PONY Magazine – December 2020

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guide

Gemma Gemma Tatt Tattersall’s ersall’s

arena

eventing tips

Super-handy

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winter hints pony’s lame

FFun un qquiz uiz Discover your fave pony’s personality

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plan an epic

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770032 425980 21 October – 17 November 2020

Dec 2020 £3.99 Issue 871

How to spot when your

dressage

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This Esme meets a star showjumper

The

main event

OUR EXPERT

Gemma Tattersall won a team gold medal at the 2018 World Equestrian Games, and rode for Great Britain at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Olympic rider Gemma Tattersall has the lowdown on arena eventing

W

hy not set yourself an awesome challenge this winter by having a go at arena eventing? It’ll help keep you motivated through the colder months, and is the perfect way to get your cross-country fix all year round!

did you know?

You can still enjoy arena eventing in the summer months, when classes are usually held on grass.

What’s the score?

BE IN THE KNOW This super-fun discipline involves up of jumping a course that’s made try oun s-c cros and mps wju sho both s take ing style fences, and everyth d roun p jum ’ll You place in an arena! ding hea re befo es fenc the coloured Some straight on to the XC section. r ove run competitions may just be and , ugh tho ps, cross-country jum t you might even find classes tha ! too , test e sag dres rt sho a involve

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Top tip

As with most jumping competitions, you’ll need to go clear to be in with a chance As there’ll be a lot of of winning! However, not all venues run fences to remember, their arena eventing comps in the same try to walk the course way, and some will be scored differently. twice if you have So, always check the schedule carefully enough time. and, if you’re still not sure, contact the organiser.

Time’s usually a factor, too, and will often decide the placings if there’s lots of clear rounds.

Usually you’ll need to be as close as possible to an optimum time, but sometimes the quickest rider wins! If you have a refusal or a knock-down, you’ll be given faults or time penalties. Watch out because sometimes the cross-country fences can be knocked down, too. If that happens to you, you’ll pick up extra penalties.

did you know?

Competitions may be held in an indoor or outdoor arena!

Perfect prep

If you or your pony aren’t very experienced over cross-country fences, make sure you get some practice in first.

Arena eventing courses are likely to include skinnies, corners and angled fences, so it’s important you’re jumping them confidently before entering a competition. You can create fences like these in your own arena or lots of venues now have arena XC courses that you can hire. Why not book your instructor to meet you there?

did you know?

The Pony Club has a new arena eventing competition, with an exciting final at its Spring Festival in April. Qualifying rounds are even open to non-members, too!

A change of pace

If you and your pony do a lot of cross-country, you’ll be used to cantering through open countryside and having plenty of space and time to get organised for each obstacle on the course.

With arena eventing, however, the fences come up quickly, one after the other. This’ll really test your reactions and accuracy, as well as your pony’s responsiveness. So, even if he’s a great jumper, set up different courses in your arena to improve your skills. Your instructor should be able to help you with this.

Working on making your pony’s canter adjustable will be really useful, too. It’ll mean you can ask him to open up his stride between fences to make up time, then take shorter, steadier steps to ace the turns or approach more technical fences.

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F O T STEP U O What to do if you think your pony’s lame

OUR EXPERT

Katherine Hall Katherine is an Equine Vet at Minster Equi ne Clinic in Yo rk.

L

ameness is fairly common in ponies, unfortunately, and there are loads of reasons why they might become unsound.

It could be due to a kick or a wound, an infection in the foot or doing too much work on hard ground. Some ponies go lame because they have laminitis. Whatever the cause, it’s important to notice when your pony’s uncomfortable so you can get him the right help as soon as possible.

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WORRYING SIGNS

If your pony’s lame in a foreleg you may notice he looks like he’s nodding, especially in trot. This is because he’ll lift his head up when the leg that’s hurting him hits the ground, to try and take the weight off it. Imagine he’s saying “ouch” whenever the painful leg touches the ground.

Lameness in a hindleg is harder to spot. The most common sign is the pelvis on the lame side will move more than the other – it’ll look like one hip is going up higher and the other side’s dropping.

Sometimes, your pony might be lame on more than one leg, which can happen with laminitis, and he’ll seem a little pottery or slower than usual.

If it’s a really severe lameness, he might not be able to put any weight on his leg at all and could refuse to move.

WHAT SHOULD I DO?

If you’re worried about your pony, ask an experienced adult, such as your yard manager, to take a look. If they think he might be lame, it’s important to call your vet. They’ll be able to give you some useful advice over the phone, and will probably suggest coming out to see him.

If your pony’s lameness is severe and sudden, put him in his stable until you’ve spoken to your vet. If he keeps moving around in the field it could make things worse.

LOOKING FOR TROUBLE

did you know?

Moving on a circle and on different surfaces will highlight certain types of lameness.

When the vet arrives to examine your pony, they’ll look for clues to help them work out what’s causing the lameness. They will...

• check for any wounds, lumps, bumps or swellings • feel his feet to see how hot they are, and check the digital pulses in his legs. Hot hooves and a bounding pulse can be signs of laminitis or a hoof abscess • apply pressure to his feet using hoof testers, to find out if they’re painful • watch him being walked and trotted away and towards them, in a straight line • ask to see him being lunged on a soft and hard surface • carry out flexion tests, where they lift up each leg for a few seconds, then ask you to trot your pony away. This increases the stress on the joints and ligaments and can make a subtle lameness seem worse

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