PART TWO In this feature. . .
➤ The benefits of transitions
secrets As told to Louise Kittle. Photos: Trevor Meeks
The
supple of a
horse
28 HORSE&RIDER
In the saddle
➤ Three ways to improve his suppleness ➤ How lateral work can help a stiff horse
Our trainer
Florian Bacher is a rider at the Spanish Riding School and has trained with Arthur Kottas. In addition to his commitments with the SRS, he competes his own dressage horses and trains riders across Europe.
Our model
A stiff horse can feel like the end of your dressage ambitions, but Florian Bacher shares some simple exercises to get the most from your horse and help him enjoy his work, too
T
here are many reasons that horses can be stiff – lack of work, minimal schooling in the past and age can all contribute to a horse struggling to be supple. There are some simple ways to help improve and maximise your horse’s suppleness, but before you even think about this it’s important to address the activity in his paces. If your horse isn’t in front of the leg then you cannot work on suppleness. You must always ride forward. Don’t fall into the bad habit of nagging him, though. If you need to use a stronger leg aid to send him forward then that’s fine, but remove your leg as soon as he responds to it.
Fine-tuning
Dani Pearson owns 16-year-old Snoopy. The pair competed at the Winter Championships at Medium level, but Snoopy has had soundness issues, so Dani has to work hard to keep him supple and happy in his work. He schools twice a week and goes on a water treadmill once a week to help maintain his fitness.
UR
S E LF
ELF RS
Y IT YOU TR
Try this in exercifse one - see overlea
Don’t forget the value of transitions for a stiff horse. They will help to keep his hindquarters engaged, allowing him to take more weight behind and be lighter on his forehand. Often, horses who lack suppleness will be prone to being on the forehand and another way to help reduce this is to keep adjusting the positioning of his front end. Ask him to bring his shoulders in, and then shoulders out.
Lateral help
Horses who struggle with suppleness for whatever reason will usually benefit from including leg-yield in their schooling sessions. This is because stiffness limits how much a horse can engage his hindquarters and leg-yield encourages softness. Ride positively forward from your inside leg to your outside rein and don’t be tempted to allow your inside hand to sneak across his neck to the outside. Keep riding positively forward and when you have ridden the number of steps you asked for, ride straight out of the movement.
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Don’t forget the value of transitions for a stiff horse
HORSE&RIDER 29
Y IT YO TR
As told to Lucy Turner. Photos: Bob Atkins. With thanks to Frensham Manor Equestrian for their help with this feature
PART TWO In this feature. . .
➤ Jumping doubles and trebles
Winning
combinations Do you find combinations intimidating to ride? Worry not – if you get the first part right, the rest is easy, explains showjumper Stuart Harvey
A
combination is usually a row of two or three jumps that are set up one or two strides apart. It gives both you and your horse a lot to think about, and can be daunting, but as long as you negotiate the first part well, the rest should follow smoothly. Combinations tend to show up flaws in your basic training and it’s often where people start to have problems. If someone comes to me with a horse who has started stopping, I always ask them if it’s at a combination and they almost always say yes. If something’s not quite right with your approach and your horse frequently gets a bad stride in, causing him to chip in a short stride or knock fences down, he’ll soon lose confidence and won’t want to do it. The key is to set him up so he reaches the first part spot on every time.
Getting started
After warming up, begin with a small cross-pole to settle your horse into jumping. Make sure the fence has a ground line so that your horse is able to judge it easily. If he’s established at jumping, approach in canter from the beginning. If he’s overexcited or jumping too big, just keep repeating it until he settles – if he jumps too high he won’t make the distance in a combination. A small jump requires a small approach, so keep it steady and nice and relaxed. Before you start riding combinations, build the fence into a more substantial upright, remembering to roll the ground line out a bit so your horse has a nice, smooth approach. Then put it up into a small oxer.
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Warm up over an oxer before jumping a combination
In the saddle
➤ Finding the right take-off spot ➤ Adjusting his pace through combinations Our trainer
Stuart Harvey has been producing, competing and sourcing top international showjumpers for 25 years. He now trains horses and riders alongside producing horses for the future.
Our models
Heather Larson rides sixyear-old mare Galwaybay Jessie. Together they are currently jumping BS Newcomers and are ready to start Foxhunter classes.
HORSE&RIDER 33
PART ONE In this feature. . .
Our expert
Louise Bell is well known for producing top-class hunters, as well as her success in the dressage arena. She produces and competes a string of horses from her base in Oxfordshire. 38 HORSE&RIDER
➤ What to expect in the show ring
Showing
success Fancy having a go at showing this season? Professional producer Louise Bell is here to help you achieve your best
➤ Choosing which class to enter ➤ Warm-up techniques
P
rofessionals succeed through hard work and practice. However much or little showing experience you have, there are some simple ways to improve your chances of doing well. It all begins when you arrive at the show. My pet hate is being late and it’s frustrating to see people arrive without enough time to spare, which then affects their whole performance. As soon as you’ve parked your lorry or trailer, head to your ring and check with the steward as to how the classes are progressing. The rules say that classes can start 15 minutes early and you don’t want to be caught out. Plus, walking to the arena will help you work out the layout of things and how long it will take you to get back there with your horse. At bigger shows, it can be quite a trek.
Make the most of your warm-up
How you warm up depends on your horse. If he’s highly strung, then lungeing can be very beneficial. Don’t worry about how much time he needs – your ultimate goal is for him to go really well for you and then for a stranger (the judge). Your responsibility is to prepare your horse for that, whether it takes 10 minutes or 40. On the other hand, don’t wear him out – the judge doesn’t want to be kicking him along. It’s much better to arrive early than late. You can get him off the lorry and give him a bit of light work and the chance to see the scenery, then put him away and offer him a drink and haynet. If you do this, you will have a much better chance of your horse performing his best in the arena, than if you screech into the lorry park, tack up and trot straight into your class.
Should I gallop in the warm-up?
I would advise not to, unless your horse needs firing up. If you do too much gallop, then your horse is likely to anticipate all the time, which you don’t want. However, if he is the type who needs opening up, then you probably do need to give him a short gallop, but be mindful of other competitors around you when you do this. Otherwise, definitely save it for the ring.
Find your own space within the areas sectioned off for competitors to warm up in. Don’t get rammed in among everybody else, because it will affect how much work you can do, and is likely to distract you and your horse. If your best-laid plans to be early were thwarted by trouble loading or a blowout on the way, don’t worry. Take a deep breath and relax – your horse will pick up on tension, which will only make things worse and, besides, classes are often running late. If your warmup is limited, just make sure that you’ve been through all three paces thoroughly in the warm-up.
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HORSE&RIDER 39
As told to Louise Kittle. Photos: Bob Atkins, AK Photography
In the saddle
bone Bad to the
Photo: Bob Atkins. With thanks to Rossdales Veterinary Surgeons for their help with this feature, rossdales.com
When infections reach the bone, they can be very difficult to treat. Vet Rachel Read from Rossdales Veterinary Surgeons explains why and what you can do to protect your horse
B
one infection (also known as infectious osteitis) in horses can be devastating, but thankfully it’s not very common. It is seen in foals more often than adult horses, particularly if they have a weakened immune response. In adult horses, it is often as a result of other sites of contamination or infection of nearby structures, where the septic process has spread and set into adjacent bone. Problems such as a hoof abscess, puncture wound or loss of skin, cellulitis, open fracture or joint infection can lead to the development of bone infection. Infections most commonly occur in the lower limbs, mainly because they have a relatively poor blood supply, which quickly becomes compromised when bacteria is introduced, making the infection harder to control. The most typical case is a horse who has an injury to his lower leg where the bone is exposed. The cannon, splint, pastern and pedal bones are the most likely to be affected, as they have comparatively little soft tissue cover, so are prone to damage.
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Two types of infection
There are two types of bone infection... ● septic osteitis – in bones lacking a medullary cavity (a cavity containing bone marrow), such as the pedal bone or flat bones of the cranium, or only affecting the outer cortex of the bone ● septic osteomyelitis – in bones with a medullary cavity, such as the bone marrow cavity in long bones
Ask a vet
Signs of an infection
If your horse has a bone infection, you might see... l l ameness, which can range from mild to nonweight bearing l a wound l abscess formation l localised heat l pain l swelling lp us exuding from a tract (a tube-like tunnel) l a raised temperature l depression l lack of appetite
If your horse has sustained a wound that you think may have exposed or affected the bone, it is important to call your vet for advice as soon as possible. Early treatment usually results in the best outcome and could fight an infection before the bone is involved.
Confirming the diagnosis
It is important to differentiate bone infection from a fracture, or an infected joint or tendon sheath. Your vet will normally confirm the bone is infected using X-ray (see right), however, it will only be visible when the bone has lost 30–40% of its mineral content, which may take 4–5 days from infection. If the diagnosis or extent of disease is uncertain, then other advanced imaging techniques such as CT (computed tomography), contrast CT (where a dye is used to make abnormalities stand out before performing CT), MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) or bone scan (nuclear scintigraphy) can be used. Your vet may also want to take blood and synovial fluid ( joint fluid) samples, and a bone biopsy from the affected area. From the bone sample, it’s possible to detect the exact bacteria infecting the bone, which can lead to more targeted antibiotic treatment.
Common ways bone becomes infected There are three ways a horse can develop infectious osteitis... l via bacteria in the blood stream l f rom traumatic injuries involving the bone l from infected structures nearby Here are the most common scenarios vets see...
tion Pedal bone infec
Pedal bone Infection of the pedal bone is probably one of the most common, usually as a result of a puncture wound to the sole or hoof wall, or secondary to a hoof abscess. If the infection has spread to the pedal bone, the affected area is usually surgically removed via a window made in the hoof wall or through the sole.
Our expert
Rachel Read DVM MRCVS is an orthopaedic assistant at Rossdales Diagnostic Centre, Newmarket. She grew up showjumping in Canada and carried this interest in the sport forward in her career, specialising in sport horse medicine and orthopaedics, and working with various teams as an FEI treating veterinarian.
Wounds If your horse has sustained a wound that exposes bone, or if you’re unsure whether he has, you should consult your vet. Although the wound may look small from the outside, it could easily have tracked down to the bone, especially if the wound is in an area with minimal soft tissue overlying the bone. With extensive trauma and exposed bone, the blood supply to the outer layers of the bone is decreased. This means that the body’s natural defences cannot infiltrate the area to kill bacteria and infection can easily set in. Initial stages of treatment involve good basic wound management. The hair should be clipped and the skin cleaned. Dead tissue may need to be trimmed away from the edges of the wound before it is thoroughly flushed out. If bone is exposed, every effort should be made to stitch the skin back in place. Although the wound may not hold together, the parts that are viable can provide a healthy blood supply to the area. If the wound cannot be closed, a special dressing containing saline and iodine or chlorhexidine can be applied, called a wet-todry bandage. The wet gauze initially pulls fluid and bacteria into the outer layer of the bandage, and when it dries it adheres to the dead tissue, which is pulled away with the bandage. Bandage changes should be carried out daily until the wound is healthy. Antibiotics may be helpful for clearing a superficial infection in the wound, but can be ineffective at preventing bone infection. If the blood supply to the bone is inadequate, bacteria in the bone are effectively walled off from both the body’s and antibiotics’ defences. However, antibiotics can penetrate healthy bone and may be effective if an infection has already set in.
Wound exposing the bone
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