Equinibrium

08/07/2024

05/08/2022

Horses are amazingly tolerant, giving creatures.

It unfortunately means they’re often exploited due to the ambitions of the human. After their basic needs are met, you must be very thoughtful in the training of your horse.

Your first duty is to preserve the purity of the paces. What does this mean? Walk has 4 beats, trot has 2, canter has 3, gallop has 4. ALWAYS. If not, something is wrong biomechanically, and your horse is at risk of injury. BTW impure paces can usually be detected in a photograph, even though it is only a “moment in time”, AND this applies to all disciplines.

Strapping a horse’s mouth shut with a crank/flash (or other) noseband very often contributes. The fact is, a horse cannot maintain full range of motion with his hind legs if he can’t move his tongue and jaw. FACT.

For jumping, if the horse bolts off - away from, towards, or after a jump, putting on a bigger bit and a martingale will not fix it. If a horse hesitates or stops, pulling out the whip will NEVER make him more confident.

These are just a few hints that your horse is asking for HELP. Go back. Consolidate the basics. Another wonderful thing about horses is they're retrainable. If you ignore the hints, eventually the horse will either break down, or will SHOUT to get your attention, and you will get hurt.

After all, horses are dangerous. We tell everyone that. But actually they are not. We wouldn’t be able to ride them if they were truly dangerous. You know what’s dangerous? People are.

Ponder this excerpt from Franz Mairinger’s book “Horses are made to be Horses”:

I recall an incident in Sydney when we had a lame horse with a very bad tendon, and the rider wanted to start the horse the next day. We asked Roy Stewart, the veterinary surgeon, and he said, ‘Yes, that’s the trouble. People always think that horses are made for man, but that’s not true. Horses are made to be horses’. I thought about that a lot, and decided that if I should write a book I would call it Horses are made to be Horses.

(Franz Mairinger was the first coach of an Australian Olympic Equestrian Team, his excellent book is out of print, but can occasionally be found second hand - buy it if you see it)

(Picture credit Thinking Art )

28/07/2022

Staré moudro velí: „Nekrmte koně před a po práci.“ Nejnovější výzkumy dnes ale v mnoha ohledech naše uvažování mění a posouvají, a to se týká i tohoto v praxi řádně zakořeněného pravidla. Koně bychom totiž před zátěží a také po ní nakrmit měli – jde jen o to, jak a čím. https://equichannel.cz/krmit-nebo-nekrmit-pred-zatezi-myty-jsou-zboreny

27/07/2022

☝

𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗲: 𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝟳 𝗷𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗴 𝗽𝗮𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗱𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘅 𝗦𝘁 𝗚𝗲𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘀

Op onderstaande foto zie je een momentopname uit de dressuurproef van een paard dat op hoog niveau gereden en uitgebracht wordt. Dit paard scoorde gedurende deze proef een behoorlijk hoge score, reacties op de proef waren erg positief (prachtig beengebruik) en dit paard zou in de toekomst zomaar wel eens naar het hoogste wedstrijdniveau kunnen stijgen.

Correctie: het is mij inmiddels duidelijk dat deze foto niet van een wedstrijd moment is, verder sta ik nog achter de inhoud van deze post 👍🏻

Want als ik dat woord toekomst dan lees bij zo een beeld, dan vraagt de dierenfysiotherapeute in mij zich af hoe lang deze toekomst dan voor dit paard zal duren. Deze foto is natuurlijk een momentopname, maar het maakt eigenlijk niet uit op welk moment van deze proef je een momentopname zou hebben gemaakt, dit was het constante beeld qua lichaamshouding en gebruik van het paard.

Een paard dat op deze manier getraind en gereden wordt, met zo'n slecht lichaamsgebruik dat ik er biomechanisch gezien echt heel verdrietig van word.. Die heeft namelijk geen mooie toekomst, die kan een paar jaar op deze manier door mensen 'gebruikt' worden en die gaat vervolgens kapot aan peesblessures, artrose, ontstoken gewrichten en een geheel overbelast lichaam (en geest).

Dus ik blijf ze posten, bij deze een opnieuw een biomechanische analyse.

𝗥𝗼𝗼𝗱 - de neus van het paard is behoorlijk achter de loodlijn, je ziet dus ook een korte afstand van kin tot borst. Met als gevolg veel druk vlak achter de kaken, druk op de luchtpijp en de slokdarm. Het paard kan niet goed ademen, slikken en ook niet goed voor zich uit kijken.

𝗚𝗿𝗼𝗲𝗻 - de tweede en derde halswervel zijn het hoogste punt, dit wordt ook wel een valse knik genoemd en is geen daadwerkelijke oprichting, hiervoor zou het achterhoofd het hoogste punt moeten zijn. Bij deze houding ontstaat er veel druk rondom het achterhoofd en de eerste halswervel, de halsspieren worden niet correct gebruikt en ook de laatste twee halswervels staan enorm onder druk.

𝗚𝗿𝗶𝗷𝘀 - je ziet duidelijk aan de hand van de ruiter dat deze geen correct contact maakt met de mond van het paard. Dat kan in deze positie van het hoofd en de hals ook niet anders. De hand van de ruiter is te hoog en geeft als het ware een hefboomwerking in de mond van het paard. Je ziet dan ook duidelijk een painface bij dit paard. Ik zie een gespannen onderlip, groot neusgat, opgetrokken ooghoek en veel spanning rondom de kaak.

𝗣𝗮𝗮𝗿𝘀 - er is veel meer actie in het voorbeen dan in het achterbeen, dit paard loopt dus niet van achteren naar voren, maar dat kan hij in deze gedwongen houding ook niet. (Deze lijnen horen niet gelijk te zijn, maar ik heb ze hier geplaatst om het verschil in activiteit te kunnen aanwijzen).

𝗢𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗷𝗲 - het achterbeen kan niet voldoende activiteit geven en niet voldoende ondertreden omdat er geen correct ruggebruik is. Het be**en is voorover gekanteld en de sc**ft wordt niet voldoende gelift. Hierdoor kan het achterbeen dus niet onder het zwaartepunt van het paard komen.

𝗚𝗲𝗲𝗹 - een direct gevolg van bovenstaande punten is dat het paard op de voorhand loopt en dus totaal niet in balans. Het paard kan de rug niet goed gebruiken en dus niet correct verzamelen.

𝗕𝗹𝗮𝘂𝘄 - je ziet de grote dysbalans van het paard ook goed terug in de benen. Er is veel meer druk op het voorbeen (deze staat zelfs bijna hol) dan op het achterbeen. Er zit een groot verschil tussen de afstand van de kogels tot de grond. Die van het voorbeen komt veel verder naar beneden dan de kogel van het achterbeen.

Met zo'n beeld is het dus niet de vraag of dit paard stuk zal gaan, maar wanneer dit paard stuk zal gaan..
Het is echt geen leuk plaatje om te zien, maar het belang van bewustwording is wat mij betreft groter dan het ongemak dat ik voel wanneer ik zo een afbeelding analyseer.

Hopelijk vinden jullie deze analyse duidelijk en leerzaam. Word bewust en wees lief 🐴 💜

19/07/2022

I see a lot of riders carrying a whip these days, even young kids. I see crops bedazzled with jewels and designs to make them more desirable for riders.. acting as if it’s a glamorous accessory, versus a tool to whack your horse with.

But if you really stop and think about it.. is the crop necessary for what you’re trying to achieve? Or has it become a crutch, a quick fix solution to your immediate problem? Or even worse, is it covering up the root of the problem?

🛑Let’s use the example of a horse that stops at fences.

Why might the horse be stopping in the first place?

•Is the horse in pain?
•Are they overwhelmed, meaning is the job too much for them? The fence too big, the track too demanding?
•Are you putting them in a bad position, so instinctively they aren’t wanting to jump because it’s not safe?
•Have you as the rider created a habit that’s easy for the horse to continue the behavior? Meaning your riding isn’t strong/clear enough to achieve the desired result.

I think it’s important to ask these questions versus just handing the rider a crop to fix the problem of ‘I’ve got a horse that refuses jumps’.

🤔If you’re consistently teaching the horse that they will be punished if they don’t do what you ask, what makes you think riding is enjoyable for them?

11/07/2022

To help you stabilize your hand position...

Imagine that you are holding a coffee mug with two handles and direct your horse’s energy through those handles. Holding the mug helps your hands stay a reasonable distance from one another and work as a unit with your thumbs up. Be sure that you don’t tip the mug or the coffee will spill!—Michelle LaBarre

LaBarre trained at the Reitinstitut Von Neindorff after graduating from college. After returning to the U.S. she met her trainer and mentor Carel Eijkenaar, a student of Georg Theodorescu, who she has worked under for over 15 years. LaBarre operates her business, LaBarre Dressage, LLC, out of Voltra Farm, owned by Carin Mei and located in central New York. She trains horses of all levels and is an active clinician throughout the Northeast.

Illustration by Sandy Rabinowitz

02/07/2022

To prevent collapsing your body when riding corners and turns...

Imagine your torso as the letter “T.” Maintaining your upper body in the shape of a “T” will keep your shoulders level and prevent you from collapsing in your rib cage.—Maureen Mestas

Mestas has 10 years of experience training in Germany and has continued her training extensively in the U.S. She occasionally restarts off-the-track Thoroughbreds for donation to committed young riders who have the resources and experience to care for them but don’t have the funds to purchase a horse.

Illustration by Sandy Rabinowitz

14/04/2022

16/03/2022

The Seat Explained

The seat has two meanings.
One is the specific area of contact that extends from the lumbar
back down to the knee, in other words, whatever moves from the lumbar area down to the
knee is the rider's seat.
But in a broader sense, the rider's seat is everything because its influence is entire, from the top of the head, which should be the highest point, of course, to the bottom of his heel.

The seat should be a cohesive unit that comes to the horse as a communication medium and as a transformation medium, one that is communicating cohesively and as a unit rather than in bits and pieces. I would like to say that even when a teacher gives specific directions to the rider to do something with his arms and with his legs, those directions
influence the rest of the rider. Because the rider is one person, he must communicate as one unit, one seat.

Riders should have balanced, deep, adhesive seats that allow them to make independent aids. Riders who remain adhesive to the saddle and their horses do so because they
understood and they learned that when the horse impacts on the ground the two points of
absorption are in the lumbar back and ankle. Riders who stiffen the ankle paralyse the toe
outward or downward, or push themselves away from the saddle to some degree. Riders
who cannot absorb the horse's movement in the lumbar back will, of course, pop loose of
the saddle and part from it.

Correct riding is done with the abdominal muscles, not with the back.
The rider's lumbar back should always remain relaxed. It should act as a hinge that allows
the pelvic structure to float forward with the horse's motion. The lumbar back allows the rider to remain isometrically toned - not tense -- in his torso while letting the buttocks and thighs remain adhesive to the saddle. The buttocks, the pelvic structure, should not slide on the surface of the saddle. Nor should the buttocks wipe or buff the saddle but rather "stick to it to allow the pelvic structure to surf the “wave" produced by the motion of the horse's back.

In contrast to the loose and supple use of the lumbar back, the torso above it should be
turned into one isometrically toned "cabinet." The rider's “cabinet" is a complex isometric unit.
For its formation, the rider should circle with the points of his shoulder back and down until
both shoulder blades are flat in the trapezius muscle of the back. This action will stabilise the posture of the torso. It will allow the front of the rider to lift the rib cage high, out of the abdominal cavity. It will broaden the chest, straighten the shoulders, stretch the front of the rider, and give him the feeling that the lowest ribs have been lifted, and the waist is more slender.
The rider's upper arms should then hang from his shoulders perpendicular to the
ground. This, importantly, stabilises the arms, hence the hands of the rider because in this
position the upper arms and elbows hang weightlessly. The earth's centre of gravity places
them. The direction of the upper arms and elbows will point to the rider's seat bones, and past them, to the ground. The stability provided by this upper-arm position is at the heart of riding - from the seat to the bridle, rather than wrongly, riding with the hands. For the vertical position of the upper arms is, indeed, responsible for the transferring of the seat's effects to the bridle.

Extract from Dressage Principles Illuminated by Charles de Knuffy p.140

Image:
To understand how to use your lower back to develop an adhesive seat, sit at the edge of a chair, and place
your feet on the floor in line with, and under your hips.
Thrust your pelvis forward so that you lift the back legs of
the chair off the ground. Then rock the chair forward and
backward to various different tilting angles and at different
rhythms without dropping the chair's back legs to the floor.
As you ride the walk, trot, and canter, this action simulates
the movement of an adhesive seat by emulating the pelvic
activity necessary to follow the horse's movement.

14/03/2022

14/03/2022

When your horse resists, braces or is unsteady in his head...

Remember that every resistance is corrected by going forward. Keep the contact and use your leg to push the horse up to the bit. Then close your fingers and imagine squeezing a lemon.

Illustration by Sandy Rabinowitz

15/02/2022

Marcus Ehning je mnohonásobným medailistou z mistrovství světa, Evropy i z olympijských her. Jeho rukama prošla řada výjimečných koní, jako jsou For Pleasure nebo Comme Il Faut. Němec se řídí tím, že chyby na parkuru jsou skoro vždy chybami jezdce.

11/02/2022

☝

02/02/2022

Researcher: Don’t ignore subtle signs of equine discomfort before riding. Often the cause is a veterinary issue.

08/01/2022

This is Epic 🤣

12/12/2021

For more doodles, visit my Etsy shop: www.danasdoodles.com

26/11/2021

🧐Sedlárske okienko

🐴Voľnosť pliec a podbrušníky 🐴
Tento výraz sa v poslednej dobe často používa aj v súvislosti so špeciálnymi tvarmi podbrušákov.
Pravdou je, že voľnosť pliec závisí od sedla. Podbrušník, bez ohľadu na tvar, nemôže poskytnúť úľavu ramenám.
Najlepší podbrušník je ten, ktorý nemá spony tlačiace na latissimus dorsi (sval vedúci od chrbta k lakťu) alebo okraj prsných svalov, nemá žiadne praskliny alebo hrče, nie je príliš objemný za lakťom a nevytvára lokalizovaný tlak.
Žiadny podbrušník nevyrieši problémy súvisiace s pasovaním sedla, ale samotný podbrušník môže spôsobiť ďalšie problémy, o ktorých si môžete myslieť, že pochádzajú zo sedla. Problémy ako obmedzený /skrátený pohyb prednej končatiny, stagnujúci krok a dokonca nerovnováha sedla, ak podbrušník nemá správnu dĺžku alebo sú gumy úplne opotrebované.
Samozrejme, platí aj, že korektný, dobre padnúci podbrušník môže priniesť veľa úľavy.

Podľa Saddlefit 4 Life ®

19/11/2021

🤣🤣🤣 …

15/11/2021

28/10/2021

Sikovne baby :)

18/10/2021

07/10/2021

28/09/2021

14/09/2021

Why you need to find the shoe.

08/09/2021

In 1867, the operated the first ambulance for injured horses, a full two years before New York City’s Bellevue hospital put the first ambulance for humans into service!

07/09/2021

To maintain balance in your canter pirouettes, imagine that you and your horse are a ballerina. You must think about being centered in your upper body as you pirouette. If you lean a little to the left or right, your horse will lose balance and/or have to work to correct that imbalance.—Adelinde Cornelissen

Illustration by Sandy Rabinowitz

04/09/2021

"If you give your child a pony, they will want to ride. You’ll buy them the best pony you can find, followed by a helmet, boots and all the other things pony.

You look for a local barn to ride at where you start to socialize with the equestrian community…………And then life as you know it, will end.

Before you know it, they want to show so you find a circuit …..There will be no more lazy weekends watching tv. You will see more sunrises than you ever thought possible.

Every spare minute of your time will be spent hauling campers, horse trailers and horses and enduring a crazy addiction to practice for the next show.

Your house may be a mess, and your car will be dirty. All because you gave your child a pony. Your weekends will be spent freezing or burning to death on a fold up chair. And their weekends will be spent gaining confidence and friends, learning new skills and having fun and getting dirty!!!!

You will be there the day he or she takes the first few steps of canter, the first taste of a jump, first ribbon, first championship. And they will make you SO proud. Other parents will congratulate you, but you feel weird saying thank you because it's not you on the pony, it’s your child. It's everything that they did, they achieved. And right before your eyes, your little boy/girl will be transformed from the baby who bounced around on their rocking horse into an exceptional young horse enthusiast on the hunt for the next pony finals or maybe even the Olympics!

When you give your child a pony , you give them more than just something to ride. You give them a sport, a talent, hope and dreams. Friends, a new family, a place to learn about life, room to grow as a person where they can push their limits, and bravery, and courage, and memories. And they will have ALL of these things, simply because you gave your child a pony.

Because you gave your child a pony, you too will develop new/lifelong friendships, developed solely from the same passion for the sport. You will have a equestrian family because you gave your child a pony.

Then one day, many years from today…they will be in their room and a certain trophy will catch their eye. And they will pick it up and realize instantly that when you gave your child a pony, you also gave them a childhood that they would never forget, at this point, you realize that everything you gave up along the way and sacrificed was totally worth it…..

All because you gave your child a pony..."

03/09/2021

...asi najväčšia láskavosť akú môžte koňovi preukázať, je dobre ho vychovať. Učte ho dobrým manierom a dobrým návykom, ako v stajni, tak pod sedlom...🐴🐴🐴