Fitting A Horse Saddle

December 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

A saddle as you are aware is a contraption that’s mounted on a horse’s back to either enable riders to sit or loads to be placed. Though the word saddle is generally used within the context of horses, it’s really pertinent to arrangements that enable sitting or loading of any pack animal.

To the serious pony coach, pony saddles comprise a critical tool.

Saddles are found in several types around the world, but 2 types dominate: the English type and the Western type. These two types are used most in equestrian circles. Each pony riding culture has its own individual saddle type.

Saddle sizes

The frame the saddle is built around is mostly known as the saddle tree. The tree is normally constructed of wood or even fiber glass over which leather is stretched. This frame is designed in such a way it fits both rider and horse.

You ought to be extremely fussy when trying to find the right saddle. Poorly fitting saddles can seriously injure horses and riders. They can cause bruises and sores on the muscles of the horse’s back. Don’t purchase a saddle unless it comes with a test period and refund when necessary.

Make sure your tack is always clean and oiled to maintain its looks and condition.

Some tips: the fitting of the English saddle

-Lay on the saddle without padding and get the girth tight.

-Get someone to sit in the saddle with his or her feet in the stirrups.

-Try to slide in the fingers of one hand underneath the pommel. You should be able to easily slip in 3 fingers between the withers and the arch under the pommel.

-Check the saddle is not impeding free movement of the shoulder by getting someone to raise the foreleg on one side and move it outward and forward. Continue to check the fit with your fingers between the pommel and the top of the shoulder blade while this is being done. Do it again on the other side.

-Place yourself behind your horse and peer beneath the saddle. You should be able to see light when the horse lowers his head.

-Don’t use saddles of the wrong length. They ought to not extend over the loins.

Some tips: the fitting of the Western saddle

-Have padding of thickness of no less than one inch underneath the saddle.

-Fit the saddle on the back of the horse and tighten the cinch such that your fingers can be comfortably inserted between your horse’s skin and the girth.

-Get someone to sit in the saddle and check to verify if you’re able to fit three of your fingers between the withers and the pommel arch.

-Ensure the saddle is wide enough to sit comfortably on the pony. Try it out with three fingers extended from a flat hand into the space between the top of the withers and the saddle. If your fingers fit loosely, you have got a tree that is too narrow, and if your fingers are constricted, the tree is unduly wide.

Horses are Heather Tomspassion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers www.horsehorses.net

Filed Under: Horse Racing Articles Tagged With: , ,

The Bates Saddle With A CAIR Air Panel

December 5, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Ever since the year 2000, saddlers and riders have enjoyed the privileges of having a CAIR Air Panel system. A revolution and first of it’s type, Bates Saddles has surpassed itself with this invention that forever changed the art of making pony saddles.

While this saddle revolution is quite popular, certain riders still stick to the traditional saddles with fillings. This steadily gives them the sensation of being satisfied with what’s been familiar to them. If you’re one of them, give yourself a chance to find out more about the advantages Bates Saddles and its CAIR Air Panel system can offer you and your horse. After all, changing for the better is always good, right?

It gives your horses fluidity

CAIR saddles are made of air panels rather than normal fillings. This easily adapts to your pony once if you sit and put weight on it. An adaption like this only means less complicated movement, increase in relaxation and obviously, more impressive performance. Once your horse is more fluid, you will be at more ease and less effort will be exerted for control.

It controls your weight on the pony

A saddle stands as a supporting system. When you use a Bates Saddle optimized with CAIR system, it distributes your weight uniformly on the horse. Once your weight is balanced, the pressure put on the horse’s body will be well-distributed.

It makes room for better movement

Air adapts to just about anything. When it comes to the Bates Saddle, the air panels within move according to the way your pony moves. This continual shift will not interfere with your horse’s movement since both the air and the horse’s motion are in synchronization.

It fits different horses

A good selling point of the CAIR system is that it can be used and fit with different horses. It is made of air meaning it takes its shape on whichever it is fitted to. A saddle with conventional fillings, on the other hand, is supposed to be utilised by only one pony.

It gives longer riding time

When your pony is moving at ease and totally comfortable with the saddle it has on, you should expect longer and more enjoyable rides. Since a CAIR system is reinforcing its movement, your pony won’t easily get tired and suffer with wounds caused by a bad saddle.

A saddle plays a big part when talking about successful riding. If you select the wrong one but insist strongly upon your horse using it, it’ll only be a question of time until your horse grows feeble, seriously sore and sick.

The CAIR Air Panel System has proved itself to be one trustworthy, functional and efficient saddle. For 12 years now, it has made riders, saddlers and horses quite delighted. So the next time you consider investing on a good saddle, think of what’s most advantageous for both you and your horse.

Horses are Heather Tomspassion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers read more

Filed Under: Horse Racing Articles Tagged With: , ,

Western Horse Pleasure Riding

December 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment

When one talks about western riding, one thinks about broncos, chaps, Stetsons, lassos, rounding up and branding. That is the glamourized version, there is, however, a significant difference between the western riding style and the English one. The differences cover an entire range of mounted activities, but the big difference is that western riding uses western tack.

The western pleasure class is one of the highly popular elements of western riding. It is designed to help newbies adjust to show and trail riding. It enables them to gain the type of experience that would stand them in an excellent position in shows or on the trail.

When it comes down to competition, the western pleasure class has assorted requirements that depend on the governing body and the horse breed. The requirements also vary depending on the rider’s plans. In standard terms, western pleasure classes are judged fundamentally on a horses’ capacities to guarantee pleasing rides through their responsiveness, their attitude, and their movements. When you compete, you take charge of your horse’s movement. You hold the responsibility of making certain your pony is adequately schooled to provide a significant amount of riding pleasure.

Pleasure classes differ from events like trail, reining and western riding in that the competitor is not the sole ring participant, but is part of a bunch of competitors. The contestant does not get judged on an individual basis

I have 2 tips on western riding for you.

Tip 1 Discipline

A nicely behaved and cleanly turned out pony is extremely important for pleasure riding. You horse should show consistency in obedience, instant responses to cues and a pleasing demeanor. Your horse should not exhibit the common equine tendency of getting influenced by arenas: they get excited by the atmosphere, the crowds and the presence of other horses and they show their excitement.

It is vital, therefore , that you train your horse to be in control of himself at every point. You should have trained him to take in everything in and around the arena with equanimity, by stimulating arena conditions and injuring him to them. When a pony is trained like this, he sheds his bent to react with excitement or fear. Western pleasure rides don’t tax your pony physically, and so, it is absolutely a must that your horse exhibits an unruffled demeanor and a peaceful disposition. This will rely upon how well he’s been desensitized or ‘sacked’.

Tip 2 Horse-rider connection

Probably the most important scoring point in pleasure riding is coordination between rider and horse. Communication must be seamless, without any flaws. The rider has to show that he’s totally in control and that the horse is totally in compliance. This type of coordination can be achieved thru constant practice over a spell of time. While riding the trail, though, the only concern should be the safety and enjoyment of both horse and rider.

Confidence in both rider and pony is imperative. Judges will judge both on the effortlessness with which they’re going thru the routines. They will give you negative marks if your cues and commands are visible to them. This is one of their primary judgment factors: they should not be able to detect your communication with your horse. You can achieve a lot in this regard if you are fully alert to the fact that your energy infects your pony too , and you want to stay positive calm but also ready.

Horses are Heather Tomspassion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers click here

Filed Under: Horse Racing Articles Tagged With: , ,

Equine Degrees At Conners State College

December 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Based in Warner, Oklahoma, Conners State College is a public varsity offering a broad range of two-year associate’s degrees. This includes an associate’s degree in Equine Technology.

The Equine Technology course comprises theory lessons in subjects like anatomy and physiology, nutrition and also management and marketing. Scholars are also given practical exposure with participation in the breaking and starting of young horses. The student is then put through his selected subject for specialization. Scholars can go for either degree: Associate of Science or Associate of Applied Science. Once scholars graduate and finish off with either degree, they have the choice of looking for work as equine manager, breeders or assistant trainers.

Conners State College’s equine program will imbibe scholars with a powerful sense of horsemanship and responsibility. They’re also taught other skills necessary for success in the equine world. They are given masses of opportunities to interact with horse owners during their days in their programs.

Scholars are made to work on their skills in western equitation in the first semester of their freshman year. They then progress to starting colts and breaking them. 3 sessions make up the colt breaking time. A new colt is provided to each student from the beginning of every session; this implies each student gets to start three colts over the 3 sessions. Scholars are taught to improve their capacities as they gain more hands on experience.

Students begin the 1st semester of their sophomore year with a month of work on English equitation. When this period is over, they are put thru 12 weeks of specialization coaching in the field of the specialization they settled on. These specialisation fields include reining, roping and cutting. Scholars are required to start another colt at the start of their 2nd semesters. They’re given glorious chances to have interaction with breeders and trainers who share their specialisation interests during this externship, which goes through 8 weeks. Over this time period, the students get to work and ride with breeders and trainers, and this gives them plenty of practical hands on experience.

Facilities for equine course at Conners State Varsity are among the finest the US can boast of. Students have accessibility to some marvellous facilities including:

3 barns staffed with 50 personnel

A tack room

A feed room

A vet room

An inside arena of 100 x 250 feet

An outdoor arena of 150 x 300 feet

Round pens of 40, 60, and 100 feet.

Students at Conners enjoy great advantages over scholars at other similar establishments because Conners boasts of a couple of the country’s top instructors. These instructors are also awfully experienced at horse show competitions.

Horses are Heather Tomspassion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers http://www.horsehorses.net/

Filed Under: Horse Racing Articles Tagged With: , ,

Training Horses With The Light Touch

November 29, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Ever envied the riders you see at shows for their abilities to reputedly control their horses with some kind of thought transfer, some bizarre ESP, it would seem these riders have attained some kind of invisible, inexplicable and intangible communication links with their horses. They just choose something in their minds and their horses perform instantly.

These riders use what’s sometimes called the ‘light touch’ and I have news for you: you also can develop this talent. It is not some sort of other worldly talent that you will need to get kidnapped by aliens to attain. It is very much a worldly capability that is the result of tons of patience, hours of practice and bucket loads of mutual trust and harmony between you and your horse.

You start off on achieving this talent by getting into the right attitude. The right mind-set is this: it is simpler for you to think like a horse than for a pony to think like you. I’m unshaken in my conviction that the human brain is among the most amazing creations of God or nature or evolution, whatever you will. And with all due respect, the brains of other species including the horse are just not up to human standards. The human brain is a dynamo that is really capable of multiple lines of sight, multiple viewpoints, 360 degree convolutions. A horse’s brain is linear and omnidirectional. It concentrates on one line of sight, one viewpoint. Asking a pony to adapt to human thought patterns is like plugging a square hole with a round bung. Things are sure to fall through. That leaves you with only 1 option: you adapt to horse thought patterns.

Once you accept that, you have taken your first and most critical step towards the light touch. If you think like a pony, you know that horses are slightly stubborn, moderately moody and somewhat intelligent. Yet, for all that , they are extraordinarily receptive to the right kind of training: training with the light touch. Since horses can also be susceptible to taking advantage, you need to blend the light touch with a firm straightforward approach: the iron fist in an exceedingly soft, very well padded velvet glove.

So what’s the light touch, the light tough involves communication with your horse that is much more than oral and physical exchanges: it’s a sort of bond that permits the invisible transfer of an order and the near simultaneous execution of it.

The light touch means your pony steps forward into the halter and the saddle and all of the other gear; he doesn’t wait for you to force him into it. It means he tightens his torso as you tighten the girth. It suggests he stands rock still as you mount on, and then heads the way you want to go just about without any direction from you. It suggests he responds to the tiniest of near non-existent cues and commands the proper way. It implies he never gives you grounds for reprimanding him for slacking or disobeying, unless of course there are extenuating circumstances like sickness.

That kind of light touch is accomplished when there is perfect understanding between rider and horse, and that kind of perfect understanding comes with hours of training and rewarding. You can attain the light touch when responses to commands just about become natural for your pony.

Horses are Heather Tomspassion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers go here

Filed Under: Horse Racing Articles Tagged With: , ,

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.

Horses are Heather Tomspassion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers read more

Filed Under: Horse Racing Articles Tagged With: , ,

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.

Horses are Heather Tomspassion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers read more

Filed Under: Horse Racing Articles Tagged With: , ,

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.

Horses are Heather Tomspassion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers go here

Filed Under: Horse Racing Articles Tagged With: , ,

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.

Horses are Heather Tomspassion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers read more

Filed Under: Horse Racing Articles Tagged With: , ,

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.

Horses are Heather Tomspassion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers read more

Filed Under: Horse Racing Articles Tagged With: , ,