Canadian Horse Journal - SAMPLE - Spring 2023

Foal Speed Ahead

Prepare for a Safe and Successful Delivery

By Dr. Barbara Delvescovo, DVM, MRCVS, DACVIM

The checklist for evaluating and caring for a newborn foal is extensive, with many things to look out for both during and after the birth. An understanding of what is normal and what is abnormal is crucial to being able to help our horses begin what will hopefully be a healthy and happy life.

Pregnancy

Horse gestation typically lasts around 342 days, with colt pregnancies lasting slightly longer than those of fillies. A foal delivered before day 320 is considered premature and may suffer health problems, and foals that go beyond 360 days of gestation may also have problems from being in the womb too long.

Signs that a mare is about to give birth

include her udder filling with milk about two to four weeks before foaling, and secretions of small amounts of colostrum one to four days before labour.

Preparing for the Big Moment

Mares typically foal at night. Being prey animals, horses are trying to find the time of day when they feel the safest with the least intrusions. This makes veterinary monitoring during pregnancy very important. Talk to your vet even before you decide to breed your mare, but especially during pregnancy, because the vet exam can highlight and detect high-risk pregnancies.

For owners who are new to foaling, who cannot monitor around the clock, or whose mare has a high-risk pregnancy,

foaling at home is strongly discouraged.

For those who do decide to foal at home, make a detailed plan for the event with the veterinarian, and provide a clean, safe, and quiet space for the birth. While some mares can successfully foal out in an open pasture, it’s typically best to have the mare confined so the foaling can be easily observed.

This space should be in a stall measuring a minimum of 14 by 14 feet with good bedding. Straw is preferable to wood shavings, as shavings can stick to the horses and can be aspirated by the foal.

Delivery

During the birth, it’s essential to keep a time record. Sometimes, especially if it’s your first foaling, emotions come into

play and it’s difficult to remember how long it took, so it’s important to write everything down.

Delivery occurs in three stages:

• STAGE ONE involves initial uterine contractions, which can last between 30 minutes and six hours and manifest as colic-like symptoms in the mare. She might pace around the stall, lie down and get up several times, and sweat — those are all signs of normal uterine contractions.

• STAGE TWO comprises the rupture of the water bag, signaling that the foal will arrive in 20 to 30 minutes. This timeframe is crucial, as the equine placenta detaches very readily. Once that happens, the foal will be without oxygen and thus cannot survive an extended labour. If you detect a problem at this stage, prompt intervention will be needed.

• STAGE THREE is the passage of the pla-

centa, which must happen within three hours. If this does not occur, it will be diagnosed as a retained placenta, which can cause a number of problems.

Problems During Labour

During foaling, a failure to progress from stage one to stage two is a problem, as is a prolonged stage two (more than 20 minutes after the water breaks.) If the

foal is not emerging or no major contractions are occurring, it’s time to intervene.

In addition, watch for malposition. Ideally, a foal’s front legs emerge first, followed by the head. Similarly, look out for the “red bag” — the membranes surrounding the foal are usually white and transparent. If they appear red, this signifies a premature rupture of the water bag and a loss of connection to the

The length of gestation is approximately 342 days, with filly pregnancies slightly shorter than those of colts. Mares typically foal at night when they feel safest from intruders.

Provide the mare with a foaling stall measuring at least 14 x 14 feet, with deep straw bedding.

PHOTO, LEFT: SHUTTERSTOCK/KWADRAT

• PHOTO, TOP RIGHT: DREAMSTIME/DTFOXFOTO

• PHOTO, BOTTOM RIGHT: ISTOCK/PURPLE QUEUE

From FAT to FIT Creating an Equine Fitness Program

By Tania Millen

It’s spring and that means more time spent riding. Is your horse ready? Regardless of whether you want to trail ride, compete at a certain level, jump, do endurance or dressage, your horse needs to be fit for the job.

“Many riders are battling training problems which often stem from some sort of weakness in the body,” says Jec Aristotle Ballou, a trainer based in California, USA who has written four books on fitness and conditioning horses. “I think most horses have a revved up cardiovascular engine on a pretty weak chassis.”

It’s not just training that suffers when horses have poor fitness; injuries are more prevalent, too.

“Ninety percent of injuries are repetitive strain injuries,” says Dr. Bri Henderson, a veterinarian who works with Canada’s endurance riders and operates Rivendell Equine Veterinary Services in Grand Valley, Ontario. “Riders must cross-train on different surfaces so that the horse becomes stronger, plus the body is loaded differently to pre-

vent damage from repetition.”

Injury prevention is key and that’s where a fitness plan comes in.

What is Fitness?

“Fitness is being able to achieve your goals with your horse happy and uninjured,” says Kim Woolley, who represented Canada in endurance at the 2018 World Equestrian Games and is Canada’s first High Performance 1 Coach for endurance. “If a horse isn’t happy because they don’t feel fit enough to do what you ask, then they’re not going to want to do the job.”

Different body tissues adapt and gain fitness at different speeds.

Fitness is different from conditioning. Fitness is the physical ability to do a task, while conditioning encompasses the whole experience. Accordingly, along with a fitness program, the horse may need skills training, exposure to new places and experiences, and the mental capacity to complete the work.

Cross-training incorporates different

components of fitness such as postural control, strength, and aerobic and anaerobic endurance. Each of these components produce significant changes in the horse’s body that, as a whole, create the fitness needed to achieve the rider’s goals.

“I break fitness into three categories,” says Ballou. “There’s cardiovascular fitness — the heart and lungs — which includes aerobic and anaerobic fitness. Then there’s musculoskeletal fitness. I think that’s where the majority of horses need more work. Then there’s a third category, which

BODY TIME FOR TISSUE ADAPTATION

Heart and lungs

Muscles

Hooves

Tendons and Ligaments

3 months

3 to 6 months

7 months

6 to 12 months

Bone 1 to 3 years

PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK/ROLF DANNENBURG

If your horse has time off over winter, there’s no need to wait for the snow to melt. The long slow distance work of winter trail riding can be incorporated into your fitness plan.

applies to horses who are rehabilitating after an injury or who have been out of work for six months or more. That’s neurosensory fitness, which means recruiting the motor and sensory nerves for muscle activation.”

These three categories of fitness are described below.

Neurosensory Fitness

The postural muscles — slow moving, slow-twitch muscle fibre activities — are one of the keys to neurosensory fitness. Research by biomechanics expert Dr. Hilary Clayton found that dynamic back exercises, such as carrot stretches, improved the size and strength of horses’ epaxial muscles. They’re the muscles along the horse’s back which we often refer to as the “topline.”

The American College of Sports Medicine and Injury Rehabilitation notes that doing three to five repetitions of dynamic back stretches daily for 12 weeks was found to increase a horse’s multifidus muscle, reduce asymmetry from left to right, reduce back pain, and improve core strength. Atrophy of the multifidus muscle creates instability within the intervertebral joints (between the vertebrae),

Jec Ballou working the horse’s core exercises in-hand (below), and riding sidehills (right), a good way to build musculoskeletal strength.

photos: donna stidolph

photo: istock/sergio kumer

How Long Should I Train My Horse Daily?

Fitness contributes to far more than aesthetics and performance, making it a constant goalpost for domesticated horses. In terms of health and well-being, it serves a protective role, safeguarding from illness and injury. But how long does a horse need to exercise daily to reap these benefits?

While there is no magic rule for daily exercise duration, there are unequivocal needs depending upon the season. During periods of lesser activity due to poor weather or unforgiving schedules, activity needs to be sufficient to maintain bodily systems that rely on it. During the active season of training and showing, activity needs to be sufficient to improve fitness. These figures differ widely.

For our purposes, we will delineate between these as a Maintenance Phase (periods of lesser activity) versus a Building Phase (the height of your riding season). Below I have offered generic guidelines for the amount of time to train your horse daily based on goals and time of season.

Maintenance Phase

During inclement weather, vacations, or in the cases of senior horses, students often ask how long they need to exercise their horse to prevent poor health. In other words, what is the minimal amount of activity the horse’s bodily systems need? That amount varies slightly due to

By Jec A. Ballou

age, but all horses rely on a baseline fitness for the following health outcomes:

• Gastrointestinal motility

• Clearance of secretions from lungs

• Resistance to disease; muscle contractions serve as a pump for the lymphatic system

• Hoof strength and growth

• Thermoregulation

• Functionality of muscles, tendons, and ligaments

• Relief from physical stiffness and mental stress associated with confinement in domesticated horses

• Circulation of blood, oxygen, muscle enzymes, and nutrients that prevent inflammation

To date, research indicates that 25 to 30 minutes is the daily minimal requirement for maintaining health in these areas. This 25- to 30-minute requirement is defined as continuous movement at 40 percent of the horse’s maximum heart rate. For most horses, this is around 90 beats per minute, or approximately the equivalent of a very brisk walk or easy jog. At least this amount of activity four or more days per week helps maintain adaptations in the systems noted above, and also keeps the body prepared for more vigorous conditioning programs if and when that time comes.

To be clear, 25 minutes per day does not yield a fit horse capable of hard work efforts, long trail rides, and so on. However it does keep the musculoskeletal and aerobic systems in a healthy place and allows the horse to eventually be brought to higher levels of fitness with ease.

To fulfill this daily minimum, aim to keep your horse’s movement active and purposeful. In other words, eliminate any idle time from your brief exercise session. It is also necessary to avoid repetitive

activities like lunging every day. Even if you are limited to a walk-only program, find ways to vary your routines day-today. This novelty of stimulus for the horse improves resilience of soft tissue and muscle activation.

To summarize, using a dressage horse as an example, the weekly training might look like this as a Maintenance Phase:

MONDAY: 25-minute brisk walk on trails/road

TUESDAY: 20-minutes of lunging including walking over ground poles

WEDNESDAY: 30-minute ride

THURSDAY: Off

FRIDAY: 25-minute ride

SATURDAY: 25-minute brisk walk including groundwork exercises, such as circles of various sizes, shoulder-in, gait transitions, etc.

SUNDAY: Off

What is the minimal amount of activity the horse’s bodily systems need?

PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK/ROLF DANNENBERG

PHOTO: ISTOCK/OLEGHZ

A trail hack of suitable length can be used to maintain or build fitness.

Research indicates that 25 to 30 minutes of active and purposeful daily activity is needed for baseline fitness to prevent poor health.

PHOTO: CLIX PHOTOGRAPHY

Does Your Horse Need a Lot of Leg?

By Lindsay Grice, Equestrian Canada coach and judge

Riding a “light” horse in tune with his rider is like playing a musical instrument — distinct notes administered with a light touch.

It’s no fun when riding becomes an aerobic workout. If you stop working so hard — pumping, pushing, clucking — will your horse quit? If so, who’s doing most of the work?

Determine not to babysit your horse with nagging aids. After all, if a horse can feel a fly on his side, he can feel your leg. Our goal for the dull horse is for him to learn to listen to our whispers.

Shaping

The shaping process is gradually taking a basic skill and refining it. I coach riders through the following simple progression to resensitize a dull horse to their leg cues:

1 The horse is taught the basic go-forward response, to accelerate or lengthen his stride.

2 The horse responds from one light, distinct go-forward aid.

3 The horse carries himself forward for multiple strides from a single light aid.

Picture your horse within an imaginary box. If your leg represents the back of the box, your laid-back horse has likely become quite content to rest on it as he would on the butt bar of a trailer. When your horse stays inside the box, without you having to hold him there, that’s self-carriage — kind of like cruise control. He’s discovered the box’s boundaries by trial and error, meeting your aids when he makes an unauthorized change. If he loses rhythm, he’ll feel your leg pressure sending him forward again. When a horse is in self-carriage, you don’t have to manufacture the energy — the horse cruises along in rhythm for several strides.

The rider’s leg is our focus in this article, but we can’t discount the other sides of the box. A lazy horse tends to zig-zag (particularly when moving away from the barn) or cut to the inside of the ring. With lateral control (the sides of the box) you have the tools to keep your horse on a straight path. Moreover, if your horse is crooked through his body, it’s like having a kink in the hose — energy slows to a

Who doesn’t love a horse with a laid-back disposition, the unflappable sort, unfazed by snow skidding off the arena roof? The downside of that laid-back horse is that he’s liable to be laid-back about his rider’s aids, too.

PHOTO: ISTOCK/NULLPLUS

Using the whip correctly without affecting the rein in the whip hand takes practice. The whip should be used directly behind the leg, following the leg cue.

If you stop working so hard — pumping, pushing, clucking — will your horse quit?

It’s crucial that your horse consistently finds a sweet spot within the imaginary box.

PHOTOS: LINDSAY GRICE

Teenaged Horses

By Tania Millen

Endurance rider Sophia Donovan on Trident, a 19-year-old Arabian gelding.

PHOTO: KELSEY ELIOT

In the last few years, teenaged horses have been making headlines by winning some of the biggest competitions on the planet.

At the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games (held in 2021), over half of the three-day eventing horses were aged 13 through 19. The oldest horse was Tayberry, a 20-yearold ridden by Hong Kong’s Thomas Heffernan Ho.

In 2021, 16-year-old stallion Balou du Reventon was United States Equestrian Federation’s 2021 International Horse of the Year. He competed at 42 FEI-level show jumping competitions that year with five consecutive clear rounds at 1.6 metre level.

At the 2022 Dressage World Championships, one of the horses on Denmark’s gold medal winning team was 18 years old; two horses on Great Britain’s silver medal team were 16 years old; and three horses on Germany’s bronze medal team were in their teens.

Classic Moet, a mare ridden by New Zealand’s Jonelle Price, won Badminton Horse Trials in 2018 at age 15 and continued eventing at top level until her retirement at age 19 in 2022.

These are just a few recent examples. It seems that in every horse sport, teenaged horses are competing and winning, suggesting that top level horses quite literally “hit their stride” after age 12.

Even so, much of the horse industry is focussed on finding the next great prospect. Young, unproven performers garner vast prices. Many sports have young

horse classes which encourage early development of immature horses. Perhaps teenaged horses have their own benefits, particularly as the cost of owning equines goes sky high.

Here’s what an amateur endurance rider with Pan American Games aspirations, an Under 25 (U25) event rider, a professional grand prix show jumper,

A member of Ontario Equestrian’s U25 eventing program, Chelsea Lowe had already gained an appreciation for older, experienced horses. When the 17-year-old went horse shopping for an experienced horse with mileage, 15-year-old Ulisis “ticked all my boxes.”

Sophia Donovan and Trident competing in a 100-mile endurance race in Vermont, USA.

PHOTO: IAN WOODLEY

PHOTO: JASMINE HEINLEIN PHOTOGRAPHY

Movement Science

By Alexa Linton, Equine Sports Therapist

This issue we will discuss the surprisingly controversial topic of movement. As I consider this subject, an experience from long ago springs to mind. I was invited to ride a dressage horse who was a bodywork client, actively competing in Young Riders and very expensive. Every time I worked on this horse, I found that he was dealing with an excessive amount of tension and discomfort. I remember feeling confused — my sessions didn’t hold, and each time I worked with him, it felt like going back to the beginning. But when I rode him, it started to make sense. The first thing I recall was the incredible heaviness in my hands — he was incapable of self-carriage, and letting

go of the reins felt impossible for I feared he would fall, or worse. I needed to use heavy and repetitive leg aids, yet I was used to lightness and responsiveness with my mare, Diva. I had the sense that I had to hold his whole body together every step of the way. By the time I dismounted I would be exhausted, physically and mentally. Just a few years later I learned that he was retired early due to a career-ending leg injury.

Now I understand a little better what was happening with that horse. He had lost the ability to move freely, safely, and with variety because of living and working on sterile flat ground and only moving in controlled ways. His movement had been

packaged and contorted into positions, both lunging and under saddle, that his body was unable to sustain without detriment. The operative beliefs here are:

• Horses will injure themselves if left to their own devices to be playful, explorative, and random in movement; and,

• Force and control are required to achieve the prescribed movements that are necessary for success.

Enter movement and pain science. In this view, the brain is a learning and growing thing, and this applies big-time to movement. If we don’t explore a particular movement or range of motion, over time our brain forgets that it is

PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK/CALLIPSO88

possible. If our brain forgets, we are more likely to get injured in that range. In horses, this often equates to increasingly controlling and restricting the movements that we allow them to experience and explore for fear that they might injure themselves when they move out of these parameters (which they often do, ironically justifying our caution). Yet, if we actually encouraged greater range and exploration in situations where horses can safely build their strength and capacity, they decrease their tendency to injure themselves and build adaptability and resiliency. Herein lies the rub, and this most definitely applies to humans and movement, too!

My colleague, Kathy Sierra, developed a program called PantherFlow, where she seeks to explore movement and pain science as well as the intrinsic joy in movement and expression. It’s gotten some flack, because it essentially encourages your horses to do, well, whatever the heck

they feel like doing. Sierra talks about the confidence that comes with an expansion of our movement range leading to an enhanced sense of capacity. The result is horses exhibiting more and more enjoyment and exploration of movement in all its forms. Much of her work is based on her past work around human movement, her experience with her own horses, and observing Icelandic ponies navigating with ease some impressively gnarly natural terrain in their homeland. The neurological impact of such a varied and challenging landscape is apparent — bodies

that can confidently handle countless unique ways of moving without injury. We see a parallel in human movement, with those raised in varied and challenging terrain and encouraged to explore their self-awareness and capacity proving to be more resilient and injury-proof.

As a bodyworker, I can often feel in my hands, and feel in the tissues, what kind of environment a horse lives in, whether it’s varied or flat, whether they have buddies to play and move with, what kind of work they are doing, and whether or not it’s supportive to their well-being. Here’s the

A horse can lose the ability to move freely and safely if his movements are always controlled and he is never allowed to move freely or over varied and challenging terrain for fear he will injure himself.

PHOTO: DREAMSTIME/SVATLANA GOLUBENKO

Creating Optimal Learning Environments for Ourselves and Our Horses

By Annika McGivern

When you tack up your horse each day, what are you looking to accomplish? Regardless of your discipline, and whether you compete or not, I’m willing to bet that your goals are always related to learning. As riders we want to learn the physical, technical, and mental skills involved in partnering with a horse. We also work to help them learn the aids, manage their own bodies and nervous systems, and respond consistently and safely in a variety of circumstances. It all comes back to learning.

In this article I will share a conversation with Equine Learning and Behaviour Consultant, Emma Kjelson. Together, we look at how environment and circumstances impact learning. By asking better questions we can start to create better learning experiences for ourselves and our horses every time we get in the saddle. The result? Happier horses, happier humans, and a lot more progress.

Emma Kjelson was inspired to become an Equine Learning and Behaviour Consultant through her desire to understand one of her own horses who was

challenging everything she knew about horsemanship. Obsessed with resource guarding, this horse regularly and violently attacked other horses and dogs. Determined to help her horse be a happy, adjusted member of her herd, Kjelson discovered the power of combining science, ethology, and learning theory to understand and change horse behaviour. Today, as a qualified practitioner, she sees every day how respecting the learning and psychological needs of horses creates better behaviour and protects horse well-being.

PHOTO: ISTOCK/ELENA GROMOVA

“I have a ton of stories, but that experience I had with my own horse is closest to my heart because I can see the impact of the work every day in my own herd dynamics. That horse’s life and well-being drastically improved because of the work I did. He is in a herd of six now and functions beautifully as a herd member,” she says.

As an Equestrian Mental Performance Coach, I often work with riders who approach each ride with a preconstructed set of expectations. When either they or their horse fail to meet these expectations, they feel like a failure. This leads to asking unhelpful questions such as: What’s wrong with me? Why am I not good enough? What’s important to recognize is that 99 percent of the time when we sit on our horses, the goal is to learn something, not perform perfectly. This helps us to zoom out and consider the bigger picture of the learning environment we are creating. If these riders view themselves and their horses as learners with specific learning needs, it can dramatically change the way

they respond when things are not going according to plan. The questions change to: What’s preventing me or my horse from learning right now? What learning needs aren’t being met?

Kjelson often guides her clients through

a similar perspective shift. “A lot of my clients come to me because they’ve tried everything they know how to do with their horse to change their behaviour, and they’re stumped,” says Kjelson. Modern science provides fascinating insight into

Both horses and humans learn better in low-stress environments. The horse’s stress will be significantly reduced if his natural needs of friends, forage, and freedom are met.

The more we understand what horses need to learn, the better learning environment we can create for them.

PHOTO: CLIX PHOTOGRAPHY

PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK/JITKA CERNOHORSKA

Rider Down!

WHAT TO DO IN REMOTE EMERGENCIES

By Tania Millen

All trail riders should know wilderness first aid because one or more people, including those with first aid training, could be injured. Assessing the injured and deciding how to get them to medical care is the first priority.

It’s a trail rider’s worst nightmare: getting hurt and requiring evacuation from a remote area. Whether out on the trails for a few hours or on an overnight trip, the reality that every recreational rider must face is that emergencies can occur. Preparation is key and the success of emergency evacuations has a lot to do with planning for their possibility. It can also determine whether a rider survives.

First Aid, First

“The first thing to do in the event of an emergency is assess the injured person,” says James Tucker who teaches wilderness first aid in southern Alberta through his company Out There First Aid. “To be able to do that you need remote or wilderness first aid training.” But it’s not enough for one person to have that training, because the trained person might be the rider who gets hurt. Wilderness first aid is something that all trail riders need.

“Wilderness first aid courses teach you things like how to make your own stretchers and improvised neck and leg braces,” says Tucker. “You have to use what you have with you.”

Once the rider has been assessed, the group has to decide how to get them to medical care. Transportation options depend on the rider’s suspected injuries, the terrain, and the distance from the trailhead.

Choosing Self-Evacuation

“There are four scenarios where we don’t want to self-evacuate,” says Tucker. “A spinal/head injury, a pelvic fracture, a femur fracture, or severe hypothermia. And if you’re thrown from a horse, there’s a really good chance you could have any or all of those.”

If the injured rider is stable enough to self-evacuate, they could ride out — perhaps on the safest horse or while being ponied. Alternatively, they might be able

PHOTO: OUT THERE FIRST AID

PHOTO: CLIX PHOTOGRAPHY

The Lost Trail Ride

The scenery is stunning in every direction on this blue-sky day in the Kananaskis region of the Canadian Rockies. But my focus is dead ahead as I concentrate on staying balanced in the saddle while my horse tiptoes through the rocks on the skinny ridge of the mountainside. I feel around in my bag for my camera, daring to take it out for a few shots. At that moment I am aware that Dewy, our guide, is loving every minute. Under that ten-gallon hat and behind the bushy moustache is an ear-to-ear grin as each day he takes his clients another smidgen beyond their comfort zone to give them a solid adventure.

When you have completed The Lost Trail Ride, one of the most sought-after rides offered by Anchor D Guiding & Outfitting, you’ll know you have experienced something special. Dewy Matthews is the owner and operator of Anchor D, based an hour southwest of Calgary, Alberta. I have known Dewy for more than three decades and his passion for sharing the beautiful Western Canadian countryside with others is as strong as it ever was. Many things at the ranch have changed over the years. The Anchor D herd has grown from 30 to 130 horses;

Story and photos by Shawn Hamilton

the land area has increased from 80 acres to a half section (320 acres), with an additional 250 acres leased; and the original family dwelling has been replaced with a 2,050 square foot log home. What has not changed is Dewy’s appetite for sharing steep mountainous terrain, negotiating narrow windy trails through the trees, or galloping in open valleys with his clients. His uncanny sense of humour and love for what he does remains constant.

On the morning of my arrival, there is a flurry of activity at the ranch. Children and novice riders are mounted up for a two- or

three-hour trail ride; trailers are loaded for a weekender ride; and our horses’ names are being checked off a list as they fill two long trailers for the Lost Trail Ride. After 35 years in business, Anchor D has every angle of a Western retreat ride covered. Some days there are as many as five rides on the go in various locations. There are a lot of wheels turning. Dewy manages to do it all outside of the digital era, meeting with his head wranglers over coffee in the morning, and peering over his glasses as he reads the daily details handwritten on paper.