Loves Delta Breeze Farm

04/29/2024

Imagine the bit being in front of your horse’s mouth. Instead of pulling back, you want to push him forward into the bit for a softer, springier horse. - Phillip Dutton

Thanks to Cosequin Equine for our coverage of the 2024 Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event, including rider interviews, competition reports, horse spotlights, photos, videos and more.

03/04/2024

The Importance of a Supple Back

From our own Dr. Gerd Heuschmann, a stiff back is the enemy of self carriage.

Establishing the connection from the hind end, over the back and into the hands as a light contact takes a lot of understanding and experience.

Is your horse hollow?

Are they connected from back to front or are you riding front to back?

How do you learn to recognize self carriage?

If you can find a good teacher who can guide you to this place, you are very lucky!

We feel very honored to have Dr. Gerd Heuschmann as one of our educators, and someone who has dedicated his life to understanding correct training - from the horse's perspective.

Learn more about Dr. Heuschmann and our other educators, all of whom bring an essential piece of the puzzle to the whole picture, on our website at www.equitopiacenter.com

03/04/2024

Horses: Balance starts in the body - NOT the head and neck

Learning to feel what is happening in a horse's body and truly understanding the function of the head and neck in relation to balance, is a process.

If you are starting by pulling the horse's head and neck into a frame using gadgets or hands, then you will never get to self carriage.

Learning how balance feels in the body has to be the first step - so, let go of the reins and feel what is happening in your horse's body.

If this is the journey you want to embark on, then experience the joy of learning how with Equitopia's membership program and online courses!

Get started today at www.equitopiacenter.com

03/01/2024

Our last post on high-low conformations got a lot of discussion. So let's take a deeper dive into how this conformation can effect the biomechanics of a horse!

In our last high-low conformation post we discussed how high-low hooves are functionally the same as having a sub-clinical lameness! Importantly we must remember that horses are quadrupeds, these asymmetries create imbalanced propulsion and have to be compensated for in order to maintain intended speed and direction.

In this conformation The lower hoof has increased breaking forces and increased transition time between braking and propulsion, the high hoof has a higher net propulsive force. This has to be compensated for by hind propulsive adaptation to keep the animal in a straight line and at a steady state. The low foot also exerts more vertical force.

These effects on biomechanics create a ripple effect through the entire musculoskeletal system, potentially leading to orthopedic issues from lots of torque through the entire trunk, interventions that increase symmetry and balance, from the whole care team, become important. These horses can be managed, but need appropriate trimming and/or shoeing combined with bodywork and riding to keep these horses sound.

Which is why we are enjoying our educational collaboration with the London College of Animal Osteopathy - LCAO! If you're interested in furthering your osteopathy education follow this link:

http://www.animalosteopathycollege.com/.../international...?

For more reading on this topic: https://www.theequinedocumentalist.com/.../high-low-hoof…

High-low conformation affects a significant proportion of the sport horse population that we discussed in our last webinar discussing the most common changes in the modern day sport horse. If you missed the webinar live you can still watch the recording!

https://equineeducationhub.thinkific.com/.../modern-sport…

03/01/2024

Agricultural service

02/22/2024

Truth

When you begin working your horse, he's probably going to be in a long and low frame. There is nothing wrong with this, and if you want to keep working your horse in this stretched frame, which you may want to do during a warm-up, or if your horse is still quite young, then this is absolutely fine.

However, if you want to shorten your horse’s frame and ask him to lift his shoulders and head carriage, you need to ride exercises that encourage his hind legs to step more underneath his center of gravity. These include transitions, circles, and lateral movements, combined with the half-halt.

As your horse begins to engage, more of his weight will shift to his hindlegs, creating a taller and shorter frame (suitable for his current level of training) and you will need to then gradually shorten your rein contact to accommodate this adjustment.

NOTE: You must ride the hind legs under first. Do not try to shorten the frame or lift your horse’s head artificially by first shortening the reins or taking a tighter contact. Always ride from the back to the front.

https://howtodressage.com

02/19/2024

02/16/2024

Two openings , pleasure , pet retirement or ,dressage ,train , lessons , could use a dressage person, helper, in a barter board situation. References required .

02/04/2024

Hollow side/stiff side…..
Honestly, I have never found it to be that simple!!! Well, maybe decades ago I did.

I know I have my own thoughts on this, so I hit up Google to see what most trainers think is more often the hollow side…. Everyone seems to agree that most often horses are hollow to the same side, but I’m finding they don’t all agree whether that is the left or the right!
If we are talking green horses and green riders, and gross generalizations then I would say the stiff side is usually to the right, and the hollow side is usually to the left. I find more horses are apt to fall on their right shoulder, causing them to swing the base of the neck to the left.

THAT SAID, once the horse and rider learn to fix this issue, two things happen…
1.) They both overcompensate and often lose the left shoulder to the outside while traveling to the right. (This might also be because most riders are right handed and tend to overuse the inside rein and forget they have an outside rein while traveling clockwise.)
2.)  As we become more advanced we start to notice that even though the horse was hollow in the base of his neck left, and stiff in the base of his neck to the right, quite frequently the absolute opposite is happening up at the horses poll joint!!  If the base of the neck is stiff to the right, I find the poll joint is more likely to be stiff left.

I also find that most riders tend to sit to the left, causing horses to bend through the rib cage to the left just fine, and they have one heck of a time to the right!! But again, once we fix this, there commonly tends to be an overcompensation.

I guess the point is, it’s not as easy as good banana or bad banana! Lol. Not when it comes to lateral bend.

The poll joint is probably the most important, second, the rib cage, and last is the base of the neck…. But for some reason, we tend to see the base of the neck first, and it takes us longer to learn the other two.

It’s easy to do some in hand work to loosen up your horse’s poll joint. (Hmmmm, and why don’t I have my students do this regularly before hopping on???)
To get bend in the rib cage you want to literally shift you’re outside seat bone a little closer to midline and let your inside hip, knee, and heel drop a little lower than the outside hip, knee, and heel. (When students are already crooked I have them really exaggerate this to the side that it’s more difficult on. Once they get really even and really good at it, it does not look like they are shifting at all, but they will have full control over the horse’s rib cage through their weight aids.) 

In my progression for teaching riders, I initially do not care if the horse overbends through the base of the neck-  honestly it’s just too much for students to learn how to focus on poll flexion, and rib cage bend, AND think they can ALSO utilize their outside rein in a sophisticated way to prevent too much lateral bending at the base of the neck.  If you teach this too early, it just causes them to unknowingly hang on the outside rein, and totally prevent the poll flexion and ribcage bend!!!!!
Ha, ha, ha, ha ha, owl, owl, owl, owl. I’m using dictation and I totally forgot about the brand new upper ear piercing I just got yesterday- I tried to swipe my hair behind my ear clumsily. Ouch that hurt!!!

Okay, anyways,  students have to learn simple math before they can learn trig or calculus. Balancing the ENTIRE horse on a circle is high-level work!!!!!! You have to learn it piece by piece, and if you talk to world class riders, you will find they are still learning, and getting more refined at lateral bend… among other things, of course, but suppling a horse laterally, and then setting them straight is a big BIG part of what they do, regardless of discipline, or the Horse’s level of training!! 

Dang this ear still hurts! But it’s starting to subside a little.


01/29/2024

To increase your horse’s elasticity ...

Imagine his topline as a giant accordion, breathing in and out. Play with mild increases and decreases in his pace, letting his body move quietly through its spectrum.—Jeremy Steinberg

🎨: Sandy Rabinowitz

09/20/2023

When you school your horse, always think of riding him from “back to front.” That means you are creating energy in the horse’s hindquarters and receiving that power in an elastic contact.

The horse should work freely and willingly forward through his back to SEEK your hand.

For more help with this, check out this post - https://howtodressage.com/dressage-theory/back-to-front/

09/14/2023

“OMG! She said ‘bend’ and was only talking about the neck!!!! That’s sooooo front to back training!!”
😳🙄🤔
Want to split hairs? Fine. Fight me! 😂😎
1.) The dictionary definition of flexion IS bend.  Let’s not pretend that we don’t use the words interchangeably. We do because, according to the dictionary, they quite literally mean the same thing.
2.) In equestrian jargon we often use the phrase “lateral flexion” referring specifically to JUST the poll joint. English is spoken in many places across the globe so to some degree this can be regional.  Recently I made a post talking about bend throughout the entire neck, and I had a lot of people trying to correct me saying that I was referring to lateral flexion- but the post also addressed bend at the base of the neck. So if you go by the USDF definition of the phrase “lateral flexion” it refers to only the poll joint, so then what do you call it when we talk about the bend in the entire neck, but are not currently talking about the rest of the body?? Do we really need to come up with separate phrases? If I’m talking about bending the hock, am I going to get throttled for not talking about bend in every other joint in the equine body? Just stop.
3.) Many people got on my case, saying that bend happens in the entire body, not just the neck… does it tho? 🤔😉😂  The rib cage does not actually show much lateral flexion. What it does is axial rotation… which TECHNICALLY isn’t dictionary “bend” at all. But worry not! If you say “bend through the ribs” I won’t roast you for it. USDF lists the definition of “bend” as including lowering of the inner hip, and adduction of the inner leg, but actually does not mention the rib cage at all. 🤷‍♀️ Yet most of us are aware that if you don’t have axial rotation of the rib cage, you don’t have full body “bend”.
4.) RIDING a horse back to front means that you send the energy to your hands, and that your hands receive, and recycle that energy in a way that encourages the horse to seek the connection. It DOES NOT mean that we somehow magically train the horse’s hind legs to the highest levels before we even dare look at the front half. 🤦‍♀️  Social media altruism has really messed up peoples ideas of what it means to ride and train back-to-front. From the first day, a baby horse wears a halter, we are training the front end, whether we like it or not. Horses often have issues in the poll and jaw that can and should absolutely be addressed directly and early on. And honestly, the whole back to front thing is a very German idea of driving the horse into a heavier contact.  I’m not saying back to front is bad- I do a lot of sending a horse towards the contact. But french classical and most western riding are not actually back-to-front at all , and yet manage produce light supple horses.
5.) I’m all about being specific with words, but sometimes people just want to split hairs and it doesn’t actually add anything to the conversation. So yeah- I did a post about bend “in the neck” and I didn’t say “in the neck” or “lateral flexion in the cervical vertebrae”. It currently has over 90 comments and no one seems to actually be confused about what I was talking about. (Most of the comments are about how helpful the post is! 😘) And even the ones vehemently complaining about which words I used knew what I was referring to. So I can only think they made the comments they did to make themselves feel smart. “Ha,ha! I caught you using a word incorrectly! Bwa ha ha”. As I stated above, I actually did not use it incorrectly, but if it makes you feel better about yourself because, you’re obviously so much smarter than me, I guess go ahead. 🤷‍♀️ Maybe write your own perfect content. Now, if I see someone using the word collection when referring to vertical flexion, or doing a leg yield and calling it a half pass, or calling a curb bit a snaffle, Yep- I’m probably going to call them out on it!!! Because those are vastly different things and it DOES cause confusion.
6.) Words are weird. On my personal profile I once wrote a post that just said “Are sweaters shirts?” I don’t think I’ve ever written something else that got that many comments!!! Talk about very different opinions!! it all started because I told my husband I liked him in that shirt and he looked at me bewildered, and said “It’s a sweater”. So obviously, I did the only proper thing and made a social media post about it. 😂😂😂 The vote was honestly about 50-50, so I still don’t know if sweaters are shirts, but I do know that words mean different things to different people. The real question is “are we clear?”

08/26/2023

🐎The Components of Basic Balance

Understanding what we have to do to help horses be in balance is essential basic knowledge that all riders, trainers, vets, farriers, saddle fitters and equine professionals should have.

If we cannot recognize when and how a horse is in balance, then we cannot see the compensatory patterns that lead down the road to problems of all kinds, from pain related behavior and performance outcomes.

If you really want to understand and see what basic SELF carriage involves and looks like, the Veterinarian/Trainer Dr. Karin Leibbrandt has put together this comprehensive course that outlines this topic in a way that is clear.

Learn the basics, learn how to evaluate the trainer/training methodology that you are looking at, and, most importantly, learn to be a confident advocate for your horse:

For the price of a lesson, this could be the difference in empowering you and your horse for success!

https://www.equitopiacenter.com/shop/compassionate-training-for-todays-sport-horse/

08/15/2023

The term longitudinal suppleness refers to the horse’s suppleness over his top line, including back, neck, poll, and jaw.

08/11/2023

A range of medications and management options can help to keep an active sporthorse comfortable and competing.

07/27/2023

Erin and 20 yr old Tristan! Very special 🥰🫶🏻

07/19/2023

I'm full for the first time in some years I'm back to teaching and training classical dressage, lightly trained horses I'm not Riding any or breaking any more youngsters unless it's mine, but at that it would have to be a saint🤣👌I thought ,I was retiring to just retirees. But, Im doing both, happy nedium👍🐎🐎🐎🐈🐈🐈oh how did kittys get in therelol

07/08/2023

“Pulling” is something that is absolutely under your control and something you can change if you focus on your aids and timing.

07/06/2023

The shape of the horse’s barrel and length of the rider’s leg dramatically effects the rider’s position.
A really wide horse will push a short legged rider’s knee out, no matter how much they try to rotate the thigh in. A really rounded barrel barrel (not pictured) often disappears under a longer legged rider’s lower calf and heel. If this is the case, they should just get used to the idea of not being able to feel the horse down by their foot, otherwise they rotate the back of the hill towards the horse, which pulls their knee and thigh away from the horse. Even a tear drop shaped horses (middle) might have this effect, but instead of turning the knee out, longer riders will often times lift the heel up to try to make contact. Narrow horses are often a dream for short limbed riders, but feel like a fence board to a longer legged rider.

The important part is to recognize that there is no cookie cutter perfect angle that applies to everyone.

If you see a rider with absolutely perfect equitation, guesses are that both horse and rider are shaped very well, and also well-suited to each other.

I’m not saying to use this knowledge to justify a Poorer position, but you do need to understand how each horse influences your position. If I ride a horse that is extraordinarily wide, I know I am better off putting on a hunt seat saddle and riding with a short stirrup, because if I try to ride with a long dressage leg it torques, my knee joints. We have one particular lesson horse that is both wide and round, and whenever students sit on him, I know I’m going to have to remind them to keep their lower leg off of the horse and keep their thigh and knee firmly attached.

Some horses are narrow around the girth area, but wide further back into the rib cage, and this pushes the riders leg forward. It is what it is, and just like a quarter horse or Tennessee walker is never going to compete at the Olympics in Dressage, a horse, with a difficult barrel shape, is not going to be as easy for accomplish quite as much as a horse with near perfect conformation. For 90% of riders it’s no big deal- your leg position will just be a little less than perfect. But if you have pre-existing problems with a certain joint, or are looking for your next Grand Prix horse that can score 75%, then barrel shape is something you should take into consideration when horse shopping.

07/05/2023

HEAVY IN THE HAND?

The unschooled or young horse initially uses his head and neck (and the reins) to balance himself, and it is only through systematic, thoughtful schooling that he will become sufficiently strong and confident enough to transfer the balance back onto his hindquarters.

To do this, you need to work on a combination of correctly ridden transitions, circles, and lateral exercises, all while making use of the half-halt.

These exercises help to encourage the horse’s hind legs to step further forward underneath his body and to carry more weight on his hindquarters rather than on his shoulders, relative to his level of training.

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NOTE: We would also like to add that this has nothing to do with the horse's head position. Trying to artificially raise the horse's head will not fix anything. It's the hind legs engaging and stepping under that lift the horse's forehand.

A horse can still work in a long, low frame and not be heavy in the hand, as long as the hind legs are still pushing and engaging.

https://howtodressage.com

07/03/2023

Very large stall , large ! With run and pasture day turnout available for retirees ,or pet or Dressage, student. 😀 Available August 1.

05/18/2023

As you become a better rider, you will discover that the legs have so many messages to communicate other than “go”.

05/16/2023

When you watch an experienced dressage rider sit to their horse’s trot, you’ll notice that it looks like they are not moving, as though their bum is glued to the saddle. However, contrary to popular belief, they are not “sitting still.” Instead, they are moving WITH their horse, which gives the illusion of immobility.

More about sitting trot here - https://howtodressage.com/for-the-rider/improve-sitting-trot/

04/29/2023