Horse&Rider Magazine – June 2020

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Issue number 606 June 2020 ■ Piggy March’s striding exercise ■ Boost your dressage marks ■ Creative polework layouts ■ Summertime soundness ■ Herd dynamics ■ Laminitis myth-busting ■ Tendon injuries

The UK’s best-selling equestrian monthly

Laminitis

myths busted

In this feature. . .

➤ Get

to grips with the scales of training

scales

Tipping the

As told to Tilly Berendt. Photos: Jon Stroud.

PART ONE: RHYTHM AND BALANCE

Nothing can flourish without a strong foundation, least of all your horse’s schooling. Dressage star Michael Eilberg guides us through the first scales of training

N

o matter which discipline holds pride of place in your heart, the scales of training are a universal set of building blocks that can be used to increase the difficulty of your horse’s work in a systematic way, allowing you to improve his way of going – for good.

The scales in detail

The first of these building blocks – or the base of the pyramid - is rhythm. This means that before you ask for anything more demanding in your horse’s training, you need to ensure there’s a regular, easy cadence to his movement. Then, you can begin to work on stage two, which is suppleness. Once your horse is both laterally and longitudinally supple, it’s time for step three – contact. The fact that you’re halfway up the pyramid before you even address the feeling through your reins and your horse’s outline is no coincidence.

When you’re able to ride your horse forward into a consistent contact without losing the rhythm or adding any tension, you can begin to add impulsion – the fourth training scale – which creates more of a connection from your leg to your hand. Now you’re working at a reasonably advanced level, you can think about asking for a more refined level of straightness, which requires balance and equal acceptance of the aids. Finally, when you reach the peak of the pyramid, you’re capable of creating such

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Pyramid of training

Collection Straightness Impulsion Contact Suppleness Rhythm

a burst of energy between your hand and leg that you can school collection, unlocking a whole world of variation within your paces.

The training scale is a guideline that helps you throughout the schooling process on any horse you ride. Because each level is interlinked, learning the hows and whys of each will allow you to spot holes in your schooling, giving you the best possible chance of fixing issues as they appear.

➤

In the saddle

➤ Use

polework to improve his balance ➤ Ride the rhythm

Our expert

Michael Eilberg is a multimedalled British Grand Prix dressage rider, who won team medals in 2013, 2014 and 2015. He’s twice piloted the World Young Horse Champion.

Our model

Chanell Murray rides Indian Summer, a nineyear-old mare. The pair qualified for the Regionals and Petplan Area Festivals Finals, and compete at Prelim and Novice.

HORSE&RIDER 23

Short, sweet and sweat-inducing Our expert

Photos: Jon Stroud

Fizz Marshall has worked with all types of horses in her six years as Centre Manager at the Equine Therapy Centre at Hartpury College in Gloucestershire. More recently she’s worked for racehorse trainer Jonjo O’Neill and as Yard Manager for Carl Hester.

34 HORSE&RIDER

Is interval training just for pros, or a useful tool for getting your own horse fit, too? Fizz Marshall breaks it down and explains how you can integrate it into your riding regime

F

itness work is a key component of any horse’s weekly exercise routine.

Regardless of your chosen discipline, having your horse fit enough to do his job is really important in preventing injury and maintaining his longevity. Of course all exercise, be it hacking, schooling or lungeing, will contribute to your horse’s overall fitness, but exercise specifically targeting his athletic conditioning will improve his stamina, agility and how well he recovers from TOP TIP cardiovascular effort.

If your horse is coming back into work after time off, follow your regular early fitness programme until he’s started canter work before introducing interval training.

In the saddle

The principles of interval training Interval training (IT) is widely used for improving athletic performance in both sport and racehorses. IT challenges and conditions a horse’s cardiovascular system by requiring him to complete bouts of high-intensity exercise followed by a short recovery period in which his heart rate returns to just above resting.

The beauty of IT is that it can be done anywhere – on gallops, around the edge of a field, on a suitable bridleway or even

TOP TIP

It’s important to keep track of how long you’ve been working your horse, both in each segment and overall. Therefore a stopwatch, or wristwatch with a timer on it, is essential in order to stick to your programme.

in a large, 40x60m arena.

As would be the case for any canter work you do, be mindful of the conditions underfoot and the impact on your horse’s legs. Deep, muddy ground has the potential to be just as damaging as hard or rutted going, so look for sound footing with some give, be that a synthetic surface or a natural one.

TOP TIP

Incorporating hills into your IT will increase its intensity and thus improve the fitness benefits for your horse. Cantering uphill will also help to reduce concussion on your horse’s front legs.

➤

HORSE&RIDER 35

Following

the fallout

Photos: Ant Kittle, Bob Atkins, Jon Stroud

Our expert

Bonita Ackerman Du Preez is a performance coach, neuro-linquistic programming, hypnotherapy, and eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR) practitioner. She runs Equine Edge Coaching and specialises in treating trauma, stress and anxiety.

52 HORSE&RIDER

Getting back in the saddle after a fall is a challenge every rider faces at some point. Performance coach Bonita explains what you can do to rebuild your confidence

W

e’ve all been there – a winter spent looking forward to the longer evenings and warmer climes of spring and summer is laid to waste by a confidence-knocking fall, and one of the biggest challenges we face is getting back on our horses afterwards. You may have made a full physical recovery, but the mental scars often remain. With the challenges and pressures of everyday life, as well as trying to balance work and family, mental recovery can be difficult.

While instructors, friends and family can be invaluable help in rebuilding lost confidence, if you’re still struggling with lingering worry and have lost your riding mojo, there’s plenty more you can try.

DID YOU KNOW?

Severe trauma combined with prolonged anxiety and stress can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which can only be dealt with by a professional therapist.

Mind matters

You may feel as though you’re the only one with these feelings, but the reality is that they’re extremely common

Confidence boosting

Loss of confidence affects all riders and the saddest conversations I have with clients are those who are thinking of giving up riding after an accident. They feel emotionally shaken and most say they feel out of control. These emotions become overwhelming and quickly begin to affect how the brain thinks, reacts and responds.

It might appear as though you’re the only one who feels this way, but in reality, it’s extremely common. However, in order to move on you need to understand what’s underneath those feelings of worry – and that’s fear.

Fear plays an important role in keeping us safe.

A part of the brain called the amygdala triggers a warning mechanism, which causes a fear response that alerts us to danger. If you put yourself into

a similar situation to that which triggered that fear in the first place, it sets off warning signals that indicate you’re putting yourself in danger again. Another part of the brain, the prefrontal cortex, struggles to cope with the sudden influx of information and goes offline, diverting everything to the hippocampus, or thinking part of your brain.

This increases your cortisol levels and induces anxiety or panic.

The memories or trauma from your accident can be described as large puzzle pieces floating around in your head – you simply need to find where each part goes. Each memory needs to be allocated a different part of the brain, which processes trauma and allows you to better understand and work through it.

➤

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