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Horses For LIFE
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This month through knowledge and science and through the experiences of trainers from around the world we hope you find success and new opportunities in the relationhip with your horses. On behalf of all of us at Horses For LIFE may the gift of the horses be with you always.
All material copyright protected by Horses For LIFE Publications. Please contact us for information, suggestions, comments and submissions at equestriansquest@horsesforlife.com or 1-306-383-2588
This Issue is dedicated to Andrew Weal. Translator, Photographer, Interviewer, Andy has been a long term contributor to Horses For LIFE and to the equestrian community. A true horseman who has been drawn to those who form our equestrian history and has been eager to share it with others.
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Festivale of endangered species Equus Survival Trust’s Festivale of Endangered Equines & Stewardship Awards of North America (SANA) Kentucky Horse Park, Lexington, KY By Victoria Tollman, Executive Director Nothing could dampen the participation of the endangered breed community when the weekend of September 5th , 6th ,and 7th rolled around. Owners were determined not to miss this unique and one of the best opportunities ()offered to date to show off their respective breeds – the inaugural year for the Festivale of Endangered Equines and its competition component, the Stewardship Awards of North America (SANA). And what better backdrop than the world famous Kentucky Horse Park (KHP) in Lexington, chosen to host the World Equestrian Games in 2010. The Festivale brought together over a dozen breeds to “Celebrate the Differences” among the endangered breeds, while appreciating the common bonds of dedication and passion shared by the breeders. The Carriage Association of America (CAA) was most supportive and in addition to the exhibitor party also organized an antique carriage display on the concourse of the main indoor arena. The following morning saw the opening of the Festivale with 15 breeds on display making a colorful Breed Pavilion Row. Indoors overlooking the main arena were the trade & association booths that included an educational booth from the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. to promote the conservation of wild equids such as Pzrewalski’s Horse and ontagers, Persian Asses and Kiangs The three-day weekend also included a new horse show, the Stewardship Awards of North America (SANA) two days of competition: ridden, in-hand, driving breed classes plus jumping and dressage. SANA gave over 125 horses and ponies, representing some of the rarest breeds on earth, a chance to show they Horses For LIFE
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What does your DVD “Relational Riding” teach people? The video is designed to teach people about how a horse works naturally. Horses are built to work in a certain way that is good for them and that helps them stay strong and sound when they carry us. We used unique camera angles and interesting visual aids to help people understand these concepts. The video teaches biomechanics in a very understandable way AND teaches training exercises that help riders train their horses. It teaches people how horses work and then teaches them to communicate in a ridden language that the horse understands. Correct fundamental training keeps the horse healthy, happy and sound, and can be applied by any rider to any horse with four legs a mane and a tail! What does the Relational Riding Academy hope to accomplish with each new horse? Relational Riding Academy tries to bring each horse a level of health and soundness that allows them to return to a normal working life. Some of the horses return to show careers, some are put into the lesson program, some go to homes where they are appreciated and have light jobs like trail riding. We try, through a variety of treatment protocols, training and exercise techniques, to rehabilitate each horse on an individual basis. What kind of horses do you work with? We work with all breeds of horses. RRA took in a 13.2 hand pony that was a rack of bones with hair and had such founder feet that the toes curled upwards. She was 26 years old but after her recovery, she took her young rider to win the year end hi point in the walk/trot division of our local 4H. She was a wonderful lesson pony and worth every moment and every dollar her recovery required. She died a natural death at age 34, well loved and still missed! We have rehabilitated expensive show horses, Warmbloods, Arabians, Thoroughbreds, Appaloosas, Paints and ponies from many illnesses and injuries that had ended their competitive careers and whose lives were at stake. All have been able to lead useful lives, despite being given up on. That is why I tell people that “Every Horse is Worth It” Why do they come to train at RRA? Most of the horses we work with have already been treated by the veterinary community, sometimes with near heroic efforts. The horses that come to RRA come as a last stop. The training is part of the rehab program and we consider it an integral part of each horses physical therapy.
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What kinds of injury can a horse recover from? Horses can recover from many kinds of injuries, illnesses and diseases to lead useful lives. We have worked with broken pelvis’s, torn tendons and ligaments, both chronic and severe acute laminitis, surgical recoveries including tendon repairs, various abdominal surgeries and colics, navicular disease, starvation and neglect cases, cancer horses and “crazies.” The most disturbing though are the ones that have been harmed by training methods like “hot-nailing,” “hyperflexion” and “beaming” or just plain poor farriery. What training methods help horses to recover? The training methods we use are ones that are horse friendly. The program combines the best natural horsemanship techniques with fundamental dressage training so we practice the best methods from two different worlds. Our round pen work is very low key, and designed to build relationship, not overpower or intimidate. The video describes this unique combination of training techniques that helps these horses recover and that keeps other horses from needing recovery! What is the message? The message is for every rider with any horse. The video shows how correct fundamental training crosses the boundaries between the disciplines and bridges the gaps between the breeds. When will “Any horse any rider” be available? The video is available NOW… Where can I find a copy? online at www.relationalridingacademy.com for 24.95 or at your local tack store in time for Christmas! Any thing else you would like to share ? If you ride a western pleasure horse, ride the beautiful, natural gaits, don’t cripple the horse’s movement. If you ride a hunter, ride them straight and in front of the leg to the fences. If you ride a dressage horse, love the horse, don’t have a slave that does the movements. Above all, ride your horses safely, love them, and allow them the freedom of expression that makes every horse beautiful.*
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Invisible Human by Karen Rohlf
When Nadja at Horses For Life asked me if she could include an excerpt from my Book/DVD: Dressage, Naturally... Results in Harmony, I was surprised and pleased that she asked for this particular section, an exercise I call: ‘The Invisible Human’. It is the second exercise in my book, exercise one being to assess your horse. In order to get anywhere in life, we need to know at least two things: Where we are starting from and where we would like to go. And that can be the easy part if we are accustomed to making a habit of observing and dreaming. From there, proven strategies and techniques are valuable, but only if we have one more ability: the ability to honestly account for the effect that our mere presence is having on our horse.
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necessary to sustain the movement, without a drop of unnecessary tension or conflicting signals. It is easy to do too much, but not so easy to do less. I love to play with the concept of having no influence at all (when that is my intention, of course!). It provides a clean slate, a blank canvas... a silence into which the art, the music can appear. If we can become invisible; at least have no negative influence; that will provide a more positive context into which all our conversations can flow. We need to practice effective communication, leadership, about what we are asking them to do, but just as important is our ability to follow them, invisibly... to be the most comfortable human to be with... to be the silence in between the notes. The exercise below is a simple one: see if you can get close to your horse while he is moving without interrupting his movement or emotions at all. There is one step before this exercise even, which would be to play with being able to approach your horse out in the pasture, to graze or just hang out with him without creating any negative reaction and without thinking that he needs to do anything differently than he is at the moment. So many times the source of horses’ difficulties originates from a basic confusion about when the rider is asking for something, when the ‘game is over’ and when they simply need to continue doing what they are doing. Some horses become nervous and ‘hot’ in this confusion, and some just ‘check out’ and become frozen or stuck as they never quite commit to their effort, and never quite relax either. In a very classical sense we know that excellent riding is partially the ability to influence the horse, and partially the ability to allow the horse to do what we have suggested without any hindrance from us. It is an exercise about controlling our intentions and body language, adapting ourselves athletically and emotionally to be who they need us to be in order for us to move together as one. In a practical sense, it is easier to be heard when speaking from a place of silence. So many of the ‘issues’ horses have stem from a basic confusion between when they Everything we do with horses is a result of both our are being asked something, and when they are not. The more confident they are about when we are not asking ability to communicate to the horse about what we are asking for, and our ability to allow it to happen... something, the more confident they will be about knowto get out of the way. Sometimes allowing involves ing when we are. Their reactions to us in this exercise doing nothing, but most of the time allowing requires give us a baseline context of our effect on them. It is an exercise about controlling our intentions and body lanthat we are athletic in precisely the way the horse needs us to be. We need to be able to do just what is guage, adapting ourselves to be who they need us to be Horses For LIFE
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Three
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e Systems of Riding By Jean-Claude Racinet
R
Riding Schools: Where are the differences? To understand the gist of the matter, three systems of riding have to be analyzed and compared: 1) La Guérinière’s (XVIIIth century) system, that is the so-called “classical” or “baroque” system. 2) Baucher’s (XIXth century) system. 3) FEI’s (XXth century) system. Two fields of reflection have also to be distinguished: the riding style of the riders on the one hand, the training of the horse on the other hand. The reader will soon discover that: Baucher’s system and La Guérinière’s concur as for the riding style (lightness, permanent release of the aids, horses constantly poised on the haunches, delicacy of the interventions; this could be called the French style, had it not been abandoned by the majority of the contemporary French riders). But they clash as concerns the training of the horse. La Guérinière’s system and the FEI’s concur on the training of the horse. But they clash on the riding style of the riders. Baucher’s system and the FEI’s clash on both matters.
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Continuing our story of the Sorraia and Sorraia Mustang horses from last month’s issue of Horses For Life, in this article the author shares how she and her husband came to establish the Ravenseyrie Sorraia Mustang Preserve on Manitoulin Island, Ontario, Canada. “A neigh pierces the air and echoes forever...” It is like a dream... or a mythic vision? Or is it, more rightly, a summons? An ancient equine neigh - more felt in the breast than heard with the ears... Shapely, smokey, convex-headed forms, dancing behind closed eyelids... Has some delusional madness taken me over? Epochal passings aplenty have not stilled the galloping of Iberia’s ancestral horses. Then, and now, their hooves thunder over sensate earth... I feel their vibrations mingling with my own heart’s oscillation, our magnetic fields combining...
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The Scien
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nce of Motion by Jean luc Cornille
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Jumping New Research
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Who’s in Charge?
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Su
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urprising Legal Drug Use Horses For LIFE
This vetshocked when begins in practice and finds out what drugs are being administered and for what, through the clinic that he has been hired by, and what drugs he is expected to dispense. He respectfully requests that we do not share his identity, but shares behalf of the horses that he loves.
ernarian is he
this on
Surprising and Disturbing Use of Drugs Trainers are using anti-psychotic medication secretly on horses they have in training. One discipline where it is accepted even expected to use steroids. Why is this anti-inflammatory allowed in competition? Drugs that effect the horses’ heart’s ability to beat, drugs that can cause extreme aggression and even permanent cognitive damage. Only by becoming informed can we make a difference. What are we watching? When you sit down to watch competitive equestrian sport, what do you assume? I believe that we all assume we are watching horses on an equal playing field based on that animal’s and that rider’s inherent talent. I think we know and are assured that, as a true competitive sport, one must ensure that no one has a chemical advantage over the other. As such, many thousands of dollars are spent on drug testing horses at many internationally sponsored events. For example the FEI, which covers rules and regulations on dressage, show jumping and cross country, for instance, has a list of banned medications. If an animal at a registered event tests positive for having a banned medication in its system, the FEI can take action to penalize that horse’s rider. There are however some medications, depending on the ruling body, that can be present in the horse’s system at the time of competition, as long as they are below a certain concentration. For example in my country, for some registered events, a horse may have an acceptable concentration of phenybutazone in its system at the time of competition. This level of phenylbutazone in the bloodstream is below the therapeutic levels required to mask a lameness and therefore the horse is allowed to compete. This same rule
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also applies to flunixin meglumine. Oddly enough ketoprofen, another commonly used anti-inflammatory medication, is not tested for and therefore a horse can be given a therapeutic dose of ketoprofen 10 minutes before a class and still compete. So we have horses that are competing that are in injured and/or in pain and are on medication. Some would say to allow them to compete, others would say to mask and hide often long-term problems and injuries.
“...spectators need to voice their opinion on whether they want to watch horses that may be on painkillers to compete.” Another caveat on these rules is that a horse may not test positive for 2 anti-inflamatory medications at any concentration in the bloodstream. So a horse may have ketoprofen on board at any concentration but may not test positive for either phenybutazone or flunixin meglumine concurrently. I find the above regulations confusing. Why can a horse have a therapeutic dose of ketoprofen on board during a show, but not phenylbutazone? It seems that this loophole in the competition regulations needs to be addressed. Or the spectators need to voice their opinion on whether they want to watch horses that may be on painkillers in order to compete. Either at the time either side at the these animals are not on
there should be no medications that treat pain or discomfort in the horse’s system of competition or all pain medication should be allowed. I am not arguing for moment, but I find the general impression of the viewing public is that pain medication in order to compete and this is false in some cases.
However, in other equine sports competitions. Barrel racing is one of ing their animals on anything from phenylb-
there are no regulations on approved medications during those sports. The competitors have the option of placutazone to stanozolol.
I was shocked to learn recently that many barrel racers Stanozolol is an anabolic steroid-like testosterone. And appetite, weight gain, increases strength and vitality. The raincludes use as a pick-me-up for “tired” horses traveling to improving the horse’s ability to compete.
use stanozolol in their show horses. like testosterone, it improves tionale for its use in this industry multiple shows, in addition to
Why is it that athletes at other competitive sports are strongly discouraged from using anabolic steroids to improve their performance, when it is OK to use it on your barrel horse to make him/her run faster? Is this not cheating? Or if everyone is allowed to use it, is it still cheating? As a drug, stanozolol has few consequences compared to others, but it bothers me that these animals are chemically enhanced in order to perform. More worrisome is the fact that some horse trainers are using fluphenazine, an anti-psychotic medication used in humans, to train their horses. The thought behind this application of the drug is that it makes nervous horses perform better and more able to handle stressful situations during training and competition. Horses For LIFE
Unfortunately, the possible side effects of using fluphenazine include manic behaviour, extreme aggression and permanent cognitive damage resulting in euthanasia. Fluphenazine is used regularly in disciplines without competitive drug testing, and also, to be fair, by people willing to risk a positive test in competitive sports where it is a banned medication. More sadly still, many trainers receive this medication from their local veterinarian as it is not an illegal substance, only off label use of the drug. (Note: Off label use of a drug means that the drug has not been tested for use in a particular species for a particular disease and as such, the drug company is not liable for any adverse side effects.)
“...side effects .... include manic behaviour, extreme aggression and permanent cognitive damage... ” Other questionable uses of drugs include the use of calcium gluconate to make horses move more slowly for their western pleasure classes. Unfortunately, calcium should never be given intravenously unless there is a documented low blood calcium level and even then during administration an ECG should be attached to the animal as excess calcium can interfere with the heart’s ability to beat.
“...used.. to make horses move more slowly for western pleasure classes.. and can interfere with the heart’s ability to beat.” The list of drugs and unpalatable practices to make horses compete goes on, but I hope this article begins to enlighten people about some of the regulations in equine sports, or lack thereof, and common everyday practices. Perhaps by reading this you will realize that sometimes during competitions you watch on TV or those in your area, all is not exactly what it seems.
In summary, the spectators of equestrian sports have a right to know what occurs behind the scenes of competitive events and in their local arena because that is the only way that they may help the horses.
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From “USDF Connection,” July, 2005 - “Feed your head.” - “... the Zen of horsemanship.” - “... unapologetically classical...”
From “Dressage Today,” May, 2005 - “... a guide for transformation...” - “profound discourses...” - “soaring descriptions...”
p.4 “Man is a part of nature,as nature is a part of man.” p.4 “...the classical principles arise from man’s longing to enter into the natural world through the horse.” p.4 “the horse is neither good nor bad; he is quite simply a horde.” p.7 “... the prime responsibility of the trainer is to never act unjustly toward his charge and to make it his constant obsession to become ever more just in his dealings through self=effacing refinement of his own self.” p.7 ...”the horse is a master of time and space.” p. 11 “Absolute symmetry is not “natural”; we always ride two different horses at a time.” p. 11 “All living creatures, without exception display an animate urge as they fulfill their lives.” p.18 “The ideal (of classical dressage) was one of partnership: a mutually satisfying government between two unlike creatures for the betterment of both.” p. 25 “The horse is here to teach us something: who we are, where we fit within the world, has to live in mindfulness and grace.” p. 35 “First comes ‘forward,’ then comes ‘round.’” p. 66 “When seeking to influence an animal, learn from another one.” p. 88 “The seat, then, is both an anchor and a compass.” Horses For LIFE
Wild Hoofbeats takes us deep into “Adobe Town” in Wyoming’s Red Desert and one of the largest remaining wild herds in America. With stunning photographs, Carol Walker convinces us to take the future of these elegant, exceptional animals to heart.
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The Best Gifts
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“The best gifts are those which expect no return.� Norwegian Proverb
Have you ever taken a moment to really stop and ponder on the exquisite and priceless gifts that your horse happily gives to you? Happy just to give. Never expecting really anything in return. The horse says put the halter on my head - lead me where you will -mount on my back - let me be your legs beneath you - the wind blowing and breathing into your face - my heart beating strongly beneath your leg. I give to you my strength, my speed, my grace and in return share with me a little grass that I find everywhere anyway. If only we could be as generous with our own lives in everything that we do. A true horseman has learnt this lesson from the horse, and himself is filled with a incredible urge to give and to share all that he has learned in his time with the horses. Lessons of humility, of kindness, of character. The urge so strong that prizes, glory, are never what is important, but he extends himself, sharing himself unquestioningly, giving up his weekends, his evenings to be at home with his loved ones, often giving up his own time with the horses, so that the next rider that strives to find the truth within the horses, is given whatever guidance he or she as a mentor can give.
Heartfire - The spirit of the horses.
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