Deo Volente Stables

08/14/2022

06/14/2022

**NEW POLE WORK EXERCISE RESEARCH**

Great to work with an exciting group of researchers looking at the effect that pole work exercise has on equine locomotion.

Here is a new paper published in Journal of Equine Veterinary Science, titled “Effect of ground and raised poles on kinematics of the walk”, authors: Vicki A. Walker*, Carolyne A. Tranquillle, Russell MacKechnie-Guire, Jo Spear, Richard Newton & Rachel C.Murray*

For a limited time, this paper is available as Open Access using the link below. Massive thank you to the Petplan Charitable Trust who funded this research.

*lead authors

https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1fD~12dbxqfIqR

05/01/2022

04/07/2022

𝗙𝗶𝘅𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗻𝗲𝗺𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 & 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝗘𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗥𝘂𝗹𝗲𝘀

𝘉𝘺 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘓𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘩, 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘥𝘏𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 2013

Something to keep in mind when you lunge your horse or work him/her in-hand - or ride him/her:

Fixed headsets, fixed postures, fixed gaits for long or even short stretches of times do not build fitness, instead they build stiffness.

Too much energy/activity runs the horse down and damages its body.

Not enough energy/activity and he becomes careless and indifferent, disconnected.

Remember to vary the gaits, and the gaits within the gaits and to vary the level of activity you ask of your horse.

To develop strong and elastic muscles, tendons and ligaments your horse's body needs to gather and extend, open and close, contract and release within a healthy range of postures for his body AND his mind to thrive in unison.

His/Her posture must be able to change, his/her neck must be able to shorten, extend, lower or rise to help him/her find its equilibrium and travel in balance.

This is true of a young horse and of any horse as it progresses up in its training.

𝗙𝗶𝘅𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗽𝘀𝗲𝘀, 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲'𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗱𝘆 (𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻) 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲.
´
Bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments, skin, eyes, ears, lips, hooves, bones, everything is cells, fascia, everything is alive, constantly adjusting to movement, load, pressure, direction and thus having to be elastic, to absorb, and distribute and give and stretch.

The mind of the horse is receiving and telegraphing signals to its body constantly based on the data it receives about its environment but also based on its emotional state which impacts its tonus.

𝗕𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗱, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗳𝗹𝗲𝘅, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲. 𝗕𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀, 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗮𝗱𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗮𝘁.

We do not want to block this process.

We want our horses' balance to spring from within.

We want 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 minds engaged in responding to what 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 senses tell them.

We want to GUIDE and SHAPE, we do not want to create straight jackets for their bodies and conduct hostile take overs for their minds.

We do not know better then the horse's body, it knows how to protect itself - which is why we must learn to investigate resistances very carefully.

When we block our horse and restrict the body's ability to adjust, the horse is more likely to travel in a manner where he will hit the ground harder and wont absorb and dissipate the, energy, the shock waves throughout his entire body. His joints will have to work harder, his entire structure will suffer.

Blocking the horse's posture and demanding a high degree of activity at the same time is equally detrimental - it places too much stress on the horse's spine, pelvis, stifles, shoulders, joints and tendons and ligaments.

Photo caption: This is a young horse just beginning to lunge and learning to develop a different posture. Saying NO to fixed headsets and gaits...Why? Developing elastic muscles requires our horse's body to open and close, open and close.

Trotting in the same pace and posture for too long with make him stiff.

To keep him suple, alternate short bursts of energy with a slower pace that allows him to stretch forward, down and OUT, and relax.

We do not ask him to perform with great energy for long periods: this will over tire his body and begin damaging him.

We do not work him in a relaxed frame all the time or he will become inattentive, loose and careless.

© Caroline Larrouilh, ProudHorse Connections, 2013

𝗧𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀™️ 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗮 𝟯 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗻-𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗼 𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁 𝗴𝗼 𝘁𝗼:

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/inhandlessonswithmanolo

07/27/2021

07/23/2021

Riding ba****ck develops a great seat.

07/08/2021

Calm down for better training

Not so many riders seem to be enveloped in almost a cocoon of calm serenity when they school their horses, and we see that lack of emotional stillness reflected in the reactions of the horses.

Think about what we bring to the ride in our heads that is counter to calm---

One rider may be a little nervous, or even scared, another driven to excel, another is earnestly attempting to prove a point, this one is determined to improve the canter transitions, that one is thinking about the upcoming competition----It can be a long list---

Many horses are quite tuned into the emotional states of their riders, and many horses respond to tension, tightness, the lack of calm brought by the rider, by becoming tense and resistant right back.

The rider, already not in that quiet bubble of emotional neutrality, feels the horse get tighter, and responds in kind, and the daily downward spiral has begun yet again.

It is easy to ask---“How do I feel calm when I am not calm?”

Well, maybe start by trying to figure out the main sources of your anxiety. Are you trying too hard? Is your horse the right horse for where you are in your riding? Are you so focused on some hoped for result that you can’t feel or appreciate tiny improvements? Do you care too much about what others think? Are you a fiercely driven competitor?
There are many possibilities----

Start there? If serenity in training seems like a worthy goal, try to avoid the situations that trigger tension. Easier to say, I know, than to do, but so well worth the endless quest to bring our emotions into quiet states to help our horses.

07/07/2021

Well said

07/05/2021

Estudios recientes realizados por el “Institute of Heart-Math” proporcionan una pista para explicar la" curación "bidireccional que ocurre cuando estamos cerca de los caballos. Según los investigadores, el corazón tiene un campo electromagnético más grande que el cerebro: un magnetómetro puede medir el campo de energía del corazón que irradia desde 2.4 metros hasta 3 metros alrededor del cuerpo humano. Si bien esto es ciertamente significativo, quizás sea más impresionante que el campo electromagnético proyectado por el corazón de un caballo sea cinco veces más grande que el de un ser humano (imagina una esfera en forma de campo electromagnético alrededor del caballo) y este pueda influir directamente en nuestro propio ritmo cardíaco.

También es probable que los caballos tengan lo que la ciencia ha identificado como un ritmo cardíaco "coherente" (patrón de frecuencia cardíaca) que explica por qué podemos "sentirnos mejor" cuando estamos cerca de ellos. Los estudios han encontrado que un patrón cardíaco coherente o HRV (siglas en inglés) es una medida sólida de bienestar y consistente con estados emocionales de calma y alegría, es decir, exhibimos tales patrones cuando sentimos emociones positivas.

Un patrón cardíaco coherente es indicativo de un sistema que puede recuperarse y adaptarse a situaciones estresantes de manera muy eficiente. Muchas veces, solo necesitamos estar en presencia de caballos para sentir una sensación de bienestar y paz. De hecho, la investigación muestra que las personas experimentan muchos beneficios fisiológicos al interactuar con los caballos, incluida la disminución de la presión arterial y la frecuencia cardíaca, mayores niveles de beta-endorfinas (neurotransmisores que actúan como supresores del dolor), disminución de los niveles de estrés, disminución de los sentimientos de ira, hostilidad, tensión y ansiedad, mejor funcionamiento social; y mayores sentimientos de empoderamiento, confianza, paciencia y autoeficacia ".

Autor pintura: Svatava Hueberová

07/04/2021

Navicular Webinar with Jean Luc Cornille , Dr Elizabeth Uhl and Dr. Michelle Osborn

06/29/2021

Absolutely

Making Horses Last Longer

Some thoughts---
1. Let them grow up outdoors playing in fields..
2. Don’t pressure them at 2 and 3 and 4. Any work should be slow and mild.
3. Keep up on teeth, hooves, shots, worming, vet care.
4. Keep a healthy weight, not skinny, not fat.
5. Make sure they get exercise---(Doesn’t have to be fast and furious)
6. Avoid turning schooling into grinding pressure.
7. If you compete, be aware of risks of the sport, protect your horse.
8. Let them get out in pastures if you can, a minimum of several hours a day.
9. Always have a source of clean water.
10. Back off when things are not just right.
11. Be a horseman or horsewoman, with your first priority the best interests of your horse. If you do this, you are doing about the best you can.

06/28/2021

Riding horses is in the blood. It is a passion we are born with. No one can really understand this passion but other horse people. Even when life events temporarily take us away from riding, the passion is still there. And, when we can, we will get back in with horses again. Im not sure who this little girl is in the photo, but she lives inside all of us. The love of a large animal... the power we feel under the saddle, the wind in our hair, the adventure in our spirit! This passion is a gift from God.

06/20/2021

06/05/2021

The New York Racing Association concludes a series of diaries to help celebrate the 150th Grade 1, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets on Saturday at Belmont Park. “In Their Own Words” features prominent owners, trainers, jockeys and horsemen as they re-live some of the most stirr...

05/26/2021

The Horse Knows - http://carsonjames.com

05/23/2021

05/21/2021

Charlie Mackesy

05/13/2021

05/10/2021

𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗢𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀...𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽 𝗮 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲.
(Image captions at bottom of post)

𝘌𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰 𝘔𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘻'𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘺 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘓𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘩, 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘥𝘏𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴

"We must remember never to restrict the horse’s natural head nod at walk and canter (there is no head nod at the trot). The rider must have equal contact on both reins and follow the horse’s normal head carriage so as not to block the head movement in any way."

"It is vital is that the rider learn to use the reins as a pair of absolutely equal length. The contact should follow the horse and help shape its posture but never constrict the horse’s balance -- his self carriage should be independent from the rider.

Riders need to look first to themselves when their horse is crooked. Often a rider uses too much inside (or outside) rein, causing the horse’s head and poll to tilt inhibiting the horse’s head carriage and ability to flex throughout its entire body. The poll is no longer supple, the horse’s jaw, tongue and ability to swallow are affected severely, the body holds tension, impacting the contact and trans-mission of the aids.

Over time, the horse’s muscles begin to set in patterns that can render one side of the body concave and the other convex. The longer the crookedness is left unattended,the harder it will be to restore symmetry so that both sides of the horse work with regularity and evenness.

It is a challenge to rehabilitate the horse’s body so that it can feel again what it is like to travel straight and free. A horse can be crooked in different ways, not always to the right OR the left but sometimes both. "

Ask yourself how you would like to dance with someone who is pulling on one of your sleeves and twisting your body throughout the entire dance? Would you be more balanced or less balanced? Of course, you would be less balanced and if your partner let go, you would loose your equilibrium. Pulling/ Holding more contact on the outside rein while kicking with the inside leg to create roundness creates a dynamic where the rider has to carry the horse and the horse's body works while being crooked instead of straight which is the opposite of what we want.

By the same token, it is important to keep your hands level when you ride - straight lines or turns - because if the rider gets in the habit of lifting the inside hand, the horse has no choice but to tilt its head - with enough repetition, it is another crookedness the rider will have to consciously try to undo once they become aware of it - and re-modeling the horse's muscular mass takes time and effort. Best to avoid it altogether.

Furthermore, if the rider has uneven hands they too will develop crookedness in their bodies (shoulders and hips). As the rider is able to develop even and following contact - very important in turns where the outside of the horse's body lengthen and the rider's body, shoulders and arms must accommodate that change in posture, two things happen: horse and rider both become straighter and more even and the horse is able to develop more impulsion as a result."

""Too often, I teach riders who will accuse the horse of trying to “get away with something” or of being lazy, of hanging on one rein when the horse is physically not ready for the work asked, nor understanding what is being asked of him. The rider gets frustrated, sometimes pulling harshly to get the horse to release the rein they are supposedly holding on to, and the horse gets more confused, anxious and reactive. Because they are not holding on to the rein. Their body is crooked - shorter on one side then the other and they physically cannot give with that side of their body as they can in the other direction, on the other "rein"" In-hand and dressage expert Manolo Mendez.

A rider who wants a good partnership with his horse should take a step back and observe what is happening.

Ask: Is my horse able to perform this exercise on one side but not the other? Is he crooked or not stepping evenly? Is the bit and bridle fitted properly. Am I asking in a clear, simple correct way? Am I blocking him?

Only when both sides of the horse’s body are EVEN can the horse travel straight and in balance. The rider should keep in mind that when he works to the right, he is also working his horse’s left side. As you work the horse to the left, you are working the right side. Analyze the horse’s feedback and figure out what patterns and exercises would help him, instead of fighting to “make him” do an exercise.

Build up towards straightening and suppling your horse gradually with tactful and even contact.

If you ride to help your horse, your horse will recognize this and as his trust grows so will he desire to please you."

To purchase your streaming copy of the "In-Hand Lessons With Manolo Mendez: An Introduction to Working In-Hand" DVD go to:

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/inhandlessonswithmanolo

CAPTIONS:

LEFT IMAGE:Turning left, in-hand and dressage expert Manolo Mendez has to accommodate the change in Dinamico’s alignment and the lengthening of his right side. He moves his outside hand slightly forward to match the horse’s shoulders on the bended line. The contact on the reins remains even. If he held on to the outside rein or pulled on the inside rein, he would make the horse crooked.

MIDDLE IMAGE: In-hand and dressage expert Manolo Mendez demonstrating even contact on even reins while traveling straight. Note the soft contact with slightly open, sensitive hands. The horse’s mouth has four billion nerve receptors and we must treat it with respect. Manolo’s arms, hands and wrists are relaxed transmitting no tension or stiffness into the horse via the reins and the bit.

RIGHT IMAGE: Turning right. Here again, in-hand and dressage expert Manolo Mendez is adjusting his contact to mirror the horse’s alignment. His outside left hand is positioned slightly forward of his inside hand. Note the soft contact, there is not pulling involved in turning.

If you like this post, share it. This is information that can apply to any discipline, any horse, any breed.

Thank you :-)

05/06/2021

“Before I was six years old, my grandparents and my mother had taught me that if all the green things that grow were taken from the earth, there could be no life. If all the four-legged creatures were taken from the earth, there could be no life. If all the winged creatures were taken from the earth, there could be no life. If all our relatives who crawl and swim and live within the earth were taken away, there could be no life. But if all the human beings were taken away, life on earth would flourish. That is how insignificant we are.”

Russell Means, Oglala Lakota Nation (November 10, 1939 – October 22, 2012).

05/06/2021

When a top athlete in some other sport looks at horseback riding---

(Until they actually get on---)

Quote: "How hard can it be?? The horse does all the work."

Over many decades I have watched countless good skiers, soccer players, football players, you name it athletes, get on and flail and flounder.

More often than not, they don't last long enough to become more at ease, never mind highly competent. Perhaps because of frustration?

In some ways, being too good in another sport may be a handicap, in the sense that those successful people may have a heightened sense of their own proficiency, and get actually angry when they fail to find swift proficiency---???

This can also hold true for adult beginners who have been heads of corporations, lawyers, doctors, well respected professionals---Horses can be mighty humbling---hahahahah

05/01/2021

Older but wiser are the older horses. Don't be afraid of the number.

BY JAMIE SKUBAL As I scroll through Facebook groups I see more and more ISO ads for horses stating they want polished show horses with lots of positive traits—also under 15 years old. More times than not ads read something like this: “Casually iso quiet and safe hunter. Needs to be quiet with no...

04/23/2021

Lunging is essential for success.

Lunging is one of the most incorrectly used exercises in the horse world. You can go to any horse show or training facility to see what I mean. Often you'll see someone in the middle of an arena lunging a horse on a 60- or 70-foot lead rope. The horse is galloping around, he's got his head turned, looking out of the circle and he's dragging the person halfway across the arena. Most people use lunging as a way to tire a horse out. After making him run around in a 60-foot circle for 45 minutes straight, they hope he'll be tired enough to start paying attention to them instead of the other horses or the activity going on around him. That's the complete opposite of what lunging should be.

I believe in lunging, but I call it Lunging for Respect ... not "lunging to get the buck out of the horse" or "lunging to tire him out" - Lunging for Respect. You earn a horse's respect by moving his feet forwards, backwards, left and right and always rewarding the slightest try. The purpose of lunging should be to continuously ask your horse to change directions and focus on you. The more you can get his feet to move and change directions, the more respectful the horse will get and the more he'll use the thinking side of his brain, which will make him safer and more trainable. - Clinton

Step-by-step instructions on how to teach your horse Lunging for Respect can be found on the Fundamentals Series -- https://downunderhorsemanship.com/discover/the-method/

04/22/2021