Horse&Rider Magazine November 2013

Photo: Bob Langrish

Horse

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world

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I’m so grateful to still have the horse – he’s like my best friend Charlotte Dujardin talking about her world recordbreaking equine partner, Valegro, at the European Championships – see p8 for the full results

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Take a tour of Al Shaqab – the world’s most

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ever mind racing, showjumping is now the favoured pastime of Middle Eastern sheikhs and businessmen.

Following a surprise Olympic team showjumping bronze medal for Saudi Arabia in London last year, interest in the sport has exploded like a freshly tapped oil well.

As the Arab world is rarely short of a bob or two and never does things by half, incredible show venues are popping up along the western edges of the Persian Gulf like jewels in a crown, each looking to outshine the other. One of the most jaw-dropping of these is Al Shaqab, Qatar.

In November, Al Shaqab welcomes the final of the richest league in showjumping, the prestigious Longines Global Champions Tour.

But this is only the beginning for this world-class venue. The very best international riders have called this beautiful complex one of the premier show facilities in the world, so when I was invited to see if for myself, I couldn’t resist.

The rise and rise of Qatar

When you think of the Middle East, what springs to mind? The world’s tallest building – the Burj Khalifa in Dubai – the Bahrain Formula 1 Grand Prix, Lawrence of Arabia?

Lest we forget, this area of the world is also famous for its beautiful Arabian horses and has been hailed as the birthplace of horsemanship, so it’s fitting that the Middle East is currently working hard to become synonymous with top-class equestrian sport.

Qatar is the new kid on the block – an up-and-coming Arab state with big ambitions. But don’t be fooled by its small size and relative anonymity – Qatar is the richest country in the world thanks to its oil and natural gas reserves. Doha, the capital city, is in the process of 14 HORSE &RIDER

Eastern The world’s richest country, Qatar, is actively embracing international horse sports and giving showjumping a new lease of life, says H&R’s Lisa Harris

remodelling itself on its glamorous neighbours, but what gives it a touch of something special for the average cultural tourist is that it’s still very much a work-in-progress.

The very centre of Doha glorifies the excesses of wealth and rapid development that we have come to associate with this corner of the Persian Gulf – the skyline that lines the waterfront is said to have been modelled on New York (some of the buildings are empty, merely there to provide the right silhouette).

Despite the fact that the population of Qatar is around 80% ex-pats, if you drive a few minutes away from the customary 5-star hotels, towards the desert, you start to get a feel for normal Arab life that is well and truly hidden from view in the more established Middle Eastern tourist destinations.

Gerco Shröder and London on their way to winning the ˆ 735,000 Doha CSI5* Grand Prix

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glamorous and luxurious show venue

world

promise

One of Al Shaqab’s international-sized sand arenas

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NEW SERIES In this feature...

Photos: Bob Atkins. Thank you to Toggi and Champion Hats for their help with this feature. For more product details, visit toggi.com or championhats.co.uk

Our trainer Pippa Funnell MBE was the first event rider to win the Rolex Grand Slam (consecutive wins at Kentucky, Badminton and Burghley) in 2003.

She is double winner of the European Championships, triple winner of Badminton Horse Trials and four-time winner of Blenheim and Windsor Horse Trials. She’s also author of ‘Tilly’s Pony Tails’ books.

Our model Gillian Miller rides Apache, a 12-year-old Irish gelding.

Gillian competes at riding club events and British Eventing BE90 level, and would like to be able to finish in the top three placings.

Gillian doesn’t feel very confident jumping, but would like to aim for the Grassroots Championship at Badminton Horse Trials.

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The benefits of strict boundaries

Progress with

P ppa GET PLACED AT BE90

In the saddle

➤ A little self-belief works wonders ➤ Keep it simple, but do it well Jumping is supposed to be fun, so enjoy it – your horse does

Doing well in competition, whatever the level, is about making your horse the best he can be, says Pippa Funnell

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limbing the leaderboard at any event is easier than you would think. All it takes is a few tweaks to your training approach and the right mental attitude.

In competitive sport, there’s always room for improvement – no horse and rider are perfect, including me! If you’re able to be realistic and open-minded about what needs work, then you’ll be able to identify your key weaknesses. If you’re then able to be disciplined and consistent in your schooling practices to correct these weaknesses, you’ll be collecting rosettes in no time.

Working at level BE90 up to Pre-Novice, there isn’t a huge amount you have to be able to do for the actual competition, particularly in the dressage. The test and courses are essentially quite basic, so it’s easy to be passive about your horse’s education and become a bit lax about how you work him. Riders become quite happy getting by, but if you want a rosette (be honest, who doesn’t?) then all you need to do is be a little more proactive when you’re schooling.

Being good at jumping isn’t about the height of the fence, it’s about riding to the best of your ability

A productive frame of mind...

Actively educating

Any horse can be made to go better on the flat, all it takes is attention to detail. Whenever I’m schooling, I’m always thinking about what myself and my horse can improve upon – I like to set myself little goals and targets. Not only does this focus my mind, it also helps to keep me fresh and interested in the horse I’m sitting on, as I ride a lot of horses in a day. But no matter what I’m riding, my main focus is always discipline – being disciplined about what I ask and how I ask it, and how my horse responds to me.

Yes, you can

First things first, don’t be so hard on yourself.

Riders berate themselves for not being good enough and that’s very rarely the case. One of the first things Gillian said to me when we met

was that she didn’t really like jumping and she wasn’t very good at it – which wasn’t true. Gillian had convinced herself that she wasn’t a capable enough rider when it came to jumping and that’s not a helpful mentality for you or your horse.

Focus more on the positives and less on the negatives – Gillian admits that Apache is in fact very honest and never stops, so that should give her confidence. If you believe in yourself and your horse, you will enjoy it more. Being good at jumping is not about the height of the fence, it’s about riding to the best of your ability.

A 90cm (2ft 11in) course of fences is well within most horse and rider’s capabilities, so just ride the course as if you’re doing a dressage test with jumps in the way. You must try to transmit positive vibes to your horse no matter what you’re doing.

Top tip ➤ If you’re positive about what your horse can do well, rather than obsessive about what he can’t, you’ll both perform better.

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PART TWO In this feature...

Our trainer Yogi Breisner is the Performance Manager, World Class Programme Coach and chef d’equipe who came in and revitalised British Eventing in 1999. He has since coached our international eventing team to 25 major championship medals over the last 13 years. Yogi represented his native Sweden in an Olympic Games and is an incredibly experienced trainer.

William Fox-Pitt describes him as “a genius” when it comes to training horses and their riders.

Photos: Bob Atkins

Our model Charlotte Agnew, 25, is one of the country’s most promising young event riders, having represented Great Britain on both Junior and Young Rider teams – winning team gold and finishing 4th individually on Little Beau in 2007.

Charlotte is a member of the British Eventing World Class Development Programme and has set her sights on the Rio Olympics in 2016.

Charlotte rides Eamon, an inexperienced, six-year-old Irish Sport Horse. Charlotte blogs for our website, horseandrideruk.com

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Training horses like humans

In the saddle

➤ Teach him how to help you ➤ Mental conditioning ➤ Improve his jump

Yogi Breisner – the future of coaching When it comes to jumping, training your horse to think for himself is a fundamental part of his education, says BE Coach Yogi Breisner

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o me, there is no difference between working horses and working human athletes, I find it fascinating to go around and spend time with coaches from other sports – this is why the lottery funding and the Sport UK World Class Performance Programme has been so valuable and such fun, because I get to work with coaches from other sports and learn from them.

Over the years, I have looked a lot at athletics.

Specifically, the way Tony Minichiello trains Jessica Ennis, because they use gymnastic routines and exercises over hurdles in a similar way to how we train our horses. By teaching the human body to react quickly and athletically to a hurdle, you create muscle memory – reactions become instinctive and the athlete can then focus on other things, like their race plan.

Get his mind on your side

With a horse and rider, you have the benefit of two brains and bodies instead of one. Though your horse’s ability to think for himself may at times feel like a hindrance when you’re jumping, his brain can be hugely helpful if you teach him how best to use it. Similarly, providing him (and you) with the right muscle memory over a fence or series of fences will improve the consistency of your overall jumping performance.

As the rider, you have enough to think about, particularly in competition, without micromanaging your horse’s every step – he needs to be able to look after himself to a certain degree. You are in charge of the steering wheel, accelerator and brakes, but your horse should be in charge of the jump. The rider must keep their horse balanced, maintain the pace and present the fence well, but it’s up to the horse to get from one side to the other cleanly – there are ways of improving his ability to do this.

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Ask a vet

Break a le!!g??

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Because horses have such skinny, lightweight limbs with little tissue to protect them, they are where most equine fractures occur

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Photos: Bob Atkins, Liphook Equine Hospital

A horse with a broken leg is every owner’s worst nightmare, but these days there’s much that can be done to repair it, as vet Holly Claridge from the Liphook Equine Hospital explains

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If you suspect a broken bone... ➤ Keep your horse as quiet as possible. ➤ If there is any bleeding, apply direct pressure to the wound, but make sure you do so in as clean a way as possible. ➤Try to keep him as still as possible so as not to put any further stress on the leg. Don’t try to travel or move your horse until you have spoken to your vet, as

most fractures require careful stabilisation with splints and bandages before the horse can be moved safely. ➤ If there is no bleeding but a wound is present, then keep it as clean as you can. Avoid applying any creams, lotions or powders directly onto the wound, as this can confuse your vet’s examination and can be harmful to the underlying tissues.

How we find fractures

X-ray is the most common tool for diagnosing fractures – this can either be done in a hospital or clinic, or out on the road with portable X-ray machines. Open fractures and displaced fractures can often be diagnosed by examination alone, but will often require X-rays to fully evaluate them.

Occasionally, X-rays can’t pick up fractures if they are not displaced, as there is no gap between the two pieces of bone. In these cases, we can use scintigraphy, also known as bone scan, to diagnose the fracture. Scintigraphy involves injecting your horse with a radioactive substance that binds to bone and will concentrate in any areas of increased bony turnover, such as a fracture.

Ultrasound can also be helpful in diagnosing fractures in areas that X-rays cannot penetrate, such as the pelvis.

Types of fracture

As vets, we use many terms to define fractures based on their visible and X-ray characteristics...

Closed When the bone breaks but the skin is intact.

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Open (compound) When the bone breaks through the skin. This can have serious complications as infection can get into the bone.

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Complete When the fracture goes the whole way through the bone, separating the bone fragments.

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Incomplete When the fracture involves only one cortex (side) of the bone and doesn’t go the whole way through.

These are often easier to treat than complete fractures, as they are much more stable, but if not treated promptly these can become complete fractures.

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Displaced When the bone breaks into two or more parts, and these parts move out of their normal alignment.

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Non-displaced When the bone breaks either part the way through or all the way through, but stays in its normal alignment.

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PART ONE In this feature...

Our expert

Photos: Bob Atkins, Steve Bardens

Sarah Boland BVSC CertEM (Int.Med) MRCVS Sarah has been with the Liphook Equine Hospital since 2001, where she is an ambulatory vet, and she became a partner at the practice in 2011. Having graduated from the University of Sydney, Australia in 1995, she has developed an interest in sport horse medicine, internal medicine and stud medicine.

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Checking his vitals ➤ Administering

Heal your

Sick or injured horse? Vet Sarah Boland from the Liphook Equine Hospital shows you how you can be your horse’s vet nurse!

Ask a vet

medication ➤ Giving injections ➤ Coping with stable confinement

horse at h me W

hen our horses sustain an injury or become ill, all we want is to be able to help them. Many owners feel helpless initially when most of the work is down to the vet, but the aftercare is just as important and owners play a huge role in the recovery of their horses. It can be intimidating being left with such a big responsibility, but by learning a few staple techniques, you’ll find your job easier and your horse will be in the best hands.

Checking his vitals

Taking your horse’s temperature, pulse and respiration rate (TPR) will give you an overall picture of how well he is. For example, infection can cause a rise in temperature, and pain can cause an increase in pulse and respiration rate.

Check your horse’s TPR when he is well so you know what his normal rates are, then this will give you a guideline as to what’s normal for him when he’s unwell. Normal rates fall in the range of...

Temperature 37-38°C (98.5-100.5°F).

Pulse 28-42 beats per minute.

Respiration rate 8-16 breaths per minute. ➤ To take his temperature, shake down the mercury if using a traditional thermometer.

Stand to the side and insert the thermometer into his rectum. Hold it so the bulb of the thermometer sits against the wall of the rectum and hold it in place for about a minute.

Remove the thermometer and take the reading. ➤ To take his pulse, feel for the artery just under your horse’s jaw with your fingers and apply light pressure. Once you have the pulse, check your watch and count how many times you feel the pulse in a minute. ➤ To take his respiratory rate, watch his sides move out and then in as he takes each breath, and count them over a minute.

Alternatively, hold your hand over his nostril so you can feel each breath on your hand.

Top tip ➤ Ensure your horse’s mouth is empty before syringing anything into his mouth.

Master the art of syringing Spend time trying to get your horse used to having his head and mouth handled and patted prior to syringing something into his mouth. When the time comes, place one hand on his poll and one hand on his nose until he relaxes. Then rub his muzzle and place your

fingers in the side of his mouth (where there are no teeth!), and gently play with his tongue until he is relaxed. Once he is relaxed and happy, place the syringe into the side of his mouth over his tongue and discharge the contents. Hold his head up for a couple of minutes to ensure he swallows the medication. If

syringing the drugs into your horse’s mouth is impossible, there are a few other options... ➤ Put the contents of the syringe between two slices of bread or inside an apple. ➤ Ask your vet whether there is a powder or granule version of the drug (if your horse will eat it!).

HORSE&RIDER 101

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