Recently my nerve pain in my hip, lower back and glute got worse so so decided to get off my butt and investigate it further with my doctor. Turns out I’ve been dealing with L4 and L5 disk protrusions and SI joint arthritis thanks to a riding injury over 2years ago. Whilst the initial injury got better I had to start seeing a physio for what I thought was random sciatic nerve pain from muscle tightness. So now two months off riding, standing up at work (office), and time off from heavy leg-based lifting at the gym, I’m finally pain free 99% of the time and don’t need pain killers. I’ve ridden ..read more

Soothing & Calm Range I’ve been a fan of this brand for a while, well before trying their products, as they are local and very active in the online equestrian community. My horses have always been up and down with skin issues including Queensland itch/rain scald and allergic reactions to bug bites. The first products I received from Equidae were the Soothing & Calm Shampoo and Conditioner pack. Soothing & Calm Conditioner currently on sale $21 ONLY $17.85 with CODE ShaeRudd15 Using them in a weekly wash down, both Bjorn and Styler enjoyed a pamper soaking in the solutions for 5 min ..read more

Happy New Year! Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way and you’ve probably made a list of NY’s resolutions that you want to achieve for the year, have you also thought about what you’d like to achieve in your dressage and riding with your equine partner? I’ve had a look (read) around the web of some of the best goal setting processes for horse riding and here is my compilation of my top 5 tips! 1. Make them achievable and realistic (SMART – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely) 2. Set out a plan of attack and list the smaller steps that contribute towards your goal ..read more

An article in theland.com.au about the Hendra vaccine brought up some interesting points regarding the issue of vaccinating against the deadly disease or choosing not to. There is a current class action against Zoetis Australia, the producer of HeV vaccine, in that they misled the public to believe that all areas of Australia were high risk for horses to contract Hendra where flying foxes were present (Ellicott, J., 2019). The claimant also alleges that the risk was low in the vicinity of identified incidents as well as outside of those particular areas. Conflicting information has been pr ..read more

Explaining to non-riders what I do can be quite a task and sometimes I just say I horse ride instead. It can be a lengthy explanation that goes through explaining that we don’t jump over poles or fences, or race around to be the fastest competitor. To me it is training, training and a whole lot more training of horses to move in certain ways that create more relaxation, more push and more power to improve our overall picture when riding. The amount of time you actually spend in the competitive arena is minuscule compared to all the hours, early mornings and late nights training (or just fe ..read more

It’s amazing to think that just over 6 years ago was when I first fell in love with horses and the processes behind riding such a majestic beast. I moved from Pony Club competitions to training in dressage. The intricacies of my minute movement (aids) and how each communicate a different thing you’d like the horse to do is what makes dressage so interesting to me. Whether he or she does the ‘correct’ response is another question… Seeing my horse Bjorn transform from a difficult ride to a unified force has only amplified my motivation to bring out her full potential. From walking to leg y ..read more

If you’ve spoken to non-horsey people about riding, or Dressage in particular, the you’ve probably heard that ‘horse riding is not a sport or exercise, you just sit there’. I used to be one of these people that believed this and that horse riding was not a form of exercise. Boy was I wrong! A 45min lesson (even 20mins) has me and my horse sweating and puffing from working our bodies correctly in new ways mentally and physically. Keeping fit out of the saddle is extremely important for longevity of rider and horse. You cannot expect a horse to carry a dead weight around the arena! Improving fit ..read more

I’ve been looking at ways to make my horse more comfortable and less likely to open her mouth during riding. My sister tagged me in a post from Bit Bank Australia regarding the Neue Schule bit range and how they differ from regular double link snaffle bits. After chatting with Bit Bank Au about my mare I decided to go with the Turtle Top for its restricted movement forward and backwards in the mouth. We’ve had contact issues which are slowly getting better, but I thought it was worth a try as we’ve had the same bit for about 10months now. I also went with the eggbutt shape to stop the bit slid ..read more

You see so many people competing, training and actively pursuing their dreams, but what motivates them to strive for their goal’s day in day out for years? What motivates me to get out of bed before the sun and jump on my horse before a nine-hour day at work followed by an hour of weights at the gym? I can’t say I’m always motivated…It’s hard! And I’m sure my horse does not care one bit if I ride her or not.  Motivation is defined as… ‘a reason or reasons for acting or behaving in a particular way,’ (lexico.com). My motivation comes from my goals and what I would like to achieve with Bjorn ..read more

Last week I volunteered at the Brisbane CDI and loved it! I only had to pack rider bags and collect sheets for a few hours but that let me get an insight into the event and what I should expect if I ever compete at it. The judges were friendly as well as all the stewards. I got to watch the Novice tests and some of the Freestyle on the Saturday too. The day went extremely quick and before I knew it, my volunteering was done! On the Sunday I watched the Masterclass run by USA rider Laura Graves. She went through the levels from 3-4yr olds up to Grand Prix. It was great to see each horse and rid ..read more