Grooming Horse Etiquette For Beginners

November 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Want to get used to horses before you start learning how to ride them? I have the ideal proposal for you.

Start grooming horses. There are not many ways better to getting cosy around horses than grooming them. When you are able to groom a horse safely and perfectly, it works as a great boost to your self confidence.

At this point, I must insert a warning: when you are working on the horse’s legs ensure you bend over regardless of if it is a great nuisance for your back. Just don’t squat next to the horse. Squatting down restricts liberty of movement, and if the pony should move abruptly, you aren’t going to be able to react quick enough. Bending over will allow you to react fast, even with a slightly stiff back.

Remember to approach the horse from his side, by his neck, so you are very visible to him. Because of its laterally placed eyes, a horse cannot see directly ahead or directly behind. To do that, the horse will need to swivel its head. This won’t be possible for the pony when it is tied up to get groomed or saddled. When the pony can hear approaches noises but is unable to see the source of the noise, it is liable to react with its survival instincts. That suggests kicking out with its rear legs. When you approach the horse such that he sees you coming, he’s going to stay calm. Even when you’re working on him, keep speaking to him and touching him. That way, you are reassuring him of your continued presence. You won’t be triggering his survival instincts.

As a beginner, walk only those horses that are trained well. Walk with the horse on your right. You right hand should be roughly a foot away from his head, holding the lead rope. The rest of the rope should be coiled in your left hand.

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Your 1ST Horse Purchase

November 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment

If you are planning to get a horse, have you made adequate budgetary provisions? Don’t commit the blunder of assuming that your expenses are over after you have paid for the horse. A pony might be the biggest item on your program of expenses, but in no way is it the sole item.

Before you set out to get a pony, you ought to have identified, quantified and made allowance for all things that are a part of purchasing, riding and caring for your horse. These include accommodation for your horse, feeding and watering him, medical care, riding gear and riding clothes for yourself. All these items have to be attended to before it’s possible to even sit in the saddle for the first time. Making your budgetary provisions means making decisions about a few aspects of horse ownership. You need to decide on the type of riding you wish to do, the style and quality of riding gear you want to use, the type and quality of riding attire you wish to wear.

If your financial position doesn’t allow for new gear, you might want to visit horse shows, farm sales and used gear shops to buy less expensive tack which has been well kept. If you do buy new stuff, do so as far as possible from outlets that are within reach, to enable replacement of gear that doesn’t fit or is other wise unsuitable for your specific purposes. Naturally, you want to make sure that refunds or replacements are allowed before purchasing. If you are completely certain of your requirements, you can buy from online outlets. There are numerous great purchase options online, but you need to be very sure of yourself, because returning products purchased online could be a very pricey business. Whether online or off line, buy only once you have made certain of the seller’s refund or replacement policies.

The most basic of gear you definitely have to buy are a halter and lead rope, two items essential to bring your pony home to begin with. Note that if you’re purchasing a young horse, you want to get a suitable halter and keep replacing it as the pony grows older. If you purchase a mature pony, you want a halter for adult horses you can use for a long time. Nylon halters aren’t very expensive and even leather ones that are not elaborate show pieces won’t cost too much.

For riding the horse, you will need a saddle, blankets or pads, a bit, a bridle and one or maybe two sets of reins depending what type kind of riding interests you. Tack comes in 2 broad categories: western and English. Both western and English tack items are used for the same purposes, but differ broadly in size, shape and appearance. Usually, English tack is lighter and smaller, the saddles are minimalist, short of frills. They do not have horns, deep seats or high forks. The stirrups don’t come with wide fenders. Comparatively, western saddles are heavy, with distinct horns, deep seats and tall, rigid cantles at the rear. Stirrup fenders and saddle skirts could be impressively carved or may come with gold accents or silver ones. Both English and western style tack come in numerous variations, and therefore it’s very important that if you are making plans to take part in specific disciplines you research the correct kind of tack to acquire.

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How To Soften Contact With Your Pony

November 23, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Plenty of horses, both raw and trained, lay in their riders’ hands without taking correct contact. A few of these horses do it out of rawness, some out of defiance, and others might be sore, used to tugging of the reins, or unable/not keen to perform correct self carriage.

I suggest some exercises below for horses that have difficulty with staying soft. All of these exercises first should be worked on the walk, then at trots and when you are absolutely confident of your horse and yourself, at canters. You need to ensure your horse moves freely forward at all gaits.

Start by warming up your pony with a long rein. Slowly take up contact while applying leg. Try hard not to haul the horse in. While at a walk, keep up contact on the outside rein, give with the inside rein for 3 paces then softly take contact back. Repeat the process. Keep going with the exercise at a rising trot. Give with the interior rein even as your horse remains in contact on the outer one.

Next, get set to supple up your horse at a walk with a bit of flex and counter flex movements. As you’re going thru a corner, use your inner leg to bend the pony through the back. Sponge the inside rein ever so lightly so his neck and head are flexed. Hold this position over 2 strides. Straighten out over the next 2 steps; counter flex the pony at the rail with your outer leg and sponge the outside rein. Hold this position for two steps, allowing your pony to walk in a straight line. Do the exercise again in the other direction and at a trot.

It’s time to progress to a basic serpentine. Flex the pony at the corner again, but don’t straighten him. Ride on into the arena’s quarter line and straighten out for 2 steps; counter flex while heading your pony from the quarter line back to the rail. Conduct this exercise only at the arena’s longer sides. Move straight past the shorter sides. Repeat in the other direction, repeat at a walk and a trot. You may also work on full serpentines looping across from the longer side across the centre to the other longer side. Change direction for each loop. The serpentine exercises help maintain rhythm. Perform three loops of the same size and arc.

The final exercise is another version of our first exercise involving giving rein, though you give both reins here, swapping one after another. While on the walk, let go with the interior rein to lose all contact on it and push your elbow ahead. Continue over three steps. Take up contact on this rein and give with the other one for another 3 steps. Repeat with the opposite side then go through everything again at a trot.

By carrying out these exercises, you will notice that your horse feels lighter and better balanced while at self carriage. He’s going to show lower poll, softer jaw and an eagerness to stretch outward and downward as soft contact as required, and he won’t be pulling the reins from your hands.

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Change Horse Riding Fear With Mental Reprogramming

November 23, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The majority attempt to overcome fear by utilizing their conscious mind. They try and will away their fears, to pay no heed to their fears so that these fears simply fade away. There is one problem with using your conscious mind to fight fears: your gains will be short term, and you’ll soon be back to square one. You can’t create permanent changes unless you work on the one power that truly influences your life: your subconscious mind.

Your subconscious mind is ever alert and registers just about everything you imagine and pronounce. When it registers your thoughts, it attempts to make them become true. The subconscious doesn’t distinguish between good and bad. If you express a desire mentally or orally, your subconscious mind will make an attempt to make that wish come true. It is of small matter that the result may not actually be of benefit.

The issue of changing mental programming makes me think of what Albert Einstein had to say about insanity. If you have been a frightened horse rider, you’ll have programmed your mind to picture the worst and you’ll have been worrying yourself to death over it. Your programming tells you that you’re a chicken and so a chicken you’ll be. The only way you can change this situation is reprogram your consciousness to accept that you are indestructible.

The gigantic merit of redoing your mental programming in preference to relying on will power or never-say-die determination is that reprogramming is far faster and infinitely more permanent. You can reprogram yourself with visualization or self-talk.

Here’s what visualisation is all about. Take three deep breaths and relax.

1. Go thru a mental fill in the blank exercise.

2. I’m wearing_____; my horse’s color is ______, the aromatic flowers close to the podium are _______. Use all of your 5 senses. Rub your hands on your horse, take a whiff of fresh air, tune in on the horse’s gaits. Take a good look at the ring you’re riding in. Get a taste of the salt in the sweat trickling down from your brow.

3. Imagine yourself as being supremely confident, cool and bold. It is easy to do this if you hark back to the times when you actually were like that.

4. Keeping up this routine for a couple of days. They say it takes at least 52 days of repetition to develop new habits.

What you really should know about self-talk is given below.

– Be certain to maintain consistency

– Talk to yourself in the present tense, like you are in possession of the qualities you want. Say things like I’m brave or I am unafraid.

– Say things as far as possible without negatives. For example, say I am fearless, instead of saying I’m really not afraid. The mind doesn’t associate any picture with the word ‘not’, and this suggests that when you assert I’m really not scared, your subconscious mind is registering ‘I am afraid’.

I have purposefully made things sound very simple in this piece. How simple or difficult it actually turns out to be depends on your dedication. If you really want to, you can use visualization as well as self-talk to make yourself whatever you want to be. Turning into a fearless pony rider is just the start.

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How Do I Ride A Dressage Pony Up Or Deep

November 23, 2012 By Leave a Comment

If you’ve been around horses for any period of time, you’ll have heard plenty of discussions about whether a dressage horse should be worked deep or not. If you consult ten riders on this issue, they will give you a dozen viewpoints. Many riders believe strongly in ‘long and low’ warming up and cooling down of horses, for example would get the horse’s muscles to stretch out and loosen up. Other riders choose to school in balances appropriate for the frame being worked. These riders don’t stretch horses much. Lots of trainers like to school only in deep frames during movements, when they come above the bit as a matter of habit. Yet other riders like doing work awfully deep, with their horses’ noses almost down to their chests; they allow the noses back up just when competition time is up.

How do you handle this issue within the context of your own horse?

You need to let benign enmity (do the opposite) concepts make the choice.

Assume you are astride a real ‘dirt sucker’ your horse leans so much on his forehand you get the definite feeling you are doing somersaults. It is best to ride such a horse more ‘up’ the long and low versions of such horses are not correct, and while their heads and necks may stretch down and out, my first concern would lie more with the hindquarters. If the hind legs trail out to the rear of the body, and the horse is thrusting himself hard on the forehand, the balance is unquestionably bad. You can get his rear legs underneath his body by shortening your reins and by riding your pony just a bit more up. This way, he is going to carry better.

Let’s go on another, totally different presumption. Your dressage pony is a ‘stargazer’, with the practice of going around inverted to such a degree you can practically go level eyeballs with him. He moves with a shortened neck, a lowered back and with his neck and head in the clouds. You need to force him to the opposite shape so that you can retrain him and get some strength into his topline muscles. You must get the hind legs further beneath the body in such a way the back is up and the head and neck are low. Resort to connecting half halts for changing your horse’s shape. Once you are done giving a connecting half halt, let the reins go a bit longer to allow him to seek contact to the front and down.

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Engaging The Hind Legs Of Your Pony

November 20, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I have seen the term ‘engage the horse’s hind legs’ confuse many riders. They don’t seem to be sure about what engagement pertains to and how to set about it.

Here is the ‘really simple’ definition. Engagement refers to the folding or bending of the horse’s hind leg joints. That’s it, nothing more, nothing less.

I give below details on the aids that ask for various levels of engagement.

1. You can begin with ‘baby engaging’ the rear legs with a 3-second aid mix I call ‘the connecting half halt’ or ‘the connecting aids’. When you connect your horse, you are engaging the hind legs to a point, as you are getting him to bring the rear legs underneath his body and then come on the bit.

Remember, though: these aids should not be vicious. If the horse is responsive usually to you, your aids should be simply a wee bit firmer than the normal pressure you apply with the legs and reins when you are simply riding your pony around.

2. We now come to ‘collecting half halts’ (in comparison to the half halt version described in 1 above), which are momentary closures of the seat, the leg and the hand. Collecting half halts lead straight to a far greater extent of engagement.

This half halt gets executed just when the horse’s inside rear leg is taking off from the ground. It’s not usable, though, unless the horse is already connected with a ‘connecting half halt’.

3. You utilize your inner leg as an aid to request increased ‘activity’ when on a particular gait. You use the inside calf to turn on the horse’s inner hind leg impulsion. This is vital for corners, circles and curves too if you are of the opinion that a walk, a trot, or a canter feels too lazy.

Squeeze with your interior calf to activate the horse’s inner rear leg to achieve greater engagement. You must time this so that it is done just as the horse’s inner hind leg is getting ready to take off. If you’re alert, you will be able to feel the precise moment, your inner seat bone either feels higher or feels like it is getting pushed forward.

4. All lateral exercises with a bend (haunches-in, shoulder-in, pirouettes and half-passes) engage the horse’s hind legs. When you bend the pony and give inner calf aid, he must increase the scale of bending of all the joints in his hind leg.

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The Wonderful Warmbloods History: Equestrian Sensation

November 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Over the last few years, the popularity of Warmbloods has mushroomed. These horses are being seen more frequently, especially in Grand Prix and Olympic quality events. Though the term warmblood is used in a very generic sense, there are actually several breeds of these horses, and each single breed has its own particular competitive edge.

Among riding horses around the world, the Hanoverian occupies a top position on the list of the most preferred breeds. This breed was essentially inspired by England’s King George II, who also ruled Hanover. He ordered Lower Saxony’s Celle Stud in 1735 to begin breeding a coach horse that will be appropriate for farming, too. The Hanoverian was born due to this order. The breed got absorbed into the military sometime in the later 1/2 the 19th century. This horse was generally utilized in the 1st World War. In the aftermath of the Second World War, the Hanoverian was crossed with Thoroughbreds to hone up its competitive instincts. This cross-breeding ended in horses that were powerful and extraordinarily springy and light of movement. These days the Hanoverian is most often seen at dressage events, cross-country events, show jumping and eventing.

The Selle Francais breed boasts of a few trotting bloodlines, and yet frequently outperforms the larger part of the competition at Grand Prix events and show jumping of Olympic class. The Selle Francais was the result of post-World War II cross breeding involving Trotter-Thoroughbred crosses and some lighter breeds from France. This breed received official recognition in 1958. In looks, it looks like big-boned Thoroughbreds. It has achieved gigantic success at competitions at the international level. It has become a super star at several disciplines, too. I have heard this breed spoken of as the very apex of everything a sport horse must be. The Selle Francois is a bold, powerful horse. Even though it excels at most equestrian disciplines, it is outstanding at show jumping.

The history of the Trakehner has 2 forks. This breed traces its origin to 1732 when Prussia’s Frederich Wilhelm I’s best studs were brought together for the express reason of producing a new super sort of cavalry horse. The mix included Thoroughbreds, Arabians and Prussians. By 1940, Trakehners had grown to a population of approximately 80,000. The history of this breed is decorated with an entire collection of gold medals from world-wide Olympic events. This breed is thought of as a premium one for dressage and three-day eventing.

The other branch of the Trakehner tree had to do with the Red Army of 1945, when East Prussia had been attached. Plenty of the army’s horses perished. At the conclusion of hostilities, just about 800 horses from the breed’s foundation stock were left. They were led across the frozen Baltic Sea to Western Germany. Only a 100 of them made it. More of this breed was distributed all over Europe, and more efforts were made to bring them all together. These efforts led to the saving of about another 1000 of them. The breed was rehabilated slowly over the 10 years that followed. The Trakehner is today considered one of the best of Warmbloods. Stallions are put through comprehensive tests and evaluation sessions to gain entry into stud books. This breed is among the world’s toughest. It is exceptional at show jumping and dressage.

If you go out hunting for an eventing horse, confine your search to Warmbloods. You can’t do better.

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Over Comming Horse Riding Fear

November 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

It is normal to feel some fear now and then when riding horses. You are astride an animal that outweighs you by a ratio of anything between 1:12 and 1:30, and that animal happens to be extraordinarily muscular, fast and sensitive.

Do you realise that some gratitude will go a long way in destroying those fears?

To start, bear in mind that more than 99 % of your fears are never realized. Given this scenario it is rather pointless to worry and fret and lose sleep over issues that will always stay restricted to your imagination. I think it was Mark Twain who said “I have been thru some appalling things in my life, some of which actually occurred.” He said it rather well.

Ditch the worrying habit. Instead , focus on the tons of things you’ve got to be grateful for… You can be grateful to oneself for everything positive in your life. Instead of worrying about getting bucked off, be thankful you are doing something millions of human beings aren’t: spending quality time with some of the most wonderful animals God ever made. Rather than worrying over whether you are making an ass of yourself at some competitive event, be thankful that you have got the physical and psychological faculties to actually participate in the event. Are you afraid of breaking a leg or an arm? Be grateful you have all 4 limbs intact and in working condition. Don’t like your job? Be grateful you aren’t out on the streets with a begging bowl in your hands.

Accept it or not, positive feelings like gratitude attract more things into your life that you’re going to have reason for feeling appreciation for. Try it out: get going with a gratitude journal. Each day, note down everything you should feel grateful for. See for yourself if this list grows larger as time goes by.

On particular devastating days, you would probably snarl “Nothing” for an answer if you’re asked to name some things you are thankful for. You would come up with more conclusive answers if you were asked what you could be thankful for.

Let’s see now, what are we able to come up with off the bat?

– Acts of kindness from strangers

– Your family

– Your wellbeing

– Your favourite horse

– Having the ability to afford to eat out tonight

– Dreams and daydreams

– Toilets that really flush

– A cleansing, calming rain

– Getting some appreciation after doing a good job

– Air conditioning

– Music

– The scent of gardenia

– A snooze

– Your pet dog

– Rainbows

– Popcorn while watching flicks

– Sunshine

– Electricity

– The lack of agony

– Old friendships

– Chocolate

– Home gadgets

– Good books

– Hot showers

– The scents of life (flowers, your child’s shampooed hair, the earth after rain)

– Eyesight

– Days off and vacations

– Laughter and giggling with others

– Rocking chairs

– A safe flight

– Breathing!

Eliminate fear with thanks. After you learn how to feel genuine gratitude, you will find that your horse’s behavior is abruptly not so frightening. His jumps won’t be too high or rather too long, the obstructions on the course won’t be so impossible and the judges won’t look quite so much like dragons in disguise.

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Stabling Options For Your Pony

November 4, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Unless you live out in the agricultural areas or own your very own ranch you’re going to need to put your horse up at an appropriate establishment not on your home premises. Since there are many horse lovers and pony owners living in most cities and towns, you may be able to find a horse boarding stable not far away from you. How much you pay for having your horse housed will depend upon the site of the stable and the amenities it offers.

The more economical stables would house your pony in a box or standard stall, with adjoining pasture for the horses to be turned out on. Usually, the pasture will be used by several horses, but it is possible you can pay for getting your pony a personal pasture. As the horse’s owner, its feed, water and exercise would be your responsibility, as would getting a groom to attend to it. You would also be answerable for all hospital treatment, including vaccinations. At establishments where you’ve got to prepare your own feed, you would possibly also have to pay extra for feed storage.

The more costly stables would probably have heated stalls and personal paddocks or maybe little pastures. They would take up the responsibilities of feeding and watering your pony, as well as exercising it. They might have the necessary staff including grooms, and have vets and farriers on retainer. A few of these deluxe enterprises can be phenomenally expensive, but do provide superior pony care for those owners who are not able to continually attend to their horses.

You might need to consider joint ownership of your horse if you’re on the road consistently, or if you’re only able to ride your horse infrequently for whatever reason. You can share the costs of stabling, feeding and caring for your horse with your joint owners. Such an arrangement will also work out to the advantage of your horse, since he would be getting more regular exercise and attention. In a similar fashion, if you’re able to ride only seasonally due to work or academic commitments, you can lease the horse to others in the periods you cannot get to him. This will enable you to keep him well exercised. The lease money you earn will also help with your stable expenses. Obviously, leasing does not necessarily imply transfer of ownership; it simply confers right to use until the lease runs out or is revoked.

If you are sufficiently fortunate to own at least an acre of land in a location suitable for housing your pony, you will be in a position to erect a barn or maybe a lean-to to shelter your pony. The structure should ideally provide safety from all elements, with box stalls, straight stalls and secured tack and feed rooms. It is essential that feed stock be kept out of the reach of horses, because overeating can bring about colic and colic can cause death.

The paddock or pasture should be fenced in securely, with fencing of posts and board or custom pony fencing. Do not use barbed wire, as it can cause cuts and wounds, which can on occasion be serious especially if the horse’s feet get snagged or trapped. All parts of the fence should be of strong material. Maintenance should be regular, and breaks especially in the fence should be attended to without any loss of time.

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Teach Your Horses To Canter On The Correct Lead

October 29, 2012 By Leave a Comment

It is usual for riders to experience difficulties with horses over canter leads. I give some exercises below that ought to help you get your horse to pick up on the lead correctly every time!

You ought to be on the walk for the first exercise. Every couple of steps, you must switch between leads on either side, right and left, to practice with your horse’s position.

Start with the left lead.

Get all your weight onto the left seat. Turn your left wrist like you would when you open a round door handle to flex the pony leftward. When you begin, your thumb should be the top part of the hand. Twist the thumb to your left, and take your small finger close to the withers, without crossing them. Right now, your nails or your knuckles should be pointing at your face. Move your hand back to its starting position with your thumb still at the top.

Gradually compensate with the right rein to make certain your horse does not twist his neck too far leftward. Your horse’s face must be about an inch away from neutral (neutral pertains to a horse’s posture when its neck and head are aligned straight in front, so that his chin is directly out from the middle of his chest).

Your left side leg should be on the horse’s girth as a strategy of saying, “Move to a canter”, while your right side leg should be sited about 2 inches behind the horse’s girth, so that he gets the cue to move into the canter with a left lead (he should set off with his outside rear leg so that he will be able to get on the correct lead).

For some strides, stick to this ‘left lead’ position for the canter before switching aids like you are asking for a canter on the right lead (if you remember, you ought to be on the walk thru all this), which means:

– Your weight rests on your right butt bone;

– The right side rein is flexing your horse’s head an inch to his right;.

– The left rein functions to like it was a side rein: it inhibits excessive bend in your horse’s neck.

– Right side leg on the horse’s girth.

– Left leg to the back of the girth.

Act as follows when it’s time to ask the horse to depart.

– As you did earlier, keep your pony on the inside;

– When asking for a canter depart, move the inner seat bone out toward the horse’s interior shoulder.

– Squeeze the girth gently with the inside leg to ask the horse to canter.

– Move the outer leg like a windscreen wiper to tell the pony to get its outside hind into the canter.

Verify that the lead is correct by:

– Peeking down at your horse’s front legs without moving your head. If the lead is correct, the front leg on the inside should be reaching more ahead than the front leg on the outside.

– Making a circle. If the lead is correct, you will have a well balanced canter.

If the lead turns out to be wrong, it is in all probability because you didn’t keep the horse bending through the body and flexing inwards during transition. The pony will naturally pick up whatever lead the bending and flexing causes him towards.

These 2 things should assist you with the horse’s bend:

1. Walking in a smaller circle will force the horse to bend more. A touch before you finish a circle, apply aids for the canter without letting go the bend. When the horse starts cantering, arc him out into a bigger circle.

2. Trot or walk in small circles. Leg yield (meaning push) the horse to the circle that is larger. With the inside leg on the horse’s girth, yield with your leg to help. When circling rightwards, try to imagine pushing the horse’s rib cage leftward while leaving his neck and hindquarters at the right.

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