Developed in Australia in 1939, Polocrosse is a combination of polo, lacrosse and netball. It’s comprised of six players and their horse per team with 3 players from each team playing at one time.

Unlike Polo, Polocrosse only requires one horse per team member and this can be any type of horse. Gear needed includes a saddle, bridle, bell boots, bandages, helmet and a Polocrosse Racquet. Australia was the winner of the Polocrosse World Cup in 2003 and 2007, this sport now being played around the world by both male and female players of varying ages.

The Polocrosse Association of Australia site can be found at http://www.polocrosse.org.au/.  There are also sites for states within Australia:
– New South Wales: http://www.nswpolocrosse.com.au/
– Victoria: http://www.polocrossevic.org.au/
– Western Australia: http://www.pawa.asn.au/
– Northern Territory: http://www.ntpolocrosse.com.au/
– Queensland: http://www.polocrosse.com.au/
– South Australia: http://www.polocrossesa.org.au/

Perhaps you already have a vested interest in this fast moving sport and are interested in promoting your passion. This could be done in the form of photography and advertising for these events; providing the necessary equipment for playing the sport; training and selling horses suited to this discipline or if you have the land, even setting up grounds for practice games and competitions to be held.

A Polocrosse field including the safety line measures 170.5 metres wide by 61 metres long, making the playing field equivalent to 2.6 acres in size. A spare ten to fifteen acres would be sufficient to set up a few of these playing fields for teams to compete.

“Never ride faster than your guardian angel can fly!”

tag: polocrosse, horseriding, australia

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Enjoy horse stories and learning?  Take a look at some of my novel in progress that is to be finished this year and published.

Often as part of my teaching horse riding on the weekends, I’d find that I was to spend a couple of hours focused on half a dozen or so kids (sometimes up to ten) that had come along for a pony party.

Dependent on the age of the children, the size and number of your mounts and riding capabilities, you can generally cater for two types of parties:
– One where the time is split up between led pony rides – two ponies can be tacked up and the kids rotate around, getting a couple of goes on each – and where one to two games are played in between pony rides
– Another where the attendees are actually each mounted on a horse (this sort would require limiting numbers for safety) and get to play games on horseback where perhaps prizes are awarded

If you had a small amount of land in an area that was highly populated, I think this could be something horse related that would be a lovely little income earner on the side.

It’s easy to incorporate normal party games with a horsey theme between led pony rides; for example pin the tail on the donkey/horse, pass the parcel with horsey gifts, a colouring comp related to horses, word finds/cross words for the really horse mad, musical ‘horses’ and much, much more.  The imagination’s the limit.

It’s also relatively easy – especially for those who rode as kids or have kids that ride – to work out a list of different games on horseback that can be used for a birthday party.  Bending races, slowest/fastest pony, What’s the Time Mr. Wolf?, Around the World races and I’m sure plenty of others.

What would you need?
– Insurance
– Half a dozen ponies if you plan on providing parties where each child has a mount otherwise 2-4 would suffice.  Personally I’d be picking something cob like rather than the little grumps that are Shetlands
– A store of a dozen up to date safety rated riding helmets
– An arena or closed off area that is safe to ride in
– Large collection of prizes/party game props
– Whatever is needed for riding games – cones, poles
– A couple of extra hands to help with leading the ponies

Pony Parties are something that can be very popular, especially in suburban areas where horse contact isn’t common and perhaps it’d be a cheaper alternative for those who have only a small amount of land but want to work with horses and generate an income.

“Here is one little girl who would rather wear chaps than a party dress…”

Tag: pony party, horse generated income, small horse business

In 2001 when I was completing my Certificate II in Horse Studies, we were given a riding assignment.  Getting to ride each Wednesday when I partook of the course along with twenty or so other sixteen/seventeen year olds was a lot of fun and it was nice to think that although the course focused on horse care, we had an assignment linked in with riding.

And the assignment?  A Freestyle Dressage test; that is, a dressage test to music.  We were given the paces that were allowed in the test, the amount of times we had to change direction and particulars like including a change across the long diagonal and a three loop serpentine, etc.

Otherwise, it was up to ourselves to write the test we would perform.  It was also up to each student to put together music that was fitting to the beat of the horse’s walk, trot and canter.

As one who didn’t ride my own horse at the course, it was rather interesting practicing on my 15hh gelding and getting an idea for rhythm and timing and then carrying the actual test out on a 16hh gelding.  Surprisingly the music worked quite well, with us trotting and cantering in time to the beats I’d chosen to make up my music.

Perhaps if I’d known about Fortissimo Freestyles, I’d have had the best piece of music to suit my horse and our test.  A classically trained musician as well as being a dressage rider, Melissa Widdis has experience in both fields, making her the ideal person to provide the service of music perfect for any discipline that is to be done to music.

What a great idea for a career relating to horses!  If you’re interest is in the movement of equines and how this can be accentuated with music, perhaps this line of work would be of interest and worth looking into.  After all, someone has to organise the music and choreography to the likes of events at Equitana and other equine related shows as well as the freestyle dressage tests of this world!

“You say we dont know how to jump or turn on a dime… have you ever made a horse dance? You say you jump toward the sky… we say we dance toward Heaven.” – Dressage Rider

Tag: freestyle dressage, equine music, dressage test, fortissimo freestyles

I’m stumbling across more and more horse blogs (would you believe I am subscribed to 155 of them on my Googlereader?) and among these am finding a lot of endurance related blogs that point to Easy Boots for the care of their horses feet.  Of course this list wouldn’t be complete without the Team Easyboot Blog.

I got to see these boots in action while in South Africa as the owner of the property I stayed at used them on her endurance horses with great results.

At work in Euroa we’ve used such boots to help keep on poultices in mares out in the paddock that were suffering from an abscess at the time.  Previously in Wangaratta while out on road rides with my gelding I’ve also seen others out riding with Old Mac boots rather than having a shod horse.

If you have an interest in alternative foot care, then perhaps work in such a company or helping to promote such a product may be the way to go.

If you’re an advocate of the EasyCareInc products, then perhaps you want to look in becoming part of Team EasyBoot.  They’re currently accepting applications to join the team, so take a look if you love the product, are interested in trialing new products and advocating what you use and why.

The majority of members are in the US/Canada, then Australia, Europe and South America.  Perhaps you could be the first in your area?

“No foot, no horse.”

tag: old mac, endurance, natural hoof care, easyboot