Holbrook Hire Auckland

24/09/2026

Read this to help keep your horse sound..

This could change the way you warm up your horse and KEEP THEM SOUND.

Most riders do not realise what is happening with their horses legs before moving into faster paces.

But did you know 🧐
Horses don’t have muscles below the hock and Knee.

Those long fine legs rely heavily on tendons and ligaments to absorb the work.
So a few circles at walk and then straight into canter is not really a warm-up.

The next time you ride, keep this in mind:

* Muscles generally feel warm after around 5–10 minutes of easy, progressive movement.
* Tendons benefit from 10–15 minutes of gradually increasing, specific loading before asking for harder work—especially when it is cold, first thing in the morning, or after time off.
* Ligaments are not something you can “warm up” in the same obvious way. Gentle movement through the joints and gradually increasing the work is what helps prepare them before fast turns, jumping, sprinting or heavier work.

A good warm-up is not just wandering around until your horse feels awake.

It is active walking, letting them swing through their body, getting them moving their body in different ways, then gradually building into trot and canter once they feel loose and ready.

The exciting part of the ride might be the jumping, galloping or heading off on an adventure.. but those first 10–15 minutes could be some of the most important ones.

Five minutes is what it takes to feel ready.
Fifteen is what it takes to actually be ready.

Save this to save your horse & for those days when you are tempted to skip straight to the fun bit. 🐴

23/09/2026

What if your paddocks are talking to you every day.

The question is…

Do you know how to read them?

Most of us walk through our paddocks with one thing on our mind.

Catch the horse.
Feed up.
Fix the fence.
Move the tape.

But every walk across your property is an opportunity to spot something before it becomes a bigger problem.

The colour of the grass.

The areas horses keep returning to.

The places they avoid.

A patch that stays wet long after the rest has dried.

The first w**d beginning to emerge.

None of these things happen overnight.

They’re little clues.

And the earlier we notice them, the easier they usually are to manage.

One of the best habits any property owner can build isn’t buying more equipment.

It’s learning to observe.

Because good paddock management starts long before a topper, fertiliser spreader or sprayer is ever needed.

The more you notice today… the fewer surprises you’ll have tomorrow.

23/09/2026

Entries are open for the mini ODE!!
Enter now - we have floats available 😍

23/09/2026

Did you know we sponsored the waitemata show jumping on the 10-11th of October 👏🏼

So happy for woodhill to be up and running again!
& even happier to contribute where Holbrook Hire Auckland can. 😍

The entry’s were full in under an hour 😱
did you get your entry in?
Did you miss out?
Or were you not attending this one?

Lets shine a light on our Ring 1 Sponsors today - how cool are they for Supporting our first Grand Prix Show Jumping show coming up on 10th and 11th October 😍

We know we had a few disappointed riders who are now on our waitlist for this show, but to have a full show at our maximum riders is so good to show everyone how much our grounds are needed for our riders, to sell out within a few minutes is just crazy!

Thank you so much to our Ring 1 Sponsors below, your support is so valued by our committee and local riding community, if you need any of these services please consider heading to these guys first

*Withers and Co Accountants*
https://www.withersco.co.nz/ - Services a wide range of highly successful rurual and business clients and based in Warkworth. They also support us by gifting us Todd Wilkin 😛

*Groom and Gallop*
https://groomandgallop.co.nz/ - your one stop shop for all NZ made or designed products for you and your horse.

*Holbrook Hire*
https://www.holbrookhire.com/ - Horse Float Lease and Hire as well as being the only Lifestyle Property Equipment Hire, need a roller, sprayer, harrow or more - they are your first stop!

*BMW Sporthorses*
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064424660563 - A long-term supporter of Woodhill Sands and our local riding community, breeding the horsepower for us all!!

*Mason Bloodstock*
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61575928355761 - A boutique equine operation for Harness and Sport Horses based in Waitoki, a new sponsor for us so thank you Kristie.

*Kaiser Ag*
https://kaiserag.co.nz/ - Located near Morrinsville, unique business mix consisting of Kaiser Ag Contracting and Industrial Tank Manufacturers, a company dating back to 1946!

*Scott Borland Real Estate*
https://www.pggwre.co.nz/staff/scott-borland/ - Lifestyle and Rural Sales Consultant based in Cambridge, be sure to support Scott if you are looking at selling.

*Aarque Limited*
https://www.aarque.co.nz/ - New Zealands Leading providers in Digital Print Solutions - this company also dates back to 1948!

22/09/2026

Your horse is being advertised.
but this time, the fine print needs to be honest. 🤣

What would yours say?

Cashews would be..

“Been there done that school mistress 95% of the time, forgets she’s not a green 2yr old 5% of the time”. 🤣🫣

Perhaps yours would be:

“Easy to catch, unless you’re already running late.”

“Quiet to ride, but deeply suspicious of one particular letterbox.”

“Loads perfectly… once everyone has stopped watching.”

What would your horse’s brutally honest fine print say? 👇👏🏼👏🏼

21/09/2026

Did you know we even existed?

Did you know we had all this cool stuff? It’s like a kid in a candy shop but for lifestyle property owners 🍭

Did you know you can hire all the equipment for your lifestyle property rather than buying it?

Well, now that you know we are here. What do you need to use the most on your paddocks??

Tell us in the comments 😍👏🏼

Hire or lease safe, well-maintained horse floats and lifestyle-block equipment across Auckland. Flexible rates, easy collection and delivery options.

21/09/2026

If you were to hire.. where would you go? Tell us your dream adventure.

What would put a smile on your face and keep you buzzing about it for days?

If you need riding inspiration, visit our website. We have a whole list of places you can go 😍

Hire or lease safe, well-maintained horse floats and lifestyle-block equipment across Auckland. Flexible rates, easy collection and delivery options.

21/09/2026

Hire our floats to go on that adventure.

You only have one life, make it one to remember.

As the famous nike trade mark says - Just do it ✔️

Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.

Start today by entering that show, attending that clinic, riding at the forest or beach.

Whatever it is you keep saying you want to do, make it a reality today.

Hire our floats at Holbrook Hire.

20/09/2026

I took the partition out .. and my horse completely ignored the travelling position we normally chose for him.

The partition was taken out for hay and I forgot to put it back in before heading out for a ride.
With hire pick ups, I naturally, was running late and didn’t have the time to put it back in.

So on the way there, I stood him and tied him as I would if the partition was in..

Interestingly I noticed by the time I stopped at the bakery he chose to stand straight rather than on the angle had the partition been in. Still straight when I arrived to Woodhillsands, it left me curious.

Intrigued with his choice..

On the way home, I decided to let him be free to see what he may choose given the choice.

He stood straight again…but turned around and faced backwards.

So naturally, I disappeared down a research rabbit hole. 🤣

Here’s what the studies actually found:

🐴 Loose horses showed a slight preference for travelling diagonally, but no universal preference for facing forwards or backwards. In one study, they spent 57% of the journey broadly facing forwards.
Gibbs & Friend, 1999

🐴 Untethered horses increasingly chose to face backwards as they gained experience over repeated journeys. Interestingly, that pattern disappeared when the driving involved abrupt stops. Showing how much braking and road forces can influence their position.
Kusunose & Torikai, 1996

🐴 Six horses transported in both directions had lower average heart rates, moved less and appeared less physically stressed when travelling rear-facing.
Waran et al., 1996

🐴 A larger 2020 study involving 26 mares found fewer balance-related movements in rear-facing horses and horses given wider bays. However, it didn’t establish that every horse should travel backwards, or that travelling without partitions is always better.
Padalino & Raidal, 2020

The fascinating part?
There doesn’t appear to be one position every horse prefers.

It doesn’t mean we should all start removing partitions and testing where our horses prefer to stand.

But I am Curious 🧐
Has anyone travelled theirs loose in a safe stock trailer and watched what they chose?

17/09/2026

Episode 2 is here 💕💕💕💕

I had way to much fun writing their personalities, I hope you find them as funny as I did.. 😅😅

Who’s getting a date in your paddock? 🥂🍽️

Comment your pick below, feel free to add a funny response, Im here for it!

Like and follow for the next two rounds of speed dating...
Paddock edition.