Horse&Rider magazine Spring 2013

Contents Spring 2013

24

Regulars 6

Horseworld Equestrian news and views

14 Spanish steps An epic ride from Santander to Seville in Spain

20 Readers’ letters Share your thoughts here

70 What’s on the Web?

@horseandrideruk.com

84 Subscribe to H&R

and get an Ariat jacket!

160 Competition entries

One form for all prizes

161 Next month What’s in April Horse&Rider?

162 Mary land Mrs King

spills the beans about daughter Emily – a chip off the old block!

4 H O R SE & R IDER

In the saddle

Mind matters

24 Cross-country schooling Arena

54 The gentle touch How

32 Michael Eilberg shares

60 Compete with confidence Kelly Marks

jumping exercises

his schooling secrets

38 Are you sitting pretty?

Professional position tips with Tina Sederholm

44 Winter schooling programme Get set for

horses are great therapy

helps you get out there!

64 Phobic horses Michael Peace helps you understand and handle common equine fears

competition success

50 Great British rides The Yorkshire Wolds

Competitions 23 WIN! Stylish riding

outfits from Cavallo

129 WIN! Comfortable,

high-performance Ariat paddock boots

160

Ente comperti our on ontieons form

Ask the Experts 72 Horse management

● Travelling without trouble ● What size stable? ● Supplementing with licks

74 Equine behaviour ● ●

76 Veterinary Tetanus ●

vaccinations explained ● Finding a digital pulse ● Equine allergy testing

78 Shopping Looking ●

after leather boots ● Better bit choices

80 Riding technique ●

138 Perfect prizes!

71 gorgeous prizes – riding hats, personalised jackets, calmers and more!

Dealing with rearing Mounting problems

● ●

Jumping angled fences Using a horse walker Riding older horses

82 Quick Q&As

● Learning a dressage test ● Chifneys explained

140

COVER STORIES Cover photo by Arnd Bronkhorst

p24, p140, p60

129

p64

p86

p32 p92

86 Ask a vet 86 Ouch! Wounds and how to treat them

Professional know-how

92 “My two horses died” Case study of Atypical Myopathy – a mystery killer in fields

96 Clear the air Wheezy gee-gee? Coughs and sneezes and how to avoid them

Management know-how 102 Itchy & scratchy Beat sweet itch now!

104 Wellbeing Get fit to ride with our exercise plan

108 Wellbeing news

Headshaking genes, stress on legs, who can treat your horse’s teeth?

110 Feeding for the future The best nutrition for breeding stock

116 What the FWEC?

Worm counts explained

p110, p96

Horsey shopping 118 Trailer talk Experts’

advice on buying trailers

124 Tried & Tested travel boots Find the best

protection for your horse

p23, p129, p118, p124

Directory 145 Horses for sale Find

the horse of your dreams from our huge selection here and at horseandrideruk.com

130 Five weirdest animal sports Anyone fancy a

150 Sell your property

131 This month we love...

151 Houses for sale

spot of yak skiing?

H&R’s favourite products

133 What’s in store?

Great ways to make it irresistible to buyers 24 stunning properties with equestrian facilities

The latest horsey items to hit the shelves

137 Product spotlight on...

84 Subscribe to Horse&Rider and get an Ariat Stable Jacket

p

Kentucky D3 horse boots that harden on impact

140 Take your horse on holiday Great hacking from gorgeous B&Bs

HORSE & R IDER 5

‘‘

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Photo: Richard Dunwoody/The Brooke

horse world

Many of the animals we have seen live in tight, unnatural conditions which we would describe as appalling – but then the people here live like that, too

6 H O R SE & R IDER

A dragon’s tale…

‘Dragons’ Den’ star Deborah Meaden took a trip to India with charity The Brooke to see the work they do both with the working animals and their owners.

The successful business woman and investor in popular BBC TV series ‘Dragons’ Den’ has ridden since she was a child and owns several retrained ex-racehorses. She says that after meeting Chief Executive of The Brooke, Petra Ingram, and learning more about the charity’s work, she offered to help with fund-raising and promotion for the charity. As part of this, she travelled to India to spend a few days learning about the different ways the charity helps the community.

We take an exclusive peek into Deborah’s diary from her time away.

“As the little chestnut pulls away in fear, I think of the bond and affection I share with my own horses. It upsets me when he finally nuzzles my hair.”

s HORSE & R IDER 7

Spanish steps Photos: Jo Kimmins and Paddy Lennon. Horse&Rider recommends that you wear a current standard riding hat whenever you ride

Jo Kimmins fulfilled a lifelong dream when she trekked the length of Spain with her husband and their horses

We zigzagged up the mountains and found ourselves in a wilderness, accompanied only by eagles and vultures overhead. We saw a pack of wolves run down into woods where we knew wild bears roamed

14 H O R S E & R I D E R

horse world We’ve got to climb over all that lot!

Kitted out – Paddy and Thaddeus

F

or years my husband, equine artist Paddy Lennon, and I had talked of doing a long ride.

One dreary winter’s night in recession-struck Ireland, we agreed to ride across Spain, north to south, for the Irish Horse Welfare Trust. It took two years of planning and two months to ride the 800 miles from Santander to San Nicolas, Seville – it was an awfully big adventure!

Climb every mountain

H O R S E & R I D E R 15

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In September 2012, our horses – Thaddeus, a grey Irish Draught, and Malachy, a coloured Irish Sport Horse – were transported to Aravalle, Santander to adjust to the Spanish heat. We followed two weeks later in our VW Caddy van. I do believe the horses were pleased to see us when we were reunited, but had they known what we had in store for them, they might not have been quite so happy.

We had a couple of days riding around the Picos de Europa – the Peaks of Europe, part of the Cantabrian Mountain range – which acclimatised us all to the job ahead. We packed – no, stuffed – the saddlebags and loaded them onto the horses.

All my research told me to travel light, but everything seemed imperative for our trek. We ended up leaving things like a paper chase across Spain for collection at a later date.

Full of excitement and trepidation, we rode down the valley to the pretty village of Potes before beginning our ascent into the Cantabrian Mountains. We zigzagged up Our starting point, with and around the folds of the far too much luggage! mountains and soon found

CONFIDENCE

SPECIAL

Our trainer Lucy Thompson has had great success at all levels from Pony Club to international. Lucy became Open European Three Day Event Champion 1995-1997 and has competed at Badminton nine times, always placing in the top 20.

Our models

Photos: Bob Atkins. Thank you to Littleton Manor Equestrian, Surrey, for use of their facilities (www.lmeq.com)

THE CROSS-COUNTRY CONFIDENCE COURSE

Arena schooling an intermediate horse

Caroline Steranka is riding Leo, a six-yearold, bay Dutch Warmblood gelding.

The combination are currently running at British Eventing Pre-novice. Leo is a big boy and a late developer so Caroline has been working on his straightness and co-ordination.

Sarah Ingleson is riding Morse, an 11-year-old, skewbald gelding. The combination are aiming for Novice this year.

Morse is easiy distracted so Sarah has been working on keeping his attention and improving her control when on course.

Badminton veteran Lucy Thompson prepares you for the upcoming season with her training tips and techniques. H&R’s Lisa Harris explains

In this feature...

Lucy Thompson explains ● How to encourage your horse to look after

himself over obstacles ● How to banish water and ditch fears ● That ‘rider fences’, like corners and skinnies, are mind over matter ● Why being disciplined is key for progression

24 H O R S E & R I D E R

HR_Spr_24-30lucy thomson.indd 24

23/01/2013 17:03

In the saddle

PART TWO

Sarah and Morse tackle the water tray with ease

H&R training online

horseandrideruk.com

To see videos of the exercises used in this feature as well as other practical tips and tricks, visit www.horseandrideruk.com. Either scan the QR code with your smartphone or visit tinyurl.com/X-Country2 to access the page.

â–˛ H O R S E & R I D E R 25

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23/01/2013 17:04

Michael Eilberg and his star ride, Woodlander Farouche, have the dressage world at their feet. H&R’s Lisa Harris went to discover his schooling secrets

H

ailing from one of the most influential dressage families of the modern era, Michael Eilberg seems to blaze a trail wherever he goes. Described by his father, Ferdi, as having “a mind too wild for dressage” as a boy, Michael built a promising showjumping career through his teens before being lured back to dressage six years ago.

A true horseman

“It’s always been about the horses for me, rather than the sport I’m doing. I just enjoy being around them,” says Michael. “Having said that, getting used to a dressage saddle was no easy ride – I would work all my horses at home in a jumping saddle. One day, Dad gave me a pair of full-seat leather breeches, then he put me on the lunge without stirrups every day for six months to get my legs longer.”

Michael still jumps some of his young horses as part of their training.

“It works really well for some of the more exuberant horses, as they can express themselves jumping and it isn’t such an issue – the odd leap or buck,” says Michael. “As they get stronger, then you can ask more of them with regards to discipline and composure. I have to stick to polework with some of them though, as they’re useless over fences.”

A great performance

“It’s important to me that my horses enjoy their work,” says Michael, “but discipline is key if you want your horse to consistently perform at his best.”

The horse’s formative years, between the ages of four and six, are when they are most receptive. Michael believes that this is when you must lay all the vital groundwork for contact, confidence and attitude in their work.

“All horses have their strengths and weaknesses,” says Michael. “It’s 32 H O R S E & R I D E R

tempting to work mostly on a horse’s strengths, because it’s easier and they’re good at it so it’s pleasing, but working on their deficiencies is more important. Dad always reminds me that if you only focus on the good bits, eventually the foundations will fail.”

Woodlander Farouche

Michael’s superstar ride, the sevenyear-old mare, Woodlander Farouche, shows no signs of deficiency.

‘Rouchie’ as Michael fondly refers to her, will “chew anything” and “sleeps like she’s dead”, but this gorgeous creature is also a record-breaker – Farouche won the five and six-year-old dressage classes at the FEI World Breeding Championships in 2011 and 2012, and is now a much-celebrated poster girl for British breeding.

In 2012, Farouche collected an unparalleled 9.88% for her final score in the six-year-old dressage championship. Her performance prompted the German dressage magazine ‘St Georg’ to ask: “Have we ever seen a horse as good as this?” The answer is surely no.

With such an incredible animal underneath him, it must be tempting to get ahead of oneself but Michael is characteristically relaxed when it comes to talk of the future.

“I have to think about the Olympics with Farouche, how could I not? Rio is a bit early for her (Farouche will be a 10-year-old), but she is well up to scratch at the moment,” says Michael.

“I also have Half Moon Delphi – I am aiming to get on the international team with her this year. I have Rio in my mind, but I try not to think about it too much as I don’t like to put too much pressure on one thing.”

In the saddle

H O R S E & R I D E R 33

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Michael riding Woodlander Farouche. Above left: Michael and Farouche take gold at the World Breeding Championships

Photos: Kevin Sparrow, Bob Atkins, FEI/Kit Houghton. H&R recommends you always wear a correctly-fitted, BSI Kitemarked hat when mounted.

Top tips from a dressage star

Photos: Bob Atkins

64 H O R S E & R I D E R

Mind matters

Fear

Our trainer Michael is an equine behaviourist who specialises in curing problem horses and getting them back on the right path in life.

Based in Oxfordshire, he takes in all types of horses and ponies for schooling and is available for home visits, too. Visit www. thinkequus.com for more information.

factor

Horse phobias and how to solve them

You hate spiders, he’s terrified of flying plastic bags.

Put yourself in your horse’s shoes, says Michael Peace, and you’ll be better equipped to deal with his phobias. Nicky Moffatt reports

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past the bin liners in the road because ‘he’s in a bad mood’ or ‘he was trying to wind me up’?

“Horses don’t wake in the morning with the intention of being difficult or stubborn,” says Michael. “In fact, on the whole, they are very generous, amicable creatures who, when treated H O R S E & R I D E R 65

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espite the different ways in which horses and humans perceive situations, a phobia is the same thing in both worlds – an irrational fear. So if you are scared of spiders, for example, someone who isn’t will fail to understand why you are.

It’s no different to your horse being scared of a plastic bag. You know the plastic bag isn’t going to hurt your horse, but your horse doesn’t. In fact, someone who is scared of spiders knows that spiders won’t hurt them and yet they are still scared of them.

When you – or your horse – are in a situation where you have to deal with a phobia, your instinctive, right brain mode takes over from your logical, left brain mode (ie, you want to run away or fight it rather than face up to it).

How many times have you heard horse owners tell you their horse was ‘just being naughty’ and wouldn’t go