Horse&Rider Magazine – Spring 2020

In this feature. . . ➤ Ride a square to improve your showjumping skills

Fair and

square

While flexibility on the crosscountry course is vital, sometimes straightness is everything. Find out why, and how to achieve it, with eventing legend William Fox-Pitt

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ook closely and you’ll notice that eventers and showjumpers ride two different kinds of horse. An eventer’s has to be very soft and supple to cope with the demands of the dressage phase and the complex twists and turns of the cross-country.

On the other hand, top showjumpers’ mounts are masters of straightness. They’re level, balanced and totally adjustable – a picture of precision and power.

That’s not to say that these high level horses don’t have their fair share of both flexibility and straightness – being truly straight is really hard for horses, and strength and suppleness are required for them to be able to hold themselves evenly. Therefore, in order to reap the benefits of a straight horse you need to ensure he’s soft and supple, too.

As told to Bethany Searby. Photos: Daydream Photography

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In the saddle

➤ Learn

the importance of straightness ➤ Control his shoulders Our expert

William Fox-Pitt started eventing at the age of 15 and he was the first British eventer to become World number one.

Our model

Grafennacht (Lillie) is a 17.1hh, seven-year-old mare by Grafenstolz.

Owned and bred by Susan Eggleton, she made her three-star debut in 2019.

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In this feature. . . ➤ Prepare your horse for advanced movements

Fine-tune

your flatwork

with

Hannah Esberger-Hancock

PART 3: HASSLE-FREE HALF-PASS Once your horse is able to engage, introducing advanced movements is the next step. Hannah shows you how to use what you’ve learnt to get to grips with half-pass

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As told to Bethany Searby. Photos: Adam Fanthorpe

s you work your way up the lateral movements ladder from leg-yield up to shoulder-in and beyond, all it takes to start performing them is to keep practising the training scales you’ve been working on to build your horse’s strength.

Even if you’re not ready to showcase them in competition, there’s no reason why you can’t work towards higher level movements at home. Of course you need the cornerstones of rhythm, suppleness and connection in place first, but with their super-suppling, gait-collecting benefits, half-pass and travers work wonders for your horse’s paces, and enhance his self-carriage, too. So, why not give them a go this spring?

Jargon-busting

Travers, also known as quarters-in, takes place on a straight line and asks your horse for inside bend through his body, and to bring his quarters onto an inner track. Like shoulder-in, it’s a three-track movement, and the inner track should be at an angle of around 30° to the rest of his body to achieve this.

Put simply, half-pass is travers ridden on a diagonal line, with the shoulders, rather than the quarters, leading. Your horse should be flexed in the direction of travel – if you’re moving him from the track to the centre line, he needs inside flexion. Therefore, he not only needs to be supple, but also in front of your leg to maintain the bend.

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30°

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In the saddle

➤ Step-by-step

travers and half-pass ➤ Polish your lateral work Our expert

Hannah Esberger-Hancock is an international dressage rider based near Sheffield.

Holder of seven national and 22 regional titles, her yard is home to her string of six competition horses, as well as her two daughters’ ponies.

Our model

Iggy Pop (Iggy) is a 17hh, six-year-old gelding by Dream Boy. He’s competed lightly, but still achieved a spot in the British Dressage six-year-old semi-finals and is now competing at Novice level.

Half-pass and travers work wonders for horse’s paces, and enhance his self-carriage, too

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The bond you can form with a mare is special, but what if she’s troubled by hormonal issues? Clinical Director at Minster Equine, Gemma Dransfield, explains the treatment options

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Natural breeding season

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Anovulatory transition

Jan

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Apr

Autumn transition

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A mare’s cycle lasts 21 days and is influenced by a variety of hormones Spring released by her brain and ovaries. The transition cycle begins on the day of ovulation, and the first 16 days are mainly under the influence of the hormone progesterone.

From days 17–21 the level of progesterone decreases and oestrogen increases. It’s oestrogen that’s responsible for much of the in-season or oestrus behaviour that owners report.

This phase of the cycle lasts approximately five days, however it can vary from mare to mare and depends on the time of year and whether she has a clinical problem.

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Understanding her cycle

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Gemma Dransfield MA VetMB CertEP MRCVS is Clinical Director at Minster Equine Clinic in York.

Gemma’s main interests lie in equine and stud medicine.

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he ranks of elite sport horses have never included more mares, and yet many people are still put off mare ownership by horror stories of hormonal, unmanageable stressheads. Is this a fair assessment of what amounts to half of our equine population? It’s undeniable that there are differences between mares and geldings – while a gelding’s behaviour can be challenging, it’s not controlled by his hormonal state, unlike a mare’s. But advances in veterinary medicine in recent years, coupled with improved management strategies, have changed the outlook for mares whose performance or behaviour is affected by n Ju their natural cycle.

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Our expert

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Photos: Bob Atkins, Jon Stroud. With thanks to Minster Equine Vets, minsterequinevets.co.uk

Managing mares

Ask a vet

DID YOU KNOW?

Mares are seasonal breeders. Most of their cyclic behaviour and desire to breed occurs in spring and summer because the hormones controlling their cycle respond to increased daylight. This is because, once pregnant, their gestation period lasts approximately 330 days (11 months), meaning foals will be born in spring and summer the following year when the weather’s warmer and there’s an abundance of food.

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