Southstar Farm Cottage and Equine

With no sheep expecting lambs, this little girl is a sweet surprise!
Welcome to the Southstar family
Dolly💖

How do you create and maintain regular time with your horses?
It can be a real challenge to make sure we make our time with our horses a priority. Our hectic lives, meeting our family and professional demands, injuries or doubting our abilities - that’s just to name a few barriers we face!
Throw in tricky weather and the winter blues and sometimes it feels too hard.
However…how good does it feel to be regularly getting time with our horses?
Whether your goals are to simply have time with your horse over and above meeting their basic needs, or riding 5 times a week; being in a consistent routine and feeling our relationship, knowledge and skills grow is incredibly life affirming.
This morning I was presented with a horsemanship weekly planner by my baby bestie Amy Crawshaw. Amy is 17 and would spend every waking minute with horses if she could. At 50, and being right in the thick of Winter, staying cosy by the fire is pretty darn appealing to me. However, this whirling dervish of a young woman frog marches me out to ride and play with our ponies most days. And I am so grateful because regular and consistent time with my ponies makes my life abundantly better.
So tell me my friend, how do you foster and maintain motivation?
Does your life improve when you prioritise time with your horse and in what way?
Whether you are stuck in a no horse time rut, beginning to get back into a rhythm, or have solidified a routine you are enjoying; tell me all about it!

I m excited! Here at Southstar we adore our horses, donkey, sheep, alpaca and Kune Kune pigs 🐴 🫏 🐑 🦙 🐷
Their comfort through the seasons with good shelter is a priority 🌳
While the London plane trees I planted 10 years ago are a wonderful shelter in summer, they are not giving much protection in winter once they drop their leaves. After some research, we have ordered Magnolia Evergreen Grandiflora which will be planted this winter ❄️
In time, all will reap the benefits 🩵

Florence and I are wondering what to do with our horses today…what are your plans?
Give me ideas team! 🙌🏻🩵

Well today I sat a rear for the first time.
Keep in mind I came to riding late in the game, as a 38 year old 12 years ago.

Unbelievably fast and scary.
Actually it felt unbelievable as it happened so fast it was over before I processed what had happened.
After processing, I know what preceded it, I know how it could have been avoided. I feel sorry I put him in that situation

I learned 3 important things.

1) My body instinctively leaned forward as it happened and I automatically went for a one rein stop once we were reunited with earth (Thank God 😥). So I have some instinctive skills I am grateful are there.
2) After thinking it through, I understand how it happened and how to try to avoid such a situation in the future.
3) Each and everyone of our horses, and us humans, behave in unexpected and non rational ways when put under too much pressure. What is too much pressure you ask? Totally depends on the individual; horse or human. That out of character behaviour does not define who you are on a general day to day basis. It does not mean my horse “is a rearer” , it does not mean a human is “off the deep end”. It means he/she reached threshold and was not themselves at that moment; though it does indicate a certain level at which they become overwhelmed and perhaps need to build more resilience and/or skills. It is simply to be human to “lose it” at times especially under pressure; just as it is to simply be horse and “lose it” at times.

So often we can label a horse as their behaviour. Oh he’s a bucker, oh she’s a rearer, look out. Kit is 6, he’s never reared before, may never again. But he might, it is after all part of natural horse behaviour in certain situations. It would be all too simple to get off him, decide he’s dangerous, and too much for me to handle. And 5 years ago with my knowledge then I would have done just that.

But today I saw it as a natural reaction to the pressure he was put under. I was proud that I stayed on and my body responded safely with a lean forward, and then a one rein stop. I reassured him, certainly no punitive thoughts, and let him move forward to help relieve the pent up energy. I am eternally grateful to my friend Amy Crawshaw (only 17!) that was with me who reassured me and expressed the sentiment “it’s just energy Sarah, it’s all expressed energy whether we label it good or bad. You gave him nowhere to go with a surge of frightened energy so he went up. What was he supposed to do?”

What an incredible day of learning! ❤️

Photo of Kit, his beautiful Mum Ellie and I the day he was born 🫶🏻

Fabulous fitting day with Precision Saddle Fit!
Customer service 5 🌟 according to Gypsy cobs Theo and Maverick 🐴

Pretty in pink at Southstar today 💓