Horse&Rider Magazine – February 2020

FREE! MARK TODD TRAINING GUIDE Issue number 601 February 2020 n Simple guide to lateral work n Understand your horse’s body language n Equine dentistry explained n Create the perfect contact n A guide to calmers and bespoke boots

The UK’s best-selling equestrian monthly

LATERAL

WORK

101

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW

stress-free

travel sorted

EQUINE

DENTISTRY EXPLAINED

Teach your horse to

JUMP CLEAR

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12 December 2019 – 8 January 2020

horse What’s your

telling you?

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As told to Bethany Searby. Photos: Jon Stroud

In this feature. . .

Our expert

Anna Power is an international showjumper based in Somerset. A British Podium Potential squad member and a regular on the Nations Cup circuit, she competes from young horse classes all the way up to Grand Prix.

Our model

Tahiclaud (Claud) is by Kashmir van Schuttershof.

Fondly known as the Italian stallion, the 10-year-old’s been part of Anna’s team for six years.

Currently on the comeback competing at 1.30m after three years off.

➤ Sharpen

up your horse’s focus on the flat

Proceed

with care

Not every horse is born careful. However, with a few training tools, you can make him super-attentive.

Showjumper Anna Power explains

N

o scope, no hope – it’s a phrase most riders are familiar with. We all want a careful jumper who tackles his fences with plenty of power, tucks up his knees and gives the top rail plenty of clearance, but this isn’t something that comes naturally to all horses.

If your horse is already tidy over fences and finds it easy to stay on task and listen to you, count yourself lucky.

Equally, don’t despair if he’s prone to the odd knock. Carefulness is a skill you can train with a few handy schooling techniques and, as has been a running theme throughout this training series, it all starts on the flat.

Targeted training

Often, a horse who isn’t careful doesn’t just knock fences – there are other tell-tale signs in his way of going, too. This means you can work on your horse’s carefulness from a number of angles, and not just over fences.

A careless horse might also be one who struggles with...

• concentration • confidence • forwardness • strength and balance • jumping technique Many of these pitfalls can – and should – be addressed on the flat first and, as such, can be added to your pre-jump warm-up.

➤

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In the saddle

➤

Use v poles effectively ➤ Make knockdowns a thing of the past

HORSE&RIDER 19

In this feature. . .

➤ Choose

the best venue for your training

Cross-country

confidence with

PART ONE: INTRO TO CROSS-COUNTRY Looking to dip your toe into eventing but not sure how to start? Hollie Swain guides you through the first steps of cross-country training

As told to Rebecca Philpot. Photos: Jon Stroud

W

hen it comes to introducing your horse to cross-country fences, it’s easy to convince yourself that it should feel like second nature to him – especially if he’s been taught to jump over coloured poles within the confines of an arena. After all, when you consider the rolling countryside courses are often set in, as well as the rustic nature of the obstacles, surely it can’t be as daunting as a brightly coloured showjump or filler?

As with all things horsey, it’s best to treat every new experience as exactly that – just because your horse is comfortable jumping one type of fence, it doesn’t mean he’ll be just as happy over something different. And while cross-country fences might be designed with a more natural feel than a showjump, to a horse who’s never seen them before, they’re anything but. So, when the time comes to set foot onto a cross-country course, the key word is confidence.

➤

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In the saddle

➤ Establish

cross-country basics ➤ Clear obstacles confidently

Our expert

Hollie Swain is an international eventer from New Zealand, who moved to the UK in 2011.

She competes at CCI3* and is now based near Godalming in Surrey.

Our model

Working pupil Tara Jeffries rides Ruby, a six-year-old Irish Sports Horse, owned by Carolyn Trousdale, who is based with Hollie to further her education.

HORSE&RIDER 33

PART TWO

Our expert

Emma Short BSc (Hons) joined Baileys as an equine nutritionist having graduated from Writtle College in 2002. She’s responsible for advising owners, overseeing forage analyses and devising feeding programmes based on the results.

Understanding how your horse’s diet impacts his performance will help boost your scores this spring, as Baileys Horse Feeds nutritionist, Emma Short, explains

T

he diets of elite human athletes have never been more in the spotlight, and it’s common knowledge that correctly fuelling training has a big impact on success. But have you considered that the same is absolutely true of your horse?

A disciplined training and exercise regime can only achieve so much because, like any athlete, your horse will only develop a strong, well-muscled body when correct work is complemented by the right nutritional building blocks.

Photos: Jon Stroud

The magic ingredient

The main component of muscle and body tissue is protein, which is supplied in limited amounts by forage.

Working horses, and those whose muscle tone and volume need some improvement, require support in the form of a balanced feed or balancer.

The harder your horse works, the greater his demand for protein will be. Consequently, feeds formulated for horses in moderate to hard work will have 12–13% protein, compared to those designed for light work, which may contain 9–11% protein.

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Management know-how

Quality control

It’s not just the level of protein in your horse’s diet that counts, though – the quality, which is determined by the individual amino acid building blocks it contains, is important, too.

Amino acids join together to make new proteins that the body needs.

These are then used to build muscle, hair and hooves, as well as enzymes and hormones, which are an important part of the immune system.

With the right dietary components, your horse’s body can manufacture most amino acids. However, there are a small number of essential ones, such as methionine and lysine, which have to be included in your horse’s diet. If one of these amino acids is present in a smaller quantity than his body requires, it won’t be able to create the proteins it needs.

The amino acid most lacking in equine

diets is lysine. A low lysine intake may negatively impact muscle development and growth, which is why feeds formulated for elevated workloads or breeding horses contain added sources of lysine. This ensures that any shortfalls within the forage portion of the diet can be counteracted. Good quality protein that supplies these essential amino acids is commonly found in alfalfa, micronised soya and distillers’ grains.

DID YOU KNOW?

Protein allows your horse’s body to build muscle and repair the tissue being damaged during work and performance.

MYTH: BUSTED

Many owners are afraid of feeding protein in the mistaken belief that it’s the cause of excitable behaviour. Fizziness and excitability are more often the result of having excess energy due to being fed too many, or the wrong kind of, calories – such as fast-release rather than slow-release. These higher energy feeds, formulated for heavy workloads, also contain elevated protein levels, which is where the myth comes from – but protein isn’t the cause of the behaviour.

Made by horse owners for horse owners In association with

baileyshorsefeeds.co.uk

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