Talking About Horses with Di Denton

The horse sport of working equitation is a relatively new one to Australia but at its highest levels, Australian working equitation horse and rider teams are up there with the worlds best. Kim Petersen from the Hunter Valley is one of Australia's finest and a recommended working equitation educator. It was fascinating to hear how her interest in it had developed, her road to success with her horses generally and how she is spreading her love and excitement for this sport far and wide.

Tuffrock - Transforming Volcanic Residue For Your Horses Benefit - Episode 15 Talking About Horses with Di Denton Steve Hurley, the co-founder of TuffRock, is an interesting bloke. I met Steve at the New South Wales Hunter Horse Festival (he's a Hunter Valley local) and we sat down and talked about his path into the horse industry, the establishment of Tuffrock and Tuffrocks' range of products for horses, dogs, cattle and chickens. Tuffrock combines an intimate knowledge of Australian volcanic soils and the minerals they contain, with their' own specialised method of extracting those very minerals and ensuring their bioavailabilty to animals. TuffRock was established in July 2002 following several years of extensive Research and Development, product development and test marketing. With a view to manufacturing environmentally friendly animal health products, Tuffrock takes pride in being a nutraceutical manufacturer and ensuring that there are no drugs, chemicals, biotics, enzymes or heavy metals used in their products. I've used Tuffrock products on and with my own horses and found them to be excellent.

Queensland Itch, Summer Itch, Sweet Itch or Summer Eczema - call it what you will, but if you've got an itchy horse then you definitely know what it is and how it affects your  horse - up close and personally! There are many ways and many products that Australian horse owners use to treat their itchy horses (you've probably already got a feed shed full of various lotions and potions designed to help ), with last resort options even coming down to having to send or sell 'insect tortured' horses to a home over the 'ranges' away from the coast for lasting relief. So, where does a bloke, with a background in molecular biology, a passion for virgin coconut products and a well developed liking - and business - for Hibiscus flowers in syrup (floating in champagne of course!) come into the itchy scratchy horse picture? Well,  Lee Etherington is just that bloke and I met him at Equifest Sydney when I stopped by his trade stand to find out about his new magic 'itch fixing oil' Calafea.  Now, Lee has no real background in horses specifically, but he certainly knows about coconut oil products, the Australia native oils Lemon Myrtle and Neem and after in depth research, the allergic reactions that insect bites can cause in sensitive horses (particularly Icelandic horses and Clydesdales).   So, after becoming aware of the ongoing, widespread Summer Eczema problem with horses in Germany (to where he was a regular traveller) he decided to see what he could do about it. Fast forward 3 years and Lee's 100% natural itch oil Calafea is now successfully into its 3rd year helping itchy horses in Germany and beyond with a proven 89% effectiveness reported.  'Get Rid Of The Rug' is Lee's aim for itchy horses and their owners and having now introduced Calafea Itch Oil into the Australia market, it will be interesting to see how it goes here - from all accounts, well.  I'll be interested to try it on one of my horses myself - oh, and did I mention Lee says its effective (and safe) on dogs and humans and their itchy bites too? If you'd like to know more about Calafea oil head to their website at www.calafea.com or their Facebook page at Calafea-HORSE- Australia.

Having grown up 'on' the Silver Brumby children's books series by noted Australian author Elyne Mitchell, my dogged eared copies of the books are testament to my passion for these Australian wild horses from a very early age.  So it was with pleasure that I sat down to interview Kathryn Massey, the President and Founder of the Hunter Valley Brumby Association to find out more about these iconic Australian wild horses and the Associations aims and activities. Kathryn Massey and the Hunter Valley Brumby Association have championed Australian Brumby horses since 2009 and provide for them refuge, rehabilitation, education and training from their sanctuary property located near Stroud NSW.    The Associations main focus (working with Government, National Parks and State Forest departments and other horse charity organisations) is to protect the 3 main wild populations of Brumbies in the NSW Hunter Valley region (in the geographic regions of  Barrington, Nerong and Singleton).   The Association also works to promote the Australian Brumby as an official breed in itself and to raise the breeds profile and popularity amongst the general public, regularly showcasing the Brumby breed at horse shows, agricultural events and farm days across the region.  Brumby herds and populations across Australia are certainly a high profile and emotive topic currently, with the case for and against the culling of wild herds receiving much highly charged debate.  Some parties even questioning the horses 'right to exist', whilst others want the horses classified as part of our official Australian heritage.  What do you think?  More brumby information can be found on The Hunter Valley Brumby Association website at www.hvba.com.au.

It was the array of bright, shiny and rainbow coloured stirrups that caught my eye as I spent a happy time perusing the saddlery trade stands at Equifest, Hawkesbury recently.  Bright? Colourful? And stirrups no less - I had to know more.  Augusta Clarke of The Italian Saddlery (find them on Facebook) was able to enlighten me on the Italian designed and manufactured range of Makebe Wave Stirrups she was now importing.Makebe Wave ergonomically designed, solid aluminium stirrups are seriously interesting.  They not only look good  but they appear to resolve a number of issues that riders commonly experience.  Their design has moved the stirrup arch forward and both widened and angled the footplate down, enabling the rider to naturally and easily put their heel down, eliminating the need to press or force the heel down into position (and so forward).  The wide foot bed design shares the riders weight more widely across the whole foot minimising discomfort that can often occur when using standard English width stirrups.  Makebe Wave stirrups come in both Showjumping and Dressage styles and a wide range of gorgeous colours.  I think I'll go for the purple!