Canadian Horse Journal - SAMPLE - Early Summer 2021

PHOTO: PETRI VOLANEN

PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK/PERNSANITFOTO

HEALTH

Eastern & Western Equine Encephalitis Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEE), also known as sleeping sickness, and Western Equine Encephalitis (WEE) are viral diseases that cause inflammation of the brain and spinal cord.

Wild birds are a natural reservoir for EEE and WEE viruses, and mosquitoes that feed on these birds can transmit the virus to mammals, including horses and humans.

Cases of EEE are most commonly seen in the southern and eastern parts of North America. The mosquito Culiseta melanura is the primary vector (although other species of mosquito can also transmit the virus). The Canada Food Inspection

PHOTO: CANSTOCK/STOKKETTE

Keep horses in the barn at night when mosquitoes are active.

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Agency (CFIA) reported eight horses testing positive for EEE in Ontario in 2020. No human cases were reported in the 2020 season.

WEE virus is distributed more in the west, although both WEE and EEE can occur outside their normal geographical areas.

Outbreaks of WEE virus have resulted in significant numbers of deaths in horses and humans. Survivors can have permanent neurological impairment. The virus circulates naturally in birds and is transmitted to horses and people primarily by the mosquito vector Culex tarsalis.

Incidence rates vary each year, and both EEE and WEE occur most frequently in late summer to early fall. In addition to mosquitoes, ticks and other bloodsucking insects can also transmit the virus after feeding on an infected bird. The incubation period ranges from two days to three weeks. Direct transmission between horses, or between horses and humans, is not likely.

EEE is more virulent, although both EEE and WEE are both life-threatening neurologic diseases.

The clinical signs of EEE often come on abruptly and signs of both viruses can include depression, anorexia, fever, and lethargy. Neurological signs may include tremors, weakness, ataxia, paralysis, seizures, decreased awareness of surroundings, and recumbency.

Both EEE and WEE viruses are diagnosed through bloodwork.

Testing can include enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples to identify the WEE or EEE virus.

PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK/PERNSANITFOTO PHOTO: PETRI VOLANEN

Moaquito larva hatching in water.

Treatment largely consists of supportive care for horses with clinical signs, including intravenous (IV) fluids and anti-inflammatory medications. There is no cure for EEE or WEE. The prognosis for horses with WEE is fair. The disease has a 20 to 40 percent mortality rate, and long-term deficits may occur in horses that recover from WEE. The prognosis for horses diagnosed with EEE is very poor, with up to 90 percent of infected horses dying from the disease. Horses with neurological signs that become unable to stand on their own have the poorest prognosis for survival. Horses that do survive can have permanent brain damage.

The American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) recommends the EEE and WEE vaccines as core vaccines. Horses

should be kept up-to-date on vaccinations, which are usually administered yearly (boosters may be recommended more frequently in warm climates with year-round mosquito activity).

Boosters may be advised when outbreaks occur. Work with your veterinarian to establish an appropriate vaccination schedule for your horse and situation.

In addition to vaccination, it is important to practice good vector control. Use insect repellents and keep horses in at night when mosquitoes are most active. Eliminate mosquito breeding grounds such as standing water, brush piles, and old tires. Stock tanks and water troughs with mosquito-feeding fish. b With files from UC Davis Center for Equine Health and Boehringer Ingelheim.

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CANADIAN HORSE JOURNAL

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HEALTH

BACK PAIN in Sport Horses Diagnosis & Treatment

By Dr. Billy Hodge

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Summarized below are the most common causes of back pain in the sport horse, depending on the horse’s discipline.

n recent years the addition of the back examination to a routine lameness exam has become commonplace. With vast amounts of information available on the internet and social media pages, it can be daunting to understand and clarify “back pain” in the sport horse. This article will organize the clutter of information into a clear picture for riders and owners.

Muscle and Soft Tissue Pain From Incorrect Saddle Fit Horses can become locally or generally sore from an ill-fitting saddle. Horses, like humans, can change shape as they grow and develop more muscle, even during the show season. Just as we need to adjust our gear as riders, the horse must have tack that fits correctly in order to succeed.

Anatomically, the mid/caudal back of a horse is comprised of bone (eighteen thoracic vertebrae, six lumbar vertebrae, and the sacroiliac articulation to the pelvis), linked by soft tissues (ligaments), which together form joints that are propelled into action by muscles.

DIAGNOSIS & THERAPY: Ill-fitting tack can lead to pain that can present acutely or as a low grade, longstanding issue.

THORACIC REGION

LUMBAR REGION

SPINOUS PROCESS

THINKSTOCKPHOTOS/GLOBALP & CANSTOCKPHOTO/ ANDRIIOLIINYK

PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK/CATWALK PHOTOS

Most Common Causes of Back Pain

This image shows the most important structures of the horse’s anatomy relative to the regions of common injuries in the horse’s back.

Any of these areas can become injured.

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CANADIAN HORSE JOURNAL

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PHOTO: PAM MACKENZIE

TRANSPORT

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If Your Horse Could

Drive...

PHOTO: PAM MACKENZIE

By Kevan Garecki

I knew someone who considered himself to be an extraordinary driver, yet the horses he hauled always had more than their fair share of mysterious nicks and bumps, and every horse that stepped off his rig was sweated. I tried to tell him that it isn’t about handling his rig as if it’s a sports car; it’s about providing the horses in his rig with the most comfortable ride possible.

He scoffed and pooh-poohed this until one day I’d had enough. I opened my trailer door and asked him to step inside on the pretense of helping me with a divider. Once he was in, I latched the door from the outside and said, “See you in 15 minutes.”

Then I took him for a rather spirited drive.

He stepped out with a very different mindset about how to haul a horse trailer.

Let’s think about this for a moment.

Humans get inside a trailer and know what to expect. We recognize the sound of a passing tractor-trailer or the siren of an emergency vehicle, and we understand all the sounds caused by the bumps, cracks, and rain on the road. If we know all these things, how can that 15-minute ride still be terrifying? Because during the trip our safety and well-being is entirely in someone else’s hands. We don’t know where we’re going or when to brace for changes of direction, and we’re not able to anticipate a swerve or braking action.

My first driving mentor had a simple but very effective teaching method. He’d place an open cup of coffee on the metal dashboard of the old truck we drove back then, and tell me to drive without spilling it. I got really good, really fast! When hauling horses, if you drive as if you’re trying not to spill a cup of hot coffee

to help you understand what he experiences during transport he might suggest that you stand inside the horse trailer, with your hands in your pockets and your eyes closed, while he drives you around. sitting open on the dashboard, the horses behind you will get the best ride possible.

This is the exact approach I use when teaching my students.

Cornering should be done with deliberation and planning. Don’t wait until you’re half a block from the turn before braking. Begin a block or so early by easing off the throttle, then softly apply the brakes, increasing the pressure gradually.

Releasing the brakes should be done just as smoothly, and your foot should be completely off the brake pedal before you enter the turn. But don’t just let the pedal pop back up — ease your foot off.

A common misconception about anglehaul trailers is that folks believe they’re more stable, so when pulling an angle-haul they tend to drive as if they’re driving a car.

Angle-haul trailers do not eliminate the need for balance; in fact, in many situations horses have considerably less control in an angle-haul than when standing in line with the direction of travel.

We all talk about balance when we’re riding, but should also consider the horse’s balance when in the trailer. Road surfaces are canted to allow for water

runoff, so when we change from the right lane to the left lane, the horse will have to compensate for the change in the angle of the floor. The difference is harder for us to detect as we’re sitting down as this occurs.

When standing, our centre of gravity is much higher, and we don’t have the security of the seat to hold us in place.

Every driver thinks they’re in the top five percent of “good drivers.” The two most important lessons I’ve learned in over 45 years of driving are: I’ll never drive as well as I think I do; and the more I improve my driving, the more I realize how much I don’t know.

We can always improve, and we can always learn something.

Tips & Tricks From the Pros

Even though driving is my profession and many people have complimented me on my skill, I am not a natural behind the wheel. I have had to work hard at every technique I’ve ever learned. Yet, doing so has made me more aware, and hopefully made me a safer and more competent driver.

Fellow professionals have shared with me similar admissions about their own driving.

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CANADIAN HORSE JOURNAL

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24 WAYS TO

Increase Your Horse Property Income

By Tania Millen As property values increase and everyday equine management expenses go up, keeping horses on your own property is becoming more costly. All across Canada, horse and property owners are undertaking myriad activities to make money from their farms and acreages without operating commercial boarding stables or becoming professional coaches.

While every potentially money-making activity has benefits and drawbacks depending on the property’s size, layout, and infrastructure, as well as the owner’s interests and talents, there are many options for creating additional income. By implementing a few of the 24 innovative ideas summarized below, owners can start earning additional income from their property to help pay the bills.

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Of course, before embarking on any new activities, be sure to investigate zoning bylaws, insurance and liability concerns, tax implications, and business requirements of the proposed activity, plus beware of neighbours who may be concerned about new activities in the neighbourhood.

1

Part-Lease Your Horse

Sharing the costs of keeping a horse by part-leasing it to a suitable rider can be a win-win for both the horse owner and the other rider. A lease agreement detailing how long the lease will last, how many days per week the lessee (person leasing the horse) will ride, plus the owner’s and lessee’s responsibilities regarding care and costs will help keep both parties happy.

2

Board Other Horses

Boarding someone else’s horse on your property can provide a myriad of benefits including shared costs, herdmates for single horses, and help with feeding and maintenance. Boarding agreements detailing everyone’s tasks will help maintain clear communication.

3

Host Instructional Clinics

Clinicians, instructors, and event organizers need facilities to conduct both riding and non-riding educational activities and are willing to pay a rental fee for suitable space. If you have facilities such as an indoor arena, riding ring, or a large meeting room available, there may be opportunities to rent out

PHOTO: ISTOCK/PICTURE STORE

those facilities and possibly gain some free instruction at the same time.

4

Hold Events

Riders and horse owners are often looking for unique activities to share with their horses, such as navigating obstacle courses, playing at liberty, or attending a fun games day. Depending on your property set-up, holding fee-based fun, educational, or competitive events, can provide some income. Ask riding friends and potential attendees for event ideas.

5

Host Equine Professionals

Many equine service providers such as saddle fitters, farriers, veterinarians, body workers, chiropractors, and other alternative practitioners prefer to treat EARLY SUMMER 2021

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Your Riding Gear

By Alexa Linton, Equine Sports Therapist

Is it working for or against you & your horse?

PHOTO: ISTOCK/KELLY J HALL

Let’s unpack our tack.

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I’ve always found the subject of tack to be very interesting. The tack we use on our horses is in many ways symbolic, marking a rider as English or Western, and beyond that, categorizing them more specifically as hunter, jumper, dressage, reining, cutting, barrel racing, endurance and so on. I still recall the strange looks I got in my Western saddle with English headstall or rope halter, and then later with my treeless saddle and split reins. I still see sidelong glances at my hackamore with half-inch bosal, mohair mecate, and felt bareback pad. My riding friends would jokingly call me a “cross dresser,” but in reality, I was choosing tack that felt good and fitted Diva and me the best (and that I could afford).

So why did I write this article about tack? Because a dear friend once pointed out the incredible generosity of horses when it comes to the equipment we use on them. She stated bluntly that to be ridden, our horses, as prey animals, have the hide of a dead animal strapped to their backs in the very place where a cougar would attack, and a piece of steel in their mouths controlling their movements (and their flight response).

As an equine therapist, I’ve seen my fair share of physical and behavioural issues caused by poorly-fitting saddles, overly-tight and pinching girths, too-tight nosebands, and harsh or poorly-fitted bits, as well as by excess tack such as draw reins or martingales being used as a bandaid for gaps in training or poor biomechanics. I’ve been to and worked at barns where staff would not lead a horse without a chain over its nose, or would leave halters on 24/7 for ease of catching.

Now I want to pose the question: Is the tack you are using necessary, and does it really work for you and your horse?

?

Think back to when you first learned about tack and equipment. For me, it was at an English lesson barn when I was about 12 years old. I was told to use this tack for this horse, that it was necessary in order to ride, and that I had to clean it after every ride. End of story. It wasn’t until I became an Equine Sport Therapist that I began to understand that the tack we are using has an impact on the well-being of our horses, and we are allowed to change it for the betterment of our horse/human relationship.

Like most horses, my mare Diva is highly sensitive and she’s not afraid to express discomfort, which means she lets me know immediately if her tack is not fitting well or is causing discomfort or pain. How does she do this? She walks away in the paddock when I come with the halter; she flinches and moves when I’m putting her saddle on; she resists moving to our mounting area; and she doesn’t want to move out under saddle. Some might falsely label these behaviours as naughty or bad. Diva has been ridden bitless for many years, but many horses will also show bit and headstall discomfort with head tossing or shaking, resistance to their face being touched or to bitting, or physical issues at the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) or in the mouth.

On Instagram, I’ve been following a rider named Alizee Fremont, and her incredible bridleless and bareback classical dressage riding furthered my curiosity about the necessity of much of our tack (I highly recommend checking her out!). If someone can ride their horses in this way, with nothing but a neck rope, why all the add-ons? How much is our tack covering up gaps in our training, the gymnastic inability of our horse to do what we are asking, poor biomechanics, rider imbalance, or a disconnected relationship between horse and rider?

What are some easy tack changes we can make now? First, take stock of the tack you use and why you use it. Be really honest with yourself about each piece of equipment and its purpose.

Ask yourself if you use it for one or more of the following reasons: • You and your horse love the fit and feel; • It is what everyone else in your type of riding is using and it symbolizes something; • It looks good; • It is what you can afford or what you already have; • It creates relaxation in your horse;

• It stimulates action (spurs or a whip); • Someone told you to use it, or it’s what your teacher or mentor rides in; • It controls or limits some part of your horse’s movement (a certain bit, draw reins, a martingale or a tight noseband); • It helps you feel safe.

Now, ponder the following questions while thinking about your horse’s attire (and your own, especially if it includes spurs or a whip)...

What Can I Lose?

Are there any pieces of tack that are not serving a helpful purpose, or can be replaced with training that works better for your horse, biomechanically sound work, or a change in focus or fit? For example, I rode Diva in spurs for years to try to create forward movement but have since realized that my change in training style allowed her to carry herself better and move forward easily and freely on her own, without me pushing her.

What Can I Loosen?

Over the years I’ve met my fair share of cinchy and head shy horses. Many of them are suffering from the myth that our girth, headstall, and nose band need to be really really tight to be safe. Give your horse some breathing room and she will be far happier and safer in the long run, as overly tight straps are painful and can cause nerve and muscle damage, as well as limit breathing capacity and stride.

What Can Fit Better?

Our horses are constantly changing shape and condition. Be sure to have regular saddle fitting done and recheck the fit of your other tack frequently. There are some excellent saddle fitters around who can help you find a fit that works for you and your horse, as saddle fit can affect everything from mobility to jaw movement to digestion. As well, every mouth is shaped differently and can change with age, so bit size and type matters, or in my horse’s case, bosal size. Your comfort and balance also matter to your horse, so finding a saddle that allows you to ride in harmony with your horse is important.

What Works Best For My Horse?

If you are relying on a specific piece of equipment to get your horse into a certain position or control a certain behaviour, consider incorporating different types of training that work with correcting biomechanics and creating

HORSEMANSHIP

The

Science

of Tack &

Training Aids CA

Sifting through truth, tradition, & emotion

PHOTO: SOUL TOUCH PHOTOGRAPHY

By Lindsay Grice, Equestrian Canada coach and judge

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nosebands or the mindless application of equipment, regardless of whether it is suitable for this horse at this stage of training…

Yet when I ask riders whether they have tried other nosebands, or even no noseband, they look at me as if I had just stepped down the ramp of the mother ship.”

In barn aisles and on social media platforms, equestrians debate, disdain, and defend the use of training aids, as in the following examples: PRO: Artificial aids “aid” riders in training effectively and safely. They are useful tools to influence and contain the responses of a 1000-pound animal, or motivate one unresponsive to learned signals.

ISTOCK/ SOMOGYVARI

OP

NO

S EB

A ND SH

NO

S EB

AND FIG

O SE BA N D

A

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CON: These gadgets are training shortcuts, compensating for a lack of skill. They’re bad for the industry; spectators see them as abusive and this reflects poorly on our sport. They stifle normal equine behaviour and are a source of stress. As one writer for the UK magazine Horse & Rider once asserted, “The whip is an admission of failure.”

FL

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DR

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hen we think of training tack, we think of whips, spurs, nosebands, and martingales. It’s a divisive topic in the horse industry. Horse show committees, popular clinicians, coaches, competitive and casual riders all differ in their views. In a sport where truth, tradition, and emotions often collide, I’ve had to sift through the issues to form my own system as a horse trainer, show judge, and riding coach. By trial and error, from training hundreds of horses and watching countless horses and riders, I’ve honed my sense of what works and what tends not to.

But personal experience alone is not a guarantee of truth; I weigh my experience against research findings. The emergence of equitation science has supplied fascinating insight into how horses think and learn.

Do artificial aids themselves cause stress, or is stress caused by the way those aids are used? I’ve heard it said that the best teachers are the curious so I ask lots of questions. As a result my thoughts about artificial aids have been challenged and shaped over the years.

SH VA UTT TSE ERST OCK/ SVEGLANA RYAZAN

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OSE

BAND

SHU A TTER JOV STOCK/RITA KOCHMAR

SHU AN TTER STOCK/JENNAY HITESM

When first meeting a rider in a clinic or for a lesson, I usually ask why they’ve chosen their bit or tack. Responses vary from It’s the tack that came with the horse when I bought him, or It’s what everyone’s using, or I just like the look of it!

Sometimes, there’s a well-reasoned reply, formed from thinking through the facts: I understand the mechanics of how the equipment works and on which part of the horse. Based on that, I’ve chosen this equipment to help solve this issue for this horse.

Jim Wofford, revered coach and US Olympic eventer, shared his insights in his Practical Horseman column The Times They Are a-Changin’ on the “mindless application of equipment, regardless of whether it is suitable for this horse at this stage of training” as follows: “Nosebands are one of my many irritants when coaching…

Almost every horse I see is wearing one. Flash nosebands are inherently ill-fitting; a flash is basically an inefficient figure-eight noseband so they are invariably overtightened, causing a pronounced indentation in the flesh of the nasal bone and, occasionally, small sores on the lips. In addition, these nosebands can interfere with the horse’s normal swallowing mechanism, producing the very resistance they are intended to cure.

“I can’t decide which irritates me more: overtightened

We are routinely preventing normal swallowing, chewing, yawning, and licking in the name of sport. — ISES.

PHOTO: ISTOCK/ABRAMOVA KSENLYA

PHOTO: SOUL TOUCH PHOTOGRAPHY

KNOW YOUR NOSEBANDS n Before using a noseband, understand what it’s meant to do, and remember that to a horse that hasn’t mastered the basics, more restrictive equipment only amplifies signals he doesn’t fully understand.

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Martin Black riding his 16-hand Appendix Quarter Horse bridle horse out on the range.

PHOTO: KIM STONE SHINANATU PHOTOGRAPHY

Continuing the

B

e

Bridle Horse Tradition The horse will teach you if you listen.

Spanish cowboys (vaqueros) who came to North America over 500 years ago left a lasting legacy — not only in words such as chaps (from chaparreras) and rodeo (rodear) which are engrained in today’s Western lifestyle — but in their riding and horse training skills, too.

In the early 1500s when Spanish cows and horses were imported into what is now Mexico, cattle ranching and bridle horses were introduced to North America. Vaquero bridle horses were highly trained, handy stock horses that worked as partners out on the range and were in tune with their riders’ every aid.

Making a bridle horse was and is a multiyear process whereby horses are started in a hackamore (bosal), then advanced through a two-rein bridle (small diameter hackamore beneath a spade bit bridle each with a set of reins) until they are ready to be ridden “straight up in the bridle” in a spade bit.

Horsemen and women today still value the vaquero methods, and some choose to train their horses in this traditional way. But as cowboy lifestyles and values change, those horsemen have become few and far between. To learn more about these centuries-old vaquero traditions I spoke with Martin Black, a fifth-generation rancher based in Idaho, whose family has been raising and training horses in the vaquero tradition for close to 150 years. Black is a well-respected horseman who is passionate about preserving the bridle horse traditions.

Finished bridle horses will be ridden using minimal cues in a spade bit like one of these.

“Basically, the bridle horse is an allaround stock horse,” he explains. “The ultimate goal was to have a good horse to work cattle on. What made the bridle horse ideal [was] you could have a rope in one hand and steer your horse with the other, and what everybody strived for was a horse you could ride without pulling on him.”

Black says that even today he starts all his horses in a hackamore. “Pretty much everything in my string I start in a hackamore, then go to the two rein (bridle), and then they go straight-up into the spade bit. The spade bit is a leverage bit but also a signal bit. We want [horses] to respond to the slightest movement of the mouthpiece.”

He says the bridle horse tradition “… came from the Moors of Africa over to Spain where they had a weapon in one hand and the reins in the other.” After arriving in Mexico, vaqueros and cattleranching spread north into the southern United States, and by the mid-1800s the vaquero style of riding, tack, handbraided rawhide reatas [lariats], and ways of roping cattle was prevalent in what is now California. Subsequently, vaquero horsemanship spread northeast to Nevada, Oregon, and Idaho. “That [horsemanship] came with the cattle to the Great Basin and so my family being in the horse business …my great grandfather and uncles pretty much followed that tradition,” says Black.

PHOTO: KIM STONE SHINANATU PHOTOGRAPHY

PHOTO: KIM STONE SHINANATU PHOTOGRAPHY

By Tania Millen

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ROPING 101

PHOTO: TANIS PAYNE

y o b w o C l o o ch

By Tania Millen

Many riders dream of being a cowboy, and every cowboy needs to be able to rope a cow. Some riders grow up on ranches and learn to swing a loop from friends or relatives, but other wannabe cowboys aren’t so fortunate. So, how does the average rider with cowboy dreams learn that essential roping skill?

And why rope a cow, anyway?

Growing up in suburbia and riding in English tack, cows weren’t part of my life.

But I’ve dreamed of roping cattle for many years, so I finally took some beginner roping lessons with Cody Braaten, a competitive calf and team roper based in 150 Mile House, British Columbia. Braaten has roped for over 20 years, even though he’s less than 30 years old, and students enjoy his clear, relaxed teaching style. At the lessons I attended, there were no live cows. We started with the basics — learning how to coil the rope and build a loop, then swing it overhead and throw it at hay bales with plastic cow heads.

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The first loop I learned goes over the calf’s head and lands around its neck, while the second loop Bratten taught ideally just catches the horns. The third loop — which I didn’t master — catches the back feet or heels of the cow and has quite a different approach, swing, and throw than the first two. We progressed to roping the hay bale while sitting on our horses, and eventually we were throwing loops while trotting after a “dummy” cow pulled by an ATV. Unsurprisingly, my throws were inconsistent, so I was fortunate to be riding my chill mare Jewel, who just rolled her eyes when I roped her head by mistake.

On our last clinic day there was an informal horseback roping competition, and I managed to successfully rope the dummy three times in a row, which won me a new rope from Braaten — a ridiculously satisfying thrill for this non-cowboy.

After five days of lessons, it was obvious that successfully roping cattle isn’t just about whirling a rope overhead.

Ropers must be able to steer with the left hand while holding excess coils of rope, move their horse one step at a time, plus swing a rope overhead, all while reading cattle and influencing their movement.

There are also over 30 different types of loops to throw, depending on the cow’s position in relation to the horse. So roping is undeniably challenging — akin to patting your head, rubbing your stomach, and dancing a jig all at the same time.

But why would you rope a cow?

Many people are familiar with timed rodeo events such as calf roping and team roping where the fastest roper to catch their calf, wins. These events are

PHOTO: TANIS PAYNE

PHOTOS: MARIAN FINUCANE

competitive versions of activities that still occur on ranches across North America.

Ross Smith grew up on a ranch near Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan and genuinely learned to ride before he could walk. He’s president of the Canadian Ranch Roping Association and says, “The number one reason you rope an animal out on the ranch is because it’s sick. And because our [cowboying] job is on really big areas of land, it might be 10 miles to a corral. If the animal is sick, [getting him to a corral] is not going to happen. The alternative is to rope them… so we can treat them.”

“We might take five or ten minutes… to gradually sneak up close to the animal and then try to rope it,” he explains.

“Since it’s sick, we don’t want to chase it and further stress it more than it already is. If we can rope it standing still or just walking along, that’s more beneficial to the animal because the idea is to get them caught, treated, and released with the least amount of stress possible.”

Reducing stress is important for many reasons — not just for the health and welfare of the animals — but for financial reasons, too. Cattle are generally raised to be sold and slaughtered, so gaining weight is a priority and stress can cause cattle to lose weight.

Smith advises that it’s preferable to have two people to rope a cow. “One person ropes the head, then the other person ropes the back feet. You get the

Ranch roping is quite different from the timed roping events seen at rodeos. It takes longer, and the goal is to keep the herd calm, and to catch, treat, and release the animal with a minimum of stress.

cow on the ground and then usually the header ties his rope off to the saddle horn, then gets off and ties the animal up. Then you can do whatever you need to. Then you have to get your ropes back off it once you let the cow go, which is often hard to do.”

“So number one, you need a horse that’s familiar with being roped off,” he says. “It’s not necessarily a rodeo trained

horse because what happens out in the pasture is quite a bit different than what happens at the rodeo. At a rodeo, it’s bing, bang, boom and in seconds flat you’re done. When you treat an animal out at pasture it could be 15 minutes, depending on how cooperative they are and how well it goes. You have to keep in mind that you’re miles from home and if you get hurt it’s not good.”

To succeed at ranch roping you need a horse that’s familiar with roping, and an understanding of the cow’s flight zone and how it will react.

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Adjust Your Routine to Make Progress

By Jec A. Ballou

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The disappointing news of fitness is that we cannot keep repeating the same thing to get results. After a while, we need to modify exercises in order to keep gaining conditioning adaptations from them. Otherwise, the body becomes so efficient and habituated at performing movements that it recruits fewer muscle fibres to do them and operates with less involvement from the nervous system.

Movements become robotic, a state in which no conditioning gains occur.

The good news is that horses are sensitive creatures, and it does not require complexity to add novelty to their routines. This becomes particularly worth considering for exercises that are most beneficial when practiced frequently, such as baited stabilization exercises often fondly called carrot stretches.

First, let’s review what these movements accomplish and then discuss how to keep them working for us once they have initially helped. Several years ago, researchers studied carefully controlled groups of horses that received no other exercise for 16 weeks beyond baited stabilization maneuvres daily for three times per day. At the end of the study period, the horses’ deep spinal muscles had increased in size and strength by 20 percent. This

finding gave compelling evidence to the efficacy of these simple moves for both rehab and performance horses alike. Their benefit comes from strength building rather than from making the horse highly stretchy as their name might imply.

In the study, horses were asked to stand still while following a bait (usually a piece of carrot) with their noses to different positions that required them to activate their core for balance. These included reaching around laterally towards their flanks and hind feet, down between their knees, chest, and forefeet, and extending their necks up towards the sky.

These routines are low impact, quick to execute, and require no special skills.

In other words, there is no reason to not do them. As you practice regularly, bear in mind that about every month you need to slightly alter the position and request of each maneuvre to prevent the horse from becoming robotic in his efforts. Below are my suggestions for simple and effective ways to add novelty to these exercises that are most beneficial when repeated at high frequency, yet run the risk of becoming robotic.

For the sake of simplicity, this article assumes that most riders currently perform about three of these movements

PHOTO COURTESY OF JEC A. BALLOU

PHOTO COURTESY OF JEC A. BALLOU

HORSEMANSHIP

daily (one lateral bend/stretch around to each side, and one forward and rounding move of head-between-knees) rather than the whole gamut.

Low to High

If you have been practicing baited stabilization exercises by asking the horse to reach his head around towards his flank, the simplest modification is to raise the bait either higher or lower for the next few weeks. With most baited stretches, the horse can be asked to reach low (towards the outside of his hind or front fetlocks), neutral (straight back towards his stifle), or high (up towards his pelvis).

Most of us settle on a position that seems to challenge our horse and continue to practice in that range. Once we have been doing this for a few weeks, though, we should leave that position alone and ask instead for one of the higher or lower positions.

Provide variety by using different surfaces and by adding movements between stretches, such as walking over an obstacle, as each provides different stimulus.

PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK/PATRICIA BARKER

PHOTO COURTESY OF JEC A. BALLOU

PHOTO COURTESY OF JEC A. BALLOU

The unstable surface of a mat or foam pads adds novelty and challenge to the exercise by introducing new instability.

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PHOTO: ISTOCK/VM

The Two Faces of Perfectionism in Riding

Most of us see perfectionism as a harmless tendency to hold ourselves to high standards, or a reluctance to accept mediocre results. In fact, many of us consider perfectionism to be a positive trait, a sign that someone cares and is deeply driven to succeed. Unfortunately, this casual acceptance of perfectionism conceals a potential danger because a lack of clarity around what perfectionism is and isn’t opens us up to a fatal error. Unknowingly, we celebrate and endorse a habit that leads to unnecessary pain and suffering, as well as impacts our performance.

In many ways, perfectionism acts as an enemy in disguise. If, after reading these opening lines, you hear an inner voice saying: Perfectionism isn’t all bad… how else can I achieve big things if I don’t push myself and hold myself to high standards?, then read on because this one is for you. I know what that voice is 78

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saying because I personally bought into the perfectionism myth for many, many years and experienced a great deal of mental suffering as a result. So much so that I now refer to myself as a recovering perfectionist. This article will challenge your assumptions around the best way to motivate yourself, create discipline, and see results as a rider. It will show you that there is a way to drive yourself that does not rely on negative self-evaluation.

Why do we celebrate perfectionism? It seems obvious to celebrate the pursuit of excellence and high achievement, but, as it turns out, excellence and perfection are not the same thing. At first glance, these two concepts may seem similar.

However, with a closer look you will realise that they are different in an important way. Striving for excellence supports performance by moving us towards higher and higher standards of

By Annika McGivern

achievement. Perfectionism is different.

It hinders performance by supporting the false assumption that we are continually falling short of expectation.

Our positive view of perfectionism is built on a faulty assumption: that without our inner critic we will end up as a blob on the couch, an underachieving, underperforming failure. When this perception is in charge, we beat ourselves up over a missed distance when jumping or a messy movement in a dressage test, and we believe this makes it less likely we will repeat the mistake. In essence, our inner perfectionist presents a very convincing lie that sounds something like this: Hey, I’m your inner perfectionist. Without me, you will underachieve and not reach your full potential. You need me to succeed.

This idea is oh so convincing, but false.

Not only does our inner perfectionist not deliver on his or her promises in the long

In the show ring, we can control our expectations and reactions, but there are far too many factors at play for us to control the results. For the perfectionist, results that do not meet expectations are inevitable, resulting in a cascade of negative emotions.

PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK/ANASTASIJA POPOVA

run, but it causes the exact opposite to happen. Being a perfectionist usually results in us experiencing significantly more negative emotion, learning less, and progressing slower, all of which can result in less success. To understand how to move forward, we need to untangle striving for excellence from insisting on perfection. Understanding how to do this is the key to success.

First, we need to challenge the idea that beating ourselves up is motivating.

Negative motivation seems effective, but it’s not. Beating ourselves up only works in the short term. In other words, we might win the battle, but we are likely to lose the war. We may successfully scare ourselves into paying extra attention and not repeating the initial mistake, but over time our perfectionism results in an overload of negative emotion, which makes it harder to remember important information and powerfully detracts from our performance. In my experience, most riders who try and motivate themselves through fear end up falling out of love with competition. They are unknowingly making their experience of being an equestrian more about shame, guilt, worry, and fear, than about discovery, growth, connection, and challenge. The more time we spend subjecting ourselves to shame and fear, the less effective we are as riders.

This unhelpful cycle occurs because negative emotions block our ability to learn. When we beat ourselves up over mistakes and failures, we cultivate a headspace in which we are unable to think creatively, problem solve, and most importantly, learn from what has happened. Interestingly, this means that beating ourselves up over a mistake can make it more likely that we will repeat it again in the future. We miss the key learning opportunity which could help us understand how to do things differently.

Because of this, it helps to understand that at the core of this pattern of behaviour is a simple formula: Expectation + Result that doesn’t meet that expectation = Negative reaction (guilt, shame, frustration, anger, sadness… etc.)

We have control over two parts of this formula: the expectation and the reaction. We do not have full control over our results. Think about it — you could canter into the show ring and give the best performance of your life and still not win. There are too many factors influencing our results. When our inner perfectionist is in control, we set our

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PHOTO: ISTOCK/CRINGUETTE PHOTO: DANIELLE SMARSH