New Years Resolutions.....Hah!

Happy New Year to you...it's got to be better than the last one hasn't it? Had a wonderful rest over the hols with No 1 daughter appearing for nearly 2 weeks.  A minor miracle in itself but great to see her although she was unconscious for at least 75% of the time. That girl could 'Sleep for Australia'....'spect some of you've had much the same experience.

All the rain has meant that the back yard is like a jungle and 'er indoors has handed me the list of garden jobs already. It reads like a list of instructions....1 do this, 2 do that, 3 do that again because it wasn't done properly..etc, etc. At that point I made yet another New Year resolution and, no, I'm not telling you what it is.

On Friday evening last at the 2009 USEA Annual Meeting and Convention, eventing legend Lucinda Green joined Freedom Health’s Lyndsey White to discuss theories and philosophies in feeding and horse care habits that keep modern sport horses happy, sound, and performing to their ability. Fascinating insight and a conclusion that 'modern ain't necessarilly best'. Watch both presentations here!

Have you resolved to take better care of your horse’s health in 2010? A free webcast series offered by the Michigan State University (MSU) Extension My Horse University and eXtension HorseQuest can help you stick to it. During the webcasts, which begin Jan. 19 at 7 p.m. EST, horse owners will learn about diagnosing, treating and preventing common horse health problems such as colic, respiratory disease and lameness, and equine emergency first aid.

Here's a new video about the games from the 2010 World Equestrian Games Foundation due in Kentucky later this year. This really is the 'Olympics' of horse riding and thsi trailer is really worth watching.

We've some great new products coming up. One is a new dvd from Tatjana Fruth, an expert German trainer on the use of early work with the double lunge (longeing) and the long reins. I've spent a lot of time reviewing this and it's an excellent programme, wonderful for both teachers and pup0lis and anyone who wants to know how to 'get it right'. This lady really knows how and the way she handles and treats her horses should be a model to all of us.... The other dvd is a 'doco' on the famous Marbach stud, one of Germany's oldest and most famous state studs but the programme covers the whole range of activities there. I was fascinated and captivated by this programme and the hour it runs went like a couple of minutes. Both dvds are professionally produced with stunning photography and soundtrack. More news soon and some clips too.

You'll remember that we posted some news on the dressage 'rollkur' scandal. Well it refuses to go away....tens of thousands of equestrian fans have signed a petition over allegedly 'cruel' training methods that threatens to disrupt the sport ahead of the 2012 Olympics. Some fans are warning they will boycott the Games's equestrian event - due to be held in South London - over what has been labelled 'the blue-tongue scandal'. The British Horse Society has called for an urgent inquiry into the practices being used on some of the world's most expensive competition horses. There's a vid half way down the page.

It seems that 'personalities' are falling off horses regularly. Last year I wrote about Madonna falling off her horse and here's news of Leona Lewis (X factor UK winner) falling off hers. Nice photo but riding lessons in order perhaps?

"We all make them. We all blow them. Most resolutions almost set you up to fail because they are so general that you won’t know if you have succeeded or not. For instance, if you resolve to “ride better this year,” I’m fairly certain your trainer would push you on that vague goal and want to know precisely what movements you were hoping to ride better and what your definition of better is." Well, yes...so hear are some exercises to help. Go on...have a look.

There's a whole lot of related exercises here too. Just the thing for the New Year. Courtesy of Equisearch.

If you're on hols...enjoy them.