Ross' Soap Box
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13 June '10
This is such a tragic photograph of one of the victims of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of mexico. It's hard to imagine a worse fate for some of those poor creatures.
I know BP is to blame for the leak, but I think we all must carry some burden of blame too for our inexhaustible thirst for oil and it's products. We all talk about how our dependence on oil is leading us down a road to eventual disaster, but when I look at the amount of unnecessary plastic packaging in our supermarkets and our roads clogged with cars I don't feel any of us are taking it nearly as seriously as it deserves.
Rain
We have had an awful lot of rain in the past week. I measured nearly 50 mm since last weekend! It has caused us some delay with getting horses worked. Even now the arena, yard and paddocks are bogs. But I guess it solves the problem of getting the horses okay with being ridden through puddles. The Kawasaki Mule we bought last week has worked hard this week and we really tested it's ability to handle carrying heavy loads through the mud. I'm glad we had it to ease our backs, but feel a little guilty that it is further proof that Michele and I are not doing all that we could to reduces our thirst for oil.
The Bucking Horse
We had a horse arrive this week with a bucking issue. It's a 14 year old Standardbred gelding that has a pretty sweet disposition. He seems to get very lost when being ridden. He desperately seeks to be somewhere else and the bucking is triggered when the rider gets in the way of his idea to be somewhere else. Helping him to stay focused on the rider is the key to solving his problem. Instead of allowing this horse to mentally wander away and then telling him he can't, the thing to do is not let his mind wander so far before giving him a job that gets his mind back on the rider. This is particularly important when another horse distracts his attention. He can really get fixated on other horses when he is ridden.
I'm sure this horse will come through fine, but it is discouraging that with all his years of riding and handling that he acts like a horse on his first couple of rides. The things I am working on with this horse are the things you expect to be addressing on a young breaker, not a 14 year old veteran.
Foal Training Video
Hi Ross,
Not sure if you have seen this video of foals at Parelli. If every foal had someone invest this time with them then how different life would be for horses.
Click here
Regards
Fiona
Thanks Fiona.
I applaud the message on the clip that handling foals early can be very beneficial to their development and later training. But I have mixed feelings about these types of "feel good" promotional videos. The clip makes it look like handling foals is fun and joyful and everything is lovely. At no point in the film does it tell you what you might do if the foal does not want you to touch it or runs to the end of the paddock if a big green ball shows up or won't follow it's mother into a trailer. I think it can leave an inexperienced person believing that foal training is a fairytale process and if it doesn't turn out like the Parelli tape there must something wrong with the horse or the handler. It's not real.
I can relate a story about a foal owned and bred by a high level and long established Parelli trainer in the US. He showed me how quiet and well handled his foal was when I went around to his place. He had taught it the trick of taking a cigarette from his shirt pocket. At the time I thought the foal was pushy and a little too much in charge. About 6 months after my visit I heard that the foal had bitten his wife on her breast really badly. So handling a foal well is not always about soft guitar music and lovely picturesque scenery. In fact, it's not much different from handling and training an adult horse.
But again I do agree with the notion that we should be handling foals young and offering them good training and experiences from an early age. The old idea of leaving a foal alone until it is ready for the breaker is just making life harder for horse and human.
We have had an awful lot of rain in the past week. I measured nearly 50 mm since last weekend! It has caused us some delay with getting horses worked. Even now the arena, yard and paddocks are bogs. But I guess it solves the problem of getting the horses okay with being ridden through puddles. The Kawasaki Mule we bought last week has worked hard this week and we really tested it's ability to handle carrying heavy loads through the mud. I'm glad we had it to ease our backs, but feel a little guilty that it is further proof that Michele and I are not doing all that we could to reduces our thirst for oil.
The Bucking Horse
We had a horse arrive this week with a bucking issue. It's a 14 year old Standardbred gelding that has a pretty sweet disposition. He seems to get very lost when being ridden. He desperately seeks to be somewhere else and the bucking is triggered when the rider gets in the way of his idea to be somewhere else. Helping him to stay focused on the rider is the key to solving his problem. Instead of allowing this horse to mentally wander away and then telling him he can't, the thing to do is not let his mind wander so far before giving him a job that gets his mind back on the rider. This is particularly important when another horse distracts his attention. He can really get fixated on other horses when he is ridden.
I'm sure this horse will come through fine, but it is discouraging that with all his years of riding and handling that he acts like a horse on his first couple of rides. The things I am working on with this horse are the things you expect to be addressing on a young breaker, not a 14 year old veteran.
Foal Training Video
Hi Ross,
Not sure if you have seen this video of foals at Parelli. If every foal had someone invest this time with them then how different life would be for horses.
Click here
Regards
Fiona
Thanks Fiona.
I applaud the message on the clip that handling foals early can be very beneficial to their development and later training. But I have mixed feelings about these types of "feel good" promotional videos. The clip makes it look like handling foals is fun and joyful and everything is lovely. At no point in the film does it tell you what you might do if the foal does not want you to touch it or runs to the end of the paddock if a big green ball shows up or won't follow it's mother into a trailer. I think it can leave an inexperienced person believing that foal training is a fairytale process and if it doesn't turn out like the Parelli tape there must something wrong with the horse or the handler. It's not real.
I can relate a story about a foal owned and bred by a high level and long established Parelli trainer in the US. He showed me how quiet and well handled his foal was when I went around to his place. He had taught it the trick of taking a cigarette from his shirt pocket. At the time I thought the foal was pushy and a little too much in charge. About 6 months after my visit I heard that the foal had bitten his wife on her breast really badly. So handling a foal well is not always about soft guitar music and lovely picturesque scenery. In fact, it's not much different from handling and training an adult horse.
But again I do agree with the notion that we should be handling foals young and offering them good training and experiences from an early age. The old idea of leaving a foal alone until it is ready for the breaker is just making life harder for horse and human.
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11 June '10
I would be very interested to have a glimpse into the mind of the person who asked the question "how can I combine show jumping with rollerblading?"
Seville Clinic
Des Miller has informed me that there are still a some places available for the 1 day clinic in Seville on June 26. If anybody is interested in more information please contact Des. Her details are on the schedule page.
Fixing A Problem Before It Happens vs Not Letting A Horse Make Mistakes
I have been thinking about the importance of allowing a horse to make a mistake. I see many people try to prevent their horses from getting it wrong. I sometimes call this "putting them in a box". I was reminded just in the past couple of days how common it is for us to stop a horse from exploring his options and nip in the bud anything a horse might try which we don't want.
The question that comes to my mind is that if we don't let our horse try something, how does he know it is right or wrong? It seems to me that only by exploring an option and then having the rider make that not work out nearly so well as the option we did want him to try, that a horse can learn what works best for him. Let him test his idea and find out that he could try something that works better. I have said all this before, but I see some confusion in people between fixing things from falling apart before they fall apart and preventing a horse from exploring wrong answers.
When I am working with a horse I try my best to be ahead of the trouble. As I feel a horse getting ready to have a thought I don't want him to have or making preparations with his body to do something I don't want him to do, I try to intervene early to get a change of thought and head off the trouble. But this is not the same thing as stopping a horse from exploring alternative ideas. For example, if I am riding a circle and I feel my horse look to the outside or sense he is about to drift from the line that the circumference of the circle makes, I might to do something that puts his thought back on that line. But some people might keep a firm contact on the outside rein for the entire circle whether the horse is going to drift away or not, to prevent him from exploring the option of leaking out of the circle. They expect he might execute a crooked circle and never let him find out for himself that it's not a good idea. He never learns to travel straight in his circles without being confined between the reins. Being balanced and correct on the circle is never his idea, it is just something that is imposed on him by the outside rein.
Another common example is when a rider flexes their horse's head around to them as they go to mount. It is most often done just in case the horse attempts to walk away as the rider mounts. But I feel that if I let my horse explore walking away and then I bend him around until he stops moving and softens to the rein, he will learn that life is a lot easier for him if he just stands quietly while I get in the saddle. Walking away is not a good option because the idiot human makes him bend and disengage his hindquarters - it's just all too much work for the poor horse - so he stops walking off. But to bend a horse's head around just because he might move seems to me to be telling a horse to bend for no reason. He still doesn't know that moving while the rider mounts is the wrong response. He just knows that when the rider gets on he is suppose to flex around. But because he was flexed around even before he had the thought to move, there is no reason he would associate that walking away when being mounted caused him to bent around by the rider and therefore moving his feet was a bad idea. Moving and being bent around are two disconnected events.
The difference between stopping a horse from making wrong choices and fixing a problem early may appear to be quite small. Perhaps I haven't explained it properly. It seems a hard concept for some people to grasp. But I think to the horse there is a very real and big difference. In the final outcome I believe horses that have learned by being allowed to make mistakes are horses that have more confidence in following a rider's direction. They are also capable of being okay without a rider micro managing their every movement. So many times Michele and I see horses that have a lot of formal education in dressage and jumping that almost fall apart when trotted around on a loose rein. They don't know what to do and often get frantic by the lack of directing. These horses are constantly ridden in a box and never allowed to explore the alternative responses. When they are given the freedom to make decisions with little input from a rider it worries them and they can become really lost. It's very sad to see because most of them probably didn't have these problems when they were broken in.
Des Miller has informed me that there are still a some places available for the 1 day clinic in Seville on June 26. If anybody is interested in more information please contact Des. Her details are on the schedule page.
Fixing A Problem Before It Happens vs Not Letting A Horse Make Mistakes
I have been thinking about the importance of allowing a horse to make a mistake. I see many people try to prevent their horses from getting it wrong. I sometimes call this "putting them in a box". I was reminded just in the past couple of days how common it is for us to stop a horse from exploring his options and nip in the bud anything a horse might try which we don't want.
The question that comes to my mind is that if we don't let our horse try something, how does he know it is right or wrong? It seems to me that only by exploring an option and then having the rider make that not work out nearly so well as the option we did want him to try, that a horse can learn what works best for him. Let him test his idea and find out that he could try something that works better. I have said all this before, but I see some confusion in people between fixing things from falling apart before they fall apart and preventing a horse from exploring wrong answers.
When I am working with a horse I try my best to be ahead of the trouble. As I feel a horse getting ready to have a thought I don't want him to have or making preparations with his body to do something I don't want him to do, I try to intervene early to get a change of thought and head off the trouble. But this is not the same thing as stopping a horse from exploring alternative ideas. For example, if I am riding a circle and I feel my horse look to the outside or sense he is about to drift from the line that the circumference of the circle makes, I might to do something that puts his thought back on that line. But some people might keep a firm contact on the outside rein for the entire circle whether the horse is going to drift away or not, to prevent him from exploring the option of leaking out of the circle. They expect he might execute a crooked circle and never let him find out for himself that it's not a good idea. He never learns to travel straight in his circles without being confined between the reins. Being balanced and correct on the circle is never his idea, it is just something that is imposed on him by the outside rein.
Another common example is when a rider flexes their horse's head around to them as they go to mount. It is most often done just in case the horse attempts to walk away as the rider mounts. But I feel that if I let my horse explore walking away and then I bend him around until he stops moving and softens to the rein, he will learn that life is a lot easier for him if he just stands quietly while I get in the saddle. Walking away is not a good option because the idiot human makes him bend and disengage his hindquarters - it's just all too much work for the poor horse - so he stops walking off. But to bend a horse's head around just because he might move seems to me to be telling a horse to bend for no reason. He still doesn't know that moving while the rider mounts is the wrong response. He just knows that when the rider gets on he is suppose to flex around. But because he was flexed around even before he had the thought to move, there is no reason he would associate that walking away when being mounted caused him to bent around by the rider and therefore moving his feet was a bad idea. Moving and being bent around are two disconnected events.
The difference between stopping a horse from making wrong choices and fixing a problem early may appear to be quite small. Perhaps I haven't explained it properly. It seems a hard concept for some people to grasp. But I think to the horse there is a very real and big difference. In the final outcome I believe horses that have learned by being allowed to make mistakes are horses that have more confidence in following a rider's direction. They are also capable of being okay without a rider micro managing their every movement. So many times Michele and I see horses that have a lot of formal education in dressage and jumping that almost fall apart when trotted around on a loose rein. They don't know what to do and often get frantic by the lack of directing. These horses are constantly ridden in a box and never allowed to explore the alternative responses. When they are given the freedom to make decisions with little input from a rider it worries them and they can become really lost. It's very sad to see because most of them probably didn't have these problems when they were broken in.
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8 June '10
It's been an incredibly busy few days which is why it has been several days since I last posted.
Michele arrived back on Sunday and she looks great. She came home with nearly 500 photos and lots of stories. I'm glad she had such a good time, but it's wonderful to have her home. Our dog, Snazzy felt the same way because she almost killed Michele with love when she saw her. Me and the animals all agreed that life is so much better with Michele in it.
Our latest acquisition arrived yesterday - it's a Kawasaki Mule all terrain vehicle. Harry has owned one for a long time and we have yearned to own one for just as long. Finally, we have one and it has already proved its worth. I reckon in a week we will wonder how we ever got along without it.
The Difference Between a Horseman and a Rider
I was thinking about how so many people have years of training in becoming a good rider, yet so few are good horsemen (or women). Recently I witnessed a well known and very successful rider working a young horse. The horse was quite a handful just to lead to the arena. There was a lot of leaping around and pulling away. When the horse got to their arena, the rider immediately saddled up and leapt on and rode off. The horse was instantly expected to carry itself in a frame and be very forward. Quite a lot of pressure was put on the horse to submit to the rein and leg aids from the start.
I have no problem with the fact that the rider expected her horse to listen and give to the aids. But I was really surprised that no consideration was given to the fact that the horse was clearly as tight as a violin string. It did not seem to be any concern to this esteemed rider that the horse was a mental basket case. The only thing that was important was that the horse obey the seat, legs and reins.
The little I know about the rider in question indicates that the thing they are good at is riding. They know nothing about ground work. They know nothing about settling a horse's mental state or working with a horse or directing a thought. The know nothing about teaching a horse to lead or go onto a float or to tie up or to stand still. They know nothing teaching anything very much except to submit and give in. Their approach is to bully a horse into a response because that's all they know - not how to teach a response
Unfortunately this is not so uncommon. It is my experience that many of the most successful riders competing at all levels have little experience or skill at the basics of horsemanship beyond what they may have learned at pony club. I find this amazing, but true. I'm not picking on the one person that I happened to see recently, because I have seen it all my life - especially when I was competing on the show circuit.
It appears that as long as a horse is competitive enough for a placing at an event, whatever else they may do outside the competition is not so important.
But what I don't understand is how anybody can expect a horse that is spending such a large part of its energy fighting and resisting the rider to be performing at it's best? Even if it is beating the rest of the field, it can't be doing the best it has to offer. It must be falling short of it's potential.
A few months ago a rising star in the competition world described himself as a rider and me as a horseman. I took it as a complement, but I still can't quite work out how a person can be a rider without being a horseman. I wouldn't want to just ride horses if I couldn't get along with them pretty well.
The Beginning of Teaching Lateral Movements
Hello Ross
Hope your are coping without Michele, Hope she is having a wonderful time. Is she back yet? I believe she said she was only going for 10 days?
Two questions;
Because the paddocks are boggy on my property the most I can do with Nicky is an active walk, sometimes I can have abit of a trot but it is quite yuck and she tends to trip so I have resorted to just wandering around and making sure that she yields to the rein softly. So that I was not boring her and myself for that matter I thought I would try to get her to cross her forehand by responding to my leg which she has not been taught and I believe that I was confusing her because she was stepping forward not to the side. The thing is she was trying to do something just not what I was asking so stopping her and asking again over and over just caused her some anxiety and she let me know with a little buck. I stopped persisting as I was not being clear caused her confusion. Is this something you could explain in an email?
Does Nicky need supplements or is she lacking something? On the weekend I observed Nicky having a nibble on Prince's freshly laid manure patch, I have never seen this before, do you have any thoughts?
Just to let you know I have been putting Prince's jacket on him for the last two weeks and he has been quite good with it, don't know how he would go if it got snagged but then again don't know how Nicky would go if she got snagged, take it off him when I go home just incase. Funny thing is that he doesn't mind his jacket but he doesn't like Nicky with her jacket on. He chases her around the big paddock trying to rip it off with his teeth. He chased her around for about fifteen minutes, at first I though I would let them sort it out but he was harassing her so much that I had to go get her and take it off, they were both a dripping mess from all the chasing. Maybe he has the same thought on jackets as you do :)
Kindest Regards
Irena
In order to get a horse to step to the side rather than just go forward you need to stop or slow down the forward. A horse's first reaction will normally be to go more forward when you use more inside leg. It's to be expect at this stage. But in order to turn the energy for forward into an energy for side ways you need to do 2 things. First you must either inhibit or prevent all together the forward movement. If you want a diagonal side ways movement then you slow down or partially inhibit the forward. But if you want a lateral step 90 deg to the direction of forward, then you have to totally stop the forward steps. The second part is that once you have blocked or partially blocked the forward you now have to give the horse somewhere else to go. If you don't he may rear or back up or something else you don't want. Let's say you want your horse to move laterally to the right. Once you close down the forward movement, open up your right rein to the side while using your left rein to keep a small left bend in the your horse. You may need to keep some life in him and have to use some leg too to prevent him from stalling. There is balance between the forward and sideways movement that your reins need to juggle. At first accept any little try. You might find at first that he moves his front feet sideways, but not his hind feet. - that's okay for now. Build on any little try. It's important that your horse gets a clear signal that a side ways movment is what is being asked for, so if he continues to push forwards without any lateral energy you must shut down the forward totally until you get at least a shift of weight that might be a preparation to step laterally. Don't allow your horse to push forward through the reins - even if you are wanting a diagonal movement (ie, forward and sideways at the same time).
That's the essentials of teaching the beginnings of lateral work. But there are many ways that people use to help get it started. For example, some people face their horse to a fence or wall and use the aids I just mentioned to teach the side ways movement. Having your horse face a fence or wall takes the worry out of trying to inhibit the forward movement. But it can make a little harder for later on when you are trying to teach 3 track lateral movements (a topic for another time). Other people prefer to begin on the circle or a turn in the corner and use the outside rein and inside leg to encourage a horse to leak out of the turn. This has the advantage of being more like the work you might want to do later on when he is more established such as teaching shoulder in, traver etc. So the transition to more advanced lateral work is smoother IMO. Often I begin teaching this work through demi volte and back to the track - which is sort of begins with a small half circle and a diagonal side pass back to the track.
There are many ways to do the same thing, but they all being with having your horse really soft and responsive to the reins with both his forehand and his hindquarters.
re: the supplements. I think only a blood analysis can tell you if your horse is mineral deficient. If she is looking poor and you have concerns have her checked out.
I'm glad Prince has taken to the rug okay.
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3 June '10
Teaching The Response To The Rider’s Leg
Yesterday I was discussing with a client about using the legs to ask a horse to move when you first start riding them. Some people seem to assume that it is natural that a horse would go forward when the rider nudges them with the legs. It's like that it was hard wired in utero for a horse to understand that leg means forward. Of course, this is not true. When a horse begins it's life with a rider on board, there is nothing that has prepared it for knowing that when the rider uses the legs against its side that it should move forward. The response to the rider's leg needs to be taught - like anything else.
A lot of trainers will use methods like simultaneously slapping the horse with a rope around its hindquarters and applying leg to motivate a horse to move. Some trainers will throw hands, seat and legs at the horse simultaneously to get him to move - like you might see a jockey riding a horse to finish line. Others will thump the horse's sides with their legs with all they have and even jab spurs into the horse to make the go. All these methods can work. They can get the horse to move. But the thing they all have in common is that they put a flee into a horse. When the horse is first being ridden and moves in response to a slap on the rump or jab with a spur, he does so to escape from the pressure. He is frightened into moving. It does not come from searching through his options, but from a reaction to a sudden, strong pressure. In time and with enough repetition the horse will learn to respond to a rider's leg. He can learn not to get frightened, but to respond in a way that he is confident he knows the answer. But there is always a percentage of horses that the worry about a rider's leg pressure persists all their life. Some of these over react to the leg and rush forward. These horses often struggle to find a steady rhythm because there is a constant hurry in them. Other horses become very resentful of the rider's leg and will often pin their ears or try to bite the ride on the leg or will cow kick with one hind leg when the rider applies leg pressure. There are a variety of reactions this type of horse can give. But in the end it often stems from the way they were taught to move forward off the rider's leg.
Teaching a horse to respond correctly to a rider's leg should be done in steps and not rushed. This is one area where the notion of accepting the smallest try is particularly important. For a horse there is a big difference between using enough force to cause a horse to move and using enough pressure to motivate him to search for what to do. This is one of the areas where allowing a horse to search will never be a mistake. You have to do enough to cause him to search through his options, but not so much that he is scared into moving. Plenty of preparation from the ground can be very helpful. For example you might stand beside your horse and gently bump him with the stirrup to encourage him to try something. If he is experimenting with his options there is no need to be firmer, just wait until he gives you what you want and the stop bumping. If he is staring out across the paddock at his mates, then you might need to bump a little firmer until he tries something else. This can really help a horse make the transition of something bumping against his side meaning to go forward, when a rider is on top.
Horses are their own worst enemy. I say this because they are so amazingly submissive and compliant that they will still sort of do what we want and sort of still be safe to ride even when we do a crap job of training them. They allow us to be really bad horse people and get away with it. If they were less submissive and more demanding on us there would be a lot fewer professional trainers and hardly any riders.
Rosie From Darwin
Hi Ross,
Just thought I would write and give you an update on Rosie (who you called 'Connie' as she is a Connemara pony), who you started under saddle for me back in 2008. At the time I had thought she was 3 1/2 years old, but on tracking down stallion return to have her registered, she was actually only 2 1/2 at the time!!
Last year, since her arrival up here in Darwin with me, I worked her fairly lightly. Usually 3 or four rides a week, which included some arena (dressage) work, and riding out, and some lunging. Initially I had quite some difficulty with transitions from trot to canter in the arena, so left any canter work and transitions to when we were riding out. We have overcome this though, although she can still be a little sticky when the mood takes her. She will always have an opinion I think!!
This year I have been taking her to Darwin Horse and Pony Club rallies, and she has been a great pony for this. She competed with me in an adults games team in the Northern Sheilds competition, and has also done flatwork, jumping and horse soccer at the rallies. If my 6 year old son wanted to ride at Pony Club, he rode her with me leading, and he has also attended a couple of shows with me leading her, including fancy dress classes in which he is a pirate, and Rosie is dressed up as the pirate ship 'The Black Pearl'. For a young pony, she really has done a lot, and does it well.
I shall attach a few photos of her for you.
Tearna
Thank you so much for the update. It's wonderful to hear that Connie is so loved and getting lots of attention. It doesn't surprise me that you have had some issue with her transitions because I do remember that she hd a natural tendency to not be very forward. Besides who wants to be in a hurry to go anywhere in the heat and humidity of Darwin. She probably thinks you're crazy for wanting her to rush anywhere.
She looks fantastic and you look like you are enjoying riding her. I really like the beach photo. It's a hoot to ride along a beach. Thanks again and please stay in touch. I hope if you ever get down this way that you'll drop by for a cuppa.
Hi Ross,
I just read the letter from Judy re Mud Fever on your blog, and I wanted to help. I have been battling with mud fever on Pru this year as you know, and I have tried numerous remedies without success. This included 2 x antibiotics from the vet, creams from O/S, and I also tried your remedy and I found that it was too severe for her already sensitive skin.
I was at my wits end until I decided to ring Robyn Gooze – a lady that advertises in Horse Deals about a remedy she has for mud fever. Robyn was most helpful and got the remedy out to me asap and has kept in touch with me to see how Pru is going. I will let your readers be the judge, but the photos says it all, and this is only after a week.
Anyone who is having problems with mud fever / photosensitivity, give Robyn a call – you won’t regret it!!! Robyn phone number is 07 5478 9919
Des
Thanks Des. I am happy to pass along this information.
It seems everybody I talk to has a recipe for treating mud fever/rain scald. I tried several approaches before a friend put me onto the treatment I suggested. It worked a treat for Six, but as you found out it may not be the best method for every horse and there are more ways to tackle the problem.
Thanks again.
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1 June '10
I have added the Soap Box from May into the archives and you can access them by clicking on the link in the sidebar. I have also added a new story to the Story page.
It seems to be the season for horses that are into self mutilation. Birch has cut the front of her hock in a fence and a client's horse has acquired it's second hoof abscess in 2 weeks. I'm just waiting for Six or Riley to find an excuse as to why they shouldn't be saddled!
Mounting A Horse
Since I was discussing methods for mounting and safety issues last week I came across this clip from YouTube. I am so impressed by this technique that I am thinking of including it in our teaching.
All I can say is "what a super patient horse"!
Save The Kimberley Brumbies
Hi Ross,
I hope this email finds you well, and not *too* over-worked in Michele's absence!
Apologies in advance, as I don't normally forward things, but I received this email tonight and wondered if you could please help spread the word to help the plight of these horses?
http://www.animalsaustralia.org/take_action/save-kimberleys-wild-horses/
Regards,
Miriam
I don't know anything about this cause, so I don't know if I am for or against. However, I am happy to post it and let people make up their own minds.
Mud Fever
Dear Ross,
My horse has what I thought at first was mud fever. I had used lots of suggested remedies, which all worked temporarily, but did not keep it at bay for very long. The vet came and took the scabs off twice after sedating our horse and the horse had quite a few jars of predniderm slathered on him. He also had his legs washed, gladwrapped and scabs removed as well as we could. I bandaged his legs every night. This just made his legs itch more and he learned how to get the bandages off within an hour of them being put on! I persevered for 9 months but after that gave up and the scabs all came back!
The vet said it was photosensitive dermatitis and to keep the sun off his legs. I have put covers on his leg that are like float boots but made of mesh. Thought these were working, but found that because the scabs obviously get itchy, he could scratch them with his other hoof, get the scabs off and because there was not good air circulation around them, when I went to take the wrap off, I would find pussy scabs instead of dry hard ones!
These scabs made it hard for him to be shod so I took his shoes off. He is a thoroughbred but is managing ok and of course he now has good hoof growth too.
Do you think the remedy on your website would help this condition? It would be nice to relieve this old boy of rotten itchy old scabs. He was a rescue horse rescued by Project Hope Horse Welfare Victoria (Australia) and is now nearly 20 years old. He deserves to have a bit of a break from these scabs - well I think so anyway!
Regards
Judy
I have never had any luck with predniderm.
I don't know if the remedy will cure your fellow or not, but it seems worth a try. I found you need to do it every day for awhile until just about all the scabs are falling off with just a light rub. Then you can go to every other day until it is all cleared up. Try to ensure his legs stay dry because water is the enemy and will just bring back the mud fever. It's a cheap treatment and worked great for Six.
Good luck and let me know if it worked for your boy or not.
Canter Leads, Slipping Saddle and Stride Distances
Hi Ross (Amanda here)
So who is the main cook, you or Michele? Got lots of invites, so you dont have to cook?
Just thought I would say G'day as it has been raining up here! Nearly two inches in a few days!
It has rained enough for me not to ride ,since Meg and I need a good surface that is not slippery, as she is providing me with some challenges. Wont go in to them here, just yet, and I might ring you one day. All I need to say though is I need to work on keeping her focus with me which can be damned difficult.
Also I need to work out what's going on with my saddle. it definitely slips to one side on Meg and needs more stuffing as one of her shoulders is alot less muscled than the other. I wonder if that is because she prefers (or why she prefers) cantering one the one lead 99.9% of the time and is very difficult to get to canter on the right lead going clockwise. It seems to be a fluke when she does get the correct lead. I almost break out in applause for her when it happens! This is in regard to free lunge in the yard.
Is there a way to help encourage the correct lead?
**Anyway, just thought i would comment that I am puzzled with what to say when people are forever asking me what I do with my horses.
I usually answer, "Oh nothing really, just trying to get better at handling and riding them...Pleasure riding I guess.." They look at me vaguely... Some people think I am so experienced because I have had horses forever! Ha! And that I should be competing in something!
I really would like to do alot of different things but I would really like to have a bit of knowledge before I start doiing something I have no idea about!
Anyway, I really want to get a clinic happening up here for my and Meg's sake mostly and then of course secondly to promote your cause!!
I am going to join a western pleasure club that also has a cutting show annually. I am not into cutting, but i love watching except for the extreme pressure that they put those tendons under! They hold a few clinics of different people so maybe I can infiltrate.....
They have good facilites where you can go in between times at no cost to work your horse with only another member having to be present for safety reasons. It is only 20km up the road and 1/3 cheaper than adult riding club.
I would really like to know why they train their horses (seems cruel to me) to go dizzy by making them spin around and around and around and around about six or seven times and then stop dead. That's what I want to know . I would just like to take Meg when I am ready to take her and do their western trail thing which is pretty basic stuff. Bridge, barrels, poles and gate open and close!
Just a question: how do you know at what spacing to put down poles for walk trot canter?
The horses the other day when i watched, had to maintain their trot speed through fairly short spacings. I am going to ask what their set space is, although everyone apparently measures them out in their own different size feet spacings! Does it matter what the spacing distance is?
Cheers,
Amanda
You may need to consider that the saddle slipping to one side and the problem of Meg not taking a right canter lead are the same thing. Most horses are crooked to some extent. This means they work one side of their body harder than the other and leads to more muscle development of one side over the other. This can cause a saddle to shift and a horse to favour one canter lead over another. The answer is to get her work more evenly and stop being crooked. You'll know that she is stiffer when you turn or circle one way as opposed to the opposite direction. This is probably where you need to begin addressing the issue. The only way I know to get a horse to straighten up is to bend them. The freer they are on their bends the straighter they are when you ride a line. Getting a horse straighter will reduce the resistance a horse has when you ask for a canter lead on their hard side. The principle is really very simple. Get her turns and bends softer and more accurate and the unevenness will diminish over time and the canter lead issue will take care of itself. Even if the rider is the problem, when you have a horse less resistance in a left or right bend you are also fixing the rider because the rider needs to get out the horse's way to make it possible. I hope that makes sense.
I think joining the western club is a great idea. It will give you exposure to some new ideas and also provide you with some projects to work on at home. It can be a real incentive to work your horse when you know you have a club meeting coming up. I don't know much about western disciplines, so I can't tell you about why reiners require such fast spins. I guess it is to show off the horse's ability to spin which in part can make him a useful cow horse. Most of the movements come from working cow horse requirements - just like dressage movements originated from war horse and ceremonial horse movements. I have helped a few people improve their spins, but there is no way I am an expert at this type of training.
The distance between poles needed for trot and canter work will depend on your horse. That's why most people pace the distance out to suit each individual. There are some standard distances that you can find in just about any book on jumping or cavelleti training. For example, for a 16hh horse trotting over a 6" cavelleti the distance between cavelletis should be 6'. To canter over the same cavelletis the distance should be 12'. But for a 13hh horse the distances should be 5' and 10' respectfully. These are only approximate distances. But if you want to have an extended stride or a shortened stride or you want 2 strides between cavelletis you have adjust the distances to accomodate.
Let us know if you have enough interest in a clinic at Tatura. We'd be happy to come, but will need a fair amount of notice.
Save The Kimberley Brumbies
Hi Ross,
I hope this email finds you well, and not *too* over-worked in Michele's absence!
Apologies in advance, as I don't normally forward things, but I received this email tonight and wondered if you could please help spread the word to help the plight of these horses?
http://www.animalsaustralia.org/take_action/save-kimberleys-wild-horses/
Regards,
Miriam
I don't know anything about this cause, so I don't know if I am for or against. However, I am happy to post it and let people make up their own minds.
Mud Fever
Dear Ross,
My horse has what I thought at first was mud fever. I had used lots of suggested remedies, which all worked temporarily, but did not keep it at bay for very long. The vet came and took the scabs off twice after sedating our horse and the horse had quite a few jars of predniderm slathered on him. He also had his legs washed, gladwrapped and scabs removed as well as we could. I bandaged his legs every night. This just made his legs itch more and he learned how to get the bandages off within an hour of them being put on! I persevered for 9 months but after that gave up and the scabs all came back!
The vet said it was photosensitive dermatitis and to keep the sun off his legs. I have put covers on his leg that are like float boots but made of mesh. Thought these were working, but found that because the scabs obviously get itchy, he could scratch them with his other hoof, get the scabs off and because there was not good air circulation around them, when I went to take the wrap off, I would find pussy scabs instead of dry hard ones!
These scabs made it hard for him to be shod so I took his shoes off. He is a thoroughbred but is managing ok and of course he now has good hoof growth too.
Do you think the remedy on your website would help this condition? It would be nice to relieve this old boy of rotten itchy old scabs. He was a rescue horse rescued by Project Hope Horse Welfare Victoria (Australia) and is now nearly 20 years old. He deserves to have a bit of a break from these scabs - well I think so anyway!
Regards
Judy
I have never had any luck with predniderm.
I don't know if the remedy will cure your fellow or not, but it seems worth a try. I found you need to do it every day for awhile until just about all the scabs are falling off with just a light rub. Then you can go to every other day until it is all cleared up. Try to ensure his legs stay dry because water is the enemy and will just bring back the mud fever. It's a cheap treatment and worked great for Six.
Good luck and let me know if it worked for your boy or not.
Canter Leads, Slipping Saddle and Stride Distances
Hi Ross (Amanda here)
So who is the main cook, you or Michele? Got lots of invites, so you dont have to cook?
Just thought I would say G'day as it has been raining up here! Nearly two inches in a few days!
It has rained enough for me not to ride ,since Meg and I need a good surface that is not slippery, as she is providing me with some challenges. Wont go in to them here, just yet, and I might ring you one day. All I need to say though is I need to work on keeping her focus with me which can be damned difficult.
Also I need to work out what's going on with my saddle. it definitely slips to one side on Meg and needs more stuffing as one of her shoulders is alot less muscled than the other. I wonder if that is because she prefers (or why she prefers) cantering one the one lead 99.9% of the time and is very difficult to get to canter on the right lead going clockwise. It seems to be a fluke when she does get the correct lead. I almost break out in applause for her when it happens! This is in regard to free lunge in the yard.
Is there a way to help encourage the correct lead?
**Anyway, just thought i would comment that I am puzzled with what to say when people are forever asking me what I do with my horses.
I usually answer, "Oh nothing really, just trying to get better at handling and riding them...Pleasure riding I guess.." They look at me vaguely... Some people think I am so experienced because I have had horses forever! Ha! And that I should be competing in something!
I really would like to do alot of different things but I would really like to have a bit of knowledge before I start doiing something I have no idea about!
Anyway, I really want to get a clinic happening up here for my and Meg's sake mostly and then of course secondly to promote your cause!!
I am going to join a western pleasure club that also has a cutting show annually. I am not into cutting, but i love watching except for the extreme pressure that they put those tendons under! They hold a few clinics of different people so maybe I can infiltrate.....
They have good facilites where you can go in between times at no cost to work your horse with only another member having to be present for safety reasons. It is only 20km up the road and 1/3 cheaper than adult riding club.
I would really like to know why they train their horses (seems cruel to me) to go dizzy by making them spin around and around and around and around about six or seven times and then stop dead. That's what I want to know . I would just like to take Meg when I am ready to take her and do their western trail thing which is pretty basic stuff. Bridge, barrels, poles and gate open and close!
Just a question: how do you know at what spacing to put down poles for walk trot canter?
The horses the other day when i watched, had to maintain their trot speed through fairly short spacings. I am going to ask what their set space is, although everyone apparently measures them out in their own different size feet spacings! Does it matter what the spacing distance is?
Cheers,
Amanda
You may need to consider that the saddle slipping to one side and the problem of Meg not taking a right canter lead are the same thing. Most horses are crooked to some extent. This means they work one side of their body harder than the other and leads to more muscle development of one side over the other. This can cause a saddle to shift and a horse to favour one canter lead over another. The answer is to get her work more evenly and stop being crooked. You'll know that she is stiffer when you turn or circle one way as opposed to the opposite direction. This is probably where you need to begin addressing the issue. The only way I know to get a horse to straighten up is to bend them. The freer they are on their bends the straighter they are when you ride a line. Getting a horse straighter will reduce the resistance a horse has when you ask for a canter lead on their hard side. The principle is really very simple. Get her turns and bends softer and more accurate and the unevenness will diminish over time and the canter lead issue will take care of itself. Even if the rider is the problem, when you have a horse less resistance in a left or right bend you are also fixing the rider because the rider needs to get out the horse's way to make it possible. I hope that makes sense.
I think joining the western club is a great idea. It will give you exposure to some new ideas and also provide you with some projects to work on at home. It can be a real incentive to work your horse when you know you have a club meeting coming up. I don't know much about western disciplines, so I can't tell you about why reiners require such fast spins. I guess it is to show off the horse's ability to spin which in part can make him a useful cow horse. Most of the movements come from working cow horse requirements - just like dressage movements originated from war horse and ceremonial horse movements. I have helped a few people improve their spins, but there is no way I am an expert at this type of training.
The distance between poles needed for trot and canter work will depend on your horse. That's why most people pace the distance out to suit each individual. There are some standard distances that you can find in just about any book on jumping or cavelleti training. For example, for a 16hh horse trotting over a 6" cavelleti the distance between cavelletis should be 6'. To canter over the same cavelletis the distance should be 12'. But for a 13hh horse the distances should be 5' and 10' respectfully. These are only approximate distances. But if you want to have an extended stride or a shortened stride or you want 2 strides between cavelletis you have adjust the distances to accomodate.
Let us know if you have enough interest in a clinic at Tatura. We'd be happy to come, but will need a fair amount of notice.
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