Pony Mag – Spring 2014

Focus to win!

Lorraine Want to be successful in competitions? Who doesn’t! Follow Jennings’ ideas and turn your competitive fortunes around!

When you enter a class you want to win it – right? But do you really think you can win? How often do you stand outside a ring and list the reasons you’re not going to do well? You and your pony can win – you just have to believe you can.

Before you set off!

There’s no such thing as something being too easy (unless you’re winning every time!). Being one of the best in a class will boost your confidence and improve your riding so avoid entering a class just because all your friends are entering. You can only win something if you’re capable of winning so play to your, and your pony’s, strengths.

Seeing is believing

Could have done better?

8

Have you ever noticed how you feel you could have done better as soon as you leave the ring? Give yourself a second chance by thinking about this possibility before you enter.

Imagine yourself at the show and think of all the mistakes that could happen and see yourself correcting them. Then see yourself performing perfectly from start to finish, imagining how it will feel, going through each stage in your mind.

Once you’ve corrected problems in your head it feels like a second chance when you go in the ring.

Different classes create different challenges. The way you tackle them can make a real difference.

Jumping classes

Don’t waste your coursewalk!

Practise without jumps!

A good jumping round needs a strong, rhythmical canter.

The more balanced your pony, the easier he’ll find it to jump and the easier he’ll be for you to control. You need a good rhythm and a pony who’s straight to make sure you ride to the middle of each fence and meet it on a good stride.

Practise at home without fences. Like this: 1. Ride a 20m circle at each marker so you practise turns and straight lines.

2. Canter for two minutes at a time so your courses flow.

3. Push from both legs into an even contact so your canter is straight and bouncy.

How often do you walk a course, only to come out and moan that you’re never going to get past fence four? But what about the first three fences? Or the last? Focusing on one fence stops you thinking about the rest of the course (so don’t!).

Walk the line

When you first see the course, resist the temptation to stand and point to each jump, saying 1, 2, 3, 4 … walk and learn the line you’re going to take between fences, too. Concentrate on riding that line and the fences will take care of themselves.

Keep your contact – whether show jumping or cross country!

Practise with jumps!

As long as you’ve entered a class that doesn’t overface you or your pony, stops and refusals are avoidable. Your pony can only do what you allow him to do: 1. Every time you lose contact you lose control.. Push from both legs into a steady contact and you’ll keep your pony’s back short, making it harder for him to wriggle and run out.

2. Look up! (This sounds obvious, but lots of riders look down when they’re nervous.) Look up and you’ll see the line you want to take.

Focus on that line and your pony will, too.

3. Don’t give up! If your legs are on then your pony’s hocks are pushing him forward, making it harder for him to stop.

Dressage isn’t about your pony’s head position! An accurate test will always beat a test with a pony who is on the bit but is all over the place.

Tests are won with...

1. ... perfect transitions – done as your body passes a letter or directly between markers 2. ... great rhythm – count as you go. 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 shouldn’t be 1234!

3. ... steady noses! A happy pony moving forward will always score more than one with his head down, but with his nose swinging from side-to-side!

Posed by models

Dressage classes

Don’t forget!

Dressage is in the detail!

Forgetting the test is one thing you can avoid, so practise! Draw an arena on some paper to help you. Start the test from different points until you know it inside out. See yourself riding it slowly, movement-by-movement, and it will give you the confidence you need when you’re riding it.

Accentuate the positive!

Look at your test and note the things you can do. 20m circles, changes of rein and transitions are well within your capabilities, so work on them.

Smoothing off a few rough edges on things you do well will gain you marks in several boxes. Battling away at something you and your pony hate will demoralise you and make him tense.

Change the way you think and you will change your results.

Every class has a winner – why shouldn’t it be you?

Focus to win and go for it!

9

Bitting master Last month we looked at snaffle bits. This month we look at curbs and pelhams.

Part two – curbs and pelhams

.

How bits work Bits act on these parts of a horse’s head, and different bits act on different parts l The lips and corners of the mouth l The bars of the mouth l The tongue l The roof of the mouth l The nose l The chin groove l The poll

Curb action Materials

A curb bit with lip strap

Curb bits can be made from the same materials as snaffles.

The mouthpiece may be fixed to the cheeks, or slide up and down.

Curb bits can have jointed, straight or mullen mouthpieces, incorporate a tongue groove to allow room for the horse’s tongue, or have a higher arch, which is called a port.

The double bridle

Curb bits have cheeks, or shanks, which cause the bit to work on the poll. The longer the shanks, the more pressure is put on the poll. Curbs act on the bars of the mouth and the tongue, and The action of a double can also act on the roof of the mouth, if the mouthpiece has a a port. They also act in the horse’s chin groove via the curb chain, which should be held in place with a lip strap.

Curb bits are designed to be used with a snaffle and the two bits together make up a double bridle. The snaffle on a double bridle usually has smaller rings, and is called a bridoon. The curb is sometimes called a Weymouth. Using a curb on its own would be rather severe.

Parts of a double bridle

18

A well-fitted double

Fitting It is important that the bits on a double bridle are fitted correctly. The bridoon is on top, causing a wrinkle in the horse’s lip. The curb sits directly below it.

erclass

PONY A pelham bit

ACADEMY

A vulcanite pelham

Curb bit, thick mouthpiece

Curb chains Curb chains can be single-link or double-link, and they need to be twisted clockwise to untangle any kinks. Curb chains need to lie flat in the chin groove, and fitted snugly, but not tightly. A curb chain fitted too loosely may cause the horse discomfort.

A tight curb chain will be uncomfortable and cause the action of the curb bit to be too severe. You can get rubber guards for curb chains, which make them kinder, or even replace a curb chain with a leather or elastic curb strap.

Curb chains have an additional single link (called a fly link) in the centre to accommodate the lip strap – this must be on the lower side of the chain. The lip strap fastens to the tiny loops in the middle of the cheekpieces and threads through the curb chain.

NEVER attempt to take off a bridle with the curb chain still fastened. Always unfasten one side to allow the mouthpiece to come away.

e

Pelhams A pelham bit combines the action of a snaffle and curb, with only one bit.

A curb chain should be used with a pelham. The pelham acts on the corners of the mouth, the lips and the tongue when the top rein is used.

The lower rein makes the bit act on the bars of the mouth, the poll and the chin groove, via the curb chain.

The Rugby pelham has its top (bridoon) ring linked to the curb, rather than being fixed, and exherts a little more poll pressure.

A rounding is a loop of leather which fastens to both rings on a pelham, and the rein can then be attached to this, meaning the rider has only one rein to worry about.

However, the pelham is designed to be used with two reins, and its action is lost when used with roundings.

A Rugby pelham

Pelham with roundings

A pelham bit

The Kimblewick The Kimblewick (sometimes called the Spanish jumping bit) is actually a version of the pelham bit and has a curb chain, but is used with only one rein. It puts slight pressure on the poll, as well as the chin groove. More pressure can be put on the poll if the eye to which the cheekpieces of the bridle are fitted are square, rather than round.

Some Kimblewicks have slots in the cheeks to allow for different rein positions for more or less poll pressure. The rein is usually fitted through the cheeks, like a snaffle.

And then...

Kimblewick with cheek slots

Remember the three ring snaffle we looked at last week? When used with two reins it works more like a pelham and puts pressure on the poll – but cannot accommodate a curb chain.

Next month: Gags and bitless bridles 19

Akhal-Teke – e s r o H n e d l o G e Th s The horses of Turkmenistan are famou d for reflecting the rays of the sun. Fins! out more about these historic horse

Location, location, location The Akhal-Teke originates from Turkmenistan, north of Iran, east of the Caspian Sea. The Akhal-Teke certainly has a history spanning at least 3,000 years – the 30,000 Bactrian guard of King Darius of Persia, 500 years before the birth of Christ, were mounted on horses thought to be Akhal-Tekes.

Highly desired Turkmenistan’s wonderful Akhal-Teke horses were desired by other ancient cultures. A fast and intelligent horse was highly prized for survival and as a war machine. The Chinese succeeded in capturing a handful of horses to start their own breeding programme which enabled them to defeat enemies mounted on inferior war horses. It is thought that Bucephalus, mount of Alexander the Great, may have been an Akhal-Teke.

Racing gold!

The Turkoman people have always enjoyed horse racing as part of their culture, and they used to keep their horses fit for this sport by wrapping them in felt to prevent them from putting on any weight, maintaining their racing fitness. Racing Akhal-Tekes were fed a strange diet of dry lucerne, mutton fat, eggs, barley and quatlame, a fried dough cake. Even today, this ancient breed competes in races in the hippodrome outside Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, where they were first raced over 3,000 years ago!

60

A girl and her prized Akhal-Teke!

Golden racers!

How to spot one

rse!

The Akhal-Teke is easy to identify: About 15.2hh, it is a slightly built and graceful horse, with a long neck and upright stance. Its high wither and shallow rib cage gives it a very lean look, and its fine coat and thin skin are characteritics of a horse bred in the desert.

They earned the name Golden Horses due to the beautiful metallic sheen to their coat – even the black horses can have a blue or purple lusture, known as voronaya, and bays and duns boast a red and golden sheen. The breed often has white markings and many have blue eyes, or eyes marbled with blue. All colours and markings are allowed in the Akhal-Teke breed.

DYK? Blood-sweat horses was the name given to the AkhalTekes by the Chinese, giving rise to the legend that the breed sweats blood. It is thought, however, that when the golden horses sweat, it looks red against their coats, rather than them actually sweating blood, but it all adds to the romance and mystery of the breed.

Dazzling metallic sheen!

They just keep going!

A hot-blooded horse, with thin skin suited to the desert of its native homeland, Akhal-Tekes have a well-deserved reputation for completing long distances without the need for much food or water.

A distance of 2,580 miles from Ashkhabad to Moscow was undertaken by a group of these horses in 1935, and 600 miles of this journey was through desert, with little available water. The whole distance was completed let in 84 days. It is a record which has never been equalled, alone beaten.

There are even Akhal-Tekes on stamps!

The traditional neck bands are to ward off the evil eye!

Bad times The Akhal-Teke hasn’t always been so prized. During the last century, when the Soviet Union wanted the Turkomen to convert from nomads to farmers, all but a few of their horses were slaughtered for meat. The Turkomen people refused to eat their horses. At one time it was thought only 1,000 Akhal-Tekes survived.

Now, however, this wonderful horse is once again appreciated, and breeders all over the world are increasing their numbers.

Pic: Jim Pruitt/Shutterstock.com

61