Blazing Hooves Horsemanship Academy

31/07/2022

To help stabilize and deepen your upper body while giving your hands a more forward tendency…

Imagine your shoulder blades in the shape of a big heart on your back. Move your shoulders slightly up, widen them and then bring them down and together. As you connect your shoulders, push your hands forward.—Susanne von Dietze

Susanne von Dietze is a leader in equestrian biomechanics. A physiotherapist, licensed instructor and judge for dressage and show jumping, she gives lectures and seminars throughout the world. She is a native of Germany and now lives in Israel, where she competes at the international level.

Illustration by Sandy Rabinowitz

31/07/2022

The catch is that many people cannot tell the difference between a passive versus an active stretch, and therefore get caught in the passive conundrum without even knowing it.

30/06/2022

Maybe all you wanted to do was get your horse’s attention before the next transition….and NOTHING HAPPENED! Here’s what not to do, and what TO do.

26/06/2022

If forward is not an increase in tempo (the speed of the footfalls), then what is it?

24/06/2022

SITTING TROT (Quick tip)

To practice your sitting trot: STAND UP! Yes that’s right! Standing up in the stirrups while trotting is one of the first steps to real balance.

It’s done in all the European military schools (e.g. Spanish School of Riding). Not jumping position leaning over, but STRAIGHT UP.

Are you wobbling around up there? When you learn to absorb through your joints - hip, knee and ankle joints, up there standing in trot, then your sitting trot stands a chance of being good too.

If you can’t stand with a tiny gap between your p***c bone and the saddle standing fully, your stirrups are too long to help your balance. And, your heels will be up. If the gap is Huge when you stand, your stirrups are too short.

Good luck with this exercise!

23/06/2022

The stunningly beautiful sun-shiny morning morphed into cloud-covered, threatening-to-rain afternoon sky. The cold front had met the warm front and we were suddenly in the middle of a weather-chang…

21/06/2022

20/06/2022

The key to a true lengthen is in the horse’s body. The leg speed has nothing to do with the movement. Here’s what not to do, and what TO do. And a great set-up exercise.

16/06/2022

Lucerne - The Least Known, Most Important Fact You Need to Know...

It is a widely known fact that lucerne is high in calcium and low in phosphorous. This is why the ‘old-timers’ always fed oats when they fed lucerne because oats, being comparatively high in phosphorous, would tend to correct this imbalance.

It is also a widely known fact that lucerne is a good source of protein and can therefore be useful for feeding broodmares, growing horses and horses in intense work. However, grass in growth mode can also be high in protein so a person has to be careful not to feed too much.

Not so widely known is the most important fact that lucerne is high in potassium and extremely low in sodium. As with other forages there is virtually none in the above ground portion of the plant. Potassium levels average between 2.4 – 3.2% while sodium levels are only 0.01- 0.02%. Apparently this IS generally known in the farming community and whenever lucerne is fed out, stock are also fed sodium (as salt) The trouble is nobody told the horse people!
There is a lot of information out there regarding the benefits of feeding lucerne to horses but not one mention of this crucial piece of information.

This is why a lot of people have observed that lucerne ‘sends their horse nuts’! (See last weeks post: Boris’s story). Most horses are already consuming an overload of potassium from whatever green grass they are on, then when you add more potassium-rich forage it becomes over-whelming. Yes the horse does excrete excess in urine and manure but, as a good analogy, ‘it is like ‘trying to empty a swimming-pool while the hose is running in flat-out at the other end’.

Horses on warm season grasses can handle some Lucerne in their diet better than horses on cool season grasses. This is because the potassium content of warm season grasses is averagely lower than that of cool season grasses.

Adding potassium-rich lucerne, molasses, kelp, protein meals and many herbs to their already high pasture grass intake has a cumulative effect and puts a constant stress on the horse’s system to frantically excrete potassium at the same time conserving sodium. It is not long before you see the outward signs and hey presto you have a ‘problem or grass-affected horse!’.

Lucerne CAN be a beneficial addition to the diet of pregnant & lactating mares, growing horses, elderly horses with bad dentition (as hay or chaffage – not chaff) and horses not already on vegetative cool season grasses and clover.

Lucerne, being very dark green in colour, is also high in ‘fluorescing’ pigments which can cause photosensitization (the oozy sores of mud-fever & ‘sun-burn) so it is best eliminated from the diet of horses prone to or suffering from this condition.

Being a legume (like clover) it also contains hormonally active compounds called phyto-estrogens which can affect cycling and breeding.

Lucerne (otherwise known as alfalfa) is a legume not a grass and due to its high nutrient density and digestibility it should only comprise approximately 1/10 of your horses total forage ration. It is the first thing to eliminate (to reduce potassium intake), whenever horses become ‘grass-affected’ in any way.

If your horse is doing just fine on Lucerne then don’t change a thing but if he has any of the signs of ‘increased excitability’ (See Health Checklist on www.calmhealthyhorses.com ) then swap it out for grassy hay and non lucerne chaffs.

09/06/2022

Pull. Any direction will do, really. Up, down, open rein, closed rein, back to the thigh… we can get creative about it.

06/06/2022

06/06/2022

01/06/2022

To help with the timing of your half halt in trot...

Imagine your horse’s hind leg as a spring—coil–release, coil–release. Remember that the only moment you can connect to, and add weight to the hind leg is when it’s on the ground. Half halt on the coil moment and release on the next moment.—Rachel Savaadra

Savaadra is a Grand Prix trainer and instructor based in Livermore, California. She has been on the USDF instructor certification faculty for more than 18 years, teaching workshops for trainers around the country.

Illustration by Sandy Rabinowitz

01/06/2022

(1st polish championships riding without bridle)

27/05/2022

How not riding on the bit affects neck and back development

25/05/2022

Read , let it sink in, then read again :

“No. 1. Get your tack and equipment just right, and then forget about it and concentrate on the horse.

No. 2. The horse is bigger than you are, and it should carry you. The quieter you sit, the easier this will be for the horse.

No. 3. The horse's engine is in the rear. Thus, you must ride your horse from behind, and not focus on the forehand simply because you can see it.

No. 4. It takes two to pull. Don't pull. Push.

No. 5. For your horse to be keen but submissive, it must be calm, straight and forward.

No. 6. When the horse isn`t straight, the hollow side is the difficult side.

No. 7. The inside rein controls the bending, the outside rein controls the speed.

No. 8. Never rest your hands on the horse's mouth. You make a contract with it: "You carry your head and I'll carry my hands."

No. 10. Once you've used an aid, put it back.

No. 11. You can exaggerate every virtue into a defect.

No. 12. Always carry a stick, then you will seldom need it.

No. 13. If you`ve given something a fair trial, and it still doesn't work, try something else—even the opposite.

No. 14. Know when to start and when to stop. Know when to resist and when to reward.

No. 15. If you're going to have a fight, you pick the time and place.

No. 16. What you can't accomplish in an hour should usually be put off until tomorrow.

No. 17. You can think your way out of many problems faster than you can ride your way out of them.

No. 18. When the horse jumps, you go with it, not the other way around.

No. 19. Don`t let over-jumping or dull routine erode the horse's desire to jump cleanly. It's hard to jump clear rounds if the horse isn't trying.

No. 20. Never give up until the rail hits the ground.

No. 21. Young horses are like children—give them a lot of love, but don't let them get away with anything.

No. 22. In practice, do things as perfectly as you can; in competition, do what you have to do.

No. 23. Never fight the oats.

No. 24. The harder you work, the luckier you get."

~Bill Steinkraus

21/05/2022

I might be referring to something other that what you’re thinking. Not the kind of patience that results in lack of progress, doing the same thing over and over again, or basically being inac…

20/05/2022

What are foal slippers? Also known as fingers or golden slippers, find out why foals have foal slippers and they're made of.

20/05/2022

What happens during the spook? It helps to examine how the horse spooks, so that we can come have a plan.

18/05/2022

TRUE 🤩
credits: Pinterest

18/05/2022

"I want the horse to be free to choose his own course because in that state of mind learning is encouraged." - Monty Roberts





📸 James Oliver

13/05/2022

It stands to reason that without a balanced seat, the rider is UNbalanced! But what we don’t hear often is what is actually balanced about the balanced seat, and how to achieve it.

11/05/2022

AMEN!!!!!!

01/05/2022

Honestly, in the end, it's all about saying "yes" in the right moment.

29/04/2022

It's always good to know what our horsey pals can and cannot eat, here is a a quick guideline

27/04/2022

"There is no such thing as teaching, only learning. No teacher can push information into an unwilling brain." - Monty Roberts

25/04/2022

After seeing multiple videos posted by various breeders bragging about their 2 ½ year olds/recently turned 3 year olds and sharing videos of them cantering around in the arena, I have decided to once again circulate the below article.

First of all, breeders *should* have the knowledge to understand a horse’s fragile and slow maturing musculoskeletal system. Breeders should not condone their own horses let along anyone’s horses being cantered around under saddle at an incredibly young age. Period. This sets a terrible example and is quite honestly animal abuse. Just because a horse does not object does not mean it is right. And quite frankly, most of the videos posted show animals that are already in pain or developing pain…

As breeders, we should strive to produce healthy and sound animals. We should promote horsemanship that produces long term soundness. No, starting a horse later does not guarantee soundness. But it certainly helps.

I am a firm believer in scientifically backed approaches to horsemanship. You can’t argue with science that has been proven time and time again. Let’s dispel some stupid rumors:

1. There is no such thing as a (skeletally) slow maturing horse or one that is fast maturing. No horse is skeletally mature before the age of 6. And that is on the low estimate for age.

2. Growth plates are not just in the knee. Every bone behind the skull has a growth plate. Not every single one needs to be converted to bone before starting. There is a schedule of when bone fuses…this is the information needed to know when to start a horse. Not their outward appearance. It is a known fact that during growth, proprioceptive awareness can regress, greatly increasing the risk of injury.

3. Starting a horse is not the same thing as riding a horse. Starting a horse does not mean cantering it 3-4 days a week in an arena.

4. Injecting a horse that is in pain does not mean you fixed a problem. You masked it.

5. You can build correct muscle and teach a horse how to move their body from the ground. This creates a solid foundation to work from once your horse is ready to actually be backed. Teach a horse to use its body correctly before backing and you’ll save yourself a lot of vet bills down the line.

Hocks are “late” for maturity. The growth plates on the tibial and fibular tarsals do not fuse until a horse is 3-3 ½. Ever wonder why so many horses seem to have hocks issues?? Horses need to learn to carry themselves and their own weight well before adding a rider.

The growth plates that are LAST to close are at the base of the neck. This area is where we ask a horse to raise the base of their neck and come round. If under too much stress, the growth plates can fracture or be permanently damaged.

There are DOZENS of activities you can do with a young horse to build healthy muscular development. None of them involve a saddle or your weight on their back. Teaching a horse to carry themselves correctly BEFORE adding a rider is essential and cannot be done in a week. A 2 ½ year old horse is a baby. Mentally and physically. We see far too many injured performance horses at VERY young ages - broken down and/or sour from work. It’s wrong. Period. They need slow and steady work and need time to recover from even the slightest of injuries.

PLEASE, if you are considering when you should start your horse and what that work load should look like, please read the below. There are some wonderful things you can do with your young developing horse. Please don’t rush a year out of greed.

http://www.equinestudies.org/ranger_2008/ranger_piece_2008_pdf1.pdf