ribbon. The horse isn’t calm enough yet to show? Lunge them into the ground. Ace ‘em. Tranquilize them so they can compete.
ON MY TACKBOX
Taking it slowly BRYN ANDERSON is an Equine Physiotherapist in the US, who is passionate about horse welfare, and the idea of taking it slowly.
O
k so I’m going to open up a box of worms. We. Need. To. Stop. Pushing. Horses. To. Compete. So. Soon.
I’m an Equine Physiotherapist and everyday I work on horses that have been, or are currently being pushed too soon. It’s an epidemic and extremely prevalent with thoroughbreds - more so than any other breed. They give their hearts to us, try so hard and they will push themselves for us just because we ask. Even if your horse is sound, learning fast and incredibly talented...slow down. I currently have two OTT thoroughbreds I’ve personally taken on and am rehabbing. One is a three-year-old with a fractured sesamoid and the other is an eight-year-old Preliminary Level 3-Day eventer with a torn suspensory ligament. He was competing Prelim by age seven, and competing every two weeks after less than a year being off the track. Just because they can compete at that level, and have the athletic ability to do so does not mean they should. If this Prelim horse had been taken along slower he would have been a 3* or possibly 4* candidate. In the past I was a groom and a working student for International 4* riders, some
of them Olympians in Sweden, the U.K., Europe and Australia. I’ve competed since I was four in countless shows and events. Thermal. Wellington. Spruce Meadows. I’ve travelled and groomed on the Global Champions tour. What I’ve observed is that there is this pressure now to compete and win at all cost, and it’s hurting our beautiful, amazing equine partners. The horse isn’t sound but you have a show? Bute ‘em. Inject ‘em. Block their pain. Get in the ring to win that cooler and a $2 dollar polyester
As much as I love the Thoroughbred Makeover, and the good it’s doing for the amazing thoroughbred breed part of me hurts inside seeing it. All these riders and trainers are scooping up OTT thoroughbreds that were started before they were even officially two-years-old. I feel that the majority of horses would benefit from more gradual training and zero human imposed time limits. It takes at least 6-12 months for a horse to build the correct muscles for a new discipline. Any faster and you’re causing damage to the muscular structures, which then causes risk to joints, ligaments and tendons that the now compromised muscles are there to support. While we are talking about this, I can’t stress enough the importance of warming your horses up and cooling them down. 15-20 minutes of walking, minimum and at least one-two rides per week of an hour or more of just walking. Even if you think you spend enough time warming them give yourself a test, set the timer on your phone and check it when you think you’ve warmed up for 15-20 minutes. Most people have not. Yes, this is boring, I know. But you have no idea how much the horse’s body needs this kind of low impact conditioning. If you have access to trails ride on them daily as a warm-up and then go to the arena. If you have a walker at your barn use it! Unfortunately so many top competition horses are stabled, have maybe a couple hours of
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