Horse&Rider Magazine – Spring 2016

TOP TRAINERS! FIONA BIGWOOD, ROBERT WHITAKER AND ANNA ROSS The UK’s best-selling equestrian monthly

WITH ROBERT

ER K A T I H W

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JUMP BETTER GUIDE TO FIBRE FEEDS

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DRESSAGE SCORES HOW TO AVOID

JUMPING INJURIES

MANNERS

Spring 2016

IMPROVE HIS

£3.99

Small

big

steps to The road to success is paved with simple exercises ridden correctly. Dressage rider Fiona Bigwood shows you how

progress

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Photos: Jon Stroud Media. With thanks to Fiona Bigwood and Childéric Saddles, childericsaddles.co.uk

oday’s lesson is the first time Our expert Fiona has met Caroline and Ernie, International dressage so to begin with she watches rider Fiona Bigwood is based the combination to assess their in West Sussex. With her mare experience. Ernie is quite excited to Atterupgaards Orthilia, she rode for Team GB at the 2015 be in a new place and spends time looking around European Championships. as other horses come into the arena or ride past.

Fiona advises: “Now that you’ve warmed up, it’s time to get him a bit more forward and concentrating

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on you”. She asks Caroline to bring him onto a circle in trot and explains that they are going to concentrate on keeping the energy contained within the pace to help encourage Ernie to use his hindlegs more effectively. Fiona asks Caroline to collect Ernie’s trot and contain the energy. “Remember to maintain the bend on the circle, and also keep a light hand and his neck long. It’s important to think about using your seat as well as your rein,” explains Fiona.

In the saddle

Steering solutions

Because Ernie is young and quite green, he isn’t hugely easy to steer and is prone to being a bit wobbly. To help with this, Fiona asks Caroline to practise downwards transitions from trot to walk.

“Think about the same collection you have been working on in the trot and keep the energy into the first walk step. Maintain it in the walk and then during the upwards transition to trot.”

Our model Quite quickly, Ernie begins to tune Caroline Smail had an above-knee in to Caroline and Fiona comments: amputation on her left leg in 2007 “I always keep an eye on my horse’s following complications caused by bone ears. They are a very good indication cancer in 1991. She wears a very heavy and of what he is focusing on. Ernie is uncontrollable prosthesis that has affected her really starting to focus on you now.” ability to ride her horse, Easy Boy (Ernie), a On the first few downward five-year-old warmblood. She rides in a transitions, Ernie resists and lifts specially-made Childéric saddle, with blocks his head, hollowing his back. Fiona built to offer greater support and allow reminds Caroline not to be tempted Caroline’s leg to sit still, helping to to overuse her hand, but to use her balance her in the saddle. seat instead, and to concentrate on the softness and quality of the steps into walk.

“You can use your hand, but you must use, then give immediately when he gives to you. The focus is on keeping the energy you’ve created and thinking of Ernie taking an upward walk step, almost as if you were wanting him to produce a passage or piaffe stride.”

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As told to Lucy Turner. Photos: Bob Atkins. With thanks to John Whitaker International Ltd, johnwhitaker.com

Developing a

showjumping canter Fine-tuning your horse’s canter will help improve his jump. International showjumper Robert Whitaker shows you how to go about it

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anter is the most important pace for showjumping. In fact, when your horse jumps, it is simply an exaggerated canter stride. His canter should be active, rhythmical and balanced, but most importantly, you should be able to lengthen and shorten his canter as required, so that you can meet each fence in the prime position for take-off.

The better your horse’s canter, the better he will jump, so it’s important to work on refining it

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while you’re schooling. The following exercises will help you do just that.

While you’re warming up, get your horse moving nice and forwards in canter so he’s in front of your leg, which means that when you apply your leg, he responds instantly and actively from behind, and that he is able to maintain his pace without you having to keep using your leg.

To help achieve this, do lots of transitions into and out of canter, and move your horse forward and back within the canter.

In the saddle

Exercise 1 – Canter poles

Our trainer

This exercise is great for improving your horse’s canter, especially if he has a tendency to break into trot or lacks adjustability in his canter. To set up the exercise, put two poles on the ground with four canter strides between them.

Initially, canter over the poles in a steady rhythm on both reins until your horse is comfortably managing four strides between them. If after a few tries he isn’t achieving four even strides between the poles with ease, ensure you’re straight in plenty of time to make sure you get a good line to the first pole.

If he’s still struggling, you may need to tweak the distance between the poles to suit him.

Once you’ve mastered four strides, lengthen the canter and try to fit only three strides between the poles. Then after that, try to get more control and squeeze in five strides. And if you really want to challenge yourself, go for six strides! When you’re changing the number of strides between the poles, it’s important to adjust your canter well before you actually reach them, so collect up your horse or get him moving forwards more before you turn to approach the poles.

Really mix it up and chop and change how many strides you get in between the poles each time. It can help to have someone on the ground shouting out a number of strides to aim for.

To lengthen...

Apply a little more leg and soften your hand to ask your horse to go more forward. Be careful not to apply too much pressure, though, as you don’t want him to rush, just lengthen his stride a little.

astered Once you’ve m ides... four normal str

Robert Whitaker, son of John, is a very successful international showjumper who has ridden on the British team on many occasions. He has also been British Open Show Jumping Champion an impressive three times.

...shorten him up and go for five

Our models

To shorten...

Morgann Bloquet is riding her eight-year-old gelding, Boris. Together they do a bit of everything, but they focus on eventing and have competed at the Badminton Grassroots Championships.

Don’t forget to use your leg as well as steadying him with your hand. In fact, you should always use your leg before you use your hand, because if you don’t have your leg on, you won’t have any impulsion from behind. This will mean that his canter won’t be strong enough and he could break into trot when you ask him to shorten up.

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Photos: Bob Atkins

Understanding

stereotypic behaviour

What are stereotypic behaviours, how can you prevent them forming and what do you need to know about them? Anna Saillet lifts the lid on this important topic

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Mind matters

Co m m on st ereoty pi es

Weaving – repetitive swaying from side to side of the head, neck and forequar ters.

It sometimes involves the hindquar ters.

Weaving can lead to strained muscles and ligaments, poor performance, uneven muscular development and reduced body condition.

Our expert

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, in which she specialised in equine behaviour. She has competed in dressage, showjumping and eventing.

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he definition of a stereotypic behaviour is a repetitive, invariant behaviour that has no apparent goal or function. Some examples of the common stereotypic behaviours seen in horses include weaving, crib-biting, wind-sucking, box-walking and fence-walking. Within the horse world, these behaviours are often referred to as vices. The definition of the word vice is an immoral or wicked behaviour. Using this language suggests that horses are carrying out these behaviours to deliberately upset their owners and this couldn’t be further from the truth. Rather than using labels that demonise a horse’s behaviour, it’s important instead to consider what is causing it and how we can address it.

Crib-biting – using the incisor teet h to grasp an object and engulfing air, accompanied by an audible grunt.

Cribbiting can lead to abnormal wear of the incisor teeth, which can result in dent al disease, weight loss, poor perform ance and even colic.

Wind-sucking – similar to crib-bitin g, but no object is grasped before the grun t is made. Research suggests that very little, if any, air is actually swallowed.

Box- or fence-walking – repetitive walking of a specific path around the stable or along a fence line. This can lead to loss of condition and poor performance. It can also make it extremely difficult to main tain a clean stable environment.

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PROTECTING YOUR

SHOWJUMPER Photos: Bob Atkins. With thanks to the Animal Health Trust for their help with this feature, aht.org.uk

There’s no doubt that many horses love jumping, but it can put a lot of strain on certain parts of their bodies. Vet Sue Dyson from the Animal Health Trust takes a look at key problem areas and how to reduce the risk of injury

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Our expert

Sue Dyson MA VetMB PhD DEO FRCVS is a Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Specialist in equine orthopaedics and Associate of the European College of Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging. She is Head of Clinical Orthopaedics at the Animal Health Trust, and has a particular interest in lameness and poor performance in sports horses.

hen you stand back and look at your horse, you’ll notice that his legs appear very slender and delicate considering they carry such a large, heavy body. They’re designed this way so they’re lightweight and enable him to travel at speed when fleeing from danger. But don’t be fooled, they’re stronger than they look!

However, when you think about how your horse jumps, he takes the weight of his whole body on his hindlegs before leaving the ground. And on landing, only his forelegs take his entire weight when he first meets the ground. So it’s no surprise that jumping can cause significant wear and tear.

A study carried out at the Animal Health Trust (AHT) that was published in 2006 looked at discipline-related injuries in horses. It showed that at a lower level, horses concentrating on showjumping are at no greater risk of specific injuries than any other horse. However, once horses reach Grade A and international level competition, there tends to be an increase in discipline-specific injuries. It’s important to bear in mind, though, that top showjumpers tend to be at least nine years old, so it is likely that they have some age-related degenerative changes that make them more prone to injury.

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The hindlegs support the

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entire body on take off

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Ask a vet

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What you need Cloth � Sponge � Old scourer � Soft toothbrush � Saddle soap � Toothpick �

Words: Louise Kittle. Photos: Bob Atkins

PART 1: BEGIN WITH YOUR BRIDLE

CLEAN MACHINE Set aside a rainy afternoon to give your bridle a spruce up.

Here’s how

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Management know-how

1. Take it apart by undoing all the keepers and buckles.

2. Pop your bit in warm water to soak off any dirt.

3. Using a cloth that has been dipped in hot water and wrung out, carefully work over each piece of leather. Do one side at a time, paying special attention to the inside, where grease accumulates.

4. Once your bit has had time to soak, wipe away any dried food, and use a soft toothbrush to remove stubborn dirt and scale.

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Top tip

• Billets can be tricky to undo – the key is to push from the curved end around the bit, and also from the end, to make a bend in the leather that allows you to slip the billet hook out of its slot.

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