Horse&Rider Magazine – April 2017

EXPERT TRAINERS! Harry Meade  Jock Paget The UK’s best-selling equestrian monthly

BETTER DRESSAGE SCORE guaranteed!

Michael Eilberg’s secrets to

success

Make your horse

Simple ways to reduce travel stress

EASY TO HANDLE

BUILD JUMPING

CONFIDENCE

GEAR ESSENTIALS

easy-to-follow guide

Buyer’s guide to show jackets

What could a blood test tell you?

Riding tights for every budget

GET FITTER,

April 2017

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Issue number 565 April 2017 n 6 steps to a better dressage score – guaranteed! n Reduce travel stress n Build jumping confidence n Make your horse easy to handle n Get fitter, ride better n Gear essentials

STEPS TO A

IPN Consumer Magazine of the Year

In this feature. . .

Our trainer

22 HORSE&RIDER

Jock Paget won Badminton Horse Trials on his debut in 2013, and was selected to represent New Zealand at both the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympics. After being based in the UK for several years, he recently returned home to take up a position on the Kiwi performance coaching team.

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Teach your horse to think for himself Our model

Jo Southey and six-year-old Beyond Doubt (Noodles) are a new partnership. The pair board at Stonar School, and together they’ve done some 70cm one-day events and are looking to progress up the levels. Noodles has only been backed for a year, so he’s still very green.

In the saddle

Stay straight and balanced ➤ Use poles to improve his jump

Get it right with

gridwork Whether your horse is young or could benefit from going back to basics, Jock Paget explains how gridwork can be used to create balance and straightness

G

ridwork is the ideal tool for improving your horse’s jump and it’s something I do with all my horses, regardless of the level they’re working at. It’s particularly beneficial for younger horses, or those who need to become more brave or improve their technique. The grid

quickly becomes a safe place where your horse can grow in confidence because he understands what you’re asking and how the exercises work. By adding a few ground poles or adjusting the distances, you can use the grid to tailor the way he jumps and develop skills such as straightness and balance, which are vital if you want to be competitive.

➤ As told to Rachel Dyke. Photos: Bob Atkins. With thanks to Pure Feed for their help with this feature, thepurefeedcompany.com

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HORSE&RIDER 23

Photos: Bob Atkins. Find out more about Anna Saillet, equinebehavioursolutions.co.uk

Happy Our expert

travels

Anna Saillet is an Equine Behaviour Consultant.

She gained a BSc (Hons) in Animal Behaviour from Liverpool University, and an MSc in Applied Animal Behaviour and Welfare from Newcastle University, where she specialised in equine behaviour. She has competed in dressage, showjumping and eventing.

Building confidence

Does loading your horse often turn into a battle of wills?

Anna Saillet helps take the stress out of travelling

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s we start to see the light at the end of the long winter tunnel, you’re probably already dreaming of the wonderful places you and your horse can visit this summer.

But before you get too carried away, you need to make sure that travelling is something that he’s happy to do, so your time together can be filled with fun and enjoyment rather than stress and frustration. It’s so easy to sit back and think it’ll all be fine next time you try to load him, but now is the time to help him develop his confidence and ensure that when the time comes to take him somewhere, he’s fully equipped to cope.

A trailer or lorry is a potentially very frightening place for your horse, so it’s essential to spend time working with him so that he builds a positive association with your mode of transport. Some people choose to leave the vehicle in their horse’s field so he can become used to it. This can be useful, but be aware that it’s unlikely to create a confident loader on its own.

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While it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of taking your horse on new adventures, sadly he might not share these feelings. Being taken away from his companions, loaded into a dark, noisy, wobbly box and unloaded in a completely new location can be extremely stressful for him and it’s easy to forget to take this into account. Luckily, there are things that you can do to help minimise the stress he experiences, and putting in the groundwork first can go a long way to TOP TIP making both your Your horse probably has a lives better and whole wardrobe of boots, tail more enjoyable bandages and rugs that only come out in the long run. when he’s travelling. Wearing these can feel a little strange, so introduce them gradually and make wearing them a pleasant experience – why not leave them on while he’s having his tea?

Spend time leading him towards and away from the vehicle, around it and near to it, and see if he wants to touch it. By rewarding him any time he shows interest in the vehicle and as he approaches, it will help him start to realise that the vehicle is actually rather nice to be around.

Allow your horse to do this in his own time, rather than you forcing him to get closer. This will mean

Mind matters

Help him start to realise that the vehicle is actually quite nice to be around

that his own decision of moving towards the vehicle is what gets him the reward, which will encourage him to make

this choice again. It can be tempting to try to pull him forwards a bit more with the leadrope, but maintain a loose contact and allow him to investigate in his own time. It’s important to also allow him to move away from the vehicle if he chooses to – this shouldn’t result in any type of punishment, but instead just ask him to turn back towards the vehicle and reward any behaviour of looking or moving towards it.

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Laminitisn ol w -d ow

As the weather gets warmer, the flush of spring grass brings with it the threat of laminitis. H&R explains how to reduce the risk to your horse

A

fter months of frozen ground or ankle-deep mud, spring is a welcome sight.

Warmer weather and more daylight hours mean your horse can enjoy more turnout, but beware the hidden danger lurking in that lush pasture – an increased risk of laminitis.

Laminitis is the inflammation and weakening of the laminae – folds of tissue 116 HORSE&RIDER

that bind your horse’s pedal bone to the inside of his hoof wall. Because the hoof wall can’t expand to accommodate the swelling, laminitis causes debilitating pain. In some cases, the pedal bone can even detach from the hoof wall and either rotate or sink towards your horse’s sole.

This can cause severe lameness, recurring abscesses and long-term changes to the hoof’s structure that are often terminal.

Management know-how

DID YOU KNOW?

Non-structural carbohydrates (NSCs) are the sum of water-soluble carbohydrates (sugar) and starch, and are found in all types of forage and in particularly high quantities in lush grass.

Causes of laminitis

Previously believed to be a condition in its own right, we now know that the majority of laminitis cases are actually a symptom of an underlying endocrine problem, such as equine metabolic syndrome (EMS) or pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID, formerly known as Cushing’s disease). These conditions cause the body to have an abnormal reaction to non-structural carbohydrates (NSCs), leading to an inflammatory response and triggering laminitis.

Some horses are genetically predisposed to the metabolic disorders that can cause laminitis, however, there are things you can do to help reduce the risk to your horse...

• keep him at a healthy weight – use body condition scoring and a weightape to track his progress • feed a diet low in sugar and starch – choose feeds that are lower than 12% NSC and restrict his grass intake • balance his diet with a feed balancer or vitamin and mineral supplement – you can buy ones specifically formulated for horses who need a low-calorie diet • regular exercise will not only aid weight loss, but also improve insulin sensitivity – if you don’t have time to ride every day, try lungeing, long-reining or a brisk in-hand walk

Other types of laminitis

Laminitis is classified into two different types...

• acute refers to the early stages of the disease where the clinical signs are evident, but the pedal bone hasn’t become detached • chronic laminitis is when the pedal bone rotates or sinks, and the effects of this can be severe and long-term

There are several less common types of laminitis that aren’t caused by diet or a metabolic disorder...

• mechanical laminitis happens when horses don’t receive regular, balanced hoof trimming or are worked repeatedly on hard surfaces • septic laminitis is caused by absorption of bacterial toxins by the body. It’s most commonly seen following colic surgery or in broodmares who have retained the placenta after giving birth • supporting limb laminitis can happen following a leg injury that requires the opposite leg to bear more weight, putting it under extra stress and strain

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