was just perfect all day long.

 

We started the day in the school and newcomers were teamed up with horses and they started their friendly game with some grooming. They were then able to watch those who had played the games before.

We had Pat Gardiner (L2) from Kiltarlity come over and join us as a spectator and to meet us all for the first time. Pat has been playing with her horse for 6yrs and had some really interesting things to say. Pat met Elaine who stays not far from her so hopefully they will be able to get together for a Parelli blether! Elaine was playing with Murphy who is of similar horsenality to her own beautiful horse Felix that attended our L1 course with Alison Jones a few weeks ago.

There were also lots of kids playing with our mini Shetlands Swish and Bump and they all did a little of the first few games – well done guys!

 

In the afternoon we moved out of the school and into the woods at the bottom of the croft. There were all sorts of natural obstacles to play with there including fallen trees, old ruins, banks, ponds, ditches, and timber that we have cut from wind blown timber. Troy did some amazing jumps for Stacie so she is going to include more obstacles in his daily play.

 

We are also hoping to get started shortly on some making permanent obstacles, that will be scattered all over the croft, for us to use on future play days. These will include sand boxes, a see saw, “waterfalls” of tarps strips and balloons suspended between trees, bridges and cross country jumps. In addition we will set up paddocks with flags, barrels, poly jumps, ground poles, upright bending poles for weaving through, tarpaulins on the ground, tyres, and pedestals.

 

If you would like to see more photos of our Play Day then please go to www.savvyscotland.co.uk and look in their photo gallery and if you would like more info on Highland Wildrides then please go to www.highlandwildrides.co.uk

 

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Free Riding For Pre School Kids!

05/04/2009 by admin.

Hi Everyone,

We just wanted to let you know about our special promotion throughout 2009. We are huge believers in natural horsemanship and we feel that it is the riding generations of the future that will have the greatest impact on this highly popular approach to horses. We want to encourage as many people as possible not to just “learn to ride” but to learn how to be with horses of which riding is just a part.
In order to get as many kids out there interested in horses as possible we are offering free riding to pre-school kids.

We also do great “Own a Pony Days” every Tuesday. For more information on these and other events such as Parelli Play Days and the new treks we will be adding onto our menu this year please go to www.highlandwildrides.co.uk

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BANNERS STORY - STIFLE INJURY RECOVERY WITHOUT SURGERY

05/04/2009 by admin.

At Highland Wildrides we often rescue and rehabilitate horses that have all sorts of problems.

We have had several of our equine friends, that have been ill and thought unlikely to pull through, make a full recovery - not just surviving their illnesses, but managing to become horses that work in the riding centre.

Last year in May our Miniature Appaloosa stallion, Banner, sustained a very serious injury to one of his hind legs. He completely ruptured all the ligament, tendon and muscle around his stifle to the point where his leg could be moved at 90 degrees to the side.  After several examinations and x-rays the vets from the local practice had informed us that surgery was the only thing likely to help him, but that the kind of surgery he required wasn’t available to horses in the UK– only dogs. Banner is just 32 inches and we felt that he was similar to a very large dog so we enquired what his chance of recovery without surgery was and we were told that there was no known case in Britain of horses having healed naturally with this kind of injury, and that if no improvement was made he would need to be destroyed.

Initially there seemed to be some improvement as the muscle repaired itself but the vets felt it was doubtful that the tendons and ligaments could ever really heal, and sure enough his progress slowed to almost a dead stop.

Heartbroken, we decided to give him more time before making the decision to destroy him. Banner was the first pony at Rhinamain and, like many owners faced with this dilemma, we felt that he needed to be given every chance possible to make a recovery, even if it was only a partial one. Banner is just a pet and isn’t worked so he only needed to recover enough to be happy in himself (which he already seemed to be as he was lapping up the attention that being permanently inside was getting him!).Surprisingly he was not in any pain (the painful part is the snapping of the ligament but once that has happened it doesn’t hurt any longer) meaning there was no danger of long term liver failure from medication. After discussions with the vets we agreed that if at any point it got worse, or if it had not made a recovery within a set amount of time that Banner would be put down, but for the time being he didn’t seem ready to give up yet himself and therefore neither would the Wildriders! It was decided to give him a full year to improve as tendon injuries take that long to heal completely whereas it was unlikely that even with time the ligaments ever could.

 

Nursing a sick horse is the most difficult part of any injury or illness. Keeping them from becoming depressed and giving up is the main problem we have faced with any of our seriously sick horses. Initially Banner had to be kept completely immobile so he was given a pen that was the size of him standing up with room for a bucket to be put in front of him. We searched the internet for stories like Banners with a positive outcome to see if there was any product, or management routine that had helped, but sadly there were just no stories out there of any horse having recovered from such an injury.

It was quickly decided to try alternative therapies and as Reiki has had a very positive effect on some of the humans here we called in Reiki Master, Norma Roche to give Banner Reiki and Crystal healing. His stall was gridded with quartz and he was treated on the site of his wound with selenite. He had a session each week and it had an amazing effect as we saw his healing rate begin to pick up quite rapidly from the beginning. It helped him a great deal with the frustration he was suffering from being kept indoors and unable to move. He seemed utterly aware of his condition and he stopped making a play for mares although his interest in them never dwindled!

We fed him mainly on a diet of haylage and Alfalfa chaff or pulp, but we had real problems with his bedding as his boredom would lead him to eat it – even shavings - and on one occasion he got colic after choosing to eat his straw bed rather than the grade “A” haylage we were giving him. He narrowly pulled through this as well – he was on his last possible dose of paraffin when he finally had a gut movement. He has also had a lot of his muscle atrophy as he has had his movement so severely restricted.

In the summer a Canadian vet came over and rode with us and when she went home she did some research to see if there were any cases like Banner. Our spirits were lifted when she got back to us saying that she had heard of one horse that had Banners injuries and, although an operation will be offered to horses with this in Canada and the US, it was elected by the owners not to go down the surgical route but to allow the horse to heal naturally which it did and was eventually fit enough to bear a rider in trot!

Hope renewed, we continued to do the best we could for Banner, and over time he began to get stronger and we were able to give him more room and short walks. When we did his feet he even managed to stand and bear his weight on his bad leg in order to have his good ones trimmed. We are very happy to say that now his year is up he has radically improved with the box rest we have given him and in the late spring he will be allowed out onto pasture. He has still got a limp, but his leg is really mobile and it is hoped with careful management he will be able to live out the rest of his life happily.

 

To this day we have never been able to ascertain what it was that caused Banners injury.

 

 

If you have a horse that has had this kind of injury or has needed lots of box rest then please go to www.highlandwildrides.co.uk for our full contact details and get in touch. We know how important it is to get help from other owners and how frustrating it was when we couldn’t find anyone out there. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Norma Roche and Kessock Equine Vets for their expertise and support over the last year, but most of all we would also like to say a BIG THANK YOU to all the Wildriders who have cared for Banner. You have all helped to make him comfortable and frustration free throughout his long term indoors and I know he really appreciated it.

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