So once in a while, when I have energy left in the late evening, I spend time with my herd. (PS: this is also where 95 % of our income goes). We play and work on whatever my horses decide they need. When working in an established herd, I need to respect their rules and interconnections. I fit in where they place me on the day. Never giving up my personal boundaries, but flowing freely with them. This is peacefully possible as there is trust, communication, understanding and respect. I have no idea why I have 8 horses, some of them literally came to us (one was actually dropped in our garden). However, each one of them is fulfilling a crucial part in the community we have together. They talk to our clients horses and actually sort out most problems before I even start working them... They are a special bunch and show me how mentally balanced horses can be.
Brilliant Biscotti
We had an awesome session this morning with 'Biscotti' who is here for training. His owner came to visit and ride him! 'Biscotti' was labeled unrideable by vets, trainers and other professionals. He used to hold his head right up and completely twist his neck and hold the head skew, then panic and bolt out of the blue. This problem had been going on for 6! years. He has been with us for 2 and a half months now. We could not be more proud of him today, showing off how calm, relaxed, balanced, collected and connected he now is. His owner even rode him bitless today and was happy to feel that any downward transition is simply achieved through breathing out and being connected. Who needs reins anyway?
The rains have arrived!
We were so blessed with some awesome rain today! This is our herds very own rain dance... Just note how sure footed they are on incredibly slippy wet clay soil.. Ibalansi is balance for mind and Body! This physical balance does not develop overnight or all by itself, hence the clients horses are in smaller and more level camps. When we ride horses, there is another huge balance factor added on top- the rider adds weight onto the forehand of the horse. Riders which tend to lean forward or dont follow the movements of the horse fluently bring the horse out of balance. This can even make the horse look unsound, stiff and lame. Therefore we must first work on the riders balance, seat and on the horses straightness and lightness in the forehand.
Day one of 2020...
While other humans sleep out their hangover from New Years, Adam and I have been working horses since early morning ;) Here are some impressions of the progress of our clients TB gelding 'Biscotti'. He was doomed 'unrideable' by many vets over the last years. He has calmed down so beautifully and trusts the whole idea of riding now. The head shaking and head tilting is as good as gone and we are working on him stepping under properly and bringing his back up. Due to his mild kissing spine, it is vital for him to learn how to carry himself in a healthy way.
2020 Ibalansi news!
NEWS for 2020:
-We will have 1 slot opening on the 1. February for a clients horse to come and train here at Ibalansi in Riversdale. We always only have 5 clients horses here at a time to ensure we can spend proper quality time with them daily. We back youngsters, school according to classical dressage and rehabilitate so called 'Problem Horses' (head shakers, bucking, rearing, aggressive, spooky, etc.)
Please WhatsApp for more information on our training package 0730700083.
- We are looking for a hard working volunteer for January and February. Duties include picking poo, helping with the feeding routine of all animals, grooming and assisting in training. In return you will get food and accommodation as well as deep insight into our way of working with horses.
Aufweidersehen Jessana!
Jesana's last outride with Thanda before she heads back home to Germany. Plus another awesome outride with my Shaka and Rosslyn with her Winter Solstice. Winter we are so proud of you!🐴
We rescued a volunteer!
We treated our rescued volunteer to a ride on our beautiful farm. Lara literally picked her up from the side of the road trying to find her way to Riversdale but we welcomed her to our home. So not only do horses come to us for help but sometimes people too.😋😁
Welkommen Jesana🇩🇪
Welcome young Quandeli!
Here are some impressions of the progress of our clients Warmblood mare Quandeli. Our in hand riding work is highly important, as we can establish trust into the ridden aids before sitting on the horse. We can ask the horse to balance itself before we add our weight on top. We always start this with a bitless bridle first, in this case on a cavesson, so we do not 'ruin' the sensitivity of the mouth in these first balancing stages. Yesterday and today we checked if our preparation work for mounting her for the very first time was good enough- and yes: our spontaneously rescued volunteer from the side of the road, could mount her and we walked around a little. She could not have been any more relaxed than this. Absolutely chilled and trusting into the progress.
Biscotti on his way to becoming Brilliant
Our clients 'head shaker' Biscotti is doing fabulous. We discovered that there is not only tension mentally and physically in the neck/poll, but also too much weight on his left front shoulder. Moving slightly off balance, he used to put his head tilted to the right when moving, developing the weirdest muscles to compensate this funny posture. He is incredibly clever and here is some impressions of his first session. We started with relaxation: just going easily in and out of 'grazing mode', with a low head, chewing, doing nothing. This was very hard for him. His lips and mouth muscles were twitching like crazy, not finding the 'let it go' mode. Afterwards, we started our way of liberty work, helping him move the best he can. He found a great physical sweet spot, and stayed there in all gaits. Then we did some 'in hand riding'. Once the bit was in his mouth, there was twitching and stress again. I spent some minutes on relaxation with the bit and he discovered that chewing and licking on the nice sweet iron bit was actually amazing. We then set into motion. Whenever I felt him doing the slightest head tilt to the right, I just moved some weight from the left shoulder over and immediately his head comes down and straight again. We worked on understanding to yield to the slightest impulses, backing up and some easy shoulder ins. More updates to follow, but so far very pleased.
Jade Ore-retiring from racing to becoming a human healer
Development of our clients Race Horse mare who had broken her sesamoid bones into a million pieces at her last race. All vets urged the owner to put her to sleep- but here she is, a year later, perfectly sound and happy. She is still on the very thin side- due to taking pain meds for 6 months she had developed ulcers, but is getting better and better every day. She used to panic when getting to the track. She did not quite know how to use her body correctly, as it is a rather difficult conformation to deal with: a short, low set ewe neck, long legs and narrow chest with a bit of a hunters bump. When she arrived here 4 months ago, she was rather crooked as she had adapted to keeping weight off her broken leg. She had tension in poll and neck, and did not bring her back muscles into work at all. Now she found her physical and mental sweet spot, knows how to engage correct muscles, tracks up with her hind legs and tries her best to be in a frame. Have a look at her canter pictures now- she learned how to shift her weight onto her hindquarters and bend the haunches, allowing her to move collected and balanced instead of a rushed race, loosing her footing.
Welcome Biscotti!
Welcome Biscotti 🙂 He is a stunning Thoroughbred, here at Ibalansi for rehabilitation of a very specific problem. He is a hectic headshaker- vets; chiros; physios; dentists; body workers and communicatorhave tried everything over the last few years. At the moment he's pretty much un rideable. We had a headshaker here last year, which has been perfect ever since- we found his problem in pinched nerves over wither. He had to learn to move correctly without beibg forced into position. Every headshaker is completely different, but we are starting to get an idea with beautiful Biscotti. He holds his jaw very clamped shut, and holds an incredible amount of tension in his poll. Yes, a physio etc can help but only short term. In order to help we need to treat the source. He needs to menta6and emotionally shift and relax. He neeeds to learn where his physical sweet spot is and how to deal with light pressure. We will keep you updated 🙂
Update on Takoda
Our clients Saalperd is now living his passion of helping special needs children together with his owner, who is blind herself. Thank you Vanessa Malvicini, youhad a vision of him with children around him a few months ago when he first arrived at Ibalansi. Grateful to have a communicator so close, whom I can trust that she tells the truth.
Winter Solstice
Our clients beautiful Warmblood x Quarter horse mare is such a clever girl. We work with clients horses that come here for training every day, we feed them, groom them, take their temperatures and pick up their poop ourselves. Therefore we build strong connections with these horses. We know them, and they know us. We get to have long conversations with them and are able to get to the bottom of problems. This would not be possible if we would just engage with them for an hour a day and then hand over the horse to a groom. Some nights we even sleep in the stables and watch their night habits. If people ask me what training method is best, I always say- just watch the horses and you will learn everything you need to know. You will also realise that there is no method to train horses. There is either trust and communication or there is not.
We have five clients horses in at all times, and get booked out months in advance. If you are interested to send your horse for backing, schooling, or rehabilitation work, then leave your email address and we will forward all information.
Welcome Zubha!
Zubha is a stunning Warmblood x Boerperd youngster. He is here to get re-backed, as he did not cope so well the first time around and stored up frozen anxiety which would explode under the rider. We were establishing a connection and trust in the last few days. Now we started talking him through his stressors- already the pure sight of the numnah had him upset, but he worked through it nicely.
Spring is here!
Although a devastating bush fire ripped through the farm last year, it does have its benefits! The wilderness is a kaleidoscope of colors as the wild flowers this spring are everywhere showing off their incredible colors and beauty!
Welcome Jade Ore!
Welcome Jade! Another stunning Thoroughbred mare to come to Ibalansi for restarting and schooling after her career as a race horse. She is very special: She ended her racing career by shattering her sesamoid bones. The vets said euthanasia was the only option. But thank goodness the owner listens to her horses. She asked a bone healer for help and a year later this mare is cantering around completely pain free. The healer also confirmed the reason of why this accident has happened. Jade did not want to race, she wants to help children and people with special needs. After her time here, she will go and help at a very special healing place in Cape Town. Jades first day here yesterday was interesting already- she immediately connected to Donna, our beautiful, authentic calm leader of the herd. They had a lot to talk about together, so they spent the night in the stables next to each other (Yes we have two stables that are 6x6 meters!! big). This morning Jade was ready to join another clients horse, Mammoth, in the big field and is happy :)
Takoda
Our clients beautiful little Saalperd gelding is going home next week. He has done amazing progress in the three months with us. He used to run away when someone wanted to fetch him, bite, kick, rear and buck under rider. He held so much tension from previous traumas. He gained trust, self confidence and self carriage, balance, straightness and relaxation. Instead of running with his head high and a hollow back, he now is feather light and bringing his back up for us voluntarily. All of this being said- if he meets a complete stranger that has not done any ground work with him first, he will not give permission to mount. We respect this and it is in fact a great way to know how good your relationship is.
Hard work brings true joy for both humans and horses
We were very happy to see such amazing changes in our two biggest clients in Cape Town. 'Obelix' is 18.3 hh and 'Eros' 17.2 hh. They both look absolutely perfect because of Peta Hunter and her individualised feeding regime. Both of these horses had very different mind -sets only three months ago. They were very spooky, distracted, and bucking. There was misunderstanding between owners and horses, as well as a lot of fear and frustration. No connection, no trust. Previous trainers had the plan of 'taming the beast' through dominance-based methodologies. They thought they could show these magnificent big horses 'who the boss is in this relationship'. Unfortunately they did not take into account that a rebelling horse of this size is a lot more dangerous than an average sized horse saying 'NO'. The horses became non-rideable, as well as injuring themselves or getting ill from all the mental toxins running through their bodies. Nobody can stay healthy when their relationships do not have a balanced give and take ratio. These horses wanted nothing to do with their owners three months ago. They wanted to get out of the working arena, staring into the distance and spooking at anything. There was zero relaxation on neither the horses nor owners side. Instead of 'taming the beast', my path was to develop a connection based on unconditional love, trust and mutual respect. We taught the owners to be able to speak horse, and opened the horses up to understand their owners. We developed mental balance through creating physical balance. Lateral movements, shifting weight off the forehand (where it sits for survival mode) onto the hindquarters, releasing neck and poll area as well as sinking our energies. During this Cape Town trip we saw owners that KNOW their horses, that trust them, respect them and love them unconditionally. We saw owners that had no fear, horses that were incredibly motivated, happy and balanced. The injuries are healing, the mind is no longer loaded with toxins and on survival mode. The horses are calm, collected and relaxed (even with a whole lot of huge things going on around them during the sessions). 'Eros' and his owner had their first shared canter since two years ago (without rushing off, spooking or bucking). We are very happy and proud that these owners put in so much deep work.
How happy is your horse?
If we expect pleasure from our horses, how much pleasure are we giving them?
In any relationship there is a need for a balanced give and take ratio. If one side only takes, takes, takes, then the other side starts feeling nothing but frustration. The relationship becomes toxic. Horses get ill, injured, lame or show their bottled up toxins otherwise. They become aggressive, scared or dangerous. They do not allow to get tacked up or mounted. They buck until you are off. Or they see ghosts around every corner and have an reasonable amount of fear and spookiness.
What are you giving back to your horse in order to have a balanced give and take relationship? Basic requirements, such as feed and water do not count, they should be a given fact. Do you even know what your horses desire? What is your horses wishes and dreams? What gives your horse moments of pleasure and happiness? No, the ear to tail fly sheet does not create pure bliss. Neither do the turnout boots or the small, safe, solitary 10 square meter paddock... Think again... What makes horses happy and fulfilled? In our eyes, Every living being has the right to friendship and love. Every living being has the right to as much freedom as we can accommodate. Every living being has the right to species appropriate feed and healthcare. Our horses have the right to a knowledgable and capable rider, who sits balanced and quietly in the saddle. Horses should only be ridden once they were prepared through gymnastics and balancing work from the ground. No horse should be ridden when it struggles to keep balance or experiences pain in any way.
We give our horses as much freedom as we safely can accommodate. In the case of our herd this is 100 hectares. Living out does not mean to be wild and uncared for tho! Our horses get stabled twice daily for an hour each in order to have their feed, supplements, grooming and temperature checks. Our clients horses have big grass camps, and can decide if they would like one or two mates or none at all. Horses which need to be stabled for whatever reason (which should only be medical reasons), have huge 5x5 meter stables available. Horses which have thin skin, such as Off track Tbs get blanketed accordingly. We rug according to their rectal temperatures. We keep them safe and happy, therefore they are willing to keep us safe and happy.
Vera Munderloh is coming to South Africa!
Attention all serious Dressage Riders!
This weekend course in February 2020 is not to be missed! Vera Munderloh is coming from Germany and is absolutely amazing in all aspects of classical dressage. She will teach you how to use different lateral movements in order to create straightness, in hand and ridden. She can help you get to the next step in your journey by showing you how a correct Piaffe and Passage are developed. Please share far and wide
