HQ Pony Magazine Issue 7

The Likit™ Challenge System

Hello hello!

It’s wonderful to have you back with us at HQ Pony Mag for some serious festive fun!

There’s our usual great content and then SO MANY PUZZLES AND QUIZZES to keep you busy while on holiday.

And then, as if this was not enough, we’re running our ‘Find The Icon’ competition again this month, but this time with Christmassy images to get you ready for the 25th of December.

To take part, simply count the number of the icons (shown below) that you can find in the magazine, and then either fill out the form which will pop up on our Instagram account on the 20th of December OR send an email with your answer and name to lizzie@hqmagazine.co.za. We’ll select our winner just after Christmas and announce it on Instagram.

The icons you need to search for are:

And we need to know the number of EACH icon e.g. 3 Christmas trees, 4 stars etc. NOTE: These are not the correct answer.

Finally, we just want to say that we hope you, your family and friends and of course your ponies have the most fantastic festive season! We’ll see you back in 2022 with our brand new January 1st digital edition, but in the meantime, happy horsing!

Much love, Lizzie and the HQ Pony Team xxx

We’d love to hear from you and receive your photos, drawings or pony-related thoughts. To get in touch send an email to lizzie@hqmagazine.co.za and we’ll get back to you!

Here are five common instructions that you may be given during your lessons and why you should take note:

01. “Heels down”

Having your heels down in the stirrups allows for a stronger position in the saddle. It also puts your weight into the back of your leg and foot. This puts your weight through the rest of your body, keeping your body upright and back in the saddle. However, try not to force your heels down, as this will make you grip more with your knees - rather, think about keeping your toes up. Practise at home by standing with your toes on the edge of a low step, holding on to something. From this position, practise lifting your toes while putting your weight into your heels.

Text | Skye Littlefield

02. “Sit up”

Leaning forward affects your overall balance and makes it harder to stay in control of your pony. Stretch your body up as tall as you can, keeping your shoulders relaxed and back and don’t forget to look up. Looking down weakens your position, so make sure you look between your pony’s ears with your chin up. This will help you remain tall and in balance when riding.

03. “Keep your leg on”

‘Leg on’ doesn’t mean that you should be nagging your pony with kicks every stride. Instead, you should think of wrapping your lower legs around his tummy and squeezing when you need to. Keeping your leg on, and wrapped around your pony’s sides, allows you to keep good rhythm and impulsion.

04. “Use your inside leg to outside hand”

You will often hear your instructor use this phrase, especially when you are on a circle because this practice helps you keep your pony balanced around a turn while maintaining impulsion. Your inside leg (the one closest to the centre of the arena) should have even pressure on your pony’s side, which keeps him moving forward and pushes him into the bend. Your outside hand (the one closest to the outside of the arena) maintains an even contact and contains the energy to stop your pony from falling out.

05. “Shorten your reins”

We all get told to do this, but why is it so important? Riding with your reins too long means that you can’t keep an even contact with your pony, which makes it difficult to give him instructions and show him what you are looking for. If this happens to you regularly, ask your instructor to tie a knot in your reins at the correct length or place some coloured sticky tape where your hands should be. Doing this can help to guide your hand position and keep it consistent.

Riding with a plan

When you plan out your ride in advance, you have a head start. Before your session, choose two or three exercises that you want to try. Arrange any equipment in advance (e.g. poles and cones) and make sure that the distances between any obstacles ‘fit’ your pony’s stride, size and experience level.

With a plan, you will be much more confident, and this will help your pony to follow your guidance more trustingly.

Warm-up

During your warm-up, practice riding near any poles or cones or other obstacles you might be using in your session. Make sure, however, that you keep your turns big and that you don’t start working on your planned exercises until your horse has fully warmed up.

NOTE:Layyourpolesoutorsetupyourjumpsinadvanceofyoursession.

Advantages of planning

The big advantage of riding with a plan is that you have a fixed idea on which to focus, which helps you orient yourself and avoid riding ‘large’ for 30 minutes. It also means that you have a structure to the session, which aims to improve something about you and your pony’s way of going. In thinking out what you want to achieve, you will ensure that your riding is heading in the right direction and that you are not just ‘riding for the sake of riding’.

Beware

Sometimes you and your pony will not be able to achieve everything you have planned for a session, and this is perfectly okay. Planning is really important, but it is only a goal – not a fixed list of tasks you and your pony must get through before returning to the stable. For instance, if you are struggling with exercise 1, rather than progressing onto exercise 2 before your pony is ready, take your time and break down exercise 1 into smaller steps.

You and your pony are both living creatures, not robots, so sticking to an exact plan, whilst great if possible, is not an absolute requirement.

Take-home message

A clear plan and goal helps you to ride more precisely and with more purpose, even when your plan doesn’t work out right away!

Christmas Pole Exercise #1

THE CHRISTMAS STAR

Set-up

• You will need ten poles

• Set the poles up as shown in the diagram below.

How to ride it

• In this exercise, go over the midpoint of each arm of the star to the next one by doing a small circle in between.

• To increase the difficulty, you can add cavalettis or bounces.

• Make sure to do this exercise on both reins equally.

Christmas Pole Exercise #2

THE CHRISTMAS TREE

Set-up

• Ideally, you will need 14 poles, but you can build the ‘tree’ less tall if needed.

• Set the poles up as shown in the diagram below.

How to ride it

• The aim of this exercise is to go down the first corridor of poles at walk, then leg-yield down to the next corridor of poles and so on until the last corridor.

• Walk out at the top of the tree, ride a circle and ride back in to the top of the tree.

• You can then descend the tree on the other side.

• Make sure to do this exercise on both reins equally.

Oh, what fun it is to ride!

TIPS ON HOW TO FIT YOUR BIT

Text | Christie Wolhuter

In one of our previous issues, we discussed how your pony can tell you that they don’t love their bit! In this article, we will discuss how your pony’s anatomy will help you narrow down the selection and make a better bit choice for your pony. For this exercise, it is important to have a look inside your pony’s mouth because it will help you have an understanding of how their mouth might be shaped differently from other ponies.

TOP

TIP:

It may be a good idea to start by asking the dentist that deals with your pony to teach you what to look for. Often, they are very happy to teach you where the different parts of your pony’s mouth are and what function they serve For example, you could ask them:

• Where are the bars? Are my pony’s bars narrow or wide?

• Where is the palate? Does my pony have a high or low palate?

• Where does my pony’s tongue sit compared to other ponies? Does my pony have a large fleshy tongue or not?

• What do my pony’s lips look like compared to the lips of other ponies? Does my pony have ‘short’ or ‘long’ lips?

Some common differences

Let’s go over some of the common differences in mouth anatomy and how they impact bit fit:

1. Narrow mouth

One of the most common errors when choosing a bit is to choose one that is too wide for your pony’s mouth. An easy way to measure the width of your pony’s mouth is to take a wooden rod or spoon and place it in the mouth where you want the bit to fit. Mark the edges of the spoon nice and close to the lips and take the spoon out. You can then measure the length the bit should be with a tape measure and choose your bit size accordingly. The size of bits is normally printed on the bit or on the packaging, but you can measure the mouthpiece yourself if not.

When checking the bit in the mouth, make sure that if you slide it from left to right, there is very little movement from side to side. Bits that are too wide will slide in the mouth, which can cause pain and will likely make your rein aids confusing for your pony.

NOTE: With a loose ring bit, add 5mm to your measured length to ensure there is no pinch.

2. Low palate

A horse with a low palate will require a bit that does not have a high port, as a high port is more likely to bang up against the palate when the contact is picked up.

Similarly, you need to be careful with a single jointed snaffle without a lockout feature, as this may fold and bang against the top of the mouth when rein pressure is added. For ponies with a low palate, a bit with a lozenge may be better, like the elliptical snaffle shown here.

When rein pressure is added with this bit, it may ‘fold’ in half, which can bang against the top of the mouth in a pony that has a shallow palate.

An elliptical snaffle may be a better choice.

DID YOU KNOW?

Arabians and Thoroughbreds are known to have low palates.

3. Thick fleshy tongue

Certain breeds of ponies have quite large tongues, which means a thick rubber bit that may seem kind will actually be uncomfortable due to the lack of space in the mouth. This will likely lead to them opening their mouth to avoid the pressure of the bit. A thinner mouthpiece, possibly with a happy tongue shape, will probably be best for these ponies.

4. Short lips or long lips

It is important to look at where the corner of your pony’s mouth is situated in relation to the teeth.

The bars are the section of bone covered by tissue where there are no teeth. The bars are where the bit should sit in the mouth. Some horses have short muzzles with ‘short’ lips. This means the corner of the mouth where the bit sits is far from the teeth. These horses can often tolerate more than one wrinkle because the bit will not likely sit close to the teeth and will rest properly on the bars.

On the other hand, some horses have long lips, and a one or two wrinkle bit fit may mean the bit bangs against the teeth of your pony. A good tip is to try out different bit heights by adjusting your cheekpieces. Your pony will show you what is more comfortable when you put the bit in or, even better, once you are riding. And remember – you don’t need to guess, you can always just take a look in the mouth and see exactly where the bit is sitting.

Final thoughts

If you are not sure about where to start with choosing a bit, chat to a bit fitter for advice. There are a lot of bit fitters who can come to your yard with a number of bits to try out so that the trial and error process is not one big guessing game. They are the experts and will make sure your pony has the right bit for his mouth!

7. The Shetland Pony

Text | Christie Wolhuter

Name: Shetland

Breed purpose: Farm work, riding

Breed size: Up to 10.2 hands

Coat colour: Any except spotted

Place of origin: Scotland

Ancestors: Unknown but has links to the Icelandic horse

Continuing our tour around the British Isles profiling the breeds native to the area, we bring you the Shetland Pony. The Shetland is arguably one of the cutest pony breeds native to the United Kingdom and is a common choice for first ponies for young riders in the UK.

History

The Shetland pony has been roaming the moors of the Shetland Islands, which lie north of mainland Scotland since the Bronze Age. It is thought that the ponies are a hybrid of the native Highland-type pony of Scotland with a Scandinavian or Viking breed brought onto the Islands by Viking invaders in the 9th century CE. Shetland ponies are wonderfully adapted to the harsh, unforgiving north of Scotland, and, whilst nobody really knows for certain how they ended up on the Shetland Islands – they certainly survive there remarkably well.

Did you know?

Ponies and their foals grazing on the Shetland moors are a common sight in the Shetland Islands. The ponies roam free but are all owned by local crofters (farmers), who keep a close eye on them.

Originally Shetland ponies were used to pull carts and carry peat, plough land, and carry coal and other items. Then, during the Industrial Revolution, the use of children for work in the coal mines was forbidden, and thousands of Shetland ponies were sent to mainland Britain to be pit ponies. Their docile and easy natures, alongside their incredible strength for their size, meant they were perfect for work in the coal mine. However, the work was hard and miserable, with the ponies working many hours a day underground pulling loads of coal. Many of these ponies died young. Coal mines in the eastern United States also imported some of these ponies.

Due to this use, interest in the pony was huge at the time and thousands of ponies left the Shetland Islands. This meant that local stock was declining in quality, as the best stallions were exported to meet the demands of the commercial markets.

A steady decline swiftly followed this boom in popularity. However, the wealthy continued to greatly enjoy the ponies, and Elizabeth, the future Queen of England and her siblings, rode Shetland ponies in childhood. After the 1930s, the demand for these ponies completely crashed as the Shetland pony was replaced in popularity by the Welsh pony, and the combustion engine was invented, which meant they were no longer needed for mining and transportation.

The establishment of the Shetland Pony Stud Book Society was a major factor in saving the breed. Since the stud book only accepted ponies less than 107cm high, it assured breeders were not tempted to breed bigger Welsh-typed children’s ponies.

The breed

A spokesperson for the Shetland Society had this to say about the breed. “No place in Shetland is further than four miles from the sea and it is legendary that during the worst winters, lack of grazing on the scatthald would drive some ponies to forage for seaweed along the shores”.

Only the toughest and most intelligent ponies survived in this harsh landscape, and they have bred to produce the wonderful breed we know today.

Today the ponies are popular first ponies for many children and are loved the world over!

Did you know?

Local fishermen in the Shetland Islands used the ponies’ tail hairs for fishing lines!

Did you know?

Local fishermen in the Shetland Islands used the ponies’ tail hairs for fishing lines!

The thick-set body is perfectly adapted to digesting grass that is low in nutrients.

The thick coat is double-layered and allows the pony to keep warm during the harsh Scottish winters.

Short legs and rounded feet make the pony sure-footed as it walks up and down the mountains’ slippery, stone-covered slopes.

The Origins of the Basotho Pony

Text | Skye Littlefield

As their name suggests, Basotho ponies come from Lesotho, a land-locked country surrounded by South Africa. If you’ve ever been to Lesotho, you’ll know that it is a country filled with mountains, and rocky terrain, often joined by vast grasslands. Because Lesotho is located at such a high altitude, it is often colder than the surrounding areas and experiences regular snowfall. These factors combined mean that only the strongest ponies can cope in Lesotho, and so the Basotho pony evolved.

During the 1860s Lesotho became a British protectorate; this means that Britain both controlled and protected Lesotho. A Thoroughbred stallion was gifted to the then-King Moshoeshoe by the British, but it was soon discovered that this regal breed of horse did not do well in the climate and terrain of the country. As an act of good faith, the Thoroughbred was replaced by a sturdy pony of an unknown breed, who took to the climate exceptionally well. This is where Basotho pony breeding began.

By crossing the Cape Horse (Boerperd) with horses imported by Dutch settlers, and the hardy ponies in Lesotho, the Basotho pony began to take shape, and became a fully-fledged breed. These ponies were never more than 14.2hh and were strong, sturdy, and surefooted, quickly showing their worth to the people of Lesotho. As well as having the best physical features for the region, Basotho ponies are smart, willing, and fearless, showing their spirit on week-long treks. Due to the lack of infrastructure in the country, Basotho ponies became people carriers and helped to transport goods through even the toughest of Lesotho’s terrain, which was very important for the land-locked country.

Unfortunately wars in the country resulted in the population of the Basotho ponies decreasing dramatically, with them being near extinction in the 1970s. In an effort to preserve the breed, the Basotho Pony Project was set up in 1977 and focused on breeding and raising Basotho ponies. The following year the National Stud was set up, and collectively these two projects helped to save the Basotho pony.

Nowadays, the Basotho pony is a well-established breed within South Africa and they can be seen at the occasional show. Within Lesotho their population has increased drastically and sits at approximately 100 000 ponies; they remain expert mountain ponies and are still used to this day to transport both goods and people throughout the country.

A stud farm’s perspective

Text | Shelley Wolhuter, Fircroft Stud

In 2017, one of our fillies colicked. The colic was severe, and our local vet was on his way but 40km away. The filly was in immense pain and tried very hard to roll. Eventually, she collapsed, and we could not get her up again. Our mom grabbed a nearby feed sack and shook it violently and luckily, the filly got a fright and jumped up. We managed to keep her up and moving until our vet finally arrived. She eventually recovered from what turned out to be a gas colic.

We could not figure out what went wrong because she couldn’t have eaten anything strange, and nothing had changed in her routine.

NEXT STEPS

Our vet suggested we do a faecal egg count, which is when you collect a few balls of poop and send it to a lab to have the worm eggs inside the poop counted. This gives a clue as to how many worms might be inside your horse’s body. A few worms are quite normal for a horse (as gross as that is), but above a certain number, you need to take action by deworming your horse!

In our case, we were shocked to discover that our filly was riddled with ascarids (roundworms), despite our careful deworming schedule. At the time, we were following the outdated guidelines of routine deworming, where we dewormed our horses every few months as a routine. We weren’t checking if they had worms, just regularly deworming using different dewormers each time. Our foals were dewormed more often in this regime, as they are known to be more vulnerable to parasites, especially ascarids.

Our vet and his colleagues concluded that the colic was caused by the heavy worm burden and the damage the parasites had caused to her gut. In light of this, we dewormed her and retested her ten days later and found that the dewormer had barely worked. This was because the filly was carrying drug-resistant worms. Drug-resistant worms are worms that are partly immune to certain dewormers, so do not die when the dewormers are given. It was a big shock to us to discover that a filly on our farm had drug-resistant worms!

After this situation, we realised that we could no longer simply deworm our horses and trust that it had worked. We did some research on the best way to manage parasites and discovered Worm-Ex Lab, a lab that has taken a special interest in parasites and guidance on parasite control. Most vets have their ‘special interest’, such as surgery or lameness, but not many are too excited about parasites! It is therefore important to know when to call which vet!

LESSONS LEARNED

We have now been performing faecal egg counts for almost three years. We have learnt a lot of lessons in this time:

• The results of these tests are surprising every single time.

• Often, only 1 in 5 or less of our horses actually need deworming.

• Different horses can have high worm egg counts on each round of testing.

• There are no consistent symptoms of a heavy worm burden in healthy horses. Sometimes the most glossy, dappled horses have the highest worm egg count.

• Nothing on the outside of a horse can show how effective a dewormer is.

• Drug-resistant worms can come from another yard/stud/visiting horse.

• Young horses do not always need to be dewormed.

• Drug efficacy (effectiveness) can be highly individual to the horse or the yard.

Because of these surprising lessons, we are starkly aware of two simple truths:

1. If you want to know what is going on inside your horse, you have to look (test).

2. If you want to know whether a dewormer/treatment worked, you must do a reduction test. This is a retest within 10-14 days after deworming to see if the dewormer was effective. Luckily, retests tests are free with the Worm-Ex Lab within a 30-day window period.

TAKE HOME MESSAGE

This article hopes to show why it is important to stay up to date with the most effective ways to manage your horses. The world of horse care is always changing, and new information comes out all the time. Therefore, it is good to remember that we should always be willing to keep learning and growing for the sake of our horses.

WRITE TO US

Feel free to write to us with any questions you would like us to answer on parasites and worms in the upcoming issues! You can get in touch at lizzie@hqmagazine.co.za

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A variety of gifts to make everyone smile

EQUESTRIAN PRINCESS COUTURE

Q: What are the best things I can do to help care for my senior pony?

A: Lots of ponies need a little extra care as they get older, so it’s great that you are aware of your pony’s needs and want to give him the attention he deserves.

Here are our top 10 tips for managing your senior:

1. Regularly check and record your pony’s body condition score.

2. If he’s a good doer, feed a balancer to provide vitamins and minerals without the unwanted calories.

3. If your pony struggles to chew, try offering him a soft, short chopped fibre or mash.

4. Older ponies often struggle with metabolic issues, so don’t let your pony eat too much lush green grass and make sure you don’t give too many treats.

5. Make sure your older pony isn’t getting too hot or cold as older ponies struggle to maintain their body temperature.

6. Add warm water to your pony’s feed if he’s reluctant to eat.

7. Try adding warm water to your pony’s water bucket if he doesn’t want to drink, as he may have sensitive teeth.

8. Avoid slippery or hilly paddocks for older ponies as they can increase the risk of injury and put more strain on the joints.

9. Choose paddock mates carefully to ensure your senior doesn’t get bullied and doesn’t have to move more than he is comfortable with.

10. If you are worried your pony might be getting sore with arthritis, speak to your vet.

Q: What does bridging the reins mean?

A: Bridging your reins helps you anchor your body in the saddle and stops you from being pulled forward if your pony gets strong when you go for a canter or gallop. To do it, hold your reins as normal, then turn your thumbs inwards. Hold the loose end of the opposite rein under your middle three fingers, so each rein is held in both hands. Then, slide your hands down the reins, so they sit on either side of your pony’s neck, just below his mane.

Q: My instructor says that because I am nervous about jumping, my pony is becoming nervous too. Is this true?

A: Ponies are very sensitive and pick up on our emotions, so they’re always aware of how we feel when we ride or handle them. If you are nervous about jumping, your pony will wonder if you really want to jump the fence, and he’ll be less likely to feel confident about it as a result.

Confidence is built over time, and can’t be faked, so don’t be too hard on yourself in this situation. We’ve all been nervous at some point! Plus, jumping should be fun, so if you’re finding it too nerve-wracking, why not take a break and have a go at some other disciplines or exercises for a while until you feel more confident again?

Alternatively, you could have a few lessons on a schoolmaster jumping pony to really get your confidence up before going back to riding your own pony. In our next edition we have an article on managing nerves as a horse rider. Check it out for more information!

CAN YOU SOLVE THE MAZE? CAN YOU SOLVE THE MAZE?

CAN YOU SOLVE THE WORD SEARCH? CAN YOU SOLVE THE WORD SEARCH?

canter | chestnut | dressage | eventing | horse | palomino | piebald | showjumping | thoroughbred | warmblood

CAN YOU NAME THE LEG MARKINGS? CAN YOU NAME THE LEG MARKINGS?

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