Johnson Equine

12/13/2024

🎉National Day of the Horse🎉

12/12/2024

Caring is sharing 😆

12/09/2024

𝗪𝗘𝗟𝗙𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗪𝗘𝗗𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗗𝗔𝗬: 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗱-𝗡𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘁 𝗕𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗘𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗗𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗛𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲𝘀

A recent study by K. Kienapfel et all (2024) investigated the relationship between head-neck positions (HNPs), conflict behaviour (CB), and judging scores in elite dressage horses. The study examined how these factors align with the animal welfare principles and competition rules established by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI).

𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀:
• Conflict behaviour increases with lower nasal plane angles in elite dressage horses.
• Relationship found between head-neck positions and conflict behaviour.
• Surprising rule contradiction: tests with small poll angles received high scores.
• Urgent need to address animal welfare and enhance solutions in dressage sport.

𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗱𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆:
The study observed 49 horses participating in the Grand Prix Special (CDIO5*) at CHIO Aachen in 2018 and 2019. Researchers analysed video footage of warm-up and competition phases, measuring HNPs (angle at the vertical, poll angle, and shoulder angle) and recording instances of conflict behaviour. These were evaluated against judges' scores.

The results showed that:

▪️ The nasal plane was behind the vertical more frequently during warm-up than in competition (-11° vs. -5°).
▪️ Poll angles were larger in competition (28°) than in warm-up (24°).
▪️ No significant differences were found in shoulder angles between warm-up and competition phases.

Conflict behaviours, including unusual oral movements, occurred more often during warm-up than in competition. Tail swishing was not affected by the nasal plane’s angle.

𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘀' 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀
The study authors concluded that the findings raise concerns about the welfare of elite dressage horses and the application of FEI rules. According to the authors, horses showing restrictive HNPs—such as nasal planes behind the vertical—exhibited more conflict behaviours, yet these positions were not penalised during scoring and, in some cases, correlated with higher scores.

The authors emphasised the importance of addressing these discrepancies to ensure that dressage practices align more closely with established rules and prioritise horse welfare.

12/08/2024

Agree or Disagree ☺️

12/04/2024

Learning never ends with horses. The more you understand the horse’s internal workings, the better horse person you become. A great observational post on skeletal indicators📓

11/17/2024

The ability to pull a rectangle from my pocket and look up ANYTHING I don’t know, amazing.

The Google in your pocket is the world's biggest library, the world's largest source of instruction videos, and the best college in the world. Ignorance is now a willful act. Dare to be right.

11/17/2024

Too true 😅😂

11/17/2024

Your body is always trying to protect you, you can teach it balance 💅

A story about my right leg - and riding from center

Something I have been learning more and more about with great interest, is just how much the nervous system protects our balance. It doesn’t care about how you look, or if you feel good in your body - it only cares that you don’t fall off and 💀

I have had many concussions, and as every horse person, my share of injuries. My nervous system worked very hard to stabilize me by giving me these solutions of tension- and one of them was a scrunchy right leg. This was compensation for a right hip that didn’t move well, and couldn’t get into the horse’s motion well.

Naturally, right bend and right lead canters were difficult for me. These imbalances make us overuse our exterior aids- when our center is not congruent with our aids, our arms and legs do funky things to get the job done.

Thankfully, I’ve been receiving some good help to create better stability, and enjoying a longer right leg. Thanks to some vestibular and visual exercises to help concussion recovery with Leah Astrup, and some
Excellent riding instruction, my body is feeling better, and consequently my horses are too.

If you’re fighting the same issues over and over again, no amount of drilling your position will counter a nervous system desperate to stabilize you. Find center, and the legs and arms stabilize as an extension of that.

The top two photos show my right leg acting as a hook, to compensate for a hip that doesn’t move. You can see my rib cage thrown to the left as a result - making right bend quite tough.

The bottom two photos show a much more stable position with a longer thigh, and consequently a more centered rib cage and quieter hands.

This stuff really matters. You’ll feel better and your horse will too.

11/11/2024

Keep growing 🌱

Follow Book library Hub

11/07/2024

😂

Sooo accurate....😂😂😂

11/04/2024

Yes! This is why I say “don’t get sucked in by the cuteness of the ears” 📚

11/03/2024

If your rider does walk only for three months, barely trots, and never canters, it’s fine.
If someone wants to groom, do a little ground work, and an occasional pony ride, that’s great.

Let people enjoy horses at their level.

So many instructors only want the students that are going to buy a fancy horse, compete at rated shows, and be all in… that’s just not reality. It’s also NOT a more profitable businesses model!

If someone wants to pay you to spoil your older lesson horse, or if someone wants to learn the technical stuff at a walk, but their body just isn’t going to ride a real dressage test ever, then help them accomplish THEIR goals!!!!
*Too many instructors push their own goals onto students.*

(That said, most horses DO need to move out, and preferably should be moved out with a rider as a critical part of keeping them physically and mentally at their best- but another rider can do that. )

10/27/2024

Rib fracture in horses 😢