Cedar Ridge Equestrian

22/02/2024

22/02/2024

🇬🇧 English below

Tym postem chciałabym zaprosić na webinar 29.01.2024. Poruszę w nim podobne tematy w bardziej szczegółowy sposób 🐴🤓
Link: https://www.instytutjazdykonnej.pl/Jak-kon-czuje-sygnaly

Działając swoim ciałem na ciało konia jesteśmy w kontakcie nie tylko z jego skórą, ale również z tkankami pod nią. Z siecią powięzi, mięśniami a w niektórych miejscach nawet kośćmi.

🦵🏽 Im bardziej z tyłu działa łydka jeźdźca tym bardziej jej działanie odbywa się w obszarze mięśni skośnych zewnętrznych brzucha, których funkcją jest rotacja w obrębie tułowia konia, uczestniczą też w ruchu kończyn bardziej pod kłodę oraz wspierają ciężki tułów konia od spodu, pomagają grzbietowi konia nie opadać. A więc uczestniczą w podnoszeniu grzbietu.

Konie nie napinają tylko jednego mięśnia brzucha bez udziału innych. Jeśli angażują jeden skośny mięsień to również inne.

Łydka sięgająca tych mięśni będzie wspierała rotację miednicy. Przesuwanie zadu w bok, zaangażowanie mięśni wspierających i podnoszących kręgosłup.

Jednak cofnięta łydka leży też blisko wrażliwych części żeber, gdzie wewnątrz znajduje się przepona oddechowa. Gwałtowne działanie może powodować napięcie w obrębie przepony, zaburzyć oddech oraz swobodę ruchu całego ciała.

⭐️ To w jaki sposób dokładnie ustawi się ciało konia zależy od tego, w którą stronę rotuje się jego klatka piersiowa dzięki działaniu ud jeźdźca i miednicy.

🇬🇧
With this post, I invite Polish speakers to the webinar. But I invite you all to read the text below:

Acting with our body on the horse's body, we are in contact not only with the horse's skin, but also with the tissues beneath it. With the network of fascia, muscles and in some places even bones.

🦵🏽When riders lower leg acts more posteriorly, its action takes place in the area of the external oblique abdominal muscles, which function is to rotate within the horse's body. They also participate in the movement of the limbs more under the body and support the horse's heavy mass from underneath, helping the horse's back not to sink. Therefore they participate in lifting the back.

Horses do not tighten only one abdominal muscle without the participation of others. If they engage one oblique muscle, then so do the others.

The lower leg reaching these muscles will support pelvic rotation, moving the hind legs to the side, engaging the muscles that support and elevate the spine.

However, the lower leg shifted back, also lies close to the sensitive parts of the ribs where the respiratory diaphragm is located inside. Violent action can cause tension within the diaphragm and interfere with breathing and freedom of movement of the entire body.

⭐️ Exactly how the horse's body is positioned depends on which way its chest rotates due to the action of the rider's thighs and pelvis.

21/02/2024

Our pelvis plays a crucial role in dressage, and the muscles stabilizing it are important to understand. An unstable pelvis can create an unstable ribcage and shoulder girdle.

This can affect the rider and the horse, from leaning on one rein to having problems bending one way to just bouncing and an inability to control their body.

Often, it is hard to determine whether it’s the rider or the horse with the issue.

So it makes sense that you, as a rider, take control of what you can control and rule yourself out of the equation. So you can show up and be the best rider for your horse.

You want to understand how the body works and what muscle horseback riding uses to create that still and stable position in the saddle.

The more you can work on your strengths and weaknesses as a rider alongside your horse, the better a picture will be, and the easier your training will be. And the kinder a rider you will be for your horse.

You are a team effort, after all.

To help you with this I have a detailed article explaining the 8 key muscles involved in helping your riding position.

Heres the link to the article, hope its useful https://dressageridertraining.com/article/what-muscles-does-horseback-riding-use/

Or comment ‘muscles’ below and I’ll send you the link directly to the article to your inbox. That way you have it to read later👇

27/01/2024

BY MAX AMAYA Although my riders’ accomplishments in the show ring are important, I never underestimate the value of solid flatwork as the foundation that makes all the pieces come together in competition. At home, we don’t spend much time jumping big courses; we save that for the show ring. Inst...

27/01/2024

Here is this week's Friday Freebie!

🐴 The Pulley Rein

Every rider should learn how to do the pulley rein. It's the ultimate in emergency brake, as if done correctly, it will stop any horse quickly. And it is a great tool to use as a back up aid for riders whose horses get strong.

Here's how to do it 👇👇👇

https://www.myvirtualeventingcoach.com/articles/the_pulley_rein

17/01/2024

Christopher Bartle is one of the best teachers. Always good information.

Take a lesson with Christopher Bartle – amazing teacher…”Christopher has a very simple system to communicate with the horse. First, you make a POSITION STATEMENT, putting the body into position to tell the horse what it’s going to do. That’s the preparation. Next we use BODY LANGUAGE to tell the horse when it’s going to do it. This is then supported by the SEAT for length of stride and the LEG, which is for energy.
FINALLY THE HAND.”
https://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2023/12/christopher-bartle-this-is-a-truly-amazing-article/

17/01/2024

Good warm up routine to consider

Monday Mindset:
Something to ponder and practise.
This was originally inspired by Dr Rachel Murray, who endorsed the routine.
Try it and feedback, please!
Have a lovely week, warming up without rain!

09/01/2024

07/01/2024

Master your changes! FREE Webinar: Flying Changes -What are the aids for a flying change -How do you teach the flying changes -Exercises to improve your flying changes -Troubleshooting And More! Watch the Webinar

05/01/2024

I believe in deep stretching!

04/01/2024

Helping horses stay warm in the winter -- save this infographic + check out some helpful tips from Kentucky Performance Products at 👇https://loom.ly/7e57q0M

02/01/2024

Ingrid Klimke on what is important:
“It is so important that you do a proper warmup and make sure everything is loose and supple, then give a walk break – and then you can start sitting, and say okay, you have stretched down as far as you can and need. Then I can be very strict and say, okay the poll is the highest point, the nose must be in front of the vertical because what I want is the hind leg engaged underneath. If the horse is too far down, then where will the hind legs be? We must always think that the hindlegs are sitting, so the horse can be in balance and in its natural self-carriage – natural self-carriage means the more advanced he is, the more schooled he is, the more he can sit on his hocks, the shorter he will look.”
https://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2021/06/brilliant-basics-with-ingrid-klimke-two-stallions/

29/12/2023

What is the longest a horse can safely go without food?

More and more I see horses and ponies stood for long periods of time with no hay or haylage. Usually under the guise of a “weight control diet”. So how long can a horse be without food before damage is done? And what damage is done?

For those with a short attention span, I’ll give you the answer to begin with - 4 hours, maximum.

Why?

Horses are grazers. They are designed to eat constantly. They have no way of storing their acids and digestive enzymes, they’ve never needed to. They have no gall bladder to store bile and their stomachs release acid constantly, whether or not there is food in the stomach and intestines.

A horses stomach only holds approximately 8-15 litres. Depending on the substance eaten, it takes on average 4-6 hours for the stomach to completely empty. After this, the acids and enzymes start to digest the inside of the horses stomach and then the intestines. This causes both gastric and intestinal ulceration. It has been estimated that 25-50% of foals and 60-90% of adult horses suffer from ulceration. But I won’t go into detail about this, there is a lot of information around about ulcers.

So is that it? Are ulcers the only concern?

No, having an empty stomach is a stress situation for a horse. The longer they are starved, the more they release stress hormones, cortisol predominantly. Cortisol blocks insulin and causes a constantly high blood glucose level. This stimulates the body to release even more insulin, and in turn this causes fat tissue to be deposited and leptin resistance. Over time this causes insulin resistance (Equine Metabolic Syndrome). All of these mechanisms are well known risk factors for laminitis and are caused by short term starvation (starting roughly 3-4 hours after the stomach empties). Starving a laminitic is literally the worst thing you can do. Over longer periods, this also starts to affect muscle and can cause weakness, and a lack of stamina so performance horses also need a constant supply of hay/haylage to function optimally.

Let’s not forget horses are living, breathing and feeling animals. We talk about this stress reaction like it’s just internal but the horse is well aware of this stress. Door kicking, box walking, barging and many other stable vices and poor behaviour can be explained by a very stressed horse due to food deprivation (we all have that Hangry friend to explain this reaction). Next time you shout or hit a horse that dives for their net, remember their body is genuinely telling them they are going to starve to death. They know no different.

But surely they spend the night asleep so they wouldn’t eat anyway?

Not true. Horses only need 20mins REM sleep every 24 hours (jealous? I am!). They may spend a further hour or so dozing but up to 22-23 hours a day are spent eating. So if you leave your horse a net at 5pm and it’s gone by 8pm, then by 12am their stomach is empty. By 4am they are entering starvation mode. By their next feed at 8am, they are extremely stressed, physically and mentally.

Now I know the cob owners are reading this mortified. I can almost hear you shouting at your screen “if I feed my horse ad lib hay he won’t fit out the stable door in a week!!”

I will say that a horse with a constant supply of hay/haylage will eat far less then the same horse that is intermittently starved. They don’t eat in a frenzy, reducing the chance of colic from both ulcers and over eating. Cobs included.

However I’m not suggesting you sit your cob in front of a bale of haylage and say have at it! There is a difference between ad lib and a constant supply. There is much we can do to reduce calorie intake and control weight whilst feeding a constant supply.

The easiest is small holes nets. There are many. Trickle nets, greedy feeders, nibbleze, trawler nets etc. My personal favourite is the Shires Soft Mesh 1”. They don’t cost the Earth, they are easy to fill and they don’t have knots so are much gentler to the teeth. Now often I suggest these types of nets to owners and the owner tells me “Oh no, *** won’t eat out of those” 🙄 this is nonsense. If he was left it, he would. Remember, you can give a normal net and one of these for them to nibble at after. Better than leaving them with nothing at all.

A few other tricks, hang the net from the ceiling/rafters, it’s harder to eat out of a net that swings. Soak the hay, a minimum of 4 hours to be effective. Mix with straw but be sure to introduce the straw slowly and make sure it’s top quality and a palatable type eg Barley or Oat, otherwise they won’t eat it.

Don’t forget exercise. The best way to get weight off a horse is exercise. Enough exercise and they can eat what they want!

And lay off the bucket feed and treats! Horses on a diet require a vit/min supplement in the form of a balancer but that’s it. The odd slice of carrot or swede won’t do any harm but no licks, treats, treacle, molasses, cereal based rubbish. Even if it says low sugar or the marvellously misleading “No added sugar”! Your horse would rather have a constant supply of hay, I promise.

Written by Vikki Fowler BVetMed BAEDT MRCVS

A few edits for the critics-

Firstly, feeding a constant supply does not mean ad lib feeding. It means use some ingenuity and spread the recommended amount of daily forage so the horse is never stood with out food for more than 4 hours. I am not promoting obesity, quite the opposite, feeding like this reduces obesity and IR. This can be done whilst feeding your horse twice a day as most horse owners do. Just think outside the box for your own situation.

Secondly I am in the UK and this post is UK specific, use some common sense when reading. Yes in warmer climates, soaking hay for 4 hours is dangerous and studies show 1 hour is plenty in hot weather but in the UK’s arctic climate, a minimum of 4 hours is required. Equally the UK feed exclusively grass hay. I can not comment on other types.

Thirdly, yes every horse/pony and situation is different, but this is a law of nature and all horses have this anatomy and metabolism. How you achieve this constant supply is individual, the need for it is not.

Fourthly, the use of hay nets in the UK is very very high. I’d estimate 95% of horses I see are fed this way and very very few have incisor wear or neck/back issues as a result. Yes, feeding from the ground is ideal, but a constant supply, I feel trumps this. Again with ingenuity both can be safely achieved.

Finally, straw can be fed to horses safely, introduced very slowly, with fresh water always available, plus a palatable and digestible type of straw which will depend on your area. Again many horses in the UK are bedded on straw and most of them eat it. This is not a new concept to us.

Final finally 🤦‍♀️ and I feel I must add this due to the sheer number of people contacting me to ask, feed your horses during transport!!! I am astonished this is not normal in other countries! Again in the UK, we give our horses hay nets to transport. We don’t go 10 mins up the road without a haynet and a spare in case they finish! Considering we are a tiny island and we rarely transport even 4 hours, we never transport without hay available. I have never seen an episode of choke due to travelling with hay available. If you are concerned, use a slow feeder net so they can’t take too much in at once.

If you get to the end of this post and your first thought is “I can’t do this with my horse/pony, they’d be morbidly obese”, you haven’t read the advice in this post thoroughly.

21/12/2023

Corners are so important. Good explanation about paths through a corner.

Tip of the Day:
I've posted this one before but it was apparently 5 years ago so a little reminder:
Really learn to differentiate between a well ridden corner and your 20m circle path. A good corner should be ridden with 3 steps of the inside hindleg. The 20m circle path should go from each of the 4 circle tangent points. The 'lazy' path that we all see is not deep enough for a proper corner yet its not shallow enough for the circle path...