ON MY TACKBOX WITH BRYN ANDERSON

from Equestrian Hub Magazine March 2019

by equestrianhub.com.au

CLUB OF THE MONTH

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.

Ok 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 ribbon. The horse isn’t calm enough yet to show? Lunge them into the ground. Ace ‘em. Tranquilize them so they can compete.

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

turnout in a small paddock and then go straight to arena work. This is drastically upping your chances for injury. You ride them and work them intensely in circles in an arena and then back to the stable they go to stand. Their bodies are not meant for this.

Trainers worldwide are being pushed to push. Buyers want to see a four-year-old jumping a 90cm+ course. I know this does not apply to everyone. But just slow down. Go trail riding, relax, have fun. It’s okay to skip a horse show. I’m someone who absolutely loves to compete. However, at the end of the day it is not really about competitions and winning, or how high you’re jumping — at least it shouldn’t be. It’s about the joy and love we have sharing this amazing partnership with our horses. It’s about the feeling we get when they see us and nicker hello, it’s about the laughter they give us when they look offended because they found a treat in our pockets we haven’t given them yet. It’s about the smell of their coat when we bury our face in their neck, and it’s about lazy days in the pasture laying back on them bareback as they graze. I’m telling you, your ribbons will ultimately get forgotten and dusty. They will be stored away somewhere because after the show is over they don’t really matter.

So slow down and smell the sweet hay scent of your horse’s breath, hang out with them and brush them or sit next to them breathing in their presence as they munch on their hay or nap in the sun. Because if you have their heart beating next to you, or underneath you, you’ve already won the best and most important thing in the world.