We hope you are all enjoying the slightly drier weather, which FINALLY seems to have arrived. Let’s hope it stays this way for a while!
Our team has been busy over the past month with another trip to the UK, a couple of shows, a few interviews and lots of research ahead of this edition. We really hope you enjoy the articles that have resulted from this period, and we can promise even more of this content next month! We’ve got some really exciting projects and, of course, articles in the pipeline.
In this edition, we hope you’ll enjoy our interviews where we catch up with Simon Cocozza, who is visiting SA in June to introduce his remarkably effective Core Conditioning concept; Briana Burgess, international Grand Prix dressage rider, who is currently here conducting a clinic for dressage riders across Gauteng; and, closer to home, Chad Cunningham whose impressive resume now includes coaching a student to win the Philip Smith Memorial Championships. This past month also saw our team attend the Peter Morrison Surface Seminar at Kyalami Park Club, and this edition includes our write-up from the session. It was a jam-packed learning session for us, and we hope you’ll get a lot out of this article.
Of course, we also have our regular content, which includes an article on colour genetics, a look at social anxiety in horses, a deep dive into how to maintain our horse’s condition over the winter period and much, much more.
We hope you’ll enjoy this edition, and we’ll see you in June for more of your favourite equestrian content.
Dr Lizzie Harrison | Editor
DIGITAL ISSUE 170C | 2025
CONTENTS
Unlocking your horse’s hidden potential
Core Conditioning with Simon Cocozza
Briana Burgess
Training for the top
Chad Cunningham
Coach of Hamza Minty, winner of the Philip Smith Memorial Championship
Training shorts
Stretching
Winter weight loss
Keeping condition in the cold
Social anxiety
Managing a horse who is afraid of others
Equine coat colour genetics
Understanding the genes behind your horse's colouring
AskHQ
Your questions answered
UNLOCKING YOUR HORSE’S HIDDEN POTENTIAL
CORE CONDITIONING WITH SIMON COCOZZA
Simon Cocozza is a top international trainer, author of the bestselling book ‘Core Conditioning for Horses’, and a FFElevel coach now specialising in applied equine biomechanics. His revolutionary system – Core Conditioning for Horses – focuses on developing strength and flexibility in the deepest parts of the horse, and enhancing balance and longevity through gymnastic groundwork and intelligent schooling.
Whether your horse struggles with topline development, kissing spine or overall suppleness, Simon’s method helps unlock performance and comfort at every level.
His upcoming clinic in South Africa provides a rare opportunity to train with someone who understands how to build horses from the inside out. If you’re serious about long-term soundness, real progress and ethical training, you can’t afford to miss this.
We caught up with Simon to discuss how a better understanding of the spinal column can revolutionise our
training AND our relationship with our horses.
HQ: It’s a pleasure to meet you, and we’re incredibly excited about your upcoming clinic in South Africa. Can you tell us a bit about your journey for readers who don’t know you?
Simon: I qualified as an instructor and trained over the years under several Grand Prix riders from Holland and Germany. When I started out on my own, I would buy horses from those countries and bring them home. But I quickly found that many of them were, shall we say, a bit idiosyncratic.
Despite following traditional training methods, I struggled to get past certain issues in my pursuit of Olympic-level performance. Eventually, I began having these horses X-rayed – and that’s when I discovered the real problem. Many of them had bone-on-bone contact in their backs, sometimes only when uder saddle and impulsion. No athlete can perform under those conditions. What’s peculiar about horses is that they compensate incredibly well and don’t complain until they simply can’t cope anymore.
In my lectures, I reference a study by Dr Matilda Holmer from the Munich Veterinary University. She examined 300 sporthorses, not because they had known back issues, but simply using the standard sales X-rays. I believe most of them were Warmbloods. She found that 91% had bone-onbone contact at at least one point in the spine, and 51% had multiple affected sites. Interestingly, the 9%
INFO
Join Simon’s clinic in Johannesburg from the 15th to the 21st of June 2025.
who didn’t show any issues were all unbacked horses. That’s the reality of the data.
From this and my own experience, I came to the conclusion that the very act of sitting on a horse compromises spinal function – and without a functioning back, you have nothing to work with and it clearly crosses our ethical boundaries to put the horse through it.
In practice, I now see this as a spectrum. Every horse I work with is, to some extent, self-limiting. They’re subconsciously aware that certain movements might cause discomfort in their back, so they hold back. As a result, we’re often seeing only a fraction of what they’re capable of, because some of the vertebral joints aren’t moving properly.
That was my wake-up call. I started looking more closely at my own horses – who had cost a fortune but weren’t delivering the results.
I realised the issue was in the back. I began isolating that area in my training and eventually developed a system that focuses on creating good posture under saddle and proper function through the entire spinal column during riding.
The results were astonishing. Within weeks, horses that had been static
or difficult for years – progressing slowly, if at all – suddenly showed dramatic improvement.
I’ve refined the system to the point where I can often get a noticeable result in just one session. I think that’s why it’s become so popular.
I’ve been to countless clinics with top experts, and while they often give good advice, I’d leave thinking, ‘Did that really move the needle?’ With this system, riders see a real, practical difference – immediately.
Kissing spine is just the end of the road in training a horse from front to back without taking care of the middle.
– Simon Cocozza
HQ: So for you, the key focus is the horse’s spinal column?
Simon: Absolutely. The biggest obstacle in training isn’t a lack of education or even the horse’s physical ability – it’s the spinal column. When you address that, everything else improves. And it doesn’t just improve—it improves dramatically and quickly. The results can be quite addictive!
With horses, you have this long, horizontal spine that has to carry a human being right in the middle of the unsupported thoracic region. That area is already under a lot of strain – it carries the gut, the organs, and everything else that moves around during motion. There’s a natural oscillation, and when you add the weight of a rider on top, it often exceeds the capacity of the spine’s support mechanisms. That’s when problems start.
What I do in my core conditioning programme is first remove any existing issues – compensations, historical injuries, or blockages – and then I focus on strengthening the horse’s core. I aim to build it up to around 150% of its natural capacity, just as you might upgrade a car’s suspension if you plan to do more than just drive to the shops. It’s the same principle.
If you expect a horse to carry a rider and perform at its best, he needs a strong, well-developed core. That strength supports the spinal column, helps maintain correct alignment, and allows it to move freely and confidently – as it was designed to. Horses aren’t born athletes. We create them. And that takes careful, focused development of the core to allow them to work with us effectively.
HQ: How would you describe your Core Conditioning system?
Simon: At its core, my system is about addressing and correcting weaknesses and misalignments in the horse’s spinal column. When a horse experiences that kind of misalignment, he naturally tries to protect himself by creating tension in specific muscle groups. As a result, some parts of the body become underused, while others are overused.
This isn’t something limited to novice or lower-level horses – you see it even in dressage champions at the very top of the sport. Often, they have a rigid, fixed back paired with exaggerated limb movement. Unfortunately, this overextension of the limbs is visually appealing and is often rewarded in the ring today. But if you study the overall distribution of movement and force throughout the horse’s body, you’ll spot the tension and the blocked, sensitive areas that come with it.
It’s not just about the horse, either. The rider is part of the same system. When a horse has this kind of tension in its back, the rider often compensates without even realising –by leaning behind the vertical or riding off the mouth in that exaggerated show style. It’s an attempt to manage the horse’s rigidity, but it ends up making the problem worse. The rider essentially becomes a pivot point in the compressed topline, amplifying the issue.
So, when I start working with a horse, I use very little or no impulsion both on the ground and under saddle. The goal is to stretch and release the tension, re-establishing range of motion in areas that have shut down. From there, I focus on lifting the back to where it should be and eliminating that pivot effect entirely. When you remove the tension, everything changes. The rider can sit to the gaits naturally, without needing to rely on the reins for balance. The entire picture becomes far more harmonious.
HQ: Does your method require a lot of horsemanship to help horses release the tension they’re carrying?
Simon: Surprisingly, no – not as much as you might think. The system is designed in a way that works with the horse’s natural instincts. The movements themselves feel good to the horse, so the process becomes self-reinforcing. Once you remove impulsion and allow the horse to stretch gently, they start to feel relief. That feeling becomes the incentive.
You can’t tell a horse how to change its posture. But what you can do is create the right circumstances for the horse to make a postural adjustment on its own. In that moment of change, the horse experiences a sense of physical ease, and that positive
sensation encourages them to repeat it. Once they realise it feels better, they begin to seek out those positions naturally.
The whole thing starts to snowball. The horse essentially begins to ‘self-sort’ because the new way of carrying themselves is inherently more comfortable. The key is to make it all make sense to the horse – set up the right environment, let them make the discovery, and then build on that breakthrough.
Once the horse is in a better posture, the rider’s job becomes easier too. Their reflexes, position, and the way they apply and coordinate the aids all become clearer and more effective. Everything starts to improve – rider and horse moving forward together in a positive cycle instead of a negative one.
HQ: Do you work mainly with dressage horses, or do you work across disciplines?
Simon: Dressage is probably the discipline where people care most about the kind of detail I focus on – but the principles apply to every horse. When you’re improving biomechanics, you’re essentially improving athleticism. Any horse, regardless of discipline, will perform better and stay sounder longer if he’s moving correctly through the spinal column with strength and freedom of movement.
I actually really enjoy working with jumpers too – I used to jump professionally myself. I can often
make a noticeable difference in a showjumper in just a couple of weeks. If you get the horse straighter and teach him to stretch properly, the rider can approach the fence without the horse becoming crooked or triangulating on the turn. That alignment makes a huge difference.
When the horse comes into the fence straight and balanced—and knows how to stretch and organise his body—he can bascule more effectively. You get that beautiful arc over the fence, and the horse is able to concertina its front and hind legs properly, which means fewer rails down and better overall performance.
sectors of the equine industry?
Simon: The one industry that really needs this work and has been exciting to work with is the racing industry. I used to breed flat racers in France, and I would watch the foals cantering behind their mothers even before weaning – already showing asymmetries, like triangulating and swinging their quarters to one side. It’s a natural behaviour, much like you see in dogs.
programme to these youngsters for just a couple of weeks. At that stage, they have very little strength and no real compensation patterns, so it’s the perfect time to intervene. We could abolish asymmetries early on. I’d then send them off to the trainer as yearlings, and these horses ran sound, stayed injury-free, and performed exceptionally well. They earned me a fortune!
HQ: What makes this work so important?
Simon: Horses don’t complain – not really. But they are suffering to do our sport. They’re in pain every single day, trying to please their riders, and it’s entirely solvable. We’re not talking about huge changes – we just need to adapt our systems to give them a better experience.
Millions of horses are being ridden hard every day and living in a state of silent discomfort. That’s unacceptable. This work exists to change that.
HQ: What can riders expect at the clinic in South Africa?
Simon: They’ll feel the difference.
Things they’ve struggled with for years often become dramatically easier within two weeks. The system allows the horse to rebalance, and as a result, everything starts to fall into place.
Even if your jumper is already at 1.50m, or your dressage horse is in the Big Tour, you can still make meaningful improvements. By identifying and addressing weak areas in the spine, you unlock better performance, longevity, and comfort. For ambitious riders, this can mean winning more. For others, it’s about simply helping their horse feel better. Either way, it matters.
HQ: And will there be another book?
Simon: Yes. I want to adapt our training system to focus more on prevention. If we can catch these issues early, we can avoid them altogether. Radiography, nuclear scintigraphy, and MRI are showing us
more than ever before about what’s really going on inside the horse – and how valuable it is to train differently.
HQ: Thank you so much for your time. We can’t wait to see you at the clinic in June!
Winners of the Toyota Outdoor Grand Prix
Ronnie Healy and Blue Turtle’s Capital Magic Boy
(Toulon x Darco x Voltaire)
DID YOU KNOW?
A horse’s hoof grows about 1cm per month, meaning it takes roughly a year to fully grow from the coronary band to the ground.
BRIANA BURGESS
TRAINING FOR THE TOP
Briana Burgess is an International Grand Prix rider and Top 10 World Young Horse Championship Finalist. She spent 12 years based in Germany, training under some of the world’s top coaches, including Johan Rockx, Penny Zavitz-Rockx, Monica Theodorescu, Patrik Kittel, Helen Langehanenberg and Christoph Koschel.
Now based in the South of France at Domaine Equestre Des Grands Pins, Briana specialises in
developing young horses to Grand Prix level and travels the world offering elite-level dressage coaching and clinics. Her training philosophy focuses on classical principles, horse welfare, and developing a genuine partnership between horse and rider.
We caught up with her during her recent trip to South Africa to talk about her training principles, her love of young horses, and her thoughts on the sport today.
ACHIEVEMENTS
2014
Shortlisted for Australian Team – World Equestrian Games
2015
Placed at CDI Munich and CDI Vidauban on the World Dressage Masters 5* Tour Winner – CDI Vidauban Grand Prix Special
2016
Top 10 – Nürnberger Burg-Pokal Qualification (German Championships)
2017
Top 10 finish – World Young Horse Championships (Six-Year-Old Division)
2018
Longlisted – Australian Team, World Equestrian Games Tryon
MEET BRIANA
HQ: How did your journey into dressage begin?
Briana: I grew up around horses in Australia. My grandfather had Arabians and Thoroughbreds, and my mother also had an interest in horses – though not professionally. I started riding at a local riding school when I was about eight years old.
In my teenage years, I was already competing at Prix St. Georges level, but I was frustrated because I wasn’t
getting the kind of learning I wanted. I was obsessed with the European dressage scene and the depth of knowledge there, so as soon as I finished school, I moved to Belgium to become a working student with Johan Rockx. I did everything –managing horses, cleaning boxes, preparing for shows – and soaked up as much learning by riding under a professional as I could. From there, I spent three years with Monica Theodorescu and ended up staying in Germany for 12 years.
HQ future?
Briana:
passion. Young horses are especially rewarding because they’re a blank canvas – you get to educate them and enjoy the journey together. Between three and nine years old, horses go through tremendous physical and mental changes, and
My goals aren’t purely competitive. I let the horses tell me when they’re ready. My role as a rider is to listen to them, not push my own ambition. Horses should never be vehicles for our egos. I focus on what each individual horse needs to thrive.
TRAINING PRINCIPLES
HQ: What are the key principles of your training?
Briana: The training scale exists for a reason – it’s a roadmap for developing horses correctly in body and mind. If you follow it, you’ll build a sound, capable horse.
Especially with young horses, it’s critical not to push too early. If you challenge them beyond their level of physical development, you create
resistance and risk injuries. My first priority is to assess their readiness –physically, mentally, and emotionally. I study their bodies, their nutrition, their movement. If they’re not ready, I won’t ask.
You have to look at the horse as a whole. People often make the mistake of overworking young horses, and then injuries follow. I believe in developing them as athletes – slowly and mindfully.
HQ: How do you see the training scale being applied?
Briana: I teach a lot of clinics in Australia and other countries, and I often find that the training scale isn’t always well understood. People talk about “their system,” but the training scale is there as a clear identifier of whether you are on the right track – it’s there to ensure horses are developed correctly.
Of course, every horse is different, and how you apply the training scale can vary. Some need a softer ride, some need more support –but the structure doesn’t change. The principles remain; only the application differs. You adjust your riding, not the method.
HQ: When you’re evaluating a young horse, what do you look for?
Briana: First, I want to feel a connection. I want to know the horse is willing to form a relationship. I assess his natural balance, how he moves, and how he accepts the contact. I want to feel a swinging back underneath me as this indicates that the horse will find the work easier. I don’t look for the world’s biggest mover. I want to see how the horse uses his body – his hind leg activity, shoulder freedom, and balance. Ultimately, though, rideability and temperament are the most important things. A horse might not have the flashiest gaits, but if he has a good mind and wants to learn, that’s a horse I want to train.
MANAGEMENT
HQ: What’s your approach to managing these top-level athletes day-to-day?
Briana: I keep it as natural as possible. I don’t over-blanket. I limit bandaging because heat build-up can damage tendons. My horses go in the paddock every day, and I use the horse walker regularly to ensure consistent movement. I believe in simple, consistent, horse-friendly management. They need to be allowed to just be horses.
THE SPORT TODAY
HQ: Have you seen changes in dressage breeding since being in Europe?
Briana: Definitely. I’m not a breeding expert, but from my observations, the modern horse has much more blood – more Thoroughbred influence. They’re lighter, more expressive, and more refined. The model has changed dramatically.
HQ: Social media has created a focus on big movers and flashy gaits. What’s your view on that?
Briana: I think sometimes people can get a bit distracted by big movements and flashy gaits. Of course, there are exceptional equine athletes that are born with incredible suppleness and elasticity, but at the end of the day, the focus needs to come back to a correctly educated horse. It’s also worth noting that correctly educating a horse leads to a horse improving
the quality of his gaits and allows him to really shine.
HQ: How do you find dressage in South Africa?
Briana: It’s too soon for me to make broad statements, but wherever you go, correct training and a focus on the basics is essential. Riders often want to skip ahead to the movements, but movements are just extensions of solid basics. If you’re doing tricks without correct foundations, it’s not dressage – it’s just tricks.
HQ: Finally, what do you think it is that makes dressage such a special and unique sport?
Briana: I think part of it is that people often only see the finished product – the best of the best – and they don’t realise what goes into getting there. When you find the right partnership with a horse and put in the time to build that trust and communication, that’s when dressage becomes truly special. You won’t have that connection with every horse, and that’s what makes
the sport so unique. It’s all about developing a relationship where your horse trusts you and you trust them. Things don’t always go perfectly, but when you see riders at the top, you’re seeing years of hard work, training, and figuring out exactly what the horse needs – at home, at shows, and everything in between. That’s when it all comes together, and their aids are so refined you hardly notice them. It’s really a team effort, and that connection is what makes this sport so amazing.
DID YOU KNOW?
Horses naturally produce biotin in the hindgut, but the amount that is actually absorbed is unclear.
DID YOU KNOW?
Gas colic occurs when excess gas accumulates in the intestines, resulting in painful distension. It is often caused by diets rich in grains or lush grazing.
CHAD CUNNINGHAM
COACH OF HAMZA MINTY, WINNER OF THE PHILIP SMITH MEMORIAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Chad Cunningham’s student, Hamza Minty, has just won the prestigious Philip Smith Memorial Equitation Championship. This is a huge achievement, not only for the rider, but also for the coach, who must prepare their rider to face the most ‘all-encompassing’ challenge our sport has to offer.
HQ Magazine were fortunate enough to catch up with Chad and find out more about his coaching philosophy, his method for preparing students for the Philip Smith and his own background in the industry.
HQ: In terms of your background in the sport, can you tell our readers how you came to be involved in equestrian?
Chad: I came to equestrian through my grandfather. My grandfather was always in love with horses. He never had the opportunity to ride horses, but he and his best friend from school decided at some point in their lives that they were going to buy some racehorses and own them in syndicates.
And from the earliest days I can remember, my grandfather would take me to the racing stables, where I would sit for hours, watching the horses return from their work sessions.
Unfortunately, however, when I was younger, I was highly allergic to horses. It took years for me to outgrow it, but I was determined to do so. I mean, there's just nothing like a horse; I just was absolutely in love with horses.
So that’s really how it all came about for me.
HQ: What led you to coaching? Has it always been a huge passion for you?
Chad: Yeah, what led me to coaching was that when I was 15 or 16, there were a couple of kids looking for lunge lessons and doing little jumps, and I stepped in to help. I didn't work in the riding school, but I helped a couple of little kids ride, and I really enjoyed it.
Since then, I’ve always had a passion for teaching and sharing the knowledge I've learned. And even to this day, I always say that none of the things I have or pass on to my students are made up. Yes, they are my own interpretation, but I have been very fortunate in that I have been surrounded by outstanding coaches throughout my career and have learnt a lot. I always feel like I want to share what I know.
But really, my biggest thing is not even about that - it's about enabling the rider to do things better for the
horse. If we can do things better as a rider, I'm doing my job by always helping the horse and making his life as easy as possible.
HQ: So if you had to choose between coaching or competing, what would you choose?
Chad: My first love is coaching. I love riding and competing myself. However, in my case, my priority is always my students. I put a lot of time into each and every one of them. And I'm hugely passionate about them, their goals and their horses and where we're going in the sport.
HQ: What can your students expect from lessons with you? And what do you expect from your students? Chad: What my students can expect from me is that I'm like a mirror. If they put in 100%, I'll be putting in 120% back. I appreciate any student who is open-minded, willing to learn, and eager to try new things, and then I go the extra mile.
In terms of what I expect from my students, there are enough coaches, especially in the area where I live, in
Kyalami, that no one is forced to ride with anyone; it's a choice. So, if you choose to ride with me, I expect you to learn my system and follow it. It's not for everyone. It's a system that's disciplined and structured. I have a plan. We are aware of the goals we've set. We've set a long-term goal for the year. For sure, sometimes goals aren't achieved due to certain factors - horses may go lame or get sick, or riders may lose a bit of confidence –whatever the reason may be, but we always try to stay on plan.
HQ: How would you describe your coaching philosophy? Are there particular schools of thought/ coaches you follow?
Chad: My philosophy when it comes to coaching is that I firmly believe in the fundamentals and the basics of riding. If our basics of riding are in place and well established, it's easier when things go wrong to fall back on them and rebuild going forward. I've also always been a stickler for the rider's position
because I believe that if the rider sits on the horse correctly, they will be able to give the aids correctly and extract more from the horse, and the horse will be able to understand the rider more effectively. Again, the coaches I've worked with in the past, who have also coached me, have always been that way inclined about the basics of riding and understanding the mechanics of how a horse works, as well as how to make the job easier for the horse.
Then, in terms of broader philosophy, it’s all about the discipline and developing some grit, which comes along the way, because whatever you put in, you're going to get out.
HQ: How does coaching for the Philip Smith Memorial Equitation Championship differ? What goes into preparing a student for the PSM?
Chad: There is nothing different from my side, because my lessons are very structured and we cover many of the basics in our daily training.
We have lessons at the beginning of the week where we do a lot of work on the flat. Part of my system is that we often work without stirrups, as working without stirrups really develops and cements the feeling of being one with the horses. I know there's often some negativity surrounding no-stirrup work, with people saying that the horses are sore or the riders are stiff. And, absolutely, if you're not doing this work regularly, the rider and horse are going to be stiff. But if you do a little bit every day or twice a week, you get better at it.
Then, the lead-up to Philip Smith involves two additional things. One is getting the test and familiarising ourselves with it within the dressage arena. It’s not quite a full dressage test where we have to do something between X, Y, and Z, so we can make it our own, have our own flair, or our own take on the test to a certain degree. So, yeah, it's running through that test and becoming familiar with the movements, as some parts have no stirrups, reins in one hand, etc. Knowing exactly where to do all those things is crucial because those mistakes can result in minus marks, so we want to avoid them.
The second aspect is that if a rider only has one horse, I will ensure that they sit on several other
horses before the competition and give them the opportunity to train on different horses. If a rider is a rider who, like Hamza, has ridden a lot of horses and has quite a big string of horses, it does make it a lot easier because his versatility on different horses is much greater. He's been overseas on trips with me, for example, to Spain, where he's also had the opportunity to ride other horses. So that does give you a huge advantage. But in my case if I had a student that qualified who wasn't in the same situation I would definitely organise for them to sit on other horses to practice their flat work and their jumping and get familiar and become confident with different types of horses - hotter horses, slower horses, cold horses, whatever it may be.
HQ: What is the most rewarding aspect of coaching young riders? And what would you say is the biggest challenge?
Chad: The most rewarding thing is seeing riders accomplish not just the big things – I mean not just the wins – but the small things where they learn a new way forward with their horse. Once they learn to get things right with their horse, they appreciate the process of how they achieved it and that is very
satisifying. I've said this so many times, but I fell in love with the sport because of my love for the horse - I mean, the feeling of that animal and being in their presence. I certainly didn't fall in love with doing the shoulder-in, counter-canter or sitting trot but I knew that was part of the process of improving the horse and my own horsemanship. So I think seeing my students excel in the small things, and start to love the process, is the main reward.
The biggest challenge for some students is that they become frustrated with the horse and seek instant gratification from the sport or the horse. Most of the time, it's not that the horse doesn't get it, but that the rider hasn't given the correct aids. Ultimately, as well, horses are also living animals, and they have their off
days and their on days; they can also have a day where they just hit a pole, no matter how good they are. They can have a pole down, a time fault or maybe stop or whatever the case may be. That need for instant results can be a bit frustrating to manage but it affects all aspects of our sport, not just coaching.
HQ: What fundamental skills do you believe every young rider should master?
Chad: I think the biggest skill that a young rider needs to master is patience. In today's age, instant gratification is a big issue. You know, you shop online, you expect it to arrive within 24 hours, and there's a lot of that thinking around achieving stuff. Unfortunately, it doesn't work like that with horses. There are no shortcuts. Sometimes a rider needs to back off, sometimes they need to give the horse more time, sometimes they have to repeat the lesson for the horse to understand. This also applies to the rider's learning as well. One of the most important
things is to be patient, learn a technique, develop a skill and let it take the time it needs. Sometimes it happens a little quicker, and sometimes it happens a little slower, depending on the horse or rider. So, it’s about staying on their journey, not constantly comparing themselves to others. It isn't easy when they’re amongst their peers and possibly their peers are a bit ahead of themmaybe they're jumping more clears or they're winning more classes - but at the end of the day it’s their journey and if they stick to their journey and don't compare themselves to others, I almost guarantee there'll be a lot of success. It might just be at a different time, but everyone will have their day.
HQ: You must be so proud of Hamza. What does it mean to you to win this competition as a coach?
Chad: I think it's a massive accolade because it is the crème de la crème of equitation at the end of the day. We have a lot of classes, a lot of titles, a lot of provincial titles, and a national title as well. Yet they take the top four from those, and they bring them into this competition, so it’s impressive even to be there.
And, it's a hugely strenuous competition in the fact that it's two days and you're riding your own horse and three other horses in a flatwork phase. You have three judges judging, you don't know the scores, you have an idea in your head, but you're not 100% sure. Then you have another day where you ride your own horse again through a gymnastic with no stirrups and reins in one hand, and then jump the course. You do the same thing with three other horses, and again, you have three new judges judging.
Chad jumping Capital Stud stallion Capital My Friend.
As the coach of the winning rider, I feel extremely privileged to be a part of that person's journey and witness their development all the way to the end. It's a very proud moment for any coach who has had a rider qualify for it, let alone win it. And the competition itself is a huge test of the coaching, as you're not even with your students in the practice arena, so you can't help them or give them any guidance. You have to hope that they will remember and apply what you have taught them over the years, so when they come out and do a good job, it's a really great feeling because your students have done you proud.
HQ: With coaching so many young people, how do you see the future of riding in South Africa, and what changes would you like to see in the industry?
Chad: The future of South African showjumping is very bright at the moment. There's a huge amount of talent coming through the divisions. The number of horses at shows is huge.
But I can tell you the one very good thing for anyone's riding is working without stirrups and jumping without stirrups
– Chad Cunningham
Young Riders, Juniors and Pony Riders are still backed hugely by their parents, so there's a huge advantage to that. Where it sometimes dies down a little is when they finish school and go off to study. There are many challenges involved at this stage, and hopefully, the riders stay involved in the sport, make their way back to it, and return to the high levels of competition.
In terms of the changes I'd like to see in the industry, there are two key areas. One, I'd like to see a better coaching system. We have a good model at the moment where you can become a qualified coach, but I think we need some extension from that. We have, in the past, had top international coaches come in to
coach us. One being Rob Hoekstra, who came for quite a few days. I was also part of the FEI Level 1, 2, and 3 Coaches System, where we had Gerry Mullins, Jean Philippe Camboulives, and Lars Meyers zu Bexten come in. However, if I look at the lower levels, they definitely need a lot of attention. I can see a lot of things are maybe missed and not put in place by coaches for riders in the lower levels, and then sometimes riders come to you and they're in 110s, 120s and the wheels are coming off and then you have to go back to basics for eight to ten months to try and get all of that in place. This is not ideal because it sometimes becomes a rushed job, as the Pony Riders and Juniors don't have a very long career.
And then the second thing is that I'd like to see the riders gain more international exposure, across our borders or in Europe or America. I've made a huge effort over the last 15 to 17 years, taking riders every year and touring Europe or America, involving them, and allowing them to see what the system looks like or what the sport looks like on the other side of the world. And it's a huge eye-opener for all of them, usually. I've been fortunate enough to have good contacts with coaching, so we haven't got into a system that is just a German system or a Dutch system. I've been very aware of approaching coaches who tend to adopt a more universal style, covering everything from basics to style, correctness, and the
correct management of horses, etc. And obviously, when we're there, I focus on finding the. right horses to learn on and try and expose them to some of the biggest shows. We've jumped at a Global Champions Tour in Berlin, we've been to shows in Aachen, we've jumped in Pilbergen, we've jumped at WEF, we've jumped in Calgary and at Spruce Meadows. So I think exposure is important and allowing riders to see what is out there and what the future of the sport is outside of South Africa. I also want to give them an idea of all the different aspects of our sport and all the various things that one could be involved with and still be involved with horses. I think those are probably my two biggest areas I’d like to see improve here.
HQ: Thank you, Chad, for taking the time to share your knowledge with us today. We wish you and your students all the best for the upcoming Toyota World Cup Qualifier and Western Shoppe South African Youth Championships.
Chad and Philip Smith winning student, Hamza Minty.
DID YOU KNOW?
Horses typically produce between 10 and 12 poos a day.
DID YOU KNOW?
Horse insurance isn’t a one-size-fits-all package. Whether your horse is a top athlete or a paddock ornament, there will be an insurance package for him, allowing you to plan for the unexpected.
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Condition
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Breeding
CONDITIONING SUPPLEMENT
A premium 14%, grainfree formulation, ensuring a balanced and easily digestible meal for your horse.
The calorie-dense nature provides a sufficient energy source, perfect for balancing performance and condition of the demands of hardworking competition horses.
Enriched with a strategic combination of essential amino acids, a fortified supply of Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids and added turmeric designed to cater to unique nutritional demands during periods of high activity, restricted calorie intake and poor roughage supply or simply when extra conditioning is needed.
BROODMARE 14%
Tailored specifically for the demands of breeding horses, this balanced ration features an optimal Ca:P ratio for skeletal integrity, premium proteins for superior amino acid availability, and highly digestible fats to enhance condition and assist with lactation
DID YOU KNOW?
It is estimated that up to 60% of all lameness in horses stems from arthritis or joint disease.
DID YOU KNOW?
The most common method for genetic testing in horses involves using a hair sample to identify mutations associated with a specific disease.
OGILVY EQUINE REHABILITATION CENTRE - WHERE OUR PASSION IS EQUINE REHABILITATION AND OUR GOAL IS A SOUND AND HAPPY HORSE!
Situated in Pretoria East | Contact Anca Roode for more information on 082 736 0457
DID YOU KNOW?
Horses have eight major blood types – A, C, D, K, P, Q, U and T (the first seven of which are internationally recognised).
TRAINING SHORTS
STRETCHING
Stretching is often a neglected aspect of flatwork, but really is a great way to end off a session.
A QUALITY STRETCH
A quality stretch has your horse’s body in a convex shape with his poll the lowest point, his back lifted, and withers raised. A quality stretch does take time to achieve and usually involves keeping contact, rather than dropping your horse entirely.
TOP TIP
A stretch can tell you a lot about the quality of your horse’s movement and conformation. A super-supple horse with correct, uphill conformation will find it much easier to offer a soft and rounded stretch than a horse lacking balance or with downhill conformation. Do not despair, however, if your horse struggles to stretch, but instead know that as your horse becomes more supple and stronger in his work, you will see his stretch improve. His poor stretching ability now is merely the starting point from which you will improve!
TOP TIP
To improve your horse’s stretching ability from the ground, it is worth practising your stretching routine using carrot stretches on the ground. These really do help to improve suppleness and reduce the risk of soreness. They can be done before and after a session but remember not to ask too much before a session, when your horse’s muscles are still ‘cold’!
Of course, stretching can also be great at the start of a session, but if your horse is not keen to stretch, you must not force the issue. Horses naturally want to stretch over the topline when they have been using their muscles and the muscles are beginning to tire. Spending lots of time at the start
of a session trying to achieve a stretch, when your horse does not readily offer it, can ultimately be counterproductive, as it removes the key element of stretching, which is relaxation. ‘Forcing a stretch’ really will only create tension and is unlikely to have any physical benefit for your horse.
DID YOU KNOW?
Before the widespread use of motorised boats, horses used to pull barges up the canal systems of the UK. They would walk along the towpath pulling the boat in the canal.
WINTER WEIGHT LOSS
KEEPING CONDITION IN THE COLD
Loss of weight in winter is a concern with many of our equines, especially those who are older or naturally leaner. The cold weather in winter increases energy demands on our horses, as they must produce more body heat to maintain their body temperature. On top of this, the amount and quality of the grazing in the paddocks during winter is dramatically reduced.
All of this means that even if you are feeding a top-of-the-range ration to your horse, with high-quality forage and concentrate feed, you must not overlook the fact that winter conditions result in horses typically requiring more food (in the form of hay, grazing, and concentrate feed) than usual to maintain body condition and keep up with their workload.
THE EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE
All warm-blooded animals, including horses, have a critical temperature. This is the outside temperature below which a horse must produce extra heat to maintain his body temperature.
The critical temperature, however, varies depending on the horse’s condition. A mature horse in good condition, where ribs cannot be seen, has a critical temperature of around 0°C. This means that any environmental temperature drop below 0°C will require the horse to produce extra heat. After developing a winter coat, the critical temperature may drop even lower to somewhere around -5°C.
It is estimated that young horses, thinner horses and those who have been stabled and not developed a full winter coat might only have a critical temperature of between +10°C and +5°C. This is important to note, as horses require about 15-20% more feed for each 10-15°C that the ambient temperature falls below their critical temperature. This is to produce the extra heat required to keep them warm.
Therefore, each horse must be considered as an individual when it comes to winter feeding.
IMPACT ON FEEDING
Temperatures in South Africa do not commonly drop low enough to require the majority of horses to need the extra 15-20% feed. However, most horses will still require more food in winter than in summer.
Another point to note regarding feeding regime changes is that while
horses exposed to constant, chronic cold weather acclimate to the cold, horses not accustomed to cooler temperatures typically need 10 to 21 days to adapt to the altered temperature. It is, therefore, often helpful to adjust feeding before the cold weather sets in to avoid playing catch-up to maintain condition over the winter period.
FEEDING MORE – THE OPTIONS
OPTION 1: FEEDING EXTRA CONCENTRATES
As concentrates generally provide more calories per kilogram than roughage, they are often the first choice for many owners looking to increase energy intake. However, even if horses require a small amount of extra hard feed to provide increased calories, they will not need a significant change unless their workload has increased substantially or if they are pregnant,
lactating, or growing. In fact, rather than increasing the quantity of feed, it is often better to switch to a higher-calorie, energy-dense feed, which allows meal sizes to remain small, facilitating more efficient digestion while allowing the horse to derive more calories from the feed.
The bottom line is that, as much as feeding extra concentrates is often easier and perhaps even cheaper, high-quality forage is the key to maintaining condition through winter.
OPTION 2: FEED MORE FORAGE
If you want to ensure that your horse remains in good body condition, increasing his amount of forage is likely to be sufficient for the winter months. Forage is fermented in the gut where bacteria are active. Bacteria produce considerable heat during fermentation that the horse can use to warm himself from the inside out, rather than having to shiver or move to maintain body temperature. This means that more forage provides a heat source in addition to the extra calories, making it a very effective way of maintaining condition.
Unfortunately, winter forage is often of reduced quality, which means more hay should be provided than in summer anyway to ensure the same calorie value. Then you will still need to top up the levels even further to maintain warmth. This may all lead to a considerable increase in the amount of forage required, and this can be costly. To reduce this cost, you need to find the best-quality forage (with the highest nutrient value) so that lower amounts can be fed. This is generally cheaper than buying larger volumes of poorer quality hay.
In terms of nutrient levels in forage from highest to lowest, green pasture generally tops the list, followed by winter pasture, good-quality grass hay and poorquality grass hay. When selecting hay, look for good-quality hay that is clean and dust-free. Consider feeding higher calorie hay like lucerne or teff, should there be a need to boost a horse’s calorie intake further. Choose immature hay (characterised by soft stems and a
larger portion of leaf matter) rather than overly mature hay (very stalky with little leaf), as this provides better nutritional value. Moreover, immature hay has a water-holding capacity than more mature hay.
NOTE: Impaction colic is more common in winter as horses often drink less because the cold weather makes their water cold. Forage with higher moisture content is therefore preferred, particularly in winter.
NOTE: Ideally, you should also discuss your feeding regime with a trusted equine nutritionist to ensure the diet selected is optimal. Both overfeeding and underfeeding can create a whole host of problems, and an equine nutritionist is best placed to assist you in planning a winterfeeding programme.
EXTRA ADDITIONS
Keep in mind that poorer quality hay can also have reduced vitamin and mineral content. It, therefore, may be wise to consider adding in a balancer product for younger and older horses to increase their levels of vitamins and minerals without changing their diet hugely.
Adding extra oil to the diet can also be beneficial as it allows the increase of calories without adding large amounts of expensive concentrate feed. 250ml (1 cup) of oil has the equivalent calories of around 1-1.5kg of oats.
‘HOT’ HORSES
Lots of owners are concerned about feeding more to their horses, as they do not want them to become too ‘hot’ to ride. First and foremost, it is important to be realistic here as over the winter months, there are plenty of other factors that contribute to your horse displaying ‘hot’ behaviour –not just increased food intake. A change in workload and increased stable time, for instance, may well result in your horse being a little ‘fresher’ than usual – do not simply attribute all changes to food!
However, if you are concerned that food is making your horse too ‘hot’, there are steps you can take to assist in reducing the risk of over-excitable behaviour. Firstly, introduce the higher energy food slowly. Suddenly providing a horse with more energy/calories in his diet will increase the likelihood of ‘excitability’.
Secondly, the type of energy source provided is an important aspect. Feeds based on ‘slow-release’ energy sources, such as fibre and fat, release energy gradually and are less likely to promote hot behaviour compared to sources of ‘quick-release’ energy, such as starch from cereal grains or sugars from molasses. It is thus important that the feed is high in fat and fibre and low in starch and sugars if behavioural excitability is a concern. The added bonus of this is that fibre and fat are far friendlier on the gut and can help horses prone to colic and gastric ulcers avoid these issues.
DID YOU KNOW?
REMEMBER
You should monitor your horse’s body condition year-round, but especially before harsher winter weather arrives. You can then determine whether your horse needs extra energy by checking for decreased body weight and condition, and noticing these issues as soon as they start to arise. Make sure to feel through the heavy winter coat when checking body condition – are the ribs easily felt? If so, the horse needs more energy. Is the horse shivering a lot? If so, he needs more energy.
Shivering helps horses to thermo-regulate by using the muscles to generate heat. However, this process requires increased energy.
And don’t wait for temperatures to plummet before you begin these checks and changing of diet. Ideally, you need to begin your winter nutrition programme early enough and give your horse sufficient time to build up the reserves he needs to get him through the winter. Use common sense and regular observation, and your horse should have an uneventful cold season.
DID YOU KNOW?
The small intestine in horses is approximately 21 metres in length. This is the width of a dressage arena.
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MANAGING A HORSE WHO IS AFRAID OF OTHERS
Most horses love other equine company, and for many of us, this idea is so ingrained that it can come as a shock to realise that some horses are, in fact, nervous around other horses. This usually comes about through a specific event
or a collection of events, but it can be challenging to manage and even dangerous in certain situations. In this article, we look at the potential causes of this fear and ways in which you can manage it and work on it to help your horse cope better in ‘social’ situations.
CAUSES
Fear of other conspecifics is not a ‘natural’ behaviour and usually results from one of the following:
• Young horses are often wary when first taken into spaces with other horses being worked or ridden. Naturally, horses display certain behaviours when meeting other horses, and in the work environment, we don’t allow them to practise these. Without this ‘introductory process’, horses can feel anxious and unsettled. They are left unsure how to react to each other, and this can make them excitable or nervous.
• Horses who have had
insufficient socialisation, such as those kept alone for a long time, are often very wary of new horses.
• Horses kept in a stressful herd environment, such as one where resource guarding over limited grazing occurs, will often develop anxiety about being with other horses.
• If a horse suffers an injury or has an accident in a particular situation, this can cause them to be fearful of it in the future. For example, if one horse runs into another or kicks out at another in the warm-up arena, it can cause fearful associations with all horses and all arenas.
BEHAVIOURS DISPLAYED
In these situations, horses usually show their anxiety through behaviour such as reluctance to enter the arena or paddock, shying away from other horses, ear pinning or threatening to kick if other horses come too close. Ultimately, if not dealt with, the behaviours can escalate into rearing and bolting.
OVERCOMING THE ISSUE
To help horses overcome their fear and learn to be relaxed and confident around others, you will need to go right
back to basics and build up positive associations again. To work through this process, you will need plenty of patience and the ability to read your horse’s mood. You will need to spot if he is anxious, calm or shutting down due to too much pressure.
The key with this work is not to move on to the next step without achieving relaxation in the previous step. Rushing through the stages will do much more harm than good, and this is not an exercise to tackle when you are pressed for time.
NOTE
Do not rush this process. It may be that you only get to step two on day one, and that is perfectly acceptable. Rushing your horse through the stages will only add to his tension and mistrust of other horses and make the issue even more difficult to tackle.
THE EXERCISE
1. Take your horse into an empty arena and get them working and settled. You want them to be listening to your aids and tuned into what you are asking of them.
2. Once your horse is working well alone, you can ask a friend to bring their horse, ideally a horse that your horse is familiar with, into the arena, but keep them at a distance. This distance may need to be very large in the case of a very anxious horse or shorter in a less worried horse. Scratch your horse on the neck to reward them if they remain calm and keep their focus on you when the other horse
is present. If they are unable to focus, ask your friend to increase the distance between the two horses. As soon as your horse is calm, reward and reassure with scratches.
3. Once your horse is relaxed, start to ask him to move on small, simple schooling patterns like the circle in the walk. The other horse needs to remain in halt. Your horse may be a bit more tense or distracted, but reward him with scratches when he pays attention to you and keep calmly guiding him through the exercise when he is not, and you will eventually get him to settle.
TOP TIP
Another option for helping these horses is finding kind pasture mates with whom they can be turned out. Having herd mates who are not anxious can help your nervous horse calm down. Having said this, the introductions to herd mates will need to be done gradually and in a controlled fashion to avoid overwhelming your already anxious horse. Finally, it is vital that there is no need for any of the horses in the herd to resource guard. Water and grass must be readily available for all horses in the paddock and must be easily accessible in more than one location.
4. Once your horse is relaxed and able to work in a calm fashion with the other horse in the arena, move your horse closer to your friend’s horse. Use circles and serpentines to approach, rather than walking up to them head-on. Using circles and serpentines also allows you to gradually get closer and then move away before getting even closer, etc. This approach and retreat method can be really useful for nervous horses, as the retreat serves as a ‘reward’ for being brave in the approach. If your horse struggles to cope with this part of the task, then back off, and find where he is comfortable
and reward him with scratches for paying attention to you and being calm in that space. When he is ready, you can try to approach again.
5. Once your horse is calm in approaching the stationary horse, you can ask your friend to start moving their horse in small schooling patterns in their section of the arena whilst you continue moving your horse. You need to do this until your horse is relaxed again. This may mean initially moving further away from your friend’s horse while they both move.
6. Once your horse can work in a relaxed fashion while the other horse works, ask your friend to start walking their horse around the arena and follow them on the same rein. Again, wait for your horse to become relaxed with this.
7. Finally, once you can do all the above steps in relaxation, you can try moving onto opposite reins and passing each other at
a reasonable distance. You can reduce this distance as your horse becomes more accepting of the other horse.
8. Over time, you can start to do this in trot and canter and repeat with different horses and then a couple of horses at a time. You need to set your horse up for success by working with sympathetic riders who understand your training process.
This process may take several sessions, particularly if your horse is nervous. Do not ‘stick at it’ until you have completed all the steps, as you are likely to overface your horse and ultimately set him back further in his social anxiety. Instead, do a small amount per session and always end on a positive note. When you return to work on the issue more, simply start from step one again and see
how far you get. You should find the earlier steps take less time each session, but recovering from anxiety is not a simple linear process, so always give him the time he needs at each step, regardless of whether you feel his progress should be ‘faster’ or not. Move at his pace, and you will achieve calmness much more rapidly than if you ‘force’ your own timeline and expectations onto him.
FINAL THOUGHTS
For many of us, it will not have crossed our minds that our horse's issue with a warm-up arena or crowded space is actually the other horses present, yet this problem is more common than we think.
Working on it gradually over time and allowing our horse plenty of time to be a horse in the company of other mature and well-adjusted horses will really help him overcome this challenge and feel safe with his conspecifics.
TOP TIP
All feed changes should be made gradually. The bacterial and microbial populations in the gastrointestinal system of the horse become specific in breaking down and fermenting the type of food a horse normally consumes. When a new food is introduced too quickly, the bacteria or microbes cannot digest or ferment it effectively, resulting in digestive upset, such as colic.
Pegase van't Ruytershof/ Berghof Eragon (dark bay colt)
Up To You GFE/ Candy de Nantuel GFE (bay filly)
Kobalt VDL/ Ubergabe (grey colt)
Grandorado TN/ Callaho’s For Joy (bay filly)
CONTACT STUD OWNER:
Claire Martin on 0825007273 or martinistud@gmail.com
DID YOU KNOW?
Horses have three types of joints: Synovial joints • Fibrous joints • Cartilaginous joints
Arthritis is most common in synovial joints, but can also occur in cartilaginous joints.
STALLION FEATURE SINATRA
EQUINE COAT
COLOUR GENETICS
UNDERSTANDING THE GENES BEHIND YOUR HORSE'S COLOURING
From the deep richness of a liver chestnut to the shimmering gold of a palomino or the striking contrast of a tobiano, a horse’s coat colour is often one of the first things we notice – and it’s all
thanks to genetics. Here we break down how a horse’s coat colour is determined, what genes are involved, and why two seemingly similar horses can produce a very unexpected foal.
DEFINITIONS
Before we dive in here are some terms you need to be familiar with:
Gene
A gene is a segment of DNA that carries the instructions for making a specific protein or performing a particular function in the body. In horses, certain genes control things like coat colour, eye colour, height, and even behaviour.
Think of a gene as a recipe in a cookbook — it tells the body how to make something, like pigment for coat colour.
Allele
An allele is a version of a gene. Most genes come in pairs, with one copy inherited from the sire and one from the dam. These copies can be the same or different.
For example, the MC1R gene has alleles E (allows black pigment) and e (only red pigment). The combination of alleles (like E/E, E/e, or e/e) inherited from the sire and dam determines what pigment the horse can produce.
So if a gene is the recipe, alleles are the flavour variations of that recipe — changing the final result, like whether the horse is black, bay, or chestnut.
Types of allele
• Dominant allele = Only one copy needed for the horse to express the trait (e.g. Cr)
• Recessive allele = Two copies needed for a trait to be expressed in the horse (e.g. e/e)
THE BASE COAT COLOURS
All horse colours start from just three basic coat colours: chestnut, bay, and black. These are determined by the interaction of two key genes:
• Melanocortin 1 Receptor (MC1R) (often called the extension or red factor gene): This gene controls whether a horse can produce black pigment. The dominant form (E) allows black pigment production, while the two recessive forms (e and ea) prevent it. Horses with two copies of a recessive allele (e/e or ea/ea) can only produce
red pigment and are therefore chestnut.
• Agouti Signalling Protein (ASIP) (also called Agouti): This gene determines where black pigment appears on the horse. The dominant A allele restricts black to the points of the horse (mane, tail, lower legs, ear rims), creating a bay coat with dark points. The recessive a allele allows black pigment to spread uniformly, producing a black coat—if the horse has at least one E from the MC1R gene.
While the base colours are limited, shades vary widely. Chestnuts, for example, can range from pale gold to dark liver chestnut. Although hundreds of genes are involved in mammalian coat colour, we still don’t fully understand what causes all the subtle differences in shade in horses. The genetics behind this are something we still need to learn a lot about.
DILUTION GENES
Some horses appear lighter than their base colour due to dilution genes, which reduce the amount of pigment produced or transferred to the hair. Some dilutions affect red
or black pigment specifically, while others affect both (red and black). They can also vary in whether they lighten the whole coat or just certain parts of it.
Six well-known dilution genes include:
• Cream: A dominant gene with a dosage effect in that one copy of the Cream gene (N/Cr) produces palominos (chestnut base coat) and buckskins (bay base coat), but two copies (Cr/Cr) result in very light colours like cremello (chestnut base), perlino (bay base), or smoky cream (black base).
• Pearl: Found at the same location as the Cream gene, but it is recessive. This means the dilution effect only appears when the horse has two copies of the Pearl allele (Prl/Prl) or one Pearl and one Cream (Prl/Cr).
• Champagne, Dun, and Silver: All dominant so only one copy of the dilution-causing allele is needed to produce an effect. Champagne gives a distinctive gold coat with pinkish skin and light eyes. Dun lightens the body but usually leaves the points darker, adding primitive markings such as dorsal stripes. Silver mainly affects black pigment of the points and is most
noticeable on black or bay horses. Chestnuts can carry the Silver gene without showing it. Notably, horses with the Silver gene may have an eye condition called MCOA (multiple congenital ocular anomaly), especially if they carry two copies.
• Mushroom: A recessive dilution affecting red pigment. Chestnuts with two copies of the mushroom gene have a sepia-toned coat. On a bay base, the result is a lighter red body colour with darker points, suggesting that it increases black pigment production, having the opposite effect on black pigment as it does on red.
WHITE SPOTTING PATTERNS
White markings and patterns are controlled by a variety of genes, and they can appear on any base colour or dilution. These patterns fall into two broad categories:
• Distributed white: Where white hairs are mixed into the coat. This includes Roan (white hairs throughout the body but not the head or legs) and Grey (progressive loss of pigment over time). Both are dominant traits. Grey horses are also more prone to melanoma.
• Patchy white: These include patterns like Appaloosa, Dominant White, Sabino 1, Splashed White, Tobiano, and Overo. Each has a distinctive pattern and location. For
example, Appaloosas typically have symmetrical white over the hips, while Tobianos usually have white legs and a dark head. All these patterns are caused by dominant genes.
Some of these spotting genes come with additional effects on other body systems. For example:
• Horses with two copies of the frame-overo gene (O/O) suffer from Lethal White Overo Syndrome, a fatal condition in foals.
• Horses homozygous for the leopard complex (LP/LP) in Appaloosas can have congenital stationary night blindness, meaning they can't see in low-light conditions.
WHY GENETIC TESTING MATTERS
In some cases, a horse’s colour can be determined just by looking. But appearances can be deceiving. For example, a chestnut horse might carry genes that could produce a black foal—something you can’t tell just by sight.
That’s where genetic testing comes in. It helps clarify confusing or subtle colour phenotypes, predict the outcome of breeding pairings, and
flag any associated health concerns. Knowing your horse’s genetic makeup is more than just a matter of curiosity—it can prove a valuable tool for breeders and veterinarians alike.
IN SUMMARY
Horse coat colours may look like art, but they’re built on science. With a few key genes laying the groundwork and many others adding nuance, the spectrum of equine colours and patterns is as complex as it is beautiful.
KNOW?
The entire digestive process, from mouth to manure, takes 36-72 hours for the horse.
DID YOU KNOW?
Grass can contain up to 7.5% simple sugars. So a horse could consume up to two bags of sugar in 24 hours…
DID YOU KNOW?
The average horse produces 12 litres of saliva from chewing.
YOUR EQUESTRIAN QUESTIONS ANSWERED
What can I do to make my new boots more comfortable at the back of my knee?
If your new boots are leather, then they should start to soften and drop once you’ve ridden in them a few times. This is because they’ll develop wrinkles at the ankles when you flex and bend. Typically, you can expect your leather boots to drop between 1-2 cm, although how long this will take depends on
how often you ride and how soft or rigid your boots are to begin with.
However, to get some immediate relief, you could insert a pair of heel risers. Slipped into the heel of your boots, they’ll raise the back of your leg around half a centimetre, which is often enough to make the boots more comfortable. Some people even ride with these heel risers permanently, while others only use them until their boots are worn in.
Many activities we do around horses can put strain on our knees.
My knees get really stiff after a long ride. What can I do to help with this?
There are some simple things you can try to see if they make a difference, but it is worth getting your knees seen by a medical professional to ensure there is nothing more serious going on that requires treatment. Provided your medical report is all clear, our first suggestion would be to wrap your knees in something that will keep them warm and supported when riding. Soft neoprene guards are a good option, as they are not too bulky but can keep the joint warm, especially as winter approaches.
Our second suggestion is to warm up your hips and knees before getting on. Try 10-20 squats and 10-20 side-to-side steps in each direction to help open your hips. When your hips are relaxed
and your thigh hangs well, it’ll take strain off your knees and reduce the twisting forces on them.
Our third suggestion is to examine the length of your stirrups and the width of your stirrup tread –wider treads will provide added support, helping to offload your knees on longer rides. Lengthening or shortening the stirrups may also help, but this is a matter of personal preference, so try it and see if it makes a difference.
Finally, it is worth noting that joint strain can come about with a saddle that doesn’t fit you as the rider. It is a good idea to ask your saddle fitter to come out and take a look to see if the saddle is affecting your posture, and perhaps to go and sit in some other saddles in the shops to see if you can feel or notice a difference.
We hope this helps!
Ride Bold. Ride Protected.
At Tabard Equine, we know how important it is to keep your horse protected from flies, midges, and other biting insects. Our clinically formulated sprays and lotions offer long-lasting relief from irritation, helping your horse stay comfortable all season long.
Tabard Equine
My right wrist twists slightly when I’m riding. How can I train myself to stop this, and how will it affect my horse?
Many people struggle with uneven hands, so you’re not alone in this. When riding, twisting your wrist can cause problems ranging from heaviness of contact for the horse to avoidance of the contact entirely by the horse, so it is definitely worth correcting.
Bridging your reins is a great exercise to help correct this. This is where the loop of the reins is put across the horse’s neck, and each end is held with the opposite hand, effectively joining the hands together with a gap in between. The same effect can be gained from holding a short piece of baling twine across your hands. Remember, your hands must not be tied together for safety reasons. Either way, this strategy helps identify
when your wrist twists and your hands perform different actions. Knowing this is the first step in resolving the issue, as it makes you aware of when it happens, allowing you to address it.
It is also helpful to investigate why your wrist twists. It’s possible that you’re not balanced in your body, and the twist is compensating for this imbalance. Alternatively, it could be that your horse is unbalanced and, for example, falling right, causing you to hold your right hand in towards the neck or even across the neck to maintain steering. Chat to your coach and ask for their advice. They may even want to ride your horse to see if they experience the same issues. Once you have clarity on the cause, you can consider physiotherapy and exercise programmes to address the issue for either yourself or your horse.
