Thunderbrook Gentle Gain is a conditioning pellet built around sainfoin, rice bran and linseed. It is intended for horses and ponies that need help gaining or maintaining body condition, including some older horses.The useful question is whether the horse needs additional energy and protein, a texture that is easier to eat, or both. A feed selected for condition should fit into the whole ration and match the reason the horse is struggling.Check why condition has changedIf a horse is losing weight unexpectedly, involve your vet before simply increasing the bucket feed. Changes in dental health, illness and management can all affect food intake or body condition. Watch a full meal and look at how much forage is left behind.An older horse that eats comfortably and maintains a healthy body condition may need little change to its diet. Age alone is not a reason to add a conditioning feed. Record weight trends and body condition so that any feeding change has a clear purpose.What does Gentle Gain contain?The current manufacturer composition lists sainfoin at 58.5% and rice bran at 32%, with linseed, a yeast product and mineral ingredients. Sainfoin provides a forage base and protein; rice bran and linseed contribute to the conditioning formulation.The product is made without alfalfa, molasses or soya. Those exclusions may help owners compare ingredient lists, but they do not make a feed automatically better for every horse. The amount fed and the rest of the diet still matter.Thunderbrook describes Gentle Gain as grain-free, although it contains rice bran, which comes from rice. For a horse with a specific ingredient restriction, read the full composition rather than relying on the headline wording.Understanding the nutritional figuresThe published analysis gives 15.1% protein, 8.7% fat and 21.2% fibre. Sugar is listed at 4.5% and starch at 10.7%. These figures are useful when comparing feeds for the same horse, especially where an existing ration already contains several sources of energy.Gentle Gain is not starch-free. No added molasses also does not mean no sugar. For a horse with insulin dysregulation, a history of laminitis or another metabolic concern, have the full ration assessed before choosing a conditioning feed. A manufacturer's suitability statement cannot replace that individual assessment.When might it fit the ration?A horse that needs additional condition: the forage intake is adequate, but the ration needs a suitable addition of energy and protein.A senior that struggles with hard feed: Gentle Gain can be softened into a mash where this texture is appropriate.A horse requiring an alfalfa-free option: sainfoin is the main forage ingredient, while the full composition still needs to suit the individual.A pony that is already overweight does not need extra conditioning calories simply because it is older or has a dull coat. Identify the need before choosing the product.Can Gentle Gain be fed dry?Thunderbrook allows dry feeding to horses with good teeth that chew adequately. Soaking is recommended for older horses with dental difficulties and those that bolt their feed or are prone to choke.To make a mash, use one part Gentle Gain to two parts warm water by volume and allow about ten minutes. Check that the portion is fully softened, and offer it at a safe temperature. Weigh the dry feed first so that the daily quantity remains consistent.How much should you feed?The manufacturer's example daily amounts include 0.5kg for a lean 300kg pony and 1kg for a lean 600kg horse. Its underweight examples are 0.75kg and 1.5kg respectively. These are dry-feed quantities and starting references, not a prescription for every horse of that size.Use the current bag guidance and adjust the plan with a nutritionist according to condition, forage intake and workload. Split the ration between meals and introduce changes gradually. A severely underweight horse needs a veterinary feeding plan.What if the horse is also struggling to eat hay?Adding a small conditioning meal will not make up for a substantial shortage of forage. If chewing hay has become difficult, the horse may also need a suitable soft forage source.Thunderbrook Hay Flakes and thoroughly soaked Hay Cobs are options to discuss when planning that fibre provision. Their job is different from the conditioning role of Gentle Gain, so calculate the amounts as part of one ration.Does Gentle Gain replace a balancer?Do not assume a conditioning feed supplies a complete vitamin and mineral package at the amount you use. Thunderbrook suggests pairing Gentle Gain with an appropriate balancer. Thunderbrook Daily Essentials is one option to assess, taking account of nutrients already supplied by other feeds.Make one planned change, monitor acceptance and condition, and review the result before adding more products. You can see the composition, preparation guidance and current availability on our Gentle Gain 20kg product page.Further readingBritish Horse Society: feeding horsesBritish Horse Society: care of elderly horses

A rider returned home from a hack with an unexpected passenger in her pocket after she rescued a mouse from a country lane.Becki Davies from Devon was clocking up some miles for the Hack1000Miles challenge one morning in May aboard Patrick, a 17-year-old Irish hunter, when she spotted something move in the hedge and roll onto the floor. I thought it looked like a little mouse or rat pup. Being a country girl, I left it and thought its mum would come and get it, and we carried on our ride, explained Becki.About an hour later we returned along the same lane. I could still see him on the ground and there were a couple of magpies circling.I dont really like to get involved because little animals like that dont really survive out of the wild, but off I jumped and picked him up. He was quite cold so I put him in my pocket and led Patrick home.Lloyd during his first few days with Becki.iPhone 16 f/2.2 1/50s 2.2200000286119mm ISO2000Touch and goBack at home, Becki, who studied animal care and basic vet nursing at college, put the mouse, who she estimated was half the size of a walnut, in a container with some hay and fed him kitten milk.I put a little bit of kitten milk on my hand and he started licking it, said Becki. Every two hours for a week I fed him. There were a couple of nights where I thought hes going to go, and then all of a sudden his little eyes and ears opened.The mouse has been named Lloyd and now lives in a four-foot tank in the familys office.Part of the familyI work hybrid now, so hell come out in the office and hang out with me during the day. He knows when its lunchtime because hes there waiting for something that Ive got on my plate. He likes to have a nibble, said Becki.Every week we go foraging and find new things for him in the wild. We empty his tank out and put the new enrichment in. I try to keep his diet as natural as possible. He likes a bit of chick crumb and hes had blackberries. He loves it if I put grass in a flowerpot. Ive hidden a couple of mealworms in there and hell forage through that.A mummys boyBecki says Lloyd is quite a character. He answers to his name and is cheeky and adventurous.Hes speedy and he sometimes gets the zoomies but he also loves to snuggle. Hell happily sit in your hand and watch you, said Becki.It would be really lovely for him to have a friend, but I couldnt introduce him to a domestic mouse because he was born in the wild so you dont know what he could be carrying. Hes also too tame to be released. Hes definitely a mummys boy.Images Becki Davies.Related contentBored of round the block? Four ways to find new hacking routesWhy wearing the colour red could play a part in safer hacking10 tips for training your horse to open gates out hacking8 benefits of flatwork for every horse, whether you compete or notThe post Rider returns from hack with surprise new family member appeared first on Your Horse.

Watching a great trainer explain something is useful.Watching the video, opening a workbook, figuring out where you are in the equation, and then taking an exercise to the barn? That is where things get very interesting.Many NF+ Masterclasses include detailed workbooks designed to be used alongside the video lessons. And we are not talking about three pages of write your thoughts here.Some of these are full training programs.There are readiness assessments, self-scoring exercises, ride plans, goal-setting worksheets, training journals, mental-performance exercises, troubleshooting guides and arena exercises you can print out and take straight to the barn.Basically, there may be a small stack of very good riding homework hiding inside your NF+ membership.Here are 10 we think are worth opening.1. Karl Cook: Strategic RidingUse this when: You have a goal, but you are not completely sure what needs to happen between here and there.Karl Cooks Strategic Riding workbook starts by asking you to examine the things you do with your horse because someone once told you that was how things were done. You identify traditions in your training, management, grooming or mental game where you may know the what without really understanding the why. Then you go find the answer and decide if that habit still belongs in your program.Then comes one of our favorite exercises: the prerequisite pyramid.You put your goal at the top and work backwards through everything you and your horse need to be able to do first. The workbook then asks you to identify the missing skills at the base of the pyramid, because that is where your training needs to start.Want to move up a level? Jump a bigger track? Improve your horses adjustability? Before you start attacking the end goal, Karl makes you figure out what it is sitting on top of.Slightly less glamorous than announcing your big goal.Potentially much more useful.2. Steffen Peters: Building Better Flying ChangesUse this when: You are working on flying changes, or you enjoy finding out that the thing you thought was a flying-change problem is really a canter problem.The workbook accompanying Steffen Peters Building Better Flying Changes Masterclass is essentially a diagnostic system for the flying change.Instead of giving you one exercise and sending you off to swap leads until everybody is annoyed, it starts with the quality of the canter. Steffens framework asks riders to look at self-carriage, balance, collection, straightness and lightness before worrying about the change itself.There is even a readiness audit covering walk-canter, canter-walk, forward-and-back work, response to the outside leg, travers, walk pirouettes, baby half-pass, straightening aids, self-carriage and the horses mental state. The point is to identify the piece that needs more work before repeatedly asking for the end result.That makes this workbook useful even before you have a horse doing flying changes.It teaches you how a top dressage rider works backwards from an advanced skill and asks, Does the foundation underneath this support what I am asking for?Very inconvenient when you wanted the answer to be buy a better flying-change button.3. Anne Kursinski: How to Bring Out the Best in Your HorseUse this when: You want to develop more feel instead of collecting more instructions.Anne Kursinskis workbook is one we would spend real time with because the course moves from understanding how horses think into partnership, connection, transitions, feel, jumping and putting all of those pieces together.This one is meant to be worked through over several weeks, with the workbook acting as a study guide while you take the exercises into your regular riding routine.One of the exercises asks riders to dedicate rides specifically to transitions and lateral work rather than treating flatwork as the bit you do before the fun stuff. The bigger goal is learning to notice the horses response to your aids and developing the elusive thing horse people call feel.That is hard to teach from a checklist.But you can train yourself to pay closer attention.Annes workbook gives you somewhere to start.4. Missy Clark: Recognizing and Riding the Distance to Every JumpUse this when: You would like to stop approaching every jump thinking, Please be there, please be there, please be there.Missy Clarks distance Masterclass is already extremely practical. The workbook makes it even more so.The program breaks seeing and riding distances into trainable skills: developing your eye, rider position, creating an adjustable canter, reactions and timing, line and track, and riding the short distance. Rather than treating a good eye like magical genetic material bestowed upon a lucky few, the course is designed around deliberate practice over several weeks.The workbook also gets you to assess where the problem is.Is it visually judging the distance? Your position? Adjustability? Timing? Track? The short distance?That distinction is pretty important.Because Im bad at distances gives you approximately zero useful information about what to practice tomorrow.Missys workbook turns one giant frustrating problem into skills you can work on one at a time.5. Ian and Amy Millar: The Millar Method Training SystemUse this when: Your rides could use a little more system and a little less lets see what happens today.The Millar Method resources are some of the newest additions to the NF+ toolbox, and they are designed to help you apply Ian and Amy Millars training system to your own horse.The system moves in stages, beginning with assessment and then working through flatwork, gridwork and coursework. The goal is a horse who can carry themselves, respond to the rider and maintain those qualities from schooling at home into competition.There is a companion exercise workbook too, which is where this gets especially fun.Exercises include cavaletti work that asks you to change the number of strides while preserving the horses rhythm and balance, grid exercises for rideability, and coursework used as a test of the training you have already done. The overall philosophy is wonderfully useful: each stage gives you information about what needs attention next.So instead of finishing a course and thinking, Well, that was kind of a mess, you learn to identify why.Lost balance through the turns? Back to the relevant flatwork.Horse got quick? Look at the canter.Straightness disappeared? There is information there.Your course becomes feedback rather than a personality test.Much healthier.6. Tik Maynard: Training the Anxious or Spooky HorseUse this when: Your horse has opinions about tarps, corners, shadows, cows, banners, flowers, leaves, invisible ghosts or life generally.Tik MaynardsTraining the Anxious or Spooky Horse workbook is particularly good because it forces you to get more specific about the behavior you are seeing.The workbook walks through identifying spookiness and anxiety, reading the horse, stress, relationship, groundwork, attention, pressure and release, managing spookiness and setting realistic goals. One exercise asks you to choose something that worries your horse, write down exactly what happens, then work through a problem-solving process: identify the issue, understand why it may be happening, examine the communication and decide how you can approach it.There is also an exercise around anthropomorphism, which challenges riders to replace stories about what a horse supposedly thinks with descriptions of the behavior they can actually observe.My horse is being dramatic becomes something useful like, My horse raises his head, speeds up and loses focus when we ride past that corner.Now you have something you can work with.Tiks broader approach combines groundwork, ridden training and equine behavior, which makes this workbook useful well beyond the particularly spooky horse.7. Mette Larsen: Dressage for All DisciplinesUse this when: You are not a dressage rider and have therefore decided dressage fundamentals could not possibly apply to you.We have some news.Mette Larsens Dressage for All Disciplines workbook is written for jumpers, hunters, eventers, equitation riders and dressage riders. The course uses dressage fundamentals to improve elasticity, balance, coordination, effectiveness of the aids and the horses ability to do whatever your particular sport asks of them.One of the early workbook exercises asks you to assess your horses strengths, identify the areas you would like to improve and then consider which of those areas could be influenced through dressage work. Another turns the focus onto communication, asking where the horse and rider are misunderstanding one another.That makes this a great workbook for the rider who says, I know our flatwork needs work, but has no idea where to begin.You do not have to develop a sudden passion for 20-meter circles.Although we cannot rule it out.8. Dr. Jenny Susser: Performing Under PressureUse this when: You ride beautifully at home and then your brain arrives at the horse show with its own agenda.Dr. Jenny Sussers Performing Under Pressure workbook treats mental performance like something you can train rather than something you either have or do not have.The course starts by helping riders understand their individual response to pressure. It then moves into tools for managing that response and performing more effectively when the stakes feel higher.The workbook is about creating true change. You identify internal and external sources of pressure, examine how they show up physically, choose coping tools, create process and outcome goals and practice mental rehearsal.There is also an exercise around recreating pieces of a high-pressure environment at home so the first time you encounter them is not when somebody rings a bell and starts judging you.Which feels obvious once someone says it.And yet.This is the kind of workbook worth doing before show season, not while sitting in the truck after a round wondering why you temporarily forgot everything you know.9. Tonya Johnston: How to Be a Consistent RiderUse this when: Tuesday-you and Saturday-you appear to be two completely unrelated equestrians.Tonya Johnstons How to Be a Consistent Rider workbook tackles one of ridings most annoying mysteries: why you can have an excellent ride one day and feel like you have misplaced all your skills the next.The course works through identifying your strengths, focusing on factors within your control, setting performance goals, breathing, visualization, personalized pre-ride routines, recovering after difficult rides and resetting between rides.One of the best sections helps you create your own pre-ride routine.Not a rigid lucky-socks situation.A repeatable group of physical and mental habits that help you arrive at the mounting block prepared to ride. That might include breathing, visualization, movement, nutrition, course preparation, music, grooming or another routine that helps you get into the state you want before getting on.The broader point of the workbook is that consistency starts before your foot goes in the stirrup.Which is mildly annoying information for those of us hoping our horse could take full responsibility.10. Boyd Martin: Building Bravery Through PreparationUse this when: You want to feel braver, but just be confident has proven to be spectacularly unhelpful advice.Boyd Martins Building Bravery Through Preparation workbook starts with a very useful premise: bravery comes from trusting your preparation.The course is designed as part of a progressive series, with each section adding skills to the riders toolkit instead of treating bravery as something you summon at the exact moment things get scary. The workbook asks you to examine your current routines and prepare for challenging situations at home. Boyds warm-up work, for example, uses familiar exercises, stride adjustment, flatwork and repetition so that the environment may change later, but the rider and horse already understand the job.That changes the conversation from How can I make myself feel brave? to What can I practice now so this feels more familiar later?Much better question.The secret is not downloading the workbook. It is using it.We know how this goes.You download a beautiful workbook.You think, I should print that.It enters the mysterious digital afterlife known as your Downloads folder.Fin.So pick one.Not ten. One.Choose the Masterclass that lines up with the horse or riding question you are working through right now. Watch the lesson, open the workbook and do the exercise. Take the relevant page to the barn. Come back afterwards and write down what happened.Many of these workbooks were specifically created to be used over several weeks rather than consumed in one sitting. Missys course, for example, recommends systematic work and repetition, while Annes workbook encourages riders to integrate the exercises into their regular riding over four to eight weeks.That is where these resources become much more than course notes.They give you a way to turn an idea from an Olympic rider, top trainer or sports psychologist into something you can test, practice, revisit and use with your own horse.And yes, there are more.These ten are only a starting point.There are also workbooks for Archie Coxs How to Win, Tik Maynards Training the Young Horse, Dr. Jenny Sussers Gaining Control of Fear and Anxiety and more across the NF+ Masterclass library. Archies workbook alone moves through flat performance, jumping, ring confidence, rider body type, strategy and mindset, while Tiks young-horse workbook includes exercises around prerequisites, voice cues, groundwork, transitions, lateral work and introducing jumping.So the next time you open NF+, do not only hit play.Check the resources attached to the course too.There may be an entire training plan sitting underneath the video you were about to watch.And with NF+ Member for Life, those are resources you can keep returning to as your horse, riding and goals evolve. The workbook you need right now might be about distances. The one you need a year from now might be about flying changes, confidence, young horses or riding under pressure.One payment. No renewals. A lot of very good horse homework.

The Grand Final for the 2026 Foal Championship and 3 Year Old Filly Loose Jumping, take place at the Grand Final in Emerald Equestrian Centre, Co Kildare on Thursday 15th October, from 12pm.All spectators, breeders and connections of competitors are welcome, and encouraged, to attend.The 2026 Foal Championship and Loose Jumping are funded under National Breeding Services with thanks to the Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine, and delivered by Horse Sport Ireland. 16 foals and 12 fillies will compete in their respective categories for the coveted champion titles. One foal in each section of the Horse and Pony qualifiers were selected to compete at the final in Emerald; while first and second place of each section of the 3YO Loose Jumping qualifiers earned a spot in the Grand Final.Start List for Foal Championship final: HEREStart List for Loose Jumping final: HEREThe post Start list for the 2026 Grand Final of the Foal Championship and 3YO Filly Loose Jumping appeared first on .