Simply Bueno Stable

04/21/2023

https://www.horsenation.com/2023/04/17/mythbuster-monday-horses-dont-like-being-patted/

On Mythbuster Monday, we tackle a variety of equestrian myths to either bust or confirm. Today’s discussion: Do horses like being patted? It’s Mythbuster Monday, where Horse Nation dives into different equestrian myths and provides research-based evidence to either bust or confirm those myths. T...

02/22/2023

Jim Wofford: “I want your lower leg position to look exactly like this: ball of your foot on the tread of the stirrup, your little toe against the outside branch of the stirrup, heels lower than your toes, weight distributed equally across the stirrup, stirrup leather vertical, and the stirrup perpendicular to the girth. Rather than pressing your heels down, have the feeling your stirrups are pushing your toes up. Your foot should be diagonally across the stirrup with a slight angle to your horse’s body; that angle should be the same as that with which you walk. This angle ensures the correct alignment of your joints and is the most efficient means of absorbing the shock of galloping and jumping.

Pay close attention to the spur and strap in this photo: The spur is fitted correctly with the shaft parallel with the seam of the heel box and the shank of the spur turned down. The buckle is centered above your instep, because in that position it is least likely to hang up on your stirrup when you fall off. Your spur should not be in constant contact with your horse’s side. If your heels are up and you are gripping with your spurs, your horse is behind your leg.

In this column, Jim examines the “tools” we use to ride—the existing tools we can improve and the entirely new tools we can develop during the winter. At its most basic it’s legs and hands, your position, your voice and—maybe most importantly—your knowledge of horses and their responses to various stimuli >> https://bit.ly/2vfJXau

02/20/2023

We all have these self-imposed timelines of when we want our horses to be at a certain level, but the truth is, horse's don't know when they are supposed to "make it."

If your horse is 6 and hasn't entered a jackpot yet...
If you had to give your horse time off after an injury...
If you had to take a step back from riding to focus on your family...
If your work schedule hasn't allowed you the time you need to ride...
If your horse is just taking a little longer to develop...

You are not behind.

Each person’s timeline and priorities will look a little different. As such, each person’s progression will happen at a different pace. And, that’s okay. Allow yourself to enjoy the pace of your journey. The timing is not wrong. You are right where you need to be today.

02/20/2023

Research Demonstrates Friesian Horses have Different Cardiac Measurements

The equine heart is an impressive organ. The heart is composed of four chambers that provide the pumping function needed to supply blood to the body. The upper chambers are called the left and right atria. The lower chambers are called the left and right ventricle. There are also various in and out flow vessels in the heart to support blood flow. In simple terms, the function of the right side of the heart (right atrium, right ventricle) is to pump blood to the lungs, where oxygen is added and carbon dioxide is removed from the blood. The function of the left side of the heart (left atrium, left ventricle) is to pump blood to the rest of the body, where oxygen and nutrients are delivered to tissues, and waste products (such as carbon dioxide) are removed. Together, the four chambers of the heart perform an impressive and complicated symphony, pumping and supplying blood to the body, every moment of every day throughout the horse’s life.

A recent study conducted by Ghent University in Belgium compared the cardiac measurements of 100 Friesians and 100 Warmbloods and found that in general, the left and right ventricle internal diameter measurements of Friesian horses were significantly smaller than those of Warmbloods. Additionally, the measurement of the heart's muscular output contractions (Fractional Shortening and Ejection Fraction) in Friesian horses was higher, indicating the heart of a Friesian horse contracts harder than a Warmblood’s heart to achieve sufficient blood output.

Research has demonstrated an “athletic heart” is linked to positive endurance related performance in horses. One study in particular found cardiac measurements, specifically left ventricle measurements, correlated with performance and showed strong heritability levels. Another study, which specifically studied fitness levels of Friesian horses, confirmed for the first time that genetics do indeed influence fitness in horses- something proven long ago in humans.

Research has confirmed Friesians have a different response to training and reach their anaerobic threshold at a lower workload than other breeds. It is possible there is a correlation between the smaller cardiac measurements of Friesian’s and aerobic endurance. Riders and trainers of Friesian horses should understand continuous exercise, particularly at the canter, might initially exceed the aerobic threshold of some Friesian horses early in their athletic conditioning. Some Friesian horses may require shorter periods of more intense aerobic exercise until they can work up to longer periods.

The Gent University study led to the publication of echocardiographic (heart ultrasound) reference intervals specific to Friesian horses. These reference intervals may be shared with your veterinarian for use when conducting clinical diagnostics of the heart.

Link to study, including echocardiographic reference intervals: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jvim.15938

References

Vernemmen, Ingrid & Lisse, Vera & van steenkiste, Glenn & van Loon, Gunther & Decloedt, Annelies. (2020). Reference values for 2‐dimensional and M‐mode echocardiography in Friesian and Warmblood horses. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine. 34.

M., Younes & Robert, Celine & Barrey, Eric. (2014). Genetic Component of Endurance Ability. Equine Veterinary Journal. 46.

Munsters CCBM, van den Broek J, van Weeren R, Sloet van Oldruitenborgh-Oosterbaan MM. Young Friesian horses show familial aggregation in fitness response to a 7-week performance test. Vet J. 2013;198(1):193-199.

02/15/2023

There’s a thing about sidereins and drawreins when it comes to schooling horses. Most of us will say that they do more harm than good and yet, we can justify hanging them in our tack rooms, just in case.

“Just in case a horse needs help. Just in case a horse needs to be shown the way. Just in case he’s unsafe, without. Just in case he’s habitually inverted. Just in case we need to rebuild his mind and body.”

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that the only people who should be using sidereins or drawreins are those who are so experienced, so light of touch and understanding, so in control of their own bodies and base emotions, so aware of timing and feel… that they can do no harm.

The irony, of course, is that such a horse(wo)man will not have need for such tools because their awareness and educated eye sees where the problem originates. They will work with that, until the real cause is history, rather than force the horse to go around it.

I can pick out the horses and ponies who, no matter their disciplines, have been lunged and/or ridden in auxiliary reins. They are broken at the third vertebrae. Their posture is unchanging. Their backs appear hollow, rather than upwardly rounded. While they may appear obedient, they move carefully, almost guardedly.

To put this into perspective, if I had a trainer who was going to teach me gymnastics, no amount of force or equipment will ‘allow’ me to correctly do the splits. No amount of force or equipment, no matter how well meant, will bend my body in a way to which it is unaccustomed. Should I find myself in the situation where I was strapped in a pose in order to ‘help me find the way’, I would be revolting due to the physical agony, if not the mental forcefulness.

And yet, we continue to do this to our horses, all in the name of finding a frame… seeking balance… getting them ‘light’ to the bridle.

I’ve been there. Faced with a large, healthy, unschooled and reactive ex racehorse, an extra set of ‘running’ sidereins, used alongside my regular snaffle reins, seemed the answer to his habitually throwing up his head and taking flight. Thing is, he just learned how to run very, very fast with his nose curled down between his front legs. This was certainly no better—and a heckuva lot more dangerous—from where I sat!

The answer, of course, was found in more good work. More slow miles, more building trust and understanding, more encouragement to relax. With partnership came a lessening in pain and tension, those old bugaboos. The horse actually came around quite quickly once he’d a change in bitting, going from the usual D-ring snaffle to a mullen-mouthed short pelham. It can be such a help to have a different feel and signal in the mouth, after the racing days.

Mind and body are so linked that this change, once found, came completely and swiftly to my horse.

Eclipse would eventually go very kindly for anyone, in any sort of bit but the biggest thing he taught me was this. There are no shortcuts. Should you know of one, it is probably best to leave that kind of ‘help’ hanging in the high, dark corners of the tack room. Or, do as my old teacher did, once upon a time. She would surreptitiously ‘borrow’ the drawreins and sidereins openly hanging in dressage riders’ tack rooms and show lockers, throwing them in the garbage bin found at the end of each barn alley.

She had long seen that once you’ve got a horse schooled to hold his head falsely and completely still under any sort of circumstances, you’re now saddled with figuring out how to put back what you’ve taken away. Congratulations! You’ve halved your horse’s natural beauty: his power, oscillations, stretchiness, movement, balance, joy and athleticism are all gone, in the name of gaining victory over his head.

Be careful in what you wish for, is all I can say.

02/08/2023

01/31/2023

I am continually being asked why I lunge all my horses, in addition to riding or driving them.

Some folks think I’m afraid to ride. Some folks think I’m being woo-woo. Some folks think I’m teaching my horses to need this crutch, to need to move their feet before they’re safe underneath me. Some folks think I’m just making my horses heavy in the hand. Some folks think I’m being hard on the horses’ front legs by all that constant circling...

Thing is, when you’re invested in making the best horses you can, you soon learn that what ‘some folks’ think, doesn’t really matter.

I have learned to trust in my own process and to know that there are many roads to Rome. Always, the proof in the pudding is in the horses we ride!

Long ago, I married my dressage roots with this ranching life. I picked the best of both worlds, to stir up my own brand of soup. When working with the smaller sales horses and ponies, I learned of ways to make their lives easier and their bodies healthier, even while I schooled them. Learning to lope (or canter) well on a thirty-foot lunge (a sixty-foot circle), rather than teaching third gear from the saddle, was one such way.

It made sense to me that if nature had made young or green horses and ponies move like runaway sewing machines—rushed, unbalanced, so heavy on the forehand—they would not, they could not, magically improve when made to carry my added weight.

And so, it has proven.

The lunge rein more closely approximates the balancing of my horse between my leg and hand, so is more suited to my purpose than is round penning. Ours is not ‘a constant circling’, because there is much pausing to stop and praise, to change directions through the circle, to work on some lateral steps, to ‘go long’ down the straight sides of my imagined arena. We mix it up!

Shown is one long-ago session—at the start and then, at the finish—with a 13:3 pony we called Rockabilly.

At walk and trot, Billy was balanced but like so many ponies, in third gear, all bets were off. While I like to say that I NEVER use ANY sort of side reins while lungeing, at one point, things got so western, so twisted, so out-of-hand, that a pair of elastic leg straps from a turnout rug were brought forth to help guide the pony into some straightness. Like using the outside rein, just having the elastic straps there reminded Billy that he didn’t have to go off through the outside shoulder. Once he understood, they were unnecessary, a one-time thing.

The process took less than fifteen minutes and believe me, I share the top photo with some reluctance, for I know there will be those who judge. While it is certainly not 'classical' lungeing, I ask, how could this pony possibly do any better with me on board?!

Billy showed that with some understanding, a marked improvement was possible in as little as one schooling session. In very little time, the pony learned to balance... to relax... to breathe... and to trust that this, too, was doable. Then, it was but a small step for me to put my reins on, check the cinch, remove the lunge line and ride him in a fairly good canter.

As a note, this pony is not unbalanced here because he is on the wrong lead. No, he is on the wrong lead because he is so unbalanced!

I soon replaced any lungeing off the snaffle bridle with a correct cavesson with even better results, for both the horses and myself. This one piece of gear helped my horses to relax through the poll, a pillar of all good training. I still regularly lunge my green horses, my ‘going’ but snuffy horses, my stiff or elderly horses, my driving ponies, the unfit ones, the spoiled ones and those who already happen to go very, very kindly.

Why? Because I want my horses to learn to stretch, to soften, to swing through, to use themselves properly and to know that they can do all these good things... with or without me.

Something like yoga, mindful lungeing has proven to be gentle, lasting therapy for both my horses and myself.

***

Hey, if this helps, if it starts a good discussion about your horsemanship, would you like to buy me a virtual coffee? No pressure... I’m grateful that you’re here, riding along with us.
buymeacoffee.com/horsewoman

01/31/2023

Let’s talk about ‘engagement’, a term that seems to elude even knowledgeable horse people. Engagement has nothing to do with speed but with driving power.

By definition, the word derives from the French ‘engager’ and it means ‘to pledge or to put into motion’. It is no accident that engagement often refers to machinery being put into gear. Aha! we think. This is referring to the horse’s motor… which, if you’ve been paying attention, is the part of the horse that is behind us.

If you have ever driven a standard on the downshift, you will immediately understand.

We see many pictures of horses at the trot, in dressage or other forms of showing, with spectacular movement up front. Those legs are goose stepping beyond the horse’s nose and admittedly, it is attention-getting. Flashy. But wait. Is the energy and effort of the hind end matching all that flinging going on in front?

I’ll wait here while you grab two straight edges. These can be either scraps of paper, a ruler or a pencil… even your fingers, if you’re in possession of a keen eye. We’re going to train ourselves to understand what we’re really seeing today!

Put the straight edge along the long bone of the horse’s reaching forearm in the top photo. Now, take your second straight edge and place it along the horse’s rear cannon bone. Are these two lines running parallel to each other, or if we could extend them, will they intersect behind the horse? Our aim, as horse(wo)men, is to ride, drive and train our horses to ‘use themselves’ in such a way that the rear limb is at the same angle as the front. Too seldom does this happen.

Whether we see the horse trotting in real life, or in the stop-action of a still photo, the triangles made by the two front limbs will be the same size as the triangles made behind. The effort made by the front end will never exceed the effort made by the rear end. It’s pretty easy, when we think of it this way.

Let’s compare this horse on the left with the one on the right. Again, line up your straight edge with the leading forearm and then, put the second straight edge along the rear cannon bone stepping under the horse. Bingo! While the first horse may look awesome—and heaven knows that the horse-loving world celebrates this sort of mover—it is the less extravagant horse who is actually the more correct. (Note that the second fellow is not entirely 'true', with the hind leg landing before his fore... but it has proven darned near impossible, finding an anonymous photo of a modern international dressage horse with a biomechanically correct trot!)

At the trot, this is the failsafe method of seeing whether the horse is truly engaged. At the walk, we are looking for the horse who oversteps with his hinds beyond the footprints left by the fronts. At the canter, we are looking for the clear three-beat waltz time, with the inside hind foot reaching well under the seat of the rider.

One of the easiest ways that I can encourage my horses and ponies to move forwardly with engagement and relaxation, is to begin working them, without sidereins, on the lunge. I can watch and learn as I observe their efforts and encourage them.

As you can see, the correct—and healthy—movement of our beloved horses is eluding far too many of us. English or Western, at home with modest animals and riders, as well as in international competition.

Now, think again about the word ‘engagement’.

Pledging… putting into motion… shifting into gear… the promise of commitment in relationship. All of these define its fundamental place in good horsemanship.

01/31/2023

I always say that horses are funny people. You just never know what will fire their imaginations, or cause them to take immediate action.

Cypress and I were enjoying some TLC in the garden one day, basking in the windbreak offered by the big trees. While he munched away on lawn grass, I was buffing until I was puffing with my new HAAS brushes.

Then, without my knowledge, our roofing crew came from town to commence putting a new lid on our old abode. They’d got their ladders set up without Cy’s or my knowledge, that is, until they began to walk around on top of the house.

S-NORT! All of a sudden, my brushes went flying and I had my hands full. I was reminded that when under attack by alien life forms, a horse needs to find safety on top of his owner, stat! It took me quite a while to talk Cy back down from his extreme adrenaline rush, not to mention dealing with my own.

It reminded me of that time I, along with seven other women, raced sidesaddle at the Calgary Stampede. Every afternoon, during the big rodeo grandstand show, we joined the extravaganza on our horses and sidesaddles. Our steeds were good with AC/DC rocking out over surround sound, the cannon fire, the military Huey helicopter hovering over the stadium with a huge Canadian flag. They didn’t bat an eye at the roar of the seething crowd, or the hyped-up announcer.

What finally broke them were seeing the bronc riders zip-lining down into the arena, waving their hats and with chaps billowing. That, they said as they wheeled around and checked outta Dodge, was the final straw!

‘Trigger stacking’ is a thing, all right. Every single one of us can calmly put out fires, all day long, ‘til we trip over somebody’s boots in the hallway when we finally get home.

The photo is of Pan and Cypress… before the roofers arrived.

01/29/2023

01/29/2023

See what happens to the saddle and the horses back when we mount from the ground.