Criadero Trujillo Zurita

09/01/2024

08/01/2024

To create throughness with correct bend when your horse is crooked...

Imagine your crooked horse as a kinked hose. You need to straighten him to get the kinks out and get the water (his energy) flowing. Then you can bend him correctly.—Annie Morris

🎨: Sandy Rabinowitz

24/11/2023

- If your torso is collapsing to the right, your hips slipped to the left
- If your right leg keeps creeping up, or you lose just the right stirrup, your hips have slipped left
- If you find it easier to ride to the left, than to the right, your hips likely slip to the left.
- if you find yourself clinging to the right rein, while practically forgetting that you have a left one, good chances are that your hips slept left
- If your left hand is higher than your right hand, it’s possible that your hip slipped to the left
- If cantering counter clockwise, feels okay, but cantering clockwise feels awful, I’m gonna say your hips slipped left.
- if you can leg yield your horse to the right (off your left leg) pretty well,  but cannot lead guild to the left to save your life, your hips are probably chronically slipping to the left.

So many times, when a rider or is collapsing to the right, their coach tells them to fix it by stepping into the left stirrup. 🤦‍♀️ Like, I’ve heard of very famous coaches, giving this instruction.
And the thing is, it does look a little better, because at least when they step into the left stirrup, it gets them to straighten up their entire body -the problem is they are still off-center.
 I think the coach then typically gives students other exercises that bring them back over to the right (like twisting the shoulders to point a little to the left would help), but what I can tell you is these students then talk to me about their ride and they have absolutely no idea how to reproduce whatever straightness they may have accomplished during that clinic. 

The number one, needs solved now, issue in the rider in this sketch is that the hips fell left. I don’t care that the rib cage is collapsing to the right, or that the right leg is creeping way up. All of that will be fixed once the Rider brings their pelvis back to center.

This person is also riding with the left hip forward and the right hip back, but that will also likely resolve once you get this person to scooch over to the right.

 I would tell this student to put their left butt cheek in the middle of the saddle, high centering it, and drop the right butt cheek down into the hole that creates.

Another great exercise (on a trotting horse) is to drop the left stirrup, go clockwise, and posting trot utilizing just the right stirrup. This will feel horrible at first- to the point that I often have to let students try the exercise the opposite direction with the opposite stirrup so they realize how easy it is on their “strong” side. 

If you really struggle to keep from slipping left, it can also help to turn your chest to point a little bit to the left (while traveling right). This can be very effective at putting your weight into your right leg. You can stand up, assume a position similar to riding, and then twist your torso, one way, and then the other. Not all, but definitely most people find that when they twist to the left, it shifts weight into the right foot and vice versa.

Btw- I do virtual video review lessons! Very little tech knowledge needed. $65/lesson.


14/11/2023

¡Prepárate para vivir una experiencia ecuestre inolvidable! 🐎

El Maestro español Oscar Bastos llega al Club Los Chillos del 17 al 19 de noviembre, de 08:00 a 17:00.

Si eres un amante de la equitación y los caballos, este es tu momento. 🤠 Oscar Bastos es un auténtico experto en la doma vaquera, y está aquí para compartir sus secretos contigo. ¡Aprende de la mejor mano y experimenta el arte de la equitación de la manera más cercana!

Pero eso no es todo: ¡Tenemos cupos limitados para oyentes! También podrás disfrutar de cada momento y aprender de la maestría de Bastos mientras disfrutas de una vista espectacular.

No dejes pasar esta oportunidad única de crecer como jinete y disfrutar de tres días de pura pasión por los caballos. 🌟

Inscríbete ya y asegura tu lugar. ¡No querrás perderte esta experiencia! Contáctanos para más información. 📞🏇

16/10/2023

¡Atención amantes de los caballos!

🐴🌟 Este es un anuncio que NO querrás perderte. 🤩 El Criadero Trujillo - Zurita ha sido INVITADO a participar en el emocionante evento "Cultivando Tradiciones" en la hermosa parroquia de Yaruquí.

📅 Fecha: Sábado, 21 de Octubre
📍 Lugar: Calles Abdon Calderón y González Suárez, Ex pesca Deportiva “La Loma”

Prepárate para un espectáculo de alta escuela que te dejará sin aliento. Nuestro criadero presentará el asombroso Show de alta escuela con Caballos Pura Sangre Lusitano. 🐎💫 Pero eso no es todo, porque nuestros amigos del Criadero Ivan Vaquero e Hijos también estarán allí para deleitarte.

¡La magia ecuestre está en el aire y queremos que seas parte de esta experiencia única! 🎉✨ Ven y descubre la elegancia y la destreza de nuestros magníficos caballos en "Cultivando Tradiciones". 🌿🐎

No dejes de usar estos hashtags:


¡Marca la fecha en tu calendario y únete a nosotros para un día de pura pasión por los caballos! 🤠🐎 ¡Te esperamos! 👏🎉

15/09/2023

An excerpt from "Relaxation Exercises for Horses" by Guillaume Henry

15/09/2023

Why we should ride young horses forward and down...

It is a commonly accepted training principle that we should encourage young horses to have a low head carriage. But why is this?

The muscles of the horses back are still immature at 3,4 and even at 5 years old. This is a combination of being developmentally (age related), and physically immature, in the sense that they lack the muscle condition which comes from years of training-induced exercise. Of course the maturity of their muscles will come naturally with time, and as we work them through groundwork and under saddle. But how can we get to this point, while protecting these fundamentally weak muscles and avoiding musculoskeletal injuries further down the line?

By utilising the passive ligament mechanism, we can allow the horse to support the back and carry the weight of the rider with very little muscular effort. This allows the epaxial muscles of the back to be free to perform their primary functions in movement, rather than acting as weight lifters.

The passive ligament system of the back is primarily composed of, well ligaments, the nuchal and supraspinous ligament to be exact.

The nuchal ligament is a strong, collagenous structure, originating at the extensor process of the occiput (the back of the skull), forming attachments to the cervical vertebrae, before inserting on the spinous process of the fourth thoracic vertebrae. Here the nuchal ligament broadens in the region of the withers, before continuing as the supraspinous ligament running along the top of the spinous processes of the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae and terminating in the sacral region of the spine.

This creates an inverse relationship between the position of the head and neck and the balance between flexion and extension of the spine.

Generally speaking, lowering the head induces flexion in the thoracic region (the back is lifted) and conversely, raising the head creates extension in the thoracic region (the back hollows/drops). This is because the elongation of the strong and elastic nuchal ligament created when the head is lowered, creates a forward traction on the high spinous processes of the withers, and travels through the supraspinous ligament to lift the thoracic region of the spine. Comparatively, shortening of the ligament raises the head.

This system has provided an evolutionary advantage to the horse, as while they are grazing, the weight of the thorax and abdomen is supported passively by the ligament with very little muscular effort over long periods of time (up to the 16-19 hours per day they can spend grazing in the wild). Equally, because of the stored elastic potential energy in the liagement when it is stretched for the head to be at ground level, the horse can quickly raise its head to gallop away at the first sign of a predator.

Furthermore, lowering of the head and neck, stretching downwards and forwards, straightens out the natural S curve of the horse's spine. This lifts the bottom of the S curve, the cervico-thoracic junction and the ribcage, which creates lightness in the forequarters when the horse is moving. Further back, flexion in the thoracic region, increases the spacing between the dorsal spinous processes as the most dorsal aspect of the spine is stretched out. This posture is particularly therapeutic for horses with kissing spines.

In fact, the degree of flexion of the back is most marked between the 5th and 9th thoracic vertebrae, but is also significant between the 9th and 14th. Consequently, the arching and lifting of the back takes place directly under the saddle and therefore works to support the rider.

This is particularly useful in young horses; it allows the young horse, whose muscles are not mature enough to carry the rider, the chance to support its back and lift the weight of the rider by moving the head-neck axis rather than using active muscle contraction.

This means that the horse can use its muscles solely for movement; creating a loose, swinging back, free of tension, and suppleness in the gait.

Here we have the opportunity for us to slowly develop and condition the epaxial musculature of the young horse. Which will create a foundation of strength and suppleness of the back and the core to support more advanced movements later in their career.

Comparatively, if this system is not used, and the young horse is pulled into a shortened outline, it is the Longissimus Dorsi muscle which takes up the role of supporting the weight of the rider. But theLongissimus Dorsi is not designed for weight carrying, it is primarily a movement muscle.

Muscles act in the direction through which their fibres flow; the Longissimus Dorsi works in the horizontal plane, originating in the sacral and lumbar region of the spine and inserting through the lumbar, thoracic and ending in the cervical region. The Longissimus Dorsi primarily acts to extend and stabilise the entire spine, while also acting unilaterally to induce lateral flexion of the back. You can see the Longissimus Dorsi in action when watching a horse moving from above; the large muscle contracts alternately on each side of the back in the rhythm of the gait to stabilise the movement.

Once the Longissimus Dorsi is required to lift the weight of the rider, the muscle becomes blocked and stiff. Muscles are designed to work through a process of contraction and relaxation; held too long in contraction (to carry the weight of a rider, or support a shortened outline) and the Longissimus Dorsi will fatigue. This will lead to muscle spasm and pain within the muscle. Not only will the horse lose the strength to carry the rider, but they will also lose the natural elasticity of the back which will reduce the fluidity of their gaits.

Over time with greater overuse and fatigue, the Longissimus Dorsi muscle will atrophy, requiring the recruitment of other muscles, such as the Iliocostalis, to take up the role of stabilising the back and supporting the weight of the rider. Other muscles which are equally not designed for weight lifting. And so the cycle continues and the performance of the horse suffers.

With this knowledge in mind, we can understand why it is so essential to make use of the passive ligament system, by striving for that forward and down head carriage. Furthermore, that we also allow our young horses regular breaks, working on a loose rein to allow our horse to come out of the outline, stretch out, and reduce the risk of fatigue.

I always marvel at the intricately designed systems of energy conservation to create efficiency in the horse's way of going. It is our role as a rider to have an awareness of and make use of these systems; to allow our horses to go in the most efficient and beneficial way for them possible, upholding their standard of welfare.

Image credit: Tug of War, Gerd Heuschmann

07/09/2023

P.S.L

𝐂𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨 𝐋𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐨 ( 𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐠𝐚𝐥 🇵🇹)
𝐋𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨́𝐧 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐣𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐫 𝐥𝐚 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞́𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐝𝐞 𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚 𝐫𝐚𝐳𝐚 𝐩𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞 𝐝𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬, 𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐝𝐨 𝐚 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐞 𝐣𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐬; 𝐩𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐝𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐬; 𝐬𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐲 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐨 𝐦𝐚́𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐨𝐬, 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐬, 𝐟𝐮𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐬, 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬 𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐢́𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐞𝐥 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐨́𝐧.

𝐄𝐥 𝐋𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐨 𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐮𝐠𝐚𝐫 𝐚 𝐝𝐮𝐝𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐚 𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐯𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐨́𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐥 𝐀𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨; 𝐬𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐮 𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐨 𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐣𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞 𝐞𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨 ❞𝐄𝐐𝐔𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐑❞, 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐝𝐨 𝐩𝐨𝐫 𝐉𝐨𝐚𝐨 𝐓𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐨 𝐝𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐠𝐚𝐥 🇵🇹; 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐝𝐨 𝐝𝐞 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐨́𝐧 𝐲 𝐚𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐨𝐬 𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐥 𝐀𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐥.

𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐫 ✍️
𝐰𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐫_𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬_ ( 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦)
Darwin Briones ( 𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤)

13/08/2023

03/08/2023

21/06/2023

Last weekend we’ve taken our 7 y.o stallion Maestro MVL (Equador MVL x Quixote MVL) ridden by João and trained by Coralie for the CDI Young Horses in Segovia - Spain.

Another good experience for this talent boy on his way to the GP. Despite showing himself with a bit of “stallion behaviour” in the middle of his breeding duties, João and Maestro MVL produced 2 solid performances for very nice scores of 71,7% and 73,3% in the 7 y.o level, with highlight for his technical score of 77,8% in the second day. Well done! .torrao

12/06/2023

12/11/2022

PSL
Pura Sangre Lusitano 🧬🧬🧬