Essentials Required To Boost Your Horse Riding Skills

Every equestrian wants to become the ultimate in pony riding talents. Perfection may be close to impossible to reach, but the serious riders keep having a go at it anyhow.

Use these 5 simple techniques to raise your riding skills:

1. Study Others

Constantly study videos of other riders. You’ll learn a lot about right posture and wrong posture. The visible media is a very handy tool for human learning, and it may astonish you to know just how much the study of good riders can assist you in learning. Try and attend riding lessons and pay close attention to what the trainer is saying. He’ll be communicating a lot good riding tips which will benefit you. Develop the habit of looking into the way riders and horses interact; see how they pick up on each other’s cues. If you polish your observation powers, you’ll learn a good deal.

2. Work with a Professional Coach

One of the surest ways to put an edge on your horsemanship is to work with an expert tutor. Enrol yourself in riding classes run by experts. Even professional riders use trainers to keep their skills sharpened and keep on top. Good trainers spot issues straight away, and help you iron them out. They help you and your horse improve individually as well as jointly: the better your understanding with your horse, the better your riding.

3. Do a Better Balancing Act

Even with hacking or trail riding, you cannot be an accomplished horseman without a well developed sense of balance. A good sense of balance is needed not solely to keep you on top of your pony, its also critical for good coordination with your pony while riding. Riding bare back is one of the best methods of improving your sense of balance. Try riding your pony without stirrups and reins also. To do that, you need someone else to assist you, as the horse should be guided by a lunge.

4. Keep Fit

You can’t expect to reach peak performance unless you are awfully fit physically. Do not make the gaffe of presuming it is just your pony that must be in perfect physical condition. You ride better when you are physically fit. You can try Pilates, which has become the in style sort of fitness regime among horse riders. This regime boosts the condition of the center of your body: it will help build up abdominal strength, which helps with ideal balance and posture while on horseback. You can try any sort of effective exercise that builds up your body strength and flexibility.

5. Practice

In case you have any doubts, which you shouldn’t really: practice does make perfect! Workshops, training sessions, fitness regimes and observation are useless unless you are learning constantly and applying your lessons into practice continually. As with any other activity, the more that you work at it, the better you become.

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

Understanding And Curing A Roach Backed Pony

A roach back isn’t just an unpleasant physical deformation particularly on a horse, it is also a serious condition that may not be totally cured regardless of earnest efforts. For an equestrian who trains horses for horse riding and sport, a roach back needs to be fixed. Horses with such backs aren’t precisely ideal candidates for any activity concerning a rider. But what do you do when confronted with a mare with a roach back?

Understand the Condition

The physical nonconformity is a consequence of the affected pony not using her back properly. Developmental challenges that the mare has not overcome have made her back form badly, and consequently she can’t use it correctly. It’s important for an equestrian bent on making an attempt to fix a roach back pony to appreciate why the roach back came to be, as a steed’s reaction to treatments—especially body work—would be telling indications of where the agony or tenderness is and that would in turn tell the equestrian where to focus their work on. And a mare afflicted by a roach back will have no option except to respond to body work that’s changing how afflicted areas are formed and thus forcing her to relearn how to utilise them.

A pony that isn’t using her hind quarters and back correctly would necessarily tax parts of her body taking the extra load—usually her hind legs, especially from the stifles down. As such, she would need some treatment to ease agony or soreness of these parts.

Bony Horse Backs

In a few cases of roach back, a steed’s back may appear bony, perhaps even spiky. This is thanks to the pony not using his back and hindquarters like she typically should and as a result very little muscle has developed there. This suggests the deformed vertebrae is near to the skin, making the back look bony. To handle this issue and get your roach back pony ready for a minimum of horse riding outings, you need to bolster muscle development in those bony regions. How? Try using backing.

Backing would force your mare to use her hindquarters and her back, and that in turn would prompt muscle development in the right places. When done properly eventually your mare would develop just the correct amount of back muscle that would cover the bony appearance. Extend the usage of backing to develop lateral muscles by backing in circles in a round pen.

Trauma

A horse who’s gotten used to a roach back all her life will require special help solely to be rid of years of pain due to the condition. Even before it’s possible to start backing or body work, you as the equestrian first need to take care of any negative reactions that would impede the progression of the treatment applied to your mare. A great herb-based drug that helps calm horses and any reactions they may have is Eleviv.

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

How To Take Pro Horse Photographs

When you first took up the mantle to become an equestrian, you most likely had visions of you horse riding and perhaps even dreamed of taking part in dressage events. But did you ever see yourself as a shutter-bug? There are times when you want to take pictures of your horses, and not just any pictures, but photographs that show their strength, speed and beauty. Whether they’re for the purpose of advertising or promotion or to show off recent achievements in competitions, as a rider, you will find yourself taking pictures of your horses.

And it isn’t like you’re taking photographs to save the memory—most of the time footage are employed when you want to sell a particular stud of mare. Of course , pictures of an athletic horse performing dressage maneuvers certainly would leave a good impression on possible purchasers. But you do not need to just take any picture of your horses, you need to take good footage of them. And photography requires practice. Professionals even have degrees or certificates that attest to their photographic capabilities, so do not think you can do it how they do easily. There are a few tips you can follow to boost your pony photography.

For one thing, the film you use matters. Top of the range film renders prime quality shots. 200 ASA is great film for the 35 mm format. And if you’re going digital, you’d need higher pixel (or as it stands today, megapixel) counts. But don’t waste the top quality , high price film (or megapixel battery consumption) on a bad day. Pick good days when it’s not too dark and not so bright. Your pony would look best if the lighting isn’t too bright or otherwise. Too much sun causes darker shadows, and this won’t make for a nice picture ambience, especially for dark horses.

A note on preparing the horse you intend to take a picture of: except for making sure she’s clean and healthy, make her look her most beautiful. Use appropriate props, for example platted manes and oiled hooves if that is proper for her equestrian activity. Also, everything she is going to wear should likewise be clean and professionally maintained. The horse isn’t the one and only factor in the picture that needs preparation though, the background needs some preparation and thought too. It’s best to set her up against a uncluttered background. And any handler or rider appearing in the shot should look their finest also.

You might need an additional set of knowledgeable hands to deal with the pony since you will be doing the shooting. And when you start shooting, ensure you get the very best angle of the pony. Stay clear of going too much to the front or rear, as these angles have a tendency to enlarge specific bits of the pony. Try and catch the better part of whatever action you need your horse to be doing—capture a shot with her extending her leading leg while in a trot or canter, for instance. And ultimately, just keep at it: most picture perfect moments are accidental, so just click away and you’ll get the correct one.

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.

What To Look For In A Likely Dressage Champion

Any equestrian, even those who only accept weekend horse riding, but love horses and everything about them however, would at one point dream of entering a dressage competition. But when that really becomes a possibility , the mere act of selecting from potential dressage level steeds could be a hurdle to overcome. What do you look for in dressage level horse?

The pirouette, a canter the movements of which are likened to a coiled lion, is a perfect maneuver that you should usually picture in your brain. A horse that can perform this move gracefully is a horse you can take up through the levels of dressage. Picture the old portraits of the American Revolution heroes on horseback, balanced for battle. Their steeds kind of sit on their hindquarters, and their fronts seemingly become lighter.

Except for steeds to be well placed to accomplish that and many other higher level maneuvers, they should not only have the skills and display the talent they also need to be built in a physical standard that fits with the thorough demands of sport like dressage. So when looking for prospects, check for these:

Whithers higher than croup “Called the uphill build, this fundamentally means a horse has a higher neck set, which in turn means she will carry herself with ease uphill. Check to see if in the point where the neck meets the whither if the muscles are concave or powerful, and will it require (and does it have the potential to) be worked on to be in a position to handle higher level frames?

Necks that allow flexion “In short , the length of the horse’s neck must be not too short and thick, though not extraneously long as well such that it’s tough to compact the steed.

No evidence of being ewe-necked “A horse could be born with an ewe-neck or early coaching might cause her to develop one. You’d desire to search for a robust, clearly defined crest rather than an overdeveloped muscle under the neck.

A straight back “Straight, but not hollow.

Natural suspension “Particularly for the canter and trot, horses with natural tendency is preferred over horses that were simply trained to develop a talent for suspension.

Good walk “While the canter and the trot can be improved, it is toughest to address horses that simply do not have a naturally free, good, swinging walk.

Gait straightness and purity “Though not as critical as the above factors, it is still superior to buy horses that have built in abilities to both extend and also collect within gaits.

Bloodline “It can’t be denied that genes play a very important role in selecting horses for such sport as exacting as dressage, so it would definitely be an edge if you get a horse with bloodlines of previous champions.

You can look into purchasing or leasing schoolmasters, horses that have took part in dressage but are moved down a level for various reasons. Naturally, knowing more on the sport by watching such events would be a good way to discover what else you want to keep an eye peeled for when looking for prospects.

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 .

How West Nile Virus Impacts Your Horse

When an equine illness is so devastatingly dangerous as to threaten the lives of both the horses and the equestrians handling them in an outbreak, understanding what is fact and what’s myth about such illness is tantamount to proper pre-emption and prevention. The West Nile Virus, after taking both equine and equestrian lives, is one such very dangerous disease that is surrounded by myths that need to be put straight.

The Unsafe Vaccine: One such myth about the West Nile Pathogen that not only finished horse riding escapades but horse careers (as well as equestrian careers) concerns the vaccine developed to prevent it. The myth goes that the vaccine itself is deadly, and has caused the deaths of some steeds it was applied to. That’s simply not right. The vaccine developed by Fort Dodge and the Merial vaccine are both effective and safe. The thing is, when a horse is already infected, no amount of vaccination can save it. And that’s what doubtless started the rumour and the eventual myth: an infected pony was immunized and died of the disease.

West Nile is History: Most trainers and owners are happily going for horse riding sessions and shows without realizing the need to vaccinate their horses against the West Nile Virus because they think it’s a thing of the past. While it’s right that the occurrences of West Nile Virus contagion has decreased, many horses are still believed to be carriers of the virus that are either slow in showing symptoms or will never show any. Most animal and horse nationwide associations endorse vaccinating steeds each year particularly those at higher risk due to their mosquito-infested geographical areas.

One Vaccination is All that is Needed: Most trainers may think that a horse vaccinated from the West Nile Pathogen last year is still safe from the pathogen this year. Proof does suggest that some horses can resist the virus now if they were immunized a year back, but without yearly vaccination, a steed (and her owner) can never be really safe from the West Nile Virus. Contracting even a diminished sort of the illness can spell disaster, as this disease due to a virus has no known cure, and when infected, a horse may then go on to develop neurological symptoms, which it might then give in to sooner or later.

Vaccination Against Other Mosquito-Carried Diseases is Satisfactory Protection: Many an equestrian has settled on a vaccination shot of equine encaphilitis and thought it enough to prevent the West Nile Virus from infecting their pony, since both sicknesses are carried by a common culprit: mosquitoes. That isn’t right. The carriers might be the same, but the sicknesses, and their causes, are different. A vaccine for one disease doesn’t protect horses from anything apart from the disease it was intended for.

The West Nile Pathogen is indeed a pathogen that needs to be avoided at all costs, and believing misconceptions about it isn’t going to help. Except for knowing myth from fact, sanitation and hygiene is important, particularly cleaning up water buckets and other containers, and making certain that no stagnating water is around.

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.

Treating A Pony Suffering From COPD Or Heaves

One of the most difficult horse conditions to handle is COPD, or just pony heaves, particularly because the physical pain the steed is afflicted with during an attack can be very intense. A COPD attack during equestrian sport can cause a pony to pull out of competition, what with sustained coughing, flared nostrils, trouble breathing, and other symptoms of breathing distress. You can forget about horse riding if your mare is suddenly gripped by heaves.

In the past mostly aged horses suffered from heaves, though today, performance horses even in their prime can also be affected by the awful near-equivalent of human asthma. What this suggests for horse riders is a constant risk for fouling up in competition, and disturbances waiting to happen in other equestrian activities, even just plain horse riding. There are common ideas re heaves—particularly about its causes and permanence. COPD is believed to be triggered by allergens like mould or dust or hay—a more omnipresent factor in horse care and coaching. But observing performance horses and those with delicate personalities and corresponding lung or respiratory weakness will lead one to believe that stress—both physical and emotional, and it’s often true that both are at work at the same time—can also be a trigger for COPD attacks. Also, heaves is yet to be demonstrated to be permanently curable, but its symptoms during an attack can be alleviated and even pre-empted.

Some horses simply have weak lungs and breathing systems. These parts are most affected when they’re introduced to stressful circumstances. The hay or other allergens may still play a part, but we’ll target the stress-related factor, which may very well point out why performance horses that endure severe coaching for exacting equestrian sport develop the condition. Horses have parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous states. The parasympathetic nervous state is what’s ‘turned on ‘ in horses in a standard situation. But when reason to be alarmed pops up, they flip from parasympathetic to sympathetic state to engage the stressful stimuli with either the fight or flight reaction. Some horses experience attacks of heaves as soon as they’re going into the sympathetic nervous state.

Physical and emotional stress are indeed factors that develop and trigger heaves. If you’ve got a mare that’s puny in the lungs and rattles in the chest, then you’ve got a prime candidate for heaves. The straightforward act of horse riding in an unfamiliar environ can lead her to breathe heavier and start coughing.

Fortunately , there are methods to combat and diminish COPD symptoms and effects, specifically in the shape of administering adrenal supporting supplements; supplements like Eleviv. Eleviv can help ease effects of heaves in minutes, and can also pre-empt them by being present in feed or administered thru syringe before undergoing an equestrian activity or training exercise that can possibly put stress on the horse. Depending on the pony, you may even start feeding hay again as long as Eleviv is being administered.

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

Slow Horse Coaching Investment Always Yields A Higher End Result

Horses are often investments—meaning they have to be trained to do what they are intended to do so their owner can profit from them. Whether that’s trail riding, straight forward horse riding, show jumping, eventing, or dressage, owners need their investment to pay a return. A common mistake is to expect the investment to repay too quickly.

Once there was a big gap between eastern and western schooling methods. The difference mostly is in the rate or the pace in which the horses were trained with the objective they were intended. A dressage horse trained thru historic western orthodox techniques would begin its equestrian career early, and by the time it reaches its prime it would probably be retiring from dressage competitions. Whilst a horse trained through eastern orthodox coaching techniques would only be starting its career when the western trained horse retires. For the investor, the horse owners, the old western way means rapid profit. For owners of horses trained in the old ways of eastern training, they’d need to wait longer for their investment to return a profit, but they would reap the results of the investment for longer.

There are a few reasons as to the reasons why rushing a horse results in a shorter equestrian career. One is that almost all of the time training entails physical development in the steed. Their muscles need to grow used to the motions they are going to be doing for a lifetime. This means conditioning the muscles, getting them used to the required motions without straining them, and taking care to keep them that way. Another vital factor is that the routine established in training must be instilled effectively into the horse’s mind. This needs time. Whether or not a stud or mare can be taught to jump over sizable obstacles in a short while, you can’t expect it to perform the same way every time if it wasn’t given sufficient time to memorize the jumping motions such that it becomes virtually second nature.

There’s also a human aspect in this: the rider also needs time to learn his role and the way to effectively play his part. He must learn the best way to use his aids and what cues work best for his horse. Like the horse, if the rider is not given enough time to take everything to heart, this would result in a less than perfect execution of the routine and would in turn result in a dulling of both the horse’s and the rider’s sense for the routine.

So while there are trainers that are talented enough to teach horses lessons in as little as 3 to six days, the results won’t be as distinguished or lasting as a lesson taught in 3 to 6 weeks.

Next time you’re coaching your pony and her learning curve is slowing your pace, always recall that she best learns without undue haste.

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 stable rugs

Ponies Practice New Manoeuvres Whilst In Pasture

Horses have similar characteristics to humans, and a number of these can be used to overcome our equestrian coaching problems and learning blocks.

Horse riding is a recurring cycle of care, coaching, and then application of the things taught and learned till the pony in question is solid on her cues and knows how her rider wants her to respond in every situation. Before a pony reaches that stage , however , generous amounts of time and effort will unavoidably be consumed. And for such equestrian sport as dressage, an equine ballet of beauteous precision, rather more time and effort and frustration is a requirement. Thru the method of training, both trainer and horse can be stressful, compelling, and irritating. There are occasions when the health of a mare being trained might be put at risk—the danger coming from a trainer’s need for her to learn. Pushing her too hard beyond her tangible learning curve now would only function to stress her out and put negative stress on her. And administering performance boosters to young horses is likewise inadvisable as too much may endanger their health in the long term.

So it’s a good thing that like us as horse riders who learn on our own, so do our horses learn in pasture when they’re left to their devices.

This may be difficult to believe at first. But to see how it occurs, the next time you introduce a manoeuvre to your mare, observe her while in pasture thereafter. For instance, teach her to pivot around to reverse direction. This is a very unnatural move—horses go round in a semi-circle to reverse directions at freedom. After a session trying to teach her the lesson, ensure she’s got a handle on the basic motions, and do not worry about the move not being perfect yet. Give her a break and let her graze for a bit. Observe her as she grazes in pasture—instead of reversing direction the natural way (the half-circle) she will start reversing directions through the manoeuvre you taught her. Though the movements could be clumsy as she’s yet to polish them, seeing your horse do the move on her very own is amazing in itself. And as she continues using what she is learned to reverse direction, given time she’d inevitably become good at it. Every time you let her out onto pasture, she’ll continue to utilize any moves you’ve taught her in favour of what she initially knew. And the longer she uses them, the better she gets at them.

This suggests if we use this natural behavior of our horses we will teach them up to the point where they no longer display further progress, then just let them out to practice on their lonesome. This extra step in an equestrian coaching regime means we avoid putting too much pressure or administering too many performance improving drugs while letting ourselves rest too. And better yet—horses learn best when their lessons are spaced out at a regular interval and in between lessons they practice at liberty. Their practice-method of self learning is restricted of course; do not expect them to pull off any graceful dressage moves while in pasture.

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

A Horse’s Health Care Starts With Its Stomach

If you’d like a good steed that you can enter in reining, show jumping or dressage events, tune your horse’s medical care programme to improving the condition of its digestive system.

A number health worries that a pony can suffer with are directly related to the health of its digestive tract. As an example, a steed’s first line of defence against illness-causing agents is the healthy bacteria in its tummy. More therefore what’s accountable for the production of biotin, which is required for horses to have healthy tails, manes, and hooves, are the good bacteria again found inside the steed’s gut. Thus, an unhealthy bowels having a poor working small intestines or lower bowel or stomach can cause studs and mares to get colic, ulcers, food allergies, an unhealthy skin condition, a leaky stomach, and weight problems. In simple terms, a good horse is a product of a good guts and the converse also applies: an unhealthy digestive system makes an unhealthy pony.

So how does one go about taking care of your horses ‘ digestive system? The simplest key’s to increase the population of the good bacteria that flourish in their gut at a desirable, healthy level and keep them alive. If you are interested to know more about the technological foundation behind this or would like to know more about good bacteria in the stomach and their effects on horses, you can check out fascinating and educational websites on the net. There are currently several websites catering mainly to equestrian needs like health care for horses among others.

Basically, an equestrian just has to feed their horses a good meal rich with vitamins and minerals and those that promote the presence of live good bacteria in their gut. Give diet supplements if the food to be given doesn’t contain the indispensable amounts of minerals and vitamins to make a healthy pony. For steeds with delicate stomachs, be certain to give something to reduce the risk of getting colic. Better yet , provide them enough of the sort of food that can keep them from having ulcers. These sound simpler said than done, but in actual fact an equestrian can easily provide all of these by mixing a few ingredients to make a tasty pony supplement recipe.

These are some suggested ingredients that should be incorporated to make a nutritious home made horse supplement: beet pulp or hay (a lot of them) to stop stomach acids that cause ulcer; a dose of acidophilus or bifidus to keep an elevated level of good bacteria; blue-green algae and mangosteen juice, the trace minerals and antioxidants of these mix to heal stomach ulcers; and Eleviv, which is especially beneficial for traumatized horses by helping them transition from a fight or flight nature to a more placid nature.

Gather the ingredients and do some mixing in your kitchen for a nutritious horse feed that boosts their digestive system and therefore their general health. Give this supplement constantly to your horse and you will soon find yourself riding a gorgeous, healthy mare.

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 stable rugs

Interpreting Your Horses Expressions To Boost Training Results

A good equestrian knows how to read her horse’s expressions. Because before you can teach your mare dressage movements or even just enjoy riding her, you have to implant the basics in her first, which entails her understanding you and you understanding her. And our equine pals can’t exactly let us know how they feel—we have to read their expressions. We’ll take the practice of basic roping for instance.

It isn’t difficult to find a roping teacher or lesson thanks to roping clinics. Trainers who set up such clinics usually provide manuals or at a minimum advise the equestrian to accustom their pony to ropes and prepare the animal for the actual roping clinic.

Manuals that are meant to accustom horses to ropes or lassos as preparation for roping training have detailed instructions regularly with large graphics to better aid the owners in understanding how to carry out the lesson and thus prepare their mares. With such manuals, you should not have an issue preparing your equine partners, unless they’ve had a bad experience connected with ropes. I they have then ropes would definately make your horse panic when you try and rope her.

A pony, for instance, which was roped to be caught when it was three and was sent to be gelded, shod, and trained, in all chance has since developed fright of ropes. The rope is associated to being caught and the negative experience that followed. You should expect such a horse to gallop away at the appearance of a rope or lasso, and wouldn’t stop unless a wall it cannot jump over is in the way.

So what do you do when your mare has developed fear of ropes or, for some unknown reason, panics when you get into the saddle and start to lift the rope off the saddle horn? You can go to an expert, a pony trainer, to get some assistance. A plan of action much like the following would probably be recommended:

Return to the groundwork level. While holding the rope, quietly stroke your mare. Then start swinging the rope at you side. It is understandable if the horse accepts your strokes while you’re holding the rope but will panic after you start swinging the rope. What you need to do is continue softly swinging the rope and keep an eye out for signs from your mare indicating the she is thinking. Horses blink, twitch their ears, breathe quicker, or quiver their lips when they think. These are your cues that your mare is thinking—most likely, processing what you are doing or making an attempt to do. When you see a sign that your pony is thinking, stop swinging the rope and praise him.

“Release” your horse from that part of the lesson. She has already recognized the exercise and is prepared for a repeat or another exercise. When you see your horse snorting, breathing deeply, moving her feet, licking or chewing or both, yawning, shaking her body or head, or dropping her head, then that indicates that you can release her from the lesson.

Horses have their own way of expressing themselves. A good equestrian should focus not only on dressage-level routines but should also take time to learn a horse’s expressions and how to translate them to better understand her equine friend. She should similarly help the mare get over her fear, if there’s any.

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 riding hats