Kylie visits Coastal Horse Care Unit

Posted by Kylie & Gem on Apr 28, 2010 • (1)

Kylie & friends took time out from riding over the long weekend to help out at the Coastal Horse Unit based in Cato Ridge, Durban. The unit rescues needy ponies and horses and re-homes them to suitable horse-loving families.

Tack Cleaning?

Whilst her brother Ryan made friends with Tod, the orphan foal, Kylie and Chantelle got stuck into cleaning water and feed buckets before getting on with some serious work (yeah right!) of checking and cleaning the tack.

On their next visit Kylie and Michelle were given the chance to work with young ponies in the process of being backed. Kylie began with some Parelli rope work to settle the ponies and got them used to the girls handling them before they put on a saddle and bridle. The girls worked very calmly and quietly which certainly kept the ponies calm.

Backing

After testing how the ponies reacted to having pressure on their backs, Michelle was finally able to carefully mount …this was the first time this pony has had anyone on her back.. she definately wasn’t phased by all the attention but was quite determined not to miss out on her grazing time..so the girls used this to their advantage, giving her some  encouragement with a titbit of carrot to get her to take Michelle for a gentle walk around the arena. 

The girls can’t wait to get up there again to see how the ponies are coming along and work with them on a regular basis. See you again soon Gill & Candice at CHCU.