Horse&Rider Magazine – January 2016

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LESSONS WITH KITTY KING AND FAB CHAMPION KIT • SHOPPING! WIN! CHRISTMAS GIFTS • HORSEY BOOKS FOR WINTER EVENINGS UK’s BEST-SELLING EQUESTRIAN MONTHLY

A real passion for horses

FLATWORK • CONFIDENCE • JUMPING

VET

E S R O H psychology

BROKEN BONES

HOOF CARE

BE AN EXPERT!

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EASY WAYS TO...

TIPS

WATER CONFIDENCE

with Lucinda Green January 2016

Keep your horse flexible

Complete vet’s guide

JUMP-OFF SECRETS

schooling Winter

4 exercises, 10 minutes, amazing results!

£3.99

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Photos: Bob Atkins and Trevor Meeks

In the saddle

Winter Stuck for ideas when schooling on winter evenings?

Horse&Rider comes to the rescue with four fun, quick exercises from top trainers – one for each week – to improve your horse’s way of going and your riding, too

This month’s experts

International Grand Prix dressage rider Anna Ross shares her legyield zigzag exercise, perfect for improving your horse’s balance and suppleness, as well as your balance and co-ordination of aids

Eventer Lucinda Fredericks reveals how you can use raised canter poles to produce and regulate your horse’s power, and help you work on your co-ordination, timing and feel

Dressage trainer Tania Grantham shares her clockface poles exercise to help create and maintain an active and engaged trot and canter, as well as testing your accuracy in positioning your horse

Dressage rider Dan Greenwood shows you how to teach your horse to take weight behind and improve his medium paces, using a fun canter diamond exercise

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taying focused and motivated during the long, dark winter evenings can be really difficult.

Everything seems more bleak when it’s cold and gloomy, and schooling can feel monotonous.

If you’re stuck in a rut with your schooling and getting nowhere fast, then help is at hand. We spoke to top trainers and riders to bring you a new exercise to try each week, all winter. Spice up your schooling, teach yourself and your horse something new and improve his way of going ready for the spring competition season.

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As told to Charlotte Anderson. Photos: Bob Atkins. With thanks to Littleton Manor Equestrian

PART ONE In this feature. . .

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➤ Learn how to turn accurately

In the saddle

➤ Improve your organisation before and after fences

PART ONE: TIGHT TURNS

Jump-off

success

In a jump-off situation, the shortest route often wins. Ernest Dillon shares his top techniques for mastering riding tight corners

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umping a clear round is very exciting, but in order to win you’ll need to get through the jump-off, too, which requires skill and accuracy in abundance. There are three main ways you can beat the clock to win a jump-off...

1. Ride tight corners 2. Jump on angles 3. Up the tempo In this three-part series, I’m going to show you how to improve and practise each element so that you can ride your way into the ribbons.

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Our trainer

Ernest Dillon is a Showjumping Specialist Fellow of the BHS. He’s also a UKCC level three Showjumping Coach, an accredited BS Coach, a British Eventing Master Coach and a UKCC Coach Educator. He trains many four-star event and international showjumpers, and has competed on the international circuit himself.

Our rider and model

Amy Ovens runs Egerton Sports Horses and previously trained with the Schockemöhles.

Clever Guess, known as Suzy, is a four-year-old Dutch Warmblood who Amy has owned for two years. She’s currently competing at 1.05m.

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As told to Charlotte Anderson. Photos: Bob Atkins. With thanks to WeatherBeeta for their help with this feature, weatherbeeta.co.uk

PART FOUR In this feature. . .

is working

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➤ Learn what he should feel like

Ways to tell if your

horse correctly

In the saddle

➤ Feel when he isn’t working correctly ➤ Learn how to correct him

Our trainer Knowing when your horse is working correctly can prevent you resorting to recovery tactics with your riding. Dressage rider Paul Friday shows you what to look for

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iding a horse who isn’t working correctly makes every movement a lot harder than necessary. Despite your best efforts, your riding will never look effortless. Take the time to focus on whether your horse is working correctly or not, and you’ll be able to prevent major problems occurring.

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Paul Friday is an international dressage rider and trainer. He was crowned Prix St Georges Champion at the 2013 British Dressage NAF Five Star Winter Championships.

Paul trains, rides and competes up to Grand Prix level.

Our rider

Lucy Pye is 21 years old and has been riding for Paul since March 2015.

Our model

Can Can Herself is a 15.3hh, five-year-old Hanoverian homebred mare by Cardinar. She has recently started competing at Novice level and is just starting lateral work in training.

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On your horse’s

nerves

The equine nervous system controls your horse’s body inside and out. Vet Adam Jackson from Liphook Equine Hospital explains how it works and what happens when things go wrong

Photos: Bob Atkins. With thanks to Liphook Equine Hospital for their help with this feature, liphookequinehospital.co.uk

Our expert

Adam Jackson BSc BVM&S MSc PGCert PGDip MRCVS graduated with a Bachelor of Science (honours) in Canada. He read veterinary medicine at The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies and has also earned a Post Graduate Certificate and diploma in International Animal Health (equine infectious diseases). He is currently working at Liphook Equine Hospital as an ambulatory vet.

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cells called neurons. He is born with ver millions of years, a full complement of neurons horses have and produces no more during developed his life. He possesses physical billions of neurons that traits and connect with each other behaviours that have to form neurological allowed them to live circuits – some nerve cells successfully, survive in may have contact with the wild and reproduce. more than 100,000 other Your horse has a complex nerve cells. system in his body that allows Like an electrical current, him to receive information from high-speed signals, known as his environment, and link various nerve impulses, are transmitted body systems and organs to along these circuits, allowing work together, to develop information to be received and initiate an appropriate Synapse and delivered. The speed response to the of the signal varies from information. For example, 1mph to more than if he is exposed to 250mph. The junction extremely hot weather, he between two neurons must sense the exposure to Nerve cell is called a synapse, and it the hot weather, co-ordinate releases neurotransmitters into actions of various organs and the gap between the nerve cells. body systems to maintain his body Varying types of neurotransmitter can be temperature, and respond to minimise his released depending on the type of neuron, exposure to hot weather. and they can either promote the receiving neuron to fire off its own electrical signal How the nervous (excitatory) or dampen its activity making system works it less likely to fire off an electrical The horse’s nervous system consists of signal (inhibitory). nervous tissue that is made up of nerve

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