Your Ponies Personality Is Part Of The Solution

For equestrian trainers new to the trade, horses can come in different shapes and sizes, but most irksomely, different temperaments as well. And a horse’s personality type determines what sort of training and even what kind of sport it’s most suitable for. There are horses that are very excited to please and are quite friendly, a charm to go horse riding with. There are active character types that prefer challenging equestrian sport over plain horse riding, and there are others who’d do most anything for food. Let’s concentrate on one actual character type: the Metal component type of pony.

Metal types are some examples of the most trustworthy mounts and sport or chore horses you would ever come across, because they covet routine. They have to be well placed to do something they’re used to doing in a schedule in reality they need to so badly that if they do not, they get wired and develop many stress-related health issues till they’re reunited with their beloved routine. As you can imagine, a pony that does something so earnestly and even passionately is a valued asset that surpasses the simple joys of horse riding and is worth its weight in gold when it comes to equestrian sport or other activities it’s trained for.

Nonetheless together with the good comes the bad. Metal types rely too much on established routine that they encounter difficulty when introduced to new routines and new equestrian training or work. Also, if the trainer or breeder happens to skip a scheduled routine, they easily get stressed. The reality is, a pony would have to learn a lot of new things in the course of its equestrian coaching, even in the course of its standard pony care and health upkeep. Furthermore, not a lot of trainers have all the time in the world to zealously stick to routine day in and day out. While older metal types get the point and are simple to introduce to new routines or exercises and can stay off of regular routine and left in pasture for a bit without adverse reactions, younger metal types aren’t the same.

So what can a trainer do to help a hot metal type gelding avoid a stressful experience? Stick to routine. The routine does not have to be an exercise of precise standards, while you do one thing continually and create that as routine, that’d be the routine the metal type youngling would start to expect and depend on. For your own sake as the equestrian coach, keep it simple: like pulling her out of the stall and tying her onto a trailer for an hour every day or a daily mane brushing routine. If you actually enjoy horse riding and can do it everyday , then make that your regular thing.

The less effort it takes, the simpler it is on you. When you introduce new coaching or exercises and your metal type pony shows signs of stress, regress to your routine to help deaden the symptoms, then transition slowly into the new routine.

Horses are Heather Toms’ passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100’s of articles with other horse lovers… like all things about horse rugs.

Over Come Your Fear Is EverythingTo Successful Horse Training

If you’ve ever seen Olympic equestrian sport and appreciated the grace and talent with which the riders participating in the events pull off their part, then you need to likewise appreciate the radical coaching and hard work underlying the superb performance. Just how long did the rider train his faithful steed for, and using what techniques, to achieve such fantastic end results? Well, before you start asking such deep questions, you need to begin at the beginning: eliminating fear—whether it’s in the horse, the rider, or both.

When you begin coaching your horse on the way to dressage level routines, it’s all about making her understand what you need her to do. The fundamentals of horse riding are establishing cues and building a cooperative partnership. But before that, she must first be utterly at ease around you. This means that you can go near her, touch her and stroke her, and clean even her sensitive areas (like her feet and ears) without incident. To be well placed to achieve this, you have to 1st dump the fear obstructing your progress. Otherwise, your mare would respond the correct way when doing one thing and react adversely when doing others.

All animals have 2 main reactions to danger or discomfort: fight or run. They either turn hostile toward the danger or stress, or escape it. For horses undergoing equestrian coaching, the trainer and rider is usually the source of both discomfort and danger. Before it’s possible to even dream of working on your dressage routines, you first have to be certain that around you and with what you do together with your mare, she is completely comfortable and she knows she’s safe.

Handling the fears of your studs and mares would entail that you rid yourself of your fears. A rider or tutor often fears those times when she’s stuck, or at a loss, of what to do next. Your partnership with your horse is like the relationship of a herd leader and herd member, and you’d want to be the leader. The thing is, though many horses don’t truly have a dominating leader instinct in them while in such an environment as a training pen, they’ll assume the role if you do not—even if they are mares.

To rid yourself of any fears that will distroy your herd leader role, try doing easy to achieve exercises that help you gain confidence. For your horse, the trick is systematically replacing her reaction with a desired response—from fight or flight to actual equestrian moves and manoeuvres when you cue for it. For you as a tutor and rider, the key is to gain confidence thru gaining greater measures of control over your mare and the situation via being conversant with what to do irrespective of the circumstances… such that what you must do next immediately unfolds.

You first must dispose of the fret that stunts the growth of your partnership—make this the very first step of your horse riding training program. But before you rid your horse of her fear, commence with yours.

Horses are Heather Toms’ passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100’s of articles with other horse lovers… like all things about horse rugs.

Horseracing Handicapping Longshots Using Trainer Moves

On February 9th in the second race at Tampa Bay Downs, a horse named “Apple Talk,” won and paid $87 for every $2 bet to win on this lightly raced four year old.  Horseracing handicapping looking for longshots is tough and Apple Talk wasn’t giving away any secrets unless you were familiar with the trainer and his moves. Apple Talk was dropping from the Maiden Special Weight ranks to Maiden Claiming.  That is supposed to be the biggest class drop in history.  But several other horses in the race were also making the same drop and had fared much better in their last race, a race that Apple Talk lost by over 23 lengths.

Looking at Apple Talk’s only two prior starts and how he had done so poorly explains why he went off at such long odds.  How he managed to stage the upset is not so clear. According to the official track program there were no equipment changes since his last dismal performance.  There was a jockey change to an apprentice and subsequently a ten pound weight allowance that certainly didn’t hurt.  But to make such a big move as Apple Talk did and to win so convincingly at such long odds, one would think something pretty significant had to happen.

He is listed in the program as a gelding.  It wasn’t announced that he had been gelded since his last race.  Gelding a horse can make a big difference and I call it the most significant equipment change in racing.  I am sure other males would agree with me.  However, we have no indication that Apple Talk was recently gelded.

Obviously some people bet on Apple Talk.  A look at the pools did indicate some inside money (see True Handicapping for a method to check the pools for inside money), but not a lot as is evidenced by the huge mutuel.  Apple Talk appeared to be a sleeper.

So how could you tell that this horse was going to win?  Unless you were psychic, you had to know something about the horse and trainer.  Did this trainer ever pull this move before?  Entering a horse in a long turf race (Apple Talk’s first effort was a mile on the turf in MSW ranks) and then in a long race on the dirt (a mile and forty yards in MSW company) is a good way to condition a horse.  It doesn’t look like he was pushed in either race.  

A trainer might see his or her horse just isn’t good enough to compete with the MSW horses but put him in for a few conditioning races then drop to a soft spot in the maiden claiming ranks.  The only way to know for sure is to know the trainer’s habits.  The only way to know a trainer’s habits is to pay attention and keep notes.  Specializing in one or two circuits and keeping good notes can payoff in huge figures.  I have to confess, before this race, I didn’t know that was one of this trainer’s moves, but you can be certain that I know now.  Ask yourself this, how many people who saw that race can now tell you who the trainer was and what the move was?

If you are one of the few who remembers or was paying attention, you may be one of the few who cashes a big win ticket on the next maiden he brings along this way.  And that is how you handicap longshots in horse racing.

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Bill Peterson has 20095 articles online and 20 fans

If you want to learn how a horse owner and insider handicaps just go to http://williewins.homestead.com/truecb.html and get the truth. Bill Peterson is a former horse race owner and professional handicapper. To see all Bill’s horse racing material go to Horse Racing Handicapping, Bill’s handicapping store.

Hiring Tipsters to Win in Horse Racing

Horse racing in the UK is not only a major spectator sport but also a sport that is being used to earn some money by betting on winning horse. The country has continued years of heritage in horse racing and betting has been part of this for centuries and even legalized. A major chunk of horseracing betting community is formed by the professionals who are well versed in the skills required. It is quite competent to hire tipsters who offer valuable information on which horse is going to win the race. Not every horseracing enthusiast can win every time he bets on a particular horse and requires the services from tipsters.

Horse Racing and Betting

Horseracing betting like any other betting requires certain skills or hiring the professional with certain set of skills crucial to win. Nevertheless, if someone does not have the skills and unwilling to invest in studying and analyzing the next race and prospective winner, he can hire the services of tipsters who are the professionals well versed with entire information of the history and track record of competing horses. Hiring a racing tipster can be highly suitable for professionals and amateurs for the former need them to win regularly and the latter hire them to win in bet played infrequently.

What Does A Tipster Do?

The fundamental role of tipsters in horse racing betting is to provide information on various aspects such as the track record of horses, physical fitness of the competing horses, likelihood of winning, etc. amongst others. Moreover, as racing tipsters are generally insiders of the horse racing organizations they are often well equipped with the latest information available only to few core people or unavailable to plenty others who have money on the stake. However, there are other kinds of tipsters who do not hobnob with horse racing organizers; rather, they conclude after analysis on the commonly available information with respect to competing horses.

Racing tipsters also check training, previous race performances, etc. of competing horse and provide information on which horse to be invested in. Training and trainer of the horse also determine who will win the race and tipsters are meant to know all these facts i.e. who is training which horse. Such information helps in betting on a particular horse. Paying a tipster for the information furnished can be considered an investment for it can help win the race.

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Article Manager has 2496 articles online and 265 fans

BetterTipster.co.uk as a horse Racing Tipsters service in UK has been generating profits over and above any other racing club, or Tipsters service in UK.

Some Handy Horse Feeding Tips

There is always something to tend to around your horses, whether it’s looking after them directly when not in equestrian training or doing chores indirectly related to them. Infrequently the time it needs to finish everything is ludicrous. This is exacerbated by any horses with special needs or particular conditions. Occasionally you won’t even have sufficient time to take out one or two horses for pony riding just for fun. All equestrian training and equine-related chores without pure pony riding fun isn’t good—for you or your horses. So here are a few practical tips to help you save time on your horse chores.

Stopping water sloshing… You might or might not have a water source near particular horses. Some studs or mares could have characters that cause you to house them in separate stalls in a particular season so they eat and gain better weight. This means they’d be some distance from the usual place where water would be, and you would need to haul buckets of it to them. Having the water slosh all over the place is going to make this additional chore more frustrating. So put a tiny board or smaller bucket upside down on top of the water you’re carrying. It’s a clever trick; disrupting the water’s surface tension and keeping a large amount of it from sloshing out.

Beet pulp soaking… Beet pulp simply must be soaked before being fed to your horses. Otherwise you risk choking and an array of other health perils. But this process is often boring and time-consuming, especially in cold weather. Compared to pellets though, beet pulp soaks faster, is crunchier to a horse’s palate, and would better satisfy a horse’s natural inkling to long-stem foliage fodder, so as an element of your horses feed, it’s indispensable. But the chore it entails can be a pain. To soak the stuff faster, bring it inside the house and soak it in hot water instead of cold. You can also proceed soaking it in cold water in the evening and simply add luke-warm water into the mix in the morning before feeding it to your horses. Warm beet pulp warms a horse’s physique well in shivering cold mornings.

Providing supplements while permitting free choice on feed… Letting your horses loose on a free-choice environment of feed is both fun and a good way to copy what horses do in nature. The difficulty lies in how you’re going to give each pony their supplement dose in acceptable amounts when in such a set-up. One way is to coach all your horses to accept syringe administration of supplements. This way you can personally syringe-feed particular supplements to specific horses before the free for all begins.

Often a home made recipe of whole food supplements work fine for many horses but for those with conditions or special needs, more than the regular amount might be necessary, or an extra ingredient should be added into the mix. What’s great about this technique is that each pony gets his or her due supplements and it all fits tidily (if you do it properly) into a syringe.

Horses are Heather Toms’ passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100’s of articles with other horse lovers… like all things about cheap horse rugs

Building UP Your Horse’s Topline

Are you ashamed of your horse’s topline?

Not all members of any species are the same and this of course includes horses. A few of these animals are structured so they demonstrate a bad topline. You definitely wouldn’t enjoy your horse’s weak toplines, and it doesn’t matter whether your pony is swaybacked or gets a bad topline when out of coaching.

There are some ways that you can get your horse to boost his topline. Here are three of them.

Improve Topline with Backing Exercise

As with all animals, your horse’s rear muscles are active when he is backing up, all the more so if he lowers his head when doing that. Training your horse to back up keeping his head down has two benefits:

1. It improves the topline;

2. Horses relax when their heads are held low.

Your horse is going to definately fight putting his head down when backing. It could take a large amount of effort on your part to make him back up with his head down. One method to get him to do it is to dangle a treat in front and well under so he needs to reach down for it.

Dependent on the horse I'm coaching, I split the exercise into two components: backing and dropping the head. In the dropping part of the exercise, I crouch low and yank on the lead rope. His curiosity will make the pony lower his head to see what I am up to. When he does, he gets a treat from me by way of a reward. I progress from there to getting him to lower his head while I'm erect. I reward him for doing what I desire all the way thru. I ultimately progress to the stage where I get him to hold his head low while backing.

The coaching can take many days: some horses are essentially ignorant of how exactly to back with their head held low. It’s a matter of muscular coordination the pony isn’t used to. At such times the horses can only stagger back a step or 2 with their head down. It can take a couple of days before the pony masters enough muscle-bound looseness to back up for a distance with head held low.

When your pony ultimately gets the swing of walking backward with head held low, get him to do it for a minimum of a 100 steps a day. This way, you will help him build up the muscles in his neck, back and hindquarters that affect his topline. In general, you should see good results within 2 weeks of starting this exercise, no matter how recalcitrant he is.

Change the Feeding Style

Your horse’s poor topline might have something to do with his being fed from a raised container or crib. The topline gets strengthened by sensible exercising of the muscles that make a contribution to it. You can add to the effect by employing a feed dispersing ground toy. Options on the market include the Nose-It, the Likit Snak-A-Ball and the Amazing Graze.

All of these widgets roll round the ground when poked. Your pony will be prodding them plenty as he makes an attempt to feed out of them. Keeping the head down and chasing after the feed device can consume lots of time, as the contraptions dissipate food slowly. This means plenty of exercise for the horse’s topline muscles.

Over time, I’ve used a lot of feed gizmos including the 3 named above and a few others that are now not available. They work best because the pony has to keep his head low to follow them. As discussed above, they disperse food slowly and force the pony to keep at it for an extended time.

You gain a further bonus with topline stretching exercises in that these exercises help forestall stuck withers. This occurs a lot with horses that are “built downhill.” Though they’re actually not structured that way, they seem like they’re sloping down to the front because of stuck withers. Their posture will improve considerably when their withers are unlocked.

Feed Unrefined Coconut Oil

Unrefined coconut oil is an excellent remedy for horses with excess weight everywhere but on the topline. It appears that raw coconut oil goes direct to the equine topline. Pretty much all horses with lean toplines and fat everything else seem possessed of a personality mold that is Shao Yin all of the way. These animals are capable of great performance, but look bad due to their sway backs and ewe necks. Coconut oil is the sure shot fix. You want the following resources for this sort of horse, raw coconut oil, which you can order online or from your usual source of health feed, more knowledge regarding Shao Yin as well as the other equine character types.

Horses are Heather Toms’ passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100’s of articles with other horse lovers… like all things about cheap horse rugs

Pony Training Tack Tips

There are a fair number of horse riding and coaching tools and aids at an equestrian’s disposal—tacks that purport to be able to teach this and that. But an essential flaw in almost all of the concepts of horse tack training is that tacks employ generally discomfort, pain, and fear to teach and train horses—and these are not ideal teaching aids. Some tacks are best avoided, some may be used carefully or in proper measure.

Transition Curb Bits

Commonly known as Tom Thumbs and designed to transition from snaffle bit to leverage bit, this is not an effective bit to start neck-reining your pony with. Neck reining is best taught by teaching horses to connect their shoulders and respond to the snaffle. Right and left reins connects to the left and right shoulders respectively to move either. When your equine partner learns to master this, you then shift to the neck rein. Transition curb bits are best avoided altogether, because though they may in effect teach a horse the right way to neck rein, it’d be a unacceptable and stiff manoeuvre, somewhat unpleasant to the eyes even in a basic pony riding session.

Martingales

Built to hold the head of the horse in a preferential position vertically and laterally, the main trick behind a martingale is that it makes the bit uncomfortable, even agonizing, when your steed’s head is out of position. The martingale is the ultimate example of misguided equestrian practice. Discomfort and pain aren’t the best teachers of animals as wild and proud as horses. Bits can be handy when employed for the purpose of communication through applying correct levels of pressure where needed. The most significant difference between communication and using agony as a motivating force is that in communication the pony is released from the pressure and praised when she responds in the correct way.

Stopper

A stopper is another prime example of upsetting pony tack coaching. A tack that teaches a horse to stop to avoid getting it into her mouth, a stopper uses pain and agony in place of communication and the pressure-release-praise system. It’s very important for your horses to actively think about what you would like them to do, though not thru the inducement of escaping pain.

Snaffle bits

Meant to train horses to respond with a light touch of the reins; the difficulty is, again, it relies on misguided guidelines. Consider this: if the pony does not hear the snaffle cues, what would you do? You’d potentially find a tougher bit. And if she becomes used to that and begins to not listen again—another harsher bit? This possible cycle of pain and tolerance is not a good teaching method, and would eventually prove dangerous for the overall well being of your horses.

As you can see, there’s a need to apply tact when using your tacks, be it for training or horse riding, and particularly for equestrian sport. It’s the job of trainers and riders as equestrians to coach their horses, the tacks and tools should not do it for them.

Horses are Heather Toms’ passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100’s of articles with other horse lovers… like all things about horse blanket

When To Shoe Your Pony

While there are lots of angles to horse raising and coaching, one outwardly minor detail that will pose a large dilemma for horse owners and trainers is whether to let the steeds go shoeless or shod.

Leaving horses shoeless or having them shod both have their own benefits. Having the horses shod will protect the feet especially if the hoof gets worn quicker than it can get replaced. On the other hand, allowing horses to go shoeless will improve their overall hoof health. Being shoeless provides horses room for movement, growth, and circulation. The heels of the horse expand, the walls of the hooves thicken, and the depth of the soles grow deeper.

But you simply can’t settle on a whim. You must first know what’s going to be better for your horse, as is your responsibility as an equestrian. How are you to grasp that? Consider your mare and her condition: her workload, the environment she is in, the health of her feet. Putting these things into perspective will aid in making it simpler for you to decide whether it is better for your mare to put on shoes or go shoeless.

Take a look on your mare’s feet. Are the feet of top quality? Top-grade feet have solid heels with cup on the sole, thick walls that don’t have flares, and frogs free of any disease. Such feet can put on a shoe real well and can also go barefooted. You’ll know it when you are one of the lucky few who got a horse with such healthy feet. The telling signs are: you—well, your mare—hasn’t faced feet issues, like a fungal disease among others; your farrier gives a positive evaluation; and your mare’s feet displays the standard of healthy, solid feet, e.g, front and back are relatively even.

Checking the state of your mare’s feet is just the first step. You still need to mull over her environment—the kind of footing the horse has in the area where she lives and works—and her workload.

If the ground where your horse works is soft and non-abrasive, and her workload is low, (you do little more than enjoy basic horse riding), you can leave your horse without shoes. Then again, regardless of if your easy going horse riding is on rough terrain then your mare will be much better off being shod. If you’d like to promote the barefoot methodology, just take away the shoes in the months when your mare has no workload, say in the winter.

Other circumstances where it’s best to have your horse shod are: when she has got a navicular illness; is badly foundered; has sensitive feet like Thoroughbreds or have little hooves like a quarter horse, which sometimes can’t go without shoes; or if her feet has cracks, which if it’s the case, you will have to wait for the cracks to heel before it’s possible to show them again to being without shoes.

Horses are Heather Toms ‘ passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100’s of articles with other horse lovers like all things about horse rugs .

Pony Lungeing Techniques

A large amount of the basic danger that comes with horse riding rests in the bent of a horse to change from a meek temperament into an explosive one as fast as the rider saddles up. One effective method to get rid of constrained or excess energy that may all of a sudden burst forth from your horses when taking them out for a horse riding session is to longe them before actually riding them.

There’s a bit more to longeing horses than merely chasing them around a pen though. What you’d need as the equestrian is have your horse follow through the pressure off the longe line; ideally, you will be driving the horse in a position such that your body is behind her shoulder. Proper longeing is crucial to—so check if her nose is tipped to the direction she’s turning to, among other stuff. As for your role as the equestrian leading the longe, it is best to lead the horse through the longe using your right hand if you are going right and vice versa. While driving by standing behind her shoulder, use your free hand to lead. When you want your horse to slow to a stop, step in front of her shoulder where you are.

To make her change the direction she is going, just apply pressure to the halter utilizing the rope—pull using your opposite hand in the other direction. Don’t be deterred when your steed can’t seem to pull this off correctly. Many horses might find the process of turning to be challenging; there are some steeds that like going in one direction too much that they may even defy your cues and fight back when you’re attempting to lead them to switch directions. But with some patience and practice, plus an additional tap on the hindquarters with the rope’s end if needed, such horses would eventually be in a position to change directions smoothly and without incident.

When your horse is at a stage where she is quite happy with changing directions (in a round pen or corral) and you observe her anticipating your cues to do so , you can try to mix it up a bit and turn regularly in different directions within the round pen or small corral.

Naturally, don’t forget to praise your horse and give her a break she deserves when she is doing so well. After the break, drive her again and be more exhaustive this time. When it comes to longeing, there will be a time when you will not even feel a bit like you are actively driving your horses around the pen or corral anymore. You may observe them working round the pen with the tiniest of hints from you on where to go. This suggests that you don’t need to apply as much force or effort, but it’s best to remain an active participator in the longeing. Around ten or 15 minutes of longeing would mentally prepare and loosen up your steed for safe and correct horse riding.

Horses are Heather Toms ‘ passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge thru her 100’s of articles with other horse lovers like all things about horse rugs .

Choosing A Horse Rug – What Are The Differences?

Horse rugs come in many different types, materials and thickness. The ideal situation would be to have a rug for each season but good quality rugs are rather expensive. Dependent on the horse’s wants such as breed, health, age, and coat thickness, a rug of appropriate insulating quality should be selected. The degree of heat insulation also is dependent upon the climatic conditions and the horse’s way of life. Other considerations are price, rug quality, frequency of use and whether the rug fits firmly on the animal without creating too much pressure and friction.

There are 5 common sorts of rugs: turnout, stable, summer, exercise, saddle and sweat rugs. There are fly sheets, exercise sheets and fleeces. Some come complete with a neck. Most have two straps to fit snugly and keep the rug in place. Some are waterproofed or chemically proofed for outside use. Others have linings with antistatic properties, insulation material like Thinsulate, or soft pads for the neck and chest areas. Others are tear-resistant and can be machine washable.

A stabled or exhibiting horse such as a Thoroughbred has a thinner coat and must be kept warm in winter. A horse with a naturally thicker coat and more fat will not need as much warmth and protection in winter. Horses that take part in exhibitions and competitions need exercise rugs, fleeces and sweat rugs or coolers.

The turnout rug is most generally used as it comes in different thickness or weight. It should be adequately heavy to protect and keep the horse warm although not too warm for comfort. These rugs used to be waterproofed cotton canvas for outside use but now there are several other materials to make a choice from like cotton canvas with polyester fibres and nylon.

Stable rugs are lined with insulation and used to keep the horse warm at night inside the stable. There are wicking, dust-repellent, strain resistant, antistatic and easy-clean rugs for stable use. Some have nylon linings with pads around the neck and chest areas. A fleece, blanket or quilted lining may also be used under a stable rug.

Consideration should be given to whether antiseptic properties are desirable. Type and thickness of insulation will change dependent on the horse’s needs. Breathable rugs allow sweat to dissipate and make the horse more comfy as well as keep it healthy. Sweat rugs are critical for exhibiting and competition horses to avoid over-heating. A rug’s anti-friction properties help to slide the rug easily onto the shoulder and chest areas not rubbing unduly the horse’s coat. Hooks, loops, buckles, straps and attachments should be powerful and easy to open and shut.

One can be overwhelmed with the enormous quantity of selection options for horse rugs. It is generally recommended that horse owners or their caretakers find the advice of experienced equestrian tack shops to find the most appropriate rug for their mount, with the best quality at an affordable price.

Anna Sola is an established article author publishing articles on a wide selection of subjects including travel sport and medical subjects. Townend Online is an equestrian clothing and tack shop for all competitive riders stocking a variety of Bucas rugs and other expert equestrian equipment.