HQ Pony Magazine Issue 8

EDITION 8 | JANUARY 2022

Happy New Year!

We hope you all had a wonderful festive season and are ready for another year of Pony related fun! There’s plenty of articles and puzzles to keep you occupied, and we hope you’ll enjoy going through them all.

If there’s anything, in particular, you’d like us to write about in a future issue, just let us know by emailing lizzie@hqmagazine.co.za, and we’ll get one of our experts investigating.

In this edition, we are again running our ‘Find the Icon’ competition with some New Year related icons to celebrate the start of 2022!

To take part, count the number of icons (shown below) that you can find in the magazine, and then either fill out the form which will pop up on our Instagram account on the 20th of January OR send an email with your answer and name to lizzie@hqmagazine.co.za. We’ll select our winner just after Christmas and announce it on Instagram.

The icons you need to search for are:

And we need to know the number of EACH icon, not the total number of all icons.

Finally, we want to say that we hope 2022 is the best year yet for you, your family and friends, and, of course, your ponies. We’ll see you back in February with more fun content on our favourite animals, but until then, happy riding and happy 2022!

Much love, Lizzie and the HQ Pony Team xxx

We’d love to hear from you and receive your photos, drawings or pony-related thoughts. To get in touch send an email to lizzie@hqmagazine.co.za and we’ll get back to you!

Coat colour crash course

Sometimes coat colours can get confusing, especially because ponies and horses come in so many different breeds, shapes and sizes. Even though standard coat colours and markings exist, ponies never stop surprising us with their unique appearances.

Chestnut

Chestnuts have an orange tinge to their coats, and their legs, manes and tails are chestnut in colour as well. Darker coloured chestnuts are called liver chestnuts. If a chestnut has a lighter or blonde mane and tail, we say the pony or horse has a flaxen mane.

BayBay ponies are brown with a black mane and tail and usually black legs as well. There are also bright bays with a lighter shade of brown and dark bays, which are a dark shade of brown but not quite black. You even get some ponies called ‘blood’ bays, which means their brown coat has a reddish tinge. Bay is the most common coat colour for horses and ponies!

Black

Black ponies and horses have a black coat, mane and tail. It can be easy to confuse black horses with very dark bays. Truly black ponies are quite rare! The trick is to look at the hairs around the pony’s flank and muzzle. If you see shades of brown, then the chances are that the pony is probably a very dark bay.

Grey

Grey is quite a tricky colour to pinpoint. Some grey ponies are completely white in colour. Dapple greys have a mixture of grey and white hairs, which often appear in circular patches on their bodies. Dapple greys also have darker manes and tails. To add to the confusion, grey horses start out as much darker coloured foals and ‘turn grey’ over time.

Palomino

Palomino ponies have a golden coat with a cream or white mane and tail. These ponies are born very light, and as they grow older, their golden coats may become darker, although some can stay relatively light throughout their lives.

Dun and buckskin

Dun ponies come in a variety of different shades. Some have dark coats, while others can be almost cream, but they always have a black mane and tail.

Dun ponies also have a dark stripe that runs from the wither to their tail – often called the ‘dorsal stripe’.

Buckskin ponies are almost the same as duns with markings, except they do not have a black dorsal stripe.

Pintos

Pinto ponies are ponies with large patches of white and any other colour. Usually, they are either white and brown (skewbald) or white and black (piebald), but there have been some exciting varieties. Some ponies are even white with cream patches or white with black and brown.

Roan

Roans can either be classified as strawberry or blue. Strawberry roans have a mixture of chestnut and white hairs, while blue roans have a mixture of black, brown and white hairs. The greatest variety is usually around the belly area. Necks and hindquarters are generally a bit darker.

Spots

Appaloosa ponies have spots. Sometimes the pony can be white with black or brown spots all over his body, and sometimes the spots only appear on the hindquarter area. Appaloosa colouring is complicated and will be looked at on its own in a later issue.

8. The Connemara Pony

Text

| Christie Wolhuter

Our tour of the native breeds takes us to the popular Connemara Pony of Ireland. The Connemara Pony is Ireland’s only native breed, and it is, in fact, supposed that the breed did not originate in Ireland after all.

History

The lands of Connemara, West Ireland, are mountainous, harsh and desolate and this tough terrain forced the native Connemara pony to adapt to survive. It is thought that Celtic warriors brought their native dun ponies, likely of Asian descent, over to Ireland around 2 500 years ago. Other theories point to the ancestors of the modernday Connemara being brought over by Viking invaders. Legend also has it that when the Spanish Armada sank off the Galway coast in the 16th Century, the horses swam to shore and bred with the native ponies running wild in the mountains, further adding to the gene pool.

Life on the moors was tough for the local people who had to live off the land. Due to the fact that most families could only afford one pony that they often caught and tamed off the mountains, only the best mares were kept in a household. The foals that they had every year were sold off to help pay the bills. This ensured that the breed remained high quality as, out of necessity, only the top stock were kept.

A family’s mare had a tough job. She would pull a plough, a cart and work all day under extremely harsh conditions. Fitted with baskets called creels, she carried incredibly heavy loads moving tonnes of rocks to clear the land. She carried seaweed from the shore, which was used to fertilize the barren fields. Sunday was not a day of rest for her as she also had to cart the family to Mass.

Sport

The Connemara Pony is a remarkable showjumper, with many ponies being recorded to jump over 7.2 foot (2.19 m) in puissance competitions.

As you can perhaps imagine with this talent, there is an incredibly long list of famous Connemara’s, with arguably the most famous pony in the world being the 14.2 hand part-bred Connemara, Stroller. Stroller started out his world-famous journey by winning the 1967 Hickstead Derby with his 20-year-old rider Marion Coakes. Theirs was the only clear of the day, with 44 horses entered. This Connemara pony bought to be her junior horse took Marion to international stardom. Stroller and Marion did not stop there. The following year they won Individual Silver in the Olympic Games in Mexico. Stroller is the only pony to have competed in the Olympics and also the only pony to have won the Hickstead Derby. This iconic pony lived until he was 36 years old.

Today

The modern-day Connemara stands between 13 and 15 hands high. The breed is so popular it has been established in over 17 countries, including South Africa. The largest display of the finest Connemara Ponies in the world takes place in Clifden, Connemara, in August of every year. Guests from all over the world attend this show and can delight in the Connemara performing in over 20 classes. This intelligent, well-tempered, and multi-talented pony most certainly deserves his popularity!

With the hot weather here this summer, preventing our beloved ponies from overheating becomes a genuine concern, especially when we want to ride! Here we learn about the ways you can help your pony to manage the extreme temperatures at this time of year and still have fun.

Getting cool

Cooling is critical for our ponies as if the body temperature stays too high for too long, heat exhaustion can result. This can cause brain damage, organ failure, and other serious, possibly deadly problems in extreme cases.

Ponies normally cool themselves down by sweating, with sweat evaporating from the skin to create a cooling effect. Ponies also increase their rate of breathing to cool themselves down. These mechanisms are effective but quite slow, so having additional things that we can do to help them to lose heat is important.

Signs

of high body temperature in a pony

• Sweating

• High breathing rate

• Ataxia (a wobbly gait)

• Feeling hot to the touch

• Being very excitable

• Being stressed

• Being depressed or lethargic

Helping to take out the heat after a ride

The quickest way to cool your pony down after a ride is to continually hose him with cold water. The more water you can get onto them, the better! You need to keep applying the cold water until you start seeing signs that your pony is returning to a normal temperature. The best way to tell if your pony’s temperature is back to normal is to see if his breathing has come down to a normal rate. Once your pony’s breathing rate has returned to normal, you can then let him dry naturally while hand grazing or hand walking before putting him back in his paddock or stable.

The other way to help your pony to cool down is to make sure he has water available to drink. Ponies will normally want to drink after they have finished exercising.

Top tips for cool ponies all summer!

Help your pony to keep comfortable in hot weather by doing the following:

• If you have brick stables with plenty of airflow, your pony may be better in the stable than out in the paddock when the weather is really hot. However, if you have wooden stables, these can get very warm, so ponies may be better to be out in the open, especially if you have shelters in the paddocks.

• Avoid riding at the hottest parts of the day.

• Provide clean water with no additives at all times. There is an increased risk of colic if water intake is reduced. If your pony doesn’t drink enough, chat to your vet or equine nutritionist about whether you need to add some salt to his food to encourage more drinking.

• If your pony is uncomfortable in the heat, hose them off and allow them to dry naturally. Don’t scrape the water off! You can do this three or four times a day.

Did you know?

Scraping water off your pony will not help to cool him down. Leave the water on your pony on hot days to help him get cool quickly and stay cool for longer.

Cooling myths busted

Cooling ponies with cold water does NOT:

• Cause muscle damage

• Cause laminitis

• Induce shock

• Give ponies heart attacks

• Prevent ponies from cooling by causing the blood vessels in the skin to constrict

It is NOT more effective to:

• Start at the feet and work up

• Focus on hosing the large blood vessels

• Scrape water off while cooling

• Cover the pony with wet towels

WHAT IS MY PONY SAYING?

By Skye Littlefield

Vocalisations and what they mean

You’ve probably heard your pony making a wide variety of sounds, especially when they’re happy, excited, or talking to other ponies. Did you know that they use these sounds to communicate with both ponies and people? They can tell humans when they’re happy and tell fellow ponies and horses when they’re cross. Read on to find out which sounds ponies make and what they actually mean.

The neigh

This is the most common sound a pony makes, and you will recognise it as soon as you hear it. It is generally quite loud and has a slightly higher pitch than a nicker. The neigh tends to happen when your pony is happy to see a companion, which could be you or their best pony friend. It’s also used as a communication tool when your pony wants to find a friend or get the attention of another pony. Often you will hear ponies in horseboxes neigh, and their intention is to alert other ponies to where they are and get reassurance that they are safe.

The nicker

The nicker is a low-pitch vocalisation that your pony will make when they’re looking for attention. You’ll hear it a lot when a mare is talking to her foal, especially when the foal wanders a little too far away and she wants to call them back to safety. Stallions also use the nicker to get the attention of mares they fancy, and it is a very expressive vocalisation. If you and your pony have a deep bond, you may be lucky enough to be greeted with a nicker.

The snort

The snort is a short, sharp, deep nasal sound, and while it sounds aggressive, it is thought of as a happy form of communication. Watch the body language of your pony when you hear them snorting, and you’ll notice calm eyes and happy, swishing tails.

If you happen to have a stallion, you may hear them using the snort to alert you or other ponies to dangers, as they are the protectors of the herd.

The squeal

Squealing is a very high-pitched vocalisation and is most commonly used between ponies when they are having a disagreement. You will also notice that when ponies are meeting for the first time, they will almost always squeal. This is a way for them to establish who each of them is within the herd and may be a show of strength to establish hierarchy.

Now that you’ve read about why your pony makes the noises they do, pay attention to them in different situations to see how they react. If you’re lucky, your pony will greet you with an excited nicker to show that they really love you.

Your Pony’s Senses

Part 2

In the November issue of the HQ Pony Mag, we talked about the senses of hearing and vision and how they help us to understand our ponies better. In this issue, we will discuss the remaining three senses, smell, taste and touch.

Smell

Horses have an excellent sense of smell. Scientists believe that their sense of smell is better than ours but not as keen as a dog’s. Most equestrians will have witnessed the funny moment when a horse curls their upper lip in response to a particular scent. This is known as a flehmen response and enables horses to get a more concentrated sense of the smell of something.

Text | Shelley Wolhuter, Libratum Equus

Did you know?

Studies have found that horses can tell the difference between their own droppings and other horses’ droppings but cannot tell which dropping belongs to which horse. Furthermore, using flehmen to concentrate scent, stallions can detect when a dropping comes from a mare.

Taste

Taste is the least researched sense in horses, meaning not a lot is known about taste in the horse. What is known is that they have four of the five taste elements that we have: sweet, sour, salty and bitter. Horses have individual taste preferences, and some breeds, such as Arabians, have been found to have the most individual taste preferences. This explains why some horses won’t eat certain supplements or treats while others will.

Did you know?

When comparing foods for smell, flavour and nutritional content, horses will usually choose the food with the best nutrient content. This supports the old saying that goes, “Horses know what is good for them, and they are excellent self-medicators”. This means that horses choose plants that assist them with micronutrients that they may be lacking.

Touch

Touch is an extremely important sense for us to understand when it comes to our horses. In fact, their skin is the largest sensory organ in their bodies. Horses are highly-sensitive creatures that can detect something as light as a fly on their coat. Similarly to humans, horses have areas that are more sensitive than others. The most sensitive areas include the muzzle, neck, withers, shoulders, coronets, lower flank and behind the pasterns. It is important to be mindful of these sensitive areas when considering using equipment such as bits and spurs.

Did you know?

The whiskers on the muzzle are called vibrissae and act like little fingers that touch and feel things. This helps the horse to avoid bumping things with his lips, select the right forage, and explore unfamiliar objects.

A horse’s skin is very sensitive.

Final thoughts

Horses are intricate and complex creatures that experience our world very differently to us. Keeping in mind that their senses are often sharper than ours in some areas and critical for their survival, helps us to be more patient and understanding towards them, especially when they are having a hard time.

Shelley Wolhuter – Libratum Equus | Balanced Horse

@libratum_equus

www.libratumequus.com

THE 3 F’S OF EQUINE WELFARE

Text | Shelley Wolhuter, Libratum Equus

As horse and pony lovers, we do our very best to keep our beloved equines happy and healthy. The ‘healthy’ part is pretty easy to judge based on what we see in front of us. Health is usually visible through clear signs that we are taught to recognise; for example, looking at body condition, coat texture, soundness, appetite and general alertness can give us a very good idea about how our pony is doing health-wise. However, working out whether our pony is ‘happy’ or not can be a very difficult thing to do.

Happiness seems to be subjective, meaning it looks different to different people. Unfortunately, our ponies cannot whisper in our ear when they are unhappy and can’t tell us exactly what they want. This can lead to owners making decisions about happiness based on what they think would make them happy if they were a pony. This is dangerous as our ponies have very different needs from us. We, instead, need to do our best to provide our ponies with their species-appropriate needs, keeping in mind that their needs are vastly different from ours.

NOTE: A pony does not care about a warm stable and would rather be moving!

A great starting point to understanding and assessing your pony’s happiness levels is to apply the Three F’s of Equine Welfare: Freedom, Friends and Forage.

Freedom

Horses love to move!

Ponies are designed to move and move a lot! In the wild, horses and ponies are reported to move up to 40 kilometres a day. In contrast to our domestic setup, wild horses and ponies do not spend all day grazing in lush meadows. Instead, they are constantly on the move, browsing briefly as they pass various types of forage. In fact, they are almost migratory in nature. The more they move, the stronger their bones, feet and joints get. Therefore, we must begin by mentioning the first ‘F’ – Freedom to move and act naturally. Ensuring your pony has plenty of space to move and as much turnout time as possible (if not unlimited) is a great first step in having a happy horse!

Friends

Horses and ponies are highly social animals that live in herds naturally. This is no secret. They rely on their friends for safety, alerting each other to possible dangers. They form close bonds with certain members of their herd and often spend the most time with these horses and ponies. Pair-bonds are the easiest bonds to spot as they just involve two horses or ponies, and generally, these individuals will be quite dedicated to each other.

In terms of behaviours with friends, horses and ponies spend a fair amount of time mutually grooming each other, which has two important benefits:

1. mutual grooming releases a hormone that causes the horses to bond.

2. mutual grooming can be a soothing activity when horses are recovering from a stressful incident.

Then another behaviour horses and ponies undertake with friends is play. Horses and ponies can be quite playful with their friends even in old age. They sometimes gallop, buck and nip each other, and these activities cause them to bond.

Forage

Horses and ponies are obligatory herbivores, meaning they are designed to eat plants and only plants. They spend the majority of their time consuming roughage in the form of grass, hay, shrubs and herbs. Their stomachs are relatively small, and their digestive system is designed to process a high-fibre diet. Because of this, horses are not suited to digest large periodic ‘meals’, like humans. Of course, horses are capable of digesting small, frequent meals like their concentrate. However, their makeup tells us that they are at their best when they have constant access to forage, which should make up the bulk of their diet, and no big meals.

Take home

There are many things that we can do to keep our horses and ponies happy and healthy. In fact, the multitude of options can sometimes become overwhelming! For this reason, it is important to keep things simple and remember that horses’ and ponies’ needs are not the same as ours. Keeping this in mind, we can begin with the Three F’s: Freedom, Friends and Forage.

Shelley Wolhuter – Libratum Equus | Balanced Horse

@libratum_equus

www.libratumequus.com

Equilibrium Pony Massage Pad

Reward. Relax! The Equilibrium Pony Massage Pad can help make your pony softer, happier, and more relaxed allowing his or her true potential to shine. Use it to warm-up your pony before riding, to cool down, or simply as a great treat!

You can choose how to work your pony’s muscles with three different programs. Each program runs through a cycle of three different types of massage – pulsing, vibration and stroking –to ensure all muscles are worked in different ways.

Choosing your setting:

• LOW for cool down after exercise, for a sensitive pony or to introduce the pad to your pony for the first time

• MEDIUM to warm up the muscles prior to exercise or for general maintenance

• HIGH if your pony prefers a more intense massage

The massage cycle runs for 30 minutes before turning itself off automatically. However, you can manually turn the Massage Pad off sooner if needed.

This effective and easy-to-use massage treatment is suitable for use by anyone.

Give your pony the best with the Equilibrium Pony Massage Pad. Available online and in-store at Western Shoppe Learn more at www.westernshoppe.com

Q: What are the signs that a mare is about to give birth?

A: Not all mares will show all of the signs listed here. However, even seeing one or two of these suggests the foal is on his way!

Udder: The first change most owners will notice when a mare is about to give birth is that the udder will get bigger as it fills with milk, ready to feed her foal.

Usually, in the beginning, there will be some decrease in the size of the udder during the day when the mare moves around in the paddock, and then at night, the udder will increase in size again as the mare stands. However, when the foal is just about to arrive, the changing of the size will stop, as the udder is now so full of milk that exercise won’t make it smaller.

The teats of the udder will also show changes. They initially become shorter and wider, but as the birth gets closer, they get longer and may even start to drop milk. If the mare starts to drop milk before the foal has arrived, you should call your vet, as this first milk (colostrum) is vital for the foal!

Many mares will also ‘wax up’ close to foaling, which is the term given to the clotting of the colostrum at the end of the teat. If this happens, it is a sign that birth is very close.

Birth canal: Approximately three weeks before the foal arrives, hollowness may appear on either side of the tail root as the muscles and ligaments in the pelvic area relax around the birth canal.

Abdomen: As the foal grows in the uterus, the belly gets bigger. However, in the final stages of pregnancy, the mare’s belly can seem to shrink as the foal moves out of the lower abdomen and up into the birth canal, ready for delivery.

Behaviour: As the birth gets really close, the mare will become more restless and agitated, especially as she enters the first stage of labour. At this point, her temperature increases, and she may begin to sweat. She may also start to look colicky and walk in circles, swishing her tail, looking at her side and kicking at her belly. At this point, you should call the vet to let them know that the foal appears to be on the way!

W e a r e d e d i c a t e d t o s o c k s

Y o u w o n ' t w a n t t o w e a r a n y t h i n g e l s e .

O u r r i d e r s a g r e e .

w w w . c a l i c o e q u e s t r i a n . c o m

Q: Does my pony need water in the paddock?

A: Yes! All horses and ponies need water in the paddock, even if they are only out for a couple of hours and even in winter. Horses and ponies must have 24/7 access to water.

Q: My pony is on box rest and hates it. How can I make it easier for him?

A: Box rest can be really difficult for your pony, especially if he is the only one left behind when all of his friends go outside.

If your pony gets stressed when his friends leave, the key thing for him will be having some company around him. It might be worth asking people at your yard if there are any other horses or ponies who might be able to stay in with him – even if there are a few who take it in turns so that their time in the paddock is not too limited. If this is not possible, you could try and stable him where he can see a busy area of the yard, a paddock or an arena where people are riding for most of the day so that he still feels part of the action. You could also try and schedule your visits to him for the times when the other horses are out so that he has company from you during these times.

Of course, it goes without saying that you need to make sure that your pony has 24/7 access to hay, as this will also help to keep him occupied during his box rest and reduce the risk of ulcers developing due to stress. If your pony does not have food or friends, he will be even more stressed and risks getting sick!

Stable toys can also help as a distraction, particularly those that release treats every so often.

If your pony is not coping with box rest, chat to your vet and see if they can advise on a calming supplement to help reduce the anxiety levels. Ponies are herd animals, so separating them from their friends is stressful, and sometimes a calming supplement can really help them to cope. You don’t need to give it forever – just until your pony has completed their box rest schedule.

Q: Is there a difference for my pony between a black mesh fly mask and a white mesh fly mask?

A:You can test this by looking through the two types of coloured mesh yourself! If you try this, you’ll see that it is much easier to see through black mesh than white mesh. While horses can still see through lighter coloured mesh, black is much easier on the eyes as it is easier to see through and it does not create a glare in bright light.

Q: How can I stop my lower leg from swinging when I ride?

A: You are not going to like this answer!! The best way to improve your leg position and keep it still is to make sure that you do lots of work without stirrups. The more work you can do without the support of stirrups, the greater control you will have over your leg position. It is also advised that you check your stirrups are the right length for you. Again, one of the best ways to do this is to practice riding with no stirrups in your flatwork and then make sure your stirrups are the right length when you take them back. Ideally, you want the bottom of the stirrup iron to be at your ankle when your leg is hanging loosely. You can also check this with your instructor.

Q: I have a pony who is well behaved most of the time, but sometimes he spins and then runs away with me. I don’t know why he does this. Do you have any tips to fix it?

A:The first thing you need to check with any behavioural issue is that your pony is not in pain. Before worrying about fixing the behaviour itself, you need to speak to your vet, saddle fitter, dentist and physio to check that there isn’t something else going on that is triggering this behaviour in your pony. Ponies are not naughty by nature and only act up for a reason. As they can’t speak, it is often a bit of a challenge to find out exactly what causes them to behave in a certain way.

Once pain or discomfort has been ruled out, you need to search for other things that might be causing the problem, such as the build-up of too much energy because of rich food or lack of free movement. Does your pony have plenty of time to get rid of excess energy in the paddock? If not, you can increase turnout time and lunge your pony a bit before you get on. In this way, your pony has the opportunity to burn off some of his energy before he has to start work. If your pony has lots of turnout and the opportunity to move, then have a look at his diet; is it very high in sugars and energy? If so, your pony might be cruising around on a ‘sugar high’ when you ride him, making it difficult for him to concentrate on his work. Chat to your equine nutritionist or vet about the best food for your pony, and then make the changes gradually to allow him to adapt.

If you have ruled out all of these more obvious things, and the behaviour continues, you need to look at your pony’s anxiety levels and your riding. A good instructor can help you understand what is going on and train your pony. It might be that you need to build his confidence so that he doesn’t feel afraid and run away. Alternatively, it might be something in your riding that triggers him to spin, and an instructor will be able to help you with this. Don’t try and ‘muddle through’ on your own with a problem of this nature as over time you will lose your confidence and stop wanting to ride. These issues can be tricky to fix, as they can become habits for your pony, so don’t be hard on yourself and get a professional involved to help you with the retraining process!

Across pony has belly pain while the rider is on the ground. horse or pony's foot. pony called. saddle. horse or pony's mouth.

CAN YOU SOLVE THE CROSSWORD? CAN YOU SOLVE THE CROSSWORD?

ACROSS

2. When your pony has has a tummy ache.

3. Exercising a pony on a circle, while the rider is on the ground.

5. Another name for a pony’s foot.

7. What is a girl pony called?

9. What goes under the saddle?

10. What goes into your pony’s mouth when you ride?

11. Strap that goes around the pony’s belly to hold the saddle in place.

DOWN

1. What do you call a baby pony?

4. What do we call an inexperienced pony?

5. Should always be worn while mounted.

Down

6. The person that works on your pony’s feet.

1. A baby horse or pony.

8. The hair on a pony’s head and neck.

4. An inexperienced horse or pony.

5. Should always be worn while mounted.

6. Person that works on your horse or pony's feet.

8. The hair on a pony's head.

CAN YOU SOLVE THE MAZE? CAN YOU SOLVE THE MAZE? 30 x 30 'circle' shaped maze

CAN YOU SOLVE THE WORD SEARCH? CAN YOU SOLVE THE WORD SEARCH?

NEXT ISSUE OF HQ PONY MAGAZINE AVAILABLE ON 1 FEBRUARY. SEE YOU THEN!