In horses, the bacteria are transmitted through contaminated feed or water, or by direct contact with infected individuals or surfaces that have been contaminated with manure from an infected individual.
Salmonellosis is a disease associated with the bacteria Salmonella enterica that causes diarrhea in horses and humans. It is usually seen sporadically but may become an epidemic depending on the virulence of the organism, level of exposure, and host factors.
The clinical signs of salmonellosis in adult horses can include diarrhea, lethargy, fever, anorexia, and colic. Affected horses may be more susceptible to infection. Once recovered, these horses may continue to shed the bacteria in their feces, potentially transmitting it to other horses.
Mice, barnyard chickens, pigeons, and wildlife can be sources of Salmonella.
Salmonellosis?
UC Davis Center for Equine Health
Sources of Salmonella include contaminated feed or water, and direct contact with infected individuals or surfaces. For this reason, never allow your horse to eat off the ground at shows and events.
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Surgery, transportation, or changes in feed, concurrent disease (particularly gastrointestinal disorders such as colic), or treatment with broad-spectrum antimicrobial drugs often precede diarrhea. Asymptomatic carriers can become sick when under stress. Severe cases can be fatal if not treated.
Some horses are carriers that do not show any signs of disease but can actively transmit the organism. Stress appears to play an important role in the progression of the disease.
Clinical Signs
Some adult horses are subclinical shedders that do not show clinical signs but have the potential to transmit the bacteria to susceptible horses by direct contact or contamination of feed, water, or the environment. If stressed, carriers may develop clinical signs. Clinical signs in foals are more serious and include hemorrhagic diarrhea, pneumonia, meningitis, physitis, and septic arthritis.
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Mud fever, also known as scratches, pastern dermatitis, and greasy heel, is a common equine skin disease affecting the lower limbs, particularly the back of the pasterns and the bulbs of the heels.
The ailment is most prevalent during autumn, winter, and early spring when horses are more likely to spend prolonged periods of time standing in wet, muddy conditions where the bacteria and fungi that cause mud fever thrive.
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Normally, the skin acts as a protective barrier against such harmful microorganisms, but increased exposure to moisture can compromise the skin’s integrity until a point of entry becomes available by means of an abrasion or other skin damage. Horses with white legs or pink skin may be more prone to developing mud fever, as are those with particularly hairy feathers that trap moisture and dirt against the skin.
Symptoms
Skin lesions, exuding fluids which dry to form scabs, are the most characteristicKathy Smith
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Smell it once and it will leave a lasting impression. The classic sign of thrush is a black, foul-smelling discharge around the frog area of the sole of the hoof. The horse may be sensitive to pressure applied to the affected areas with a hoof pick, and in severe cases, manual palpation with a finger can cause pain.
Thrush
ANATOMY OF THE BOTTOM OF THERegularHOOFturnout and exercise in a clean, dryhelpenvironmentthehooftoself-clean.
An understanding of the parts of the hoof is necessary to properly maintain it. By knowing how the healthy hoof looks and functions you’ll more readily notice potential problems and be able to communicate concerns to your vet and farrier.
Treatment Good stall and environment management is important. Clean the stall daily and provide clean, dry bedding.
A horse standing in a stall without regular turnout can be at a higher risk of thrush. It’s important to clean hooves regularly rather than let the horse stand with organic material packed in.
HEELTOEBULB BULBAPEXCOLLATERALFROGOFBARSSULCUS
Thrush is a common hoof condition caused by a fungal infection that eats away at the tissues of the frog. It is found in the grooves alongside the frog and the cleft in the centre of the frog. If left untreated thrush will advance deeper into the sensi tive areas of the hoof and cause lameness.
SOLEOFSULCUSCENTRALFROGWALL
Symptoms
HEALTH
HOW PREVENTTO & TREAT
By Equine Guelph
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Test Your H AY Knowledge
TRUE. When purchasing hay it is important that the supplier knows it is intended for horses, and the horse owner should be knowledgeable enough to identify good quality hay visually and by its odour and texture.
c) When hay heats beyond 38 degrees C (100 degrees F), browning or carmel ization occurs. Brown hay can still be very palatable because of the carmel ization of sugars, but nutritional value is reduced; d) At a certain point of overheating, spontaneous combustion causing fire is a concern.
TRUE (all of the above).
2 Salting hay is a good way to preserve it.
Resulting problems include:
FALSE. Preservatives containing propi onic and acetic acid are produced natu rally in the hindgut of the horse as the microbial population digest fibrous feed. These organic acids are potent mould inhibitors and are particularly useful at drying hay during a wet sea son. Do not store treated hay beside dry hay or it will absorb moisture from the treated hay and create mould.
b) Digestibility of protein, fibre, and carbohydrates is reduced;
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1 Horses are more susceptible to mould and certain weeds than ruminants.
By Equine Guelph
3 Propionic, acetic, and formic acids should not be used on hay for horses.
As the nutrient value of hay varies with the type of forage and the stage of maturity when it was cut, hay testing helps horse owners choose the needed feed balancers to meet the horse’s nutritional requirements.
FALSE. To be effective for preserving wet or green hay the level of applica tion required would make the hay unpalatable.
a) Moisture levels above 20 percent allow the respiration process to contin ue and mould to develop, and palat ability will decrease;
4 Chances are if you baled your hay too wet (over 15 percent moisture) there is a risk of prolonged heating.
Hay is the bulk of the horse’s diet. Recognizing and purchasing good quality hay that’s of high nutritive value is of the utmost importance to horse owners. Test your knowledge of hay with the following quiz.
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HEALTH
Wrong lead, reposition, relaunch. It’s the two-stridesforward, one-stride-back process of learning leads for riders and their horses.
What’s the point of countercantering? Here are five: 1 RIDER EDUCATION. In years of coaching, I’ve seen it over and over - once a rider gets the hang of the countercanter, a light bulb goes on. They graduate from elementary to high school in their grasp of leads and balance. You will too. It’s a huge step toward developing that elusive horseman’s term – feel. It’s the ability to distinguish one lead from another without looking; an awareness for not only what feels right, but what feels wrong. By mastering the counter-canter, you’ll become a whiz at controlling your horse’s hips and shoulders independently.
By Lindsay Grice, Equestrian Canada coach and judge
Fast forward a year down the road to see the same rider who once dreaded hearing “Wrong lead!” from her coach now initiating the wrong lead…on purpose. Why? She’s discovered the counter-canter as an essential tool in building a solid training foundation for her horse.
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Counter-Canter WHAT’S THE POINT?
On the left counter lead my left hand asks for slight flexion toward the lead (in this case, to the outside). My left leg is shifted forward to direct the shoulders around the circle. Aids can become more subtle as your horse gets the hang of counter-canter. My right leg is distinctly behind the girth to maintain a left lead counter-canter. This leg would be on the inside of the circle for counter-canter.
Position correction: I’ve allowed my right side to collapse at my waistline.
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3 POSITION YOUR AIDS CLEARLY. For the left lead I’ll position my left leg clearly at the girth, and my right leg behind the girth. I’m careful to make a distinction of at least six inches between these two cue locations, and accordingly, between the horse’s body parts I want to move. I’ll ask for slight flexion of the horse’s nose toward the lead — left lead, slight left flexion.
1 KNOW YOUR LEADS. Are you getting the correct lead — anytime, anywhere? Does your horse strike off on the lead you ask for, on whatever line you point him, not just on the rail?
2 ESTABLISH INDEPENDENT CONTROL OF THE HIPS AND SHOULDERS before tackling the countercanter. Turns on the forehand and haunches, shoulder–in, and haunches-in are the phonics for building the language of counter-canter.
4 AVOID SCORE SHEET PENALTIES. Whatever your riding discipline, a wrong lead is a big misstep. Under American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) rules, for instance, merely one or two strides on the wrong lead will cost you a major fivepoint deduction in Horsemanship or Equitation. Another five-point penalty is assigned for noticeably looking down to check your lead. In Trail, Western Riding, and Ranch Riding classes, even a “hiccup” onto the wrong lead is a three-point penalty.
2 HORSE EDUCATION. Many horses are taught leads in relation to direction of travel – routinely picking up the inside lead as they travel around the rail. Instead, I want the horses I ride to know their leads in relation to the way I position their bodies. I should be able to strike off on either lead, on a straight or curved line, anywhere in the arena’s geometry. The counter-canter is a nifty balancing exercise; the horse learns, after a few sessions of awkwardness, to develop straightness, coordination, and self-carriage. Countercanter is a logical, lower-stress step for your horse in his flying change education than defaulting to an abrupt change of direction to teach a lead change.
3 PREPARATION FOR THE SHOW RING. Counter-canter is often asked for in a pattern or test.
5 WARM-UP RING NAVIGATION. When my horse is balanced and confident whether on the inside or outside lead, I’m not depending on the direction of travel to practice cantering on my lead of choice at a show. I can cruise around on the counter lead, if necessary, without interrupting the traffic flow and inconveniencing other riders. How to do it:
By Tania Millen There are no shortcuts 30 www. HORSEJ ournals.com :: AUTUMN 2022
Carly Kist rode Cara Bella, an eight-yearold mare by Cabardino—in the second group of riders. The Maddens helped her give Cara Bella confidence while encour aging her to relax and not over-jump the fences. Claire Doty and her mare Ballerina are waiting for their turn.
THE SYMPOSIUM Madden Method
“This was a one-off event,” says Marie MacAuley, the symposium chair. “It will never happen again.”
“Anything to promote breeding young horses,” says Beezie. “Breeding is more of a passion than a business and we need more people to do it. Every year the number of [Féderation Equestre Internationale (FEI)] riders increases. There’s just more people, more horse shows, and less breeding. So it’s really hard to find good horses. We need more supply.” The symposium facility, photography, food for volunteers, and other services were donated. Southern Alberta pony clubbers were involved, too, setting up chairs and tables, directing attendees, and setting fences under Beezie’s tutelage.
“Riding is like digging a swimming pool with a spoon,” says John Madden. “It’s really hard work and takes a long time.”
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Ten riders were split into three groups so that John and Beezie Madden could demonstrate the flatwork they expect from young horses, how they start youngsters over fences, and how to get them ready for coursework. The horses ranged from a green broke four-year-old to an eight-year-old jumping 1.2 metres and all were CSHA registered. Almost 180 auditors attended the symposium. “A one-day clinic is just about trying to present our philosophy,” says Beezie. “It’s giving people ideas and tools.” Beezie is well known in the show jumping world. She’s led the way in earn ings, world rankings, international wins, and Olympic medals for female riders over the past 30 years. Meanwhile, her husband John’s sales and training busi ness continues to produce winners. They don’t teach clinics as they’re busy bring ing along their own horses and teaching select riders at home in Cazenovia, New York. However, they were happy to teach the symposium.
On July 6, 2022, the Canadian Sport Horse Association (CSHA) hosted the Madden Method Symposium at Eventyre Farms, southwest of Calgary, Alberta.
“When he feels like it and the timing is good, I do big classes with him,” she says.
Life Changes The symposium came at a good time for the Maddens. “I’m looking to slow down,” says Beezie. “I’m not really trying to make championship teams any more or stay high on the [FEI rankings] list. We’ve done it for quite a while, and I’ve lost the passion for that.”
But she still has Breitling LS, a stallion she’s been competing since 2013 and who won the 2018 Longines World Cup Final.
I’m 100 percent and other days I’m a little foggy,” Beezie says. “So I don’t want to say I can ride on a team and produce for the team when I may not be 100 percent. It’s just a little factor.”
Beezie also has a tumour which — although not life threatening — occa sionally affects her balance. “Some days
Madden Basics “People do things differently,” Beezie says. “We’re just saying, ‘This is what works for us’ and it evolved into some body calling it the Madden Method.”
“I think what’s special about [our pro gram] is it’s not special,” says Beezie. “It’s day-to-day good care of the horses. Putting what’s right for the horses first.”
Beezie Demonstrates Prior to the first group of riders, Beezie rode Mo Money, a stallion owned by Eventyre Farm, while John provided commentary. As Beezie walked, trotted, cantered, did transitions, leg yield and popped over a few fences, John discussed safety, the importance of position, and the foundations of their method.
“When working with young horses you always have to have more time than they do,” he says. “You can’t have an Throughoutagenda.” the symposium, John emphasized the importance of going for ward with light contact, in rhythm. “A horse is a flight animal so the first thing you want to do is to make sure the horse is happy to go forward,” he says. “You have to let them rely on their instincts and give them a place to go.”
“Forward, straight, relaxed and reach ing for the bit. Beezie Madden, riding Authentic, was the Individual Bronze medal winner and a member of the gold-medal winning US Show Jumping team at the Beijing 2008 Olympic
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RidingGames.Cortes C, Beezie Madden claimed the Individual Bronze medal at the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.
But they’re particular about every thing, from horsemanship and stable management to schooling young horses and how to get show jumpers to the top of the sport. As for training, “It’s just basics, basics, basics, flatwork, gymnastics, jumping,” she says. “There are no shortcuts.”
“It’s important for kids coming up in the sport to see higher level riders and under stand what it takes to bring horses to top level sport,” says Tina Watkins, De Winton Pony Club’s District Commissioner who organized the pony clubbers.
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Keith Stewart
TurningAround Pirouettes, Cow Turns and Reining Spins By Tania Millen
HORSEMANSHIP
E very horse sport has unique movements which require specific footwork, balance, and training. Some movements appear similar while still being unique to their sport. For example, dressage riders bring their horse’s front end around their hind end in elevated pirouettes; ranch riders do 180-degree turns while tracking cows; and reining horses do 360-degree spins at high speeds. They’re all turning around but for different reasons and in distinct ways. What’s the purpose of these turns, when do riders use them, and how do they differ? We asked a dressage rider, a ranch horseman, and a reining judge to explain.
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“A correct pirouette is a very collected canter,” Fortmüller says. “The horse has to hold an immense amount of balance, coordination, and power on one hind leg while bringing their forehand around their hind legs in six to eight strides, starting and ending on the exact same line.”
“By lifting up over their back and using that power to balance over one spot, we get grace and beauty and elegance,” Fortmüller explains. “Dancing on the spot is the highest degree of difficulty because of the energy needed to keep things going without the horse moving forward.” She says that canter pirouettes necessitate the horse to hold themselves up in the air, hence require years of strength, power, and endurance training to perfect. She also notes that the horse and rider must trust each other and build a partnership. “The movements can’t be programmed,” Fortmüller explains. For all these reasons, canter pirouettes are considered one of the highest pinnacles of dressage.
DESIGNSGRAYTPHOTO:
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Pia ridingFortmullerFrieda.<
Dressage movements such as the pirouette originated in the military and were of great benefit on the battlefield.
Pia Virginia Fortmüller is a Canadian international grand prix dressage rider based in Priddis, AB and she says that dressage movements — and canter pirouettes — originated in the military when soldiers needed well-trained war horses for battlefield manoeuvres. A well-executed pirouette meant they could quickly switch from one direction to another. Fortmüller notes, “A good pirouette can be done on a dinner plate.”
Top dressage horses can complete two full 360-degree rotations.
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Dressage Pirouettes
CANTER PIROUETTE As described by the Féderation Equestre Internationale (FEI), to execute the canter pirouette the horse must be able to canter almost on the spot with his inside hind leg acting as a pivot, bend and flex the joints of his hind legs willingly and evenly, and show enough body control to maintain an even rhythm, bend, and length of stride without becoming resistant, hollow, or out of balance. The horse must be very fit and strong to turn in place and maintain his regularity of stride. A good pirouette should show the horse with a clear inside bend through the entire body. The inside hind should clearly leave the ground and then land back on the ground in the same place with each stride. The outside foreleg will cross over the inside foreleg but without tilting or weighting one shoulder more than the other, while the outside hind leg doesn’t cross but creates a small circle around the pivoting inside leg. Throughout the movement, the horse should show an unchanged, three-beat, slow (but cadenced) rhythm and should transition in and out of the movement with ease and fluidity. Pictured is Tina Irwin riding Laurencio.
But it’s rare for horses to be ridden into war today. As such, dressage has become a foundational training system for English horse sports plus a stand-alone sport in itself. Pirouettes are integral to both. First taught in walk, higher competition levels require canter pirouettes which — along with piaffe and passage — are considered the most difficult dressage manoeuvres.
Really
And Do Riders Need
Riders need to develop effective contact, and the horse must be confident that he can always go on the bit.
What CONTACT?is
“Dressage riders differentiate between contact and connection,” says Shannon Lee Dueck, who represented Canada at grand prix level for many years and is now based in Florida. She explained that riders need to develop effective contact first, then as the horse becomes more advanced that contact morphs into connection.
Shannon Lee Dueck Amanda Self PHOTO: CAROLYNLUTHER
“What we’re trying to establish is that if you put your leg on, energy travels from the hind leg, over the back, over the neck, and connects with the bit,” says Dueck. “We need the horse to be confident that it can always go to the bit. The biggest challenges that riders have in developing contact is that the horse doesn’t go correctly forward from the leg.”
Contact with a horse’s mouth via the bit is a generally accepted principle when riding or driving. But a horse’s mouth is incredibly sensitive and many riders around the world are successfully guiding their steeds without bits. Where did the idea of contact come from, what is it, and do riders really need contact with a horse’s mouth to convince their horse to perform?
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It?
Dueck’s description of contact, connection, and how to acquire the two is embedded in the classical dressage training pyramid. Contact and connection form the middle layers of the pyramid, following rhythm, relaxation, and suppleness, and are
“You can have contact without a good connection,” Dueck says. “But you cannot have a good connection without contact.”
By Tania Millen
“We try to leave our hand down with loose reins,” she says. “It’s about the horse being so connected that riders can let go of the rein Today’scontact.”myriad horse sports all have different preferences and ideals regarding contact with the horse’s mouth and those ideals have evolved over the last 2,500 years.
According to the 2022 Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) dressage rules, the ideal dressage horse demonstrates “acceptance of the bit with submissiveness/throughness (Durchlässigkeit) without any tension or resistance.” They state that “In all the work, even at the halt, the horse must be ‘on the bit’ …accepting the bridle with a light and consistent soft submissive contact.”
NRHA rules don’t refer to contact and reining horses are directed by the rider’s seat, weight, legs, and upper body movement, explains Amanda Self. Pictured is Shawna Sapergia and This Chics on Top at the World Equestrian Games 2010.
Michelle Young works with riders to develop an emotional connection with their horses using dressage-type principles.
Contact is also embedded in the rules of several horse sports.
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“As reining horses become more highly trained, we try not to have direct contact with the reins,” says Amanda Self, an NRHA professional who operates Self Made Performance Horses in Salmon Arm, British Columbia. Instead, reining horses are directed by the riders’ signals — seat, weight, legs, and upper body movements.
The 2022 FEI driving rules for the dressage phase are similar. They define contact as “the connection through the reins between the athlete’s hands and the horse’s mouth. It should be soft and steady at all times.” Additionally, during all paces “the horse must remain on the bit.”
needed to develop more advanced ideals of impulsion, straightness, and collection.
Reining Horse Association (NRHA) rules don’t refer to contact. However, they state “To rein a horse is not only to guide him, but also to control his every movement. The best reined horse should be willingly guided or controlled with little or no apparent resistance and dictated to completely.”
But other horse sports prefer different amounts of contact. Equestrian Canada’s 2019 rules for hunters state that in hunter-under-saddle classes, “Light contact with the mouth is permissible.”TheNational
Early concepts of contact were directly linked to requirements of the military. Up until the early 1900s, horses were primarily ridden with curb bits. Reins were held in the left hand allowing riders to wield swords with their right. In about 355 BC, Xenophon wrote about “refraining from pulling on the mouth with the bit” and “teaching your horse to go with a light hand on the bit.” However, many of the bits in Xenophon’s time were brutally sharp pieces of hardware that certainly wouldn’t encourage horses to seek the contact expected in dressage rings today.
Changing Tina Thompson on Cleo at the iconic Cougar Rock, competing in The Tevis Cup 100-mile endurance race in 2013. Disciplines PHOTOGRAPHYGORD/BAYLOROFGORDBILLPHOTO: 46 www. HORSEJ ournals.com :: AUTUMN 2022
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Tina Thompson eventing with Zen. When Thompson grew tired of eventing she switched to endurance riding and has never looked back.
When Tina Thompson’s 16.3-hand offthe-track Thoroughbred Cleo stopped enjoying three-day eventing, Thompson decided to try something new. She grew up doing the Quarter Horse show circuit in Alberta but got hooked on eventing after seeing cross-country for the first time in her twenties. However, her horse Cleo didn’t have the ability to jump
By Tania Millen
Riders often pursue the same horse sport for years, competing up and down the levels depending on their horse and how life unfolds. But some riders choose to change disciplines altogether — by choice, necessity, or because their horses want to do something different.
It’s something riders at all ages and life stages may experience but the learning curve for a new sport can be steep. We interviewed three riders who are embracing new-to-them horse sports and meeting the challenges that brings. From Long Gallops to Long Trots
“Cleo had this big swinging, effortless trot,” says Thompson of her former eventing horse that took to endurance like a duck to water. “She wanted to go all day long.”
OpportunitiesLearningforPivotingLifelong
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A GUIDE TO Clicker Training
By Alexa Linton, Equine Sports Therapist
When I first began riding lessons over 30 years ago, the horse world that I experienced was staunchly devoted to negative rein forcement training, supported by a limited understanding of equine behaviour and the speed and convenience of force-based forms of horsemanship. I can safely say that the process of shed ding those engrained patterns, cemented in my neural pathways by consistent use and a lack of viable alternatives, has been one of the greatest obstacles in my journey with horses. Thankfully, over the last five years, I have been bathing in alternative and less intense waters where horse training is concerned. Positive rein forcement training, known by many as R+ training, has been one of my explorations. This type of training, used commonly with dogs and other animals and now finding its way into more main stream use with horses, uses clicker training primarily as a means of supporting learning. Clicker training uses a novel noise or word that is easily distinguishable for your horse to mark a desired behaviour, generally followed closely by a reward, typical ly of food. In this way you are able to shape behaviours and encourage curiousity and creativity in your horse. For many horse people in Western Canada, R+ training is still perceived as a permissive and tedious training process in compar ison to the type of training most of us know so well — pressure and release, punishment-based, negative reinforcement horse manship. But change is afoot, especially with new understandings in equine science and behaviour finding their way into the main stream and supporting reward-based methods. It’s getting harder to ignore the science, which clearly demonstrates that horses are social, community-minded, and collaborative beings like humans; that hierarchy and dominance are myths; and that their ability to learn and adapt is directly impacted by their levels of stress and
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the degree of harmful pressure they are experiencing. In other words, reward-based methods of teaching, as with humans, can produce higher adaptability through a relaxing and low-pressure learning environment that fosters curiosity and play. Maybe you’re like me, but I will put in a lot of effort if I know there is a chocolate croissant on the line. However if someone is forcing me to do something I don’t want to do or feel unsafe doing I typically find myself resisting, trying to leave the situa tion, or shutting down. If I have a sense that I can say no and be heard, stop when I need to, and choose to move forward at a pace that works for me, all while being rewarded when I’m doing well (preferably with chocolate), I am a much happier camper.Thisis not to say that positive reinforcement is the only way to go and you should abandon everything you’ve ever learned. I’ll be the first to admit that my horsemanship is a hodgepodge, just like my riding attire, and it’s all about what works for my horses and me. Even though I was training in this way with my younger mare Raven, I resisted using positive reinforcement with my mare Diva for several years. I had previously found her becoming unfocused and pushy with treats around, and what we had been doing up until that point had been working fairly well. I had also fallen into the “an older horse can’t learn new tricks” trap. But there were noticeable gaps in our training that nega tive reinforcement and pressure only made worse, such as anxi ety and reactiveness with new objects or bigger vehicles on the road or trail, walking away from the mounting block, resistance to deworming, and a loss of confidence loading in the trailer on her own. These small but important gaps highlighted a lack of confidence and trust in me and in her environment, and difficul ty feeling safe and therefore curious in certain situations. When I finally tried clicker training with Diva it was a game changer. Many people don’t attempt this type of training because they are scared that their horse will become food aggres sive with hand feeding. The shift for us was to set up manners about the food rewards right from the start and lower their value by using things like hay cubes, pellets, or even hay. Doing so reduced both the intensity around treats and the sugar intake.
Now if my horse shows a big try, or at the end of a training ses sion, I can give a high value treat (such as carrots or apples) to let her know I appreciate her effort. You can also work with your rewards in feed buckets if you really can’t get behind hand Clicker training can encourage the horse to try new challenging experiences and be more engaged in liberty movement.
Heather Nelson is asking Skye to lift his foot and touch the ball. She’s demonstrating to Skye what she would like him to do and rewarding him when he does it.
Performing movements and exercises from subtle stimuli ensures that the horse’s highly innervated postural and stabilizing muscles, which govern fine motor control, are awake and firing. On the other hand, rigid, delayed, or tense
Lightness
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By Jec A. Ballou
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While it might often be spoken about in artistic, aesthetic, or even philosophical ways, lightness — both of movement and also of communication with horses — is more than an abstract ideal.
In many ways, it measures a horse’s current physiological capabilities. Can the horse’s small stabilizing muscles perform their role while the locomotive ones perform theirs? Is his nervous system capable of creating fine-tuned movements? Is the horse in a state of calm and curious readiness, indicating activation of his critical parasympathetic nervous system? In order for a horse to move with ease and gracefulness, it is imperative that he responds to the lightest possible cues from his rider or handler.
HORSEMANSHIP The Case for
movements indicate an over-use of poorly innervated locomotive muscles. And the more often these big muscles take over, the more habituated they become. Without good nerve activation, muscular function suffers. Nerves communicate with the brain and muscles through intermittent impulses. Strong or constant pressure on them results in switching off. An example of this: when a rider clamps her legs around the horse’s ribcage or bangs heavily on his sides, the effect is numbing. Nerve signals are interrupted, dulled, and eventually switch off. The postural muscles they control are also switched off. Any time a horse’s posture or quality of movement needs improvement, the rider and handler must start with developing a communication of lightness. If the horse responds with dull ness, muscular bracing, or tension there will be no progress. Here’s a recent example from my own riding: My gelding, Diamante, was cantering along with what I consider poor move ment — heavily weighted on the front end, rushing, jarring me around in the saddle. He was “muscling” himself forward every stride as opposed to moving with ease and efficiency. I wanted to invite him to canter along by means of a series of well-coordi nated nerve impulses rather than brute force. I needed him to quit overusing his big shoulder muscles, which were creating the problem, and instead rebalance his cen tre of gravity by firing up the postural muscles. Using my seat, I asked him to slow down and rebalance himself. He was distracted and did not immediately respond. In fact, his movement deterio rated and became even more jarring to ride. I was tempted to keep applying my cue, perhaps even stronger. But I knew that doing so would lead to him deadening against the request from my seat, in which case there would be no hope of stimulating the nerves that would lead to an easier, more refined, and pleasant ride. In this instance, I transitioned downward to a walk for a few steps, asked Diamante to leg-yield away from my inside leg, and then departed to canter again. I repeated this sequence several times quickly, and caused him to listen and respond to my sig nals more closely, which in turn meant I could use increasingly gentler and lighter cues. The result: through responding to this lightness, Diamante activated the nerves that fired up the right muscles for ease of movement while lessening tension from the wrong ones.
2 Walk your horse inside the L parallel to one of the poles.
The following are useful everyday exercises to test and main tain lightness, both the lightness of your communication and also your horse’s response. These will give you ideas for other routines that are simple to perform but will keep your horse in a good physiological state. They are particularly useful because they require specific small movements, which call into play the muscles involved in lightness.
6 Be sure the front feet remain in the corner of the L.
WiperWindshield
3 Ask him or her to stand with the front feet in the corner of the L. Stand quiet and straight.
7 Now return to your starting position. Keep repeating this sequence.
The horse must respond to the lightest possible cues from his rider in order to move fluidly and with ease.
1 Set up two ground poles in an L shape.
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4 Now ask for a turn on the forehand
Windshield Wiper
This exercise asks your horse to perform turns on the fore hand within the boundaries of two ground poles. The motion of his body should appear like a windshield wiper gliding back and forth, hence the name. This requires body control and careful limb placement in order to not knock around the poles. If an immediate and smooth response is not achieved, several mis takes occur — the horse backs up or staggers outside the poles, or raises his neck and barges forward. Take your time and always return to a calm quiet standstill as needed. Do not rush as this most often adds tension to braced muscles. This can be performed from the ground or under saddle.
5 …swinging his hindquarters sideways until they are close and parallel to the opposite pole.
By Annika McGivern
Values represent what is most important to us in terms of how we live and show up in our lives, how we treat other people, and how other people treat us. Values are principals that sit at the core of human decision-making, motivation, and purpose. We all have values, whether we are specifically aware of them or not, and these values are constantly influencing our decisions, where and how we spend our time and money, and the way we see the world. A few examples of values are loyalty, honesty, adventure, connection, challenge, learning, progress, discipline, and joy. When you become aware of your values, they cease to be a force guiding you from the background of your mind and become a tool that you can use consciously to ground yourself, make informed and confident decisions, and connect back to the joy of your sport. High performing individuals tend to be aware of their values and know how to use this awareness as a tool to fuel performance and well-being.w
FOR EQUESTRIANS What are
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Let’s explore values through the experience of one of my cli ents, Rachel. Rachel came to me grappling with motivation and direction. She felt worn down by the constant struggle of her sport of three-day-eventing and was not sure if she should con tinue. In her own words, riding just wasn’t fun anymore. If you can relate to feeling disenchanted with equestrian sport, don’t worry; this is an opportunity to reflect on and clarify why you are choosing to engage with this sport and what you are getting from that choice. Through understanding her own values and aligning them with her goals in sport, Rachel was able to reconnect with her love for three-day-eventing, navigate difficult decisions with greater clarity, and improve her own progress in the saddle. What Are Values?
High Performance Values your personal values and why do they matter?
The first step was for Rachel to discover her personal values by completing this exercise:
Have you ever temporarily fallen out of love with riding? In my work as an equestrian mental performance coach, many clients share with me that they’ve lost the joy that riding used to give them. Sometimes the challenges of your sport can feel like they’re outnumbering the positives and equestrians can find themselves wondering: Why do I do this?
We can be driven to succeed when we value being better than those around us, winning, proving others wrong, making it look easy, and/or being the best, but interestingly these types of values
1 Ask yourself these questions: What is most important to me? What principles have influenced my decisions so far in life? What characteristics guide how I want to show up and live my life?
Values such as winning, being better than others, and proving others wrong can contribute to higher stress and feeling as if the challenges outweigh the positives. Rather than valuing specific short-term or ego-driven outcomes, choose bigger-picture values such as learning, overcoming challenges, and steadily improving.
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Choosing High Performance Values
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Conflict is generated when we don’t live to our own values, or we feel someone else isn’t honouring our values. For example, if you feel extremely uncomfortable or guilty when you aren’t truth ful with someone, or it deeply bothers you when someone isn’t truthful with you, then it’s likely that honesty is on your list.
Discover Your Personal Values
• Where in my life do I notice the most conflict?
2 Write down a list of 10 to 20 values that come to mind. If you’re feeling stuck, Google search “values” for some inspiration.
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3 Read over your list and consider if anything is missing. The list should feel like a good representation of who you are and what is deeply important to you. When you’re ready, rewrite your values in a separate list, this time in order of importance based on where you are at in your life right now.
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The top five values from Rachel’s final list were: achievement, friendship, discipline, fairness, and honesty. Looking at her list, Rachel shared that she felt she wasn’t achieving her goals and finding success in the sport anymore. She recognised how important achievement was to her, and that this was at the heart of her current frustration. When I asked her to explain exactly what achievement meant to her, she replied with the following: being better than the competition, winning, proving others wrong, making it look easy, and being the best out there.
Talent and ability are created when we actively seek out struggle and push beyond our comfort zone.
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