Tesa Vilar Horsemanship

Trimming day for Valkira 💅🐴. We've been working on leg handling and alternating choice vs. no-choice scenarios and it paid off today ✨.

Today's trimming was a no-choice scenario. This means, the horse is still free to express herself, and I do listen and advocate for her 💛 (ex. taking breaks, allowing for rest), but I will not take her "no" all together and not have her trimmed. Regular hoof trimming is extremely important for a horse's overall wellbeing 🦶🐎, and while I have her trims scheduled every 6 weeks now (which is the longest I'll go), I do correct her hooves little by little in-between trims.
And while she is allowed and encouraged to express her thoughts, feelings and emotions 💭, our boundary is that she can only express those in a way that is safe for everyone involved 🤝. Hear that? The lack of force and violence in our training does not mean that people are not safe around my horses, but rather the contraty ✨. That takes biting and kicking or turning her hip into people off the table 🙅‍♀️, but she is absolutely free to make all the faces she wants 😒, pin her ears, tell me, when she needs a break ect. That doesn't mean we ignore those faces, we hear her, and support her though it 🤍, so that we can get done what needs to be done safely and considerately.

So here's how it went: she did really, really well in the beginning 👏 (for her left hooves), but then it became harder for her. The trim took a little longer, because her hooves were rock solid (hot and dry weather here lately ☀️), so that required more attention and patience from her. When it became harder for her, I added food rewards🌿, to help keep her focused and open to cooperating a little longer, even though it was hard for her.

We finished well ✅, and she was very happy with all of us once the work was done 🥰. It does help, to have an openminded barefoot trimmer who you can communicate with well, of course 😊.

Thanks to our helper Kaja for the photo and helping keep Mr. Ink nearby for emotional support ❤️.

My beautiful girl 💚 Can't believe it's almost been one year since I adopted her 🥰

I really do love her already, (I think you can tell in these pictures ☺️). Not in my usual horsey attire, just had to hop in to measure something on our way to the shops 😄.

How we survived the most severe wind in the area since 1984 🌬️💨
In the beginning I thought I could leave the horses outside (with the option to go inside if they wanted),but it quickly became clear that wouldn't be a safe option. The old roofing began flying, hitting our fencing, and breaking on the ground.

With the help of our barn hand we put away the hay feeder that went flying across the paddock, my boyfriend came from work to help clean out the second stall, because we've been using it to store hay and some equipment.

We then locked the horses in the stalls, took their rugs and halters off, so they couldn't get stuck anywhere. They were quite nervous, especially Valkira. The entire outer wall on Valkira's side was moving about 20cm up and down, because the wind gusts were so strong🌬️.
After a while they started eating - I made sure to provide them with enough hay in nets for over 24h. 🌾

They spent almost 48h locked in these stalls, which Ink was surprisingly okay with, while Valkira showed me that she was struggling 😕. She was pushing her hindquarters into the wall and biting the air, letting me know she did NOT want to be locked up anymore ☹️. I really thought it would be Ink, who'd be more upset, because he's lived in open barns and on track sistems for the last 15 years. Valkira used to live in a stall, with daily solitary turnout, but she made it clear, she doesn't want that lifestyle anymore.

The village where our barn is, was one of the most devastated in the country, with over 60% of residential buildings damaged by the wind. School was cancelled on Friday, because the weather was too dangerous for people to be out.

This morning, the wind finally died down, at least to the point where it's not dangerous anymore. I spent the morning fixing the electric fencing 👷‍♀️ (super glad our wooden fence actually survived!), checking the paddock for nails/metal with the metal detector and preparing everything so I could let the horses back out.

They were so happy and calm, no running around, just soaking in the sun 🌞😌.

I'm filled with gratitude that it's all over now, my horses are well and uninjured 🤎🖤.

(English in comments) Današnji teren pa ni šel ravno po planu 🫢 Disney in Kusha sta izvedla nekaj veselih akrobacij, ki sva jih z Nežo obe odsedeli 💪 in umirili situacijo. Nato pa se je Disney ustrašil nečesa v gozdu in izvedel še malo zahtevnejšo in daljšo akrobacijo, ki se je končala z mano na tleh in zaskrbljenim Disneyem, ki je obstal ob meni, med tem, ko sem na hrbtu čakala, da mi pljuča spet dovolijo normalno vdihniti.

Neža je Kushine capriole uspešno odsedela in nato razjahala, ter umaknila Disneya od mene, da sem lahko še malo v miru opazovala oblake na nebu, preštela zobe in se počasi usedla.

Na srečo je z mano vse ok, razen malo ugriznjene ustnice 🙏. Imela sem dobro čelado in želvo. Del terena sva potem nadaljevali peš, potem spet v sedlu in na koncu kot ponavadi spet peš, vsi smo varno prišli domov.

Razumela sem, da je bila ta akrobacija Disneyeva nagonska reakcija, ki je v tistem trenutku ni zmogel nadzorovati. Tega ni storil nalašč, ni me 'vrgel dol'. Po mojem padcu ni bil kaznovan, dobil je podporo, ki jo je potreboval, da smo lahko skupaj varno nadaljevali pot.

Za konec sem se kar sama zavila v ⚡Bemer⚡ elektromagnetno odejo, ki sem jo sicer prinesla za podporo konjem po terenu 😌.

Tudi takšne stvari se lahko zgodijo, sem pa vesela, da je Disney lahko po mojem padcu na mestu počakal ob meni, da sva lahko varno nadaljevala na tleh, kljub zahtevnemu in strmemu terenu, da sem lahko z Disneyevim sodelovanjem zopet zajahala, ko je bilo to varno narediti in sva kljub neprijetnemu dogodku ohranila dober odnos en do drugega 💗.

Ideje za obogatitev, tudi če je vaš konj v boksu 🐴

💭 Tole objavo sem imela v mislih že kar nekaj časa. Kaj mislite, da bi izbral vaš konj, če bi resnično imel možnost izbire? 🤔
Sama izhajam iz sveta športa 🏇, dresurnega jahanja in preskakovanja. Leta 2011 je moja mama slučajno naletela na literaturo 📚, ki je v naslednjih dneh moj pogled na konje in konjeništvo obrnila na glavo. In zdaj smo tukaj. Moja konja sta nastanjena v odprtem hlevu, ki bo kmalu postal mali track sistem, ves čas pa raziskujem dalje 🔍, iščem konjem najbolj prijazne in najbolj primerne pogoje za življenje 🌞, delo in sodelovanje s človekom 🤝.
In ker sem – vsaj kar se konjev tiče – malo piflarka, sem vam tule poiskala še kar nekaj aktualnih in zanimivih raziskav 🤓.

Najlepši letni čas za vse konjske ljudi 👩‍🌾😅 Ampak takle mamo. Malo bo še za potrpet, pa bo kmalu poletje? 🤞🤞In ja. Blato imamo. Ampak najbolj pomembno je to, da sta konja zadovoljna. Imamo tudi suha mesta na območjih, kjer se največ zadržujeta, suh in udoben prostor za ležanje in počitek, gibanje, svobodo izbire, konjsko družbo in dobro seno ves čas na voljo v mrežah, tako da lahko ves čas po malem jesta ✅ Trije Fji "friends, forage and freedom" ✅
Upam, da mi kmalu uspe postaviti še track in jima razširiti utrjen del okoli krmilnika 👩‍🌾💪.