Narrawin Stud

19/04/2025

And here is another one from Becks Nairn, showing damage to the sacroiliac area.

19/04/2025

Excellent video explaining some of the damage that can be caused by riding and working immature horses, particularly in the sacroiliac region.

Dissections like this show the skeletal and soft tissue damage that causes pain and prevents normal functioning, and it shows how early hard work leads to this damage.

A great follow up on the skeletal maturity article by Dr. Deb Bennett that I just posted.

19/04/2025

I will not start riding horses under 4 years of age, not mine and not client horses, and prefer to do it when they are 5 or 6. Of course there is a lot of other things that can be worked on much earlier, which all lead into being ridden when ready.

It saddens me to see how many people still think it is OK, or even good, to ride horses as two year olds (or even earlier!). Some out of ignorance, others despite better knowledge. I'm also dismayed that so many competitions don't set minimum age limits, or worse, encourage and promote juvenile horses to be worked hard, be it in racing or various futurities.

So here is a link to Dr.Deb Bennett's full 2008 article titled "Timing and Rate of Skeletal Maturation in Horses", which should be essential reading for every rider, trainer, breeder and judge.

https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/4920721/timing-and-rate-of-skeletal-maturation-in-horses-equine-studies-

*Edit: if that link doesn't work, you may need to copy and paste it into a browser. FB works in mysterious ways.

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24/03/2025

I highly recommend Anke Hawke, who just held another clinic at Narrawin Stud last weekend. Anke is a fully accredited teacher who is comfortable and experienced with Gaited Horses. She can help horses and riders with various levels of experience and education, both with groundwork and riding.

In this and prior clinics at Narrawin Stud, she has worked with various breeds of Gaited horses including Icelandic, Paso Fino, Paso Creole, Gaited Morgan and Gaited Standardbred.

Anke is based in NSW. If you are interested in participating in a clinic in Victoria, we can add you to our mailing list for future clinics.

12/03/2025

An evening thunderstorm brought the first decent drop of rain in a while. It was nice to see puddles again. I took Romeo our for a ride and some splashing in puddles. The bush smells were amazing, from earthy to eucalyptus oil. And the setting sun looked lovely through the trees and lit up the distant storm clouds in the evening sky.

19/02/2025

A little ride out last night with Romeo. Elmo came along and I had a good chuckle about the fact that those two are equally well gaited.

I think that stallions benefit so much from some work and being treated like any other riding horse. He needs to cope with the fact that one day he comes into the barn to chat up a mare and maybe get to know her really well, and then next time, it's a ride or a foot trim or groundwork. And that other horses around are normal and often none of his business.

He was a good sport on the ride and we did long sections of a very comfortable toelt, but also some great canter stretches, sometimes adding a bit of speed as we competed with Elmo for lead position. A lot of the canter was on a loose or long rein, now that he has better balance and more experience. Canter isn't always easy for gaited horses. I also like an uphill canter, not some low, forehand heavy stuff.It just takes time for a horse to develop the muscles and the coordination, but it is worth the time to allow them to develop and figure it all out. He was started around 5 years of age but had chunks of time off. So his brain and body had plenty of time to mature and I took my time with his education. So now we are enjoying the benefits of that approach.

I'm also in favour of exploring and encouraging all gaits, the idea to only ride a gaited horse in the saddle gaits is (to my mind) anathema to good education and building up a well balanced happy riding horse. So arena work includes trot and canter and rides out are predominantly toelt and canter. And of course plenty of walking.

Anyway, some pictures of Romeo's ears, Elmo, and the next in line patiently waiting for Romeo to finish his after-ride snack.

14/02/2025

Announcing the latest addition to Narrawin: Eyrun from Litli Stadur. Nele has bred many lovely horses over the years, and one of them has finally followed me home :)

I picked her up last week. Keldan came for the ride so she didn't have to travel alone. It was a nice colour match in the float. She has settled in well and has made friends with Loretta, my yearling Morgan filly. When they first met there was way more posturing than young fillies should be able to, and a few squeals and some hind feet flying, but 12 hours later they were sharing a feed bin.

Eyrun is lovely, and I'm grateful to Nele for raising such a nice horse. If you are looking for a nice Icelandic, check out Litli Stadur!!

31/01/2025

A little ride on Pinta this afternoon. It was lovely in the forest and she was extraordinarily mellow. Maybe because she is in foal again :-)

She is confirmed in foal to Rev, due in October. I put in am order for a filly and we'll see how we go!

30/01/2025

I have 2 well gaited Standardbred horses in work at the moment. Altus (black gelding) is 10 and Furahi (chestnut mare) is 15. Both are doing pretty well. Here just some boring pre- ride and paddock pictures, will post some actually being ridden sometime soon. Just a heads up that both will be coming up for sale in the near future. I'll post more info soon, but by all means hit me up with questions in the meantime.

15/01/2025

The last foal for the season arrived in the wee hours of this morning. Esmeralda had a c**t by Darien. The young fellow is doing well, as is his mum. He is a pure-bred Paso Fino, and Darien's first offspring.

15/01/2025

Miska is growing up nicely. She has had a headstall on and had a first small introduction to leading. She is quite the self-assured young madam.

27/12/2024

Sparky and Marcelo taking it easy on a hot summer's day.

Sparky is Icelandic stallion Gneisti von Roetgen (Imp GER) and Marcelo NS is my young Paso Fino stallion.