Maddox Performance Horses

10/20/2024

10/20/2024

10/20/2024

As the season in North America changes, many riders start thinking they might want to try something new out in the brisk fall air. Should I try fox hunting or eventing? Many of these discipline explorers have the funds to "do it right". They buy a hunt or eventing horse, a new saddle and other tack, and they start to do what they see others do in a different discipline like wearing the special attire and learning the discipline's practices.

Not knowing the potential risks, one practice they might follow is using caulks or studs on their horse's shoes because "that's what everyone else does." I had a trailer-in student new to eventing who wanted to take lessons on my cross country course. They unloaded their horse, started to groom and when picking their horse's feet they screwed some serious caulks into all the horseshoes. I said, "Hold on there, why the caulks?"

Their answer was, "because everyone does". This rider was just getting started in eventing and because my xc course was old school with real changes in footing, not a "golf course", I objected to the caulks and got pushback.

Caulks grab the ground more intensely than regular shoes. Depending on the circumstances, this can be good or bad. Over grass, caulks are fine. On slopes with roots like in the lower picture, they can get you killed. On hard surfaces, like roads when hunting, caulks turn horseshoes into skateboards, and you slide across the pavement. When a horse is new to a sport some are prone to shy or spin. With hind caulks deep in the ground, a spin can result in a spiral hind leg fracture.

Caulks, in my view, are for riders who can feel every footfall, and in each footfall they can feel the stress on each leg. With this level of feel, a rider can avoid damage to their horse when using caulks. If a rider cannot feel this, I recommend Borium. The left image is of Borium applied to common shoes.

Borium is tungsten carbide crystals that are brazed onto steel horseshoes using common brass brazing rods. These crystals are hard and grabby, but they don't get stuck on roots and rocks, and they grip even on pavement. Borium is a way to get some extra grip without risking the damage to your horse that might result from caulks.

You could say there are short caulks that are safer, and you wouldn't be wrong. Still, if you are making a change to a different discipline where caulks are new to you, I'd start with Borium. Your farrier can begin with small patches of Borium, and in time increase the coverage or the height in a way that is sculpted to prevent a shoe from catching on something. Be safe.

Link to images of my xc course -
Triple Creek Farm Open Cross Country Schooling (triplecreekfarmpa.com)

10/20/2024

📣 Reminder!!

Entires for the Nov 1-3, rodeo will close tomorrow, Sunday, Oct 20 @ 8:00pm!

Get your entires in before 8:00pm to avoid the $200 late fee!

If you have questions regarding your entries contact Jonique Jauregui Turner @ 916.662.1080.

10/20/2024

“If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you.” ~Fred Devito~ JF Djangos Gotta Gun Running F Quarter Horses

10/20/2024

You can't force balance, but you can balance force. - Force has many synonyms. Force can mean coercion or duress and it can mean strength or power. But either way, you can't force balance, but you can balance force. In training most horses, there is some force involved. The question is what kind of force from the horse and from you the trainer?

I read about how today's horse trainers are opposed to using force and I am not sure that is possible. By this I mean that something as simple as a horse rearing on a lunge line requires a trainer to use their strength to maintain control. I think this is the use of force. But this kind of force is strength or power. The problems come when strength turns into coercion, which is not good if only because it is not effective. If you fight with a horse, you teach the horse to fight.

The far right image is a picture of duress. This obvious force is intended to create a certain balance in the horse, but can it? Can a horse be forced into a specific balance? I don't think so. The first image on the left shows a horse in a powerful movement. The rider has relaxed reins, which indicates she has brought her horse into the powerful moment we see by means of balancing the horse's power slightly back toward the hind. This rider is clearly balancing force.

All of this should be widely known. Every horse trainer should be constantly asking themself, "Am I forcing balance, or am I balancing force." It sounds simple, but it is not. Strength, power, energy, pressure, coercion, duress, oppression, intimidation all mean force. Force is there in the training process in some form because horses are so physical. It is up to us the trainers to determine what form of force is in our training process.

*the top left B&W photo is French Cavalry Officer Étienne Beudant doing a Piaffe on a loose rein. Balanced power without coercion.

10/20/2024

10/20/2024

Do what sets your soul on fire!

09/27/2024

Change the leaderboard... Kay Cochran and Little Red Rosie clocked a 16.734! 💜

Photo: Lexi Smith Media

09/27/2024