to the August 2024 issue
Early starts are so much easier at this point in the year, aren’t they? To me there’s nothing worse than days that begin and end in the dark, so I’m at my happiest when the days are longest.
I’m sure the positive frame of mind the extra sunshine gives helps with my attitude towards competing, too. This issue, confidence coach Alison Buttery shares her advice for improving outcomes on competition day by managing your mindset, and eventer and trainer Alicia Wilkinson explores how to get your
horse to the venue feeling as relaxed and positive as possible.
I’ll add my two cents to their brilliant advice, which is that I hadn’t appreciated the difference truly comfy, technical competition kit can make to how you perform on the day. I recently invested and wish I’d done it years ago!
Until next month!
Louise Kittle, Editor-in-Chief
THIS MONTH’S CONTRIBUTORS
The way you approach competing with your horse has a big impact on how successful your day will be, and we’re not just talking about rosettes, as Alison explains on p48.
Dannie has made a name for himself in the industry by producing horses with tact and sympathy, and gaining great results with them. He shares his tips for boosting balance on p20.
Rethinking your horse’s management, workload and diet are crucial in managing – and mitigating –fizzy behaviour, as nutritionist Lizzie explains on p98.
Louise Kittle, Editor-in-Chief
Louise was bitten by the horsey bug at age two, and has ridden and owned horses ever since, competing in eventing as well as enjoying training her horses – and herself: she’s a BHS Int SM.
DON’T MISS...
Working on your individual show is crucial to catching the judge’s eye in the show ring. Showing star Danielle explains what to focus on, on p38.
Refresh your first aid kit and help keep your horse’s skin healthy with a FREE bottle of Absorbine Silver Honey, worth more than £27! You just pay postage – turn to p130.
Being able to choose which lead your horse lands on over a fence makes a big difference to not just the smoothness of your round, but your chances of going clear, as Louise explains on p28.
Want to wow the judges in your next dressage test? Annabella shares her tips for adding some sparkle to your work on p42.
Alison Buttery
Dannie Morgan
Danielle Heath
Annabella Pidgley
Louise Harwood
Lizzie Drury
August 2024 issue
IN THE SADDLE
20 Balancing act Develop straightness with Dannie Morgan’s exercises
28 Leading the way Louise Harwood’s guide to landing on the correct leg
34 4 secrets to riding through water Your horse will be full of confidence
38 In the spotlight Danielle Heath shares her tips for your individual show
42 Power up Take your dressage tests from fine to fabulous with Annabella Pidgley
MIND MATTERS
48 Nervous energy How to control your nerves on competition day
54 Bust those spooks Discover why your horse spooks and what to do
ASK A VET
68 Surface issue Vet Amy Leather looks at common skin conditions
ASK THE EXPERTS
76 Management know-how
78 Mind matters
80 Ask a vet
82 Horsey shopping
84 In the saddle
86 In brief
MANAGEMENT KNOW-HOW
88 Look sharp Make sure your horse looks his best on competition day
94 First aid essentials What to do when your horse is wounded
98 Feeding to fight the fizz Dietary advice to keep your excitable horse calm
106 Manage your horse to win! Preparation is key to minimising show day stress
HORSEY SHOPPING
114 Good gut health Supplements designed to aid your horse’s digestive health
118 Tried and tested We put anatomical girths to the test
122 Home comforts Horsey-themed décor to make your home a haven
124 This month we love... Sport shirts, cooling wraps, treats and so much more!
Cover stories
Photo by Jon Stroud
August
2024
Tackle the competition season head on with our experts’ advice. Discover how to banish show day nerves, get your horse looking his best and polish your riding performance.
REGULARS
8 Take to the stage A historical performance featuring horses!
14 Horseworld science Discover the latest research in the equine industry
16 Horseworld hub Keep up to date with the latest horsey news
60 Back to business An exclusive interview with 5* eventer Georgie Goss
64 Win! A voucher from Premier Equine!
66 Perfect prizes Get your hands on some fab goodies
74 Subscribe to H&R Get every issue delivered straight to your door
103 Follow your dream Looking to start a new career?
126 Dream horsey homes equestrian properties
129 My life with horses A week in the life of an HR business owner
130 Reader offer Claim your Silver Honey spray now!
Power up
Want to take your dressage tests from fine to fabulous? Annabella Pidgley has the game plan you need
(Unsplash.com). As told to
Photos: Rose Lewis/Daydream Equine Art, Samantha Gades
Tilly Berendt.
Adding sparkle to his paces could be just what you need to eke out a few more valuable marks from the judges
EXPERT
Annabella Pidgley has six European Championships under her belt at Pony, Junior, and Young Rider levels. She’s was 2023 Young Rider European Champion with Espe, and competes at Grand Prix with Vamos Amigos and Gio, the former mount of Charlotte Dujardin.
When you watch top-level dressage tests, it’s easy to become caught up in the flashiness of the horse’s paces and the glamour of it all. But there are two sides to that coin –without accuracy, a true connection and harmony between horse and rider, being flashy will only get you so far.
Conversely, if you’ve been perfecting your ringcraft and making sure your geometry is accurate and your horse is completely on your aids, adding sparkle to his paces could be just what you need to eke out a few more valuable marks from the judges. And the best news? Even if your horse is a naturally conservative mover, you can still teach him to have elevation and expression, without sacrificing those all-important basics.
Your perfect warm-up checklist
Developing your horse’s paces
Building strength in horse and rider
It’s all in the mix
It can’t be overstated how important the scales of training are, whatever level you’re competing at. It’s like baking a cake – you can add fancy decorations and make it aesthetically impressive, but if the batter ingredients aren’t right, it won’t taste good. Adding flash to your horse’s paces is the same – if you rely on toe flicking in the extended trot, but your horse is unbalanced or not using his back, you won’t achieve top marks.
As always, use those scales of training as a checklist as you warm up. Your horse should be...
• working in a good rhythm. This is the foundation of the training scale and something you should be working on from the moment you mount. If he’s behind the leg and feels lazy, it’s hard to retain rhythm, because you’ll feel as if you’re kicking him up to the tempo, so ride plenty of transitions to wake him up and he’ll soon carry himself along to his own internal metronome
• supple and relaxed on both reins. Every horse has a stiffer side, so make sure you ride plenty of changes of rein and figures in all three paces to loosen up his muscles on each side of his body, and let him stretch down to the contact, too, to loosen his back
Bust those spooks
Why does your horse spook, and what should you do when it happens?
Dr Debbie Marsden shares her advice
Dr Debbie Marsden is Chair of the Society of Equine Behaviour Consultants. She trains behaviour consultants and advises on all aspects of horse behaviour, management and training. EXPERT
Spooking is a deeply ingrained natural instinct that evolved to help horses survive in the wild, and constantly looking out for danger and running away at the slightest hint of it are an excellent defence against predators. In order to be aware of danger as early as possible, horses have evolved extremely good eyesight and hearing – much better than our own – and spot things we don’t, which may be how the term spooking originated –reacting to things that are ‘not there’. ➤
Feeding to the fight fizz
Lizzie Drury reveals what to add to the bucket and what to leave out to calm your excitable horse
EXPERT
Lizzie Drury MSc RNutr is responsible for the planning and development of all Saracen feed formulations. She also heads the nutrition advisor team, offering feeding advice and diet plans to customers.
If you have a fizzy horse, it can be tricky to provide the right feed to manage his temperament so you can enjoy your rides without too much anxiety on your part at the same time as maintaining your horse’s body condition, health and wellbeing. Unfortunately, this can become even more of a challenge if exercise has to be limited for some reason, for example due to extreme weather or recuperation after injury. So, how can you feed to help keep a lid on things?
TOP TIP
Keeping fizzy horses confidently and positively slightly guessing, rather than focusing on what’s in a hedge or how fast they can go in a straight line, can help to distract them.
Energy balance
Fizzy is a term used to describe horses with a natural enthusiasm for life and quicker reactions to external stimuli. Typically, these are horses bred for speed, such as Thoroughbreds, Arabians and their crosses, although even some of the traditionally less excitable breeds can keep us on our toes from time to time.
However, a Thoroughbred kept for racing is unlikely to be described as fizzy, despite being fed large amounts of concentrate feed and being stabled for most of the time, because the amount of exercise he has and the duration of that exercise (energy output) matches his feed intake (energy input).
Essential exercise
The amount, frequency and duration of any exercise is an important factor in the management of fizzy horses and, for some, it can be more about keeping things interesting rather than having to ride for a certain amount of time or at a particular intensity. These types of horse often benefit from mixing things up, such as adding some polework to a schooling session or focusing on transitions on a hack. Alternatively, find a local gallop so he can let off steam every so often on a good surface in a safe and managed environment. Essentially, exercise is a key factor in managing these animals, and while adjusting feeding regimes and the kind of feed given can help, it can’t and won’t change your horse’s specific personality. Rather, it’s part of the jigsaw of his holistic management and workload.
TOP TIP
If you struggle to provide enough turnout time, especially in winter, consider a yard with access to all-weather turnout pens or safe, enclosed all-weather areas where horses are able to have a run around.
