Parelli demo with Scotlands first and only trainee Parelli Professional

07/06/2009 by admin.

On May 7^th we held a Parelli Demo in aid of our RDA Group. We had a great turn out of twice as many people as we had expected even though the weather was incredibly wintry. The demo was given by Claire Adamson who is Scotlands first ever trainee Parelli Professional and was fresh back from 16 weeks of training in the states with Linda and Pat Parelli.

Her horse, Jazz who was a jet black “spotless” appaloosa, was amazing especially considering it was the first demo she had ever done. What she could do at just 5 years old was an inspiration, and proof of how helpful the ground work games actually are at teaching your horse to move and to become engaged with its rider.

The obviously close relationship between Jazz and Claire was enviable as they moved around the school together. After showing us the ground work games Claire then showed us how to saddle and mount with “Savvy” before demonstrating the relevance of what she had done on the ground from on top. She gave in depth explanations of the relevance of bits and their applications pointing out that a bit is not a brake, but a sculpturing tool designed to ask for precision and shape. The best example of this was when she backed Jazz up several steps in a straight line from just a string around her neck and with only the slightest pressure, emphasizing that true horsemanship comes from time spent training not money spent on tack.

 

At the end of the demo we retreated from the wind and hail to the barn for hot chocolate and the opportunity to ask Claire questions. The majority of the spectators had not tried Parelli with their own horses, but were fascinated by its possibilities and keen to get started so it was decided to invite Claire back in June for “Intro to Parelli and the seven games” lessons. Claire will be with us from June 18^th to the 21^st  to give 26 lessons. All the lessons are fully booked, but we are holding a cancellation list. Those who are attending lessons are also invited to join us for dinner at Crannag on Friday 19^th and again for our midnight ride out to watch sunset on one of the longest days of the year on the 20^th. For full contact details go to www.highlandwildrides.co.uk

 

 

AND HERE’S WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING………….

 

Hi Stacie

The parelli evening was brilliant really enjoyed it

Thanks

Enjoyed the Demo on Thursday with Claire, sorry I missed the playday and lessons they must have been good too.

hope your Play Day went well on Fri.  Really enjoyed the demo on Thurs.  Take Care, hopefully see you soon. x

I really did enjoy the demo – let me know when you know the date in June and I’ll do my best to make it J

Ivan and I were very impressed and enthused with the Parelli demo and we would like to hire one of your horses and take an hour Parelli lesson

 

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Highland Wildrides sponsors the new “Log Pile” at Scotsburn Horse Trials 2009

27/05/2009 by admin.

We will be sponsoring Scotsburn Horse Trials this year including a couple of the jumps specifically. We will be eagerly watching the 225 competitors that have entered so far as they negotiate the ditch combination (we thought this was very apt as all our horses have to jump big ditches daily to come into work!), but most exciting of all will be watching them tackle the brand new log pile jumps at the top of the hill above the Scotsburn Log which we have sponsored in the name of our sister company MacDonalds Mobile Mills (for more info on having your timber sawn on your site go to www.highlandwildrides.co.uk for our contact details). These new log piles look particularly difficult and will pose a real challenge to riders as well as entertainment for spectators. They have very little clearance around them being wedged between some very mature and leafy Beech trees!

 

The weather is forecasted to be fantastic, dressage starts at 7.30am and we look forward to catching up with you all there for an action packed day!

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Congratulations Cuill Pollei and Tobermory!!

05/05/2009 by admin.

Our 100% Eriskay mare, Cuill Pollei, has finally given birth to her long awaited foal out of Eriskay stallion Tobermory. She had a colt at 2am on the very stormy morning of 5^th of May 2009 which also happened to be part owner, Jonathon Wojtunik’s, thirtieth birthday! We have called him Tolstaidh as a name for everyday on the yard, but his show name is Deich ar Fichead which is Gaelic for thirty.

 

He is a decent size of a foal and full of beans. He is black at the moment with a pale grey muzzle but will eventually fade to grey like his parents over the next 5-8yrs.

 

Eriskays are very rare with only around 300 or so ponies having Eriskay blood in them. Every year there are only around 15 Eriskay foals born so Tolstaidh is a very important foal. His father is 95% pure Eriskay making Tolstaidh 97%. His mother is very rare as not only is she 100% but there are only 40 mares left that are completely Eriskay and she is the last mare of her bloodline. We will be looking for another 100% stallion for her this year so please contact us if you know of any that you think may be suitable.

 

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Good Luck Logo Designers

05/05/2009 by admin.

We would just like to wish the very best of luck to the pupils from Charleston Academy who have entered our competition to come up with a new business logo for Highland Wildrides. The winner will have their design reproduced on our literature, website, signs and on T-Shirts that will be on sale to the public. On top of this they will receive a prize of £50 Highland Wildrides vouchers to be used on any of our products.

 

We will announce the winner at the end of this month and look out for our new logo on www.highlandwildrides.co.uk

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RDA Car Boot Sale

05/05/2009 by admin.

The Car Boot Sale was a huge success raising over £340 for our new Riding for the Disabled Group. Some of the sellers had excellent vans and stalls on their pitches and great deals on new and used products. We especially loved the bunnies and Giant Snails that were on exhibition and we look forward to receiving one of the Lion Head x Continental Giants from Morag’s Small Animals once he is old enough to leave his mother.

 

We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who turned out for pitches or as shoppers. Your support was very much appreciated. We are hoping to make this an annual event and after such a successful first attempt we hope to see it grow rapidly in popularity over the next couple of years with everyone knowing that the best horsey bargains are found at our horsey boot sale!

 

For more information on future events at Highland Wildrides or other ways in which you can support our RDA group please go to www.highlandwildrides.co.uk and click on “Events and Offers”.

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Kramers First Job

05/05/2009 by admin.

Our youngest member of the husky pack, Kramer, had his first paid job since appearing at Falls of Shin to deliver Santa to their Christmas fun day. He took out guests at Highland Wildrides for the first time, and we were delighted to see that he has got real “attitude” and a chance of becoming a lead dog!

 

He will now join the team on all of their Sled Dog Training Trips that are available at Highland Wildrides. We hope that he will soon lose his title as youngest as we are hoping to have more pups in mid June.

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Update on Raffle Prizes and Parelli Demo, May Holiday 2009

02/05/2009 by admin.

Cordless Makita Power Drill from HIS

 

Harry Hall kids hat and scarf set from Horse@HIS

Haylage from Mount Eagle Farm

 

Kids grooming and sticker set from Sarah Watt

 

Goody Bag from Wormers Direct

 

Goody Bag from Seaforth Saddlers including a numnah, silk, and gloves.

 

Pet Food Hamper from Morag Soska

 

Breyer stablemates set from Seaforth Saddlers

 

Equissage session from Sheree Dobson

 

Canine Reiki Massage from Norma Roche

 

Equine or human Reiki or Reflexology from Sue Wilson

 

Sled dog ride for two from Highland Wildrides

 

Own a Pony Day from Highland Wildrides

 

Selection of sauces from Caledonian Curry Company

 

There will also be something from Ross Shire Horse Talk who will also be bringing a selection of second hand and new goods in their van. Pet Pals will also be taking a pitch with their mobile pet shop.

 

The details of our next fund raiser, the Parelli Demo with Claire Adamson, have been confirmed. It will definitely be on Thursday the 7^th at 7pm. The following day we will be having a Play Day and Claire will be doing online lessons for up to two people at a time. At the moment I believe there may be no charge for these lessons, but donations to the RDA instead would be much appreciated.

 

Looking forward to seeing you all there!

For full directions to Highland Wildrides go to www.highlandwildrides.co.uk

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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.

 

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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