dressage

OnlineEquineJuly 2016

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equine online nz

The last month has been quiet on the riding front for me but I’ve been out and about meeting lots of local riders and business owners. It’s incredible how many passionate, knowledg-able, and talented horse people there are in New Zealand. This month we feature two top coaches and riders in dressage and show jumping: John Thompson and Jill Ullrich. It was a priviledge to sit in

on the lessons they gave and learn about their training methods. It was also refreshing to find they are both incredibly down-to-earth, and have a real passion for helping riders to attain their riding goals.

I’m excited to announce that this month I am headed to Europe to be a spectator at the CHIO World Equestrian Festival in Aachen, Germany. I’ll be giving regular updates on our Facebook page, via Snapchat and also Instagram. You can also read all about my adven-tures in the August edition of Equine Online. I may even bump into some familiar New Zealand faces over there- so watch this space and make sure you follow us on all our social media channels.

Have a great month- and enjoy the issue.

Yvette Morrissey

Editor

F R O M T H E E D I TO R

EDITORYvette Morrissey

CONTRIBUORSJacqui Van Buuren, Alison Taylor, Freya Thomp-son, Claire Madden, Jess Land, Marie Gordon,

Senara Caddy, Bev Morrissey, Grace Gray, Brooke Burns, Jana Kruyshaar, Emma Hurrell, Ellie

O’Brien.

PHOTOGRAPHERSBrooke Burns (Clicked Equine Photography), YK

Stewart Photography, Bella Maitland.

CONTRIBUTE!We are always on the lookout for new contribu-tors. If you are interested in becoming a part of New Zealand’s first free equestrian e-magazine,

send us an email: editor@equineonline.co.nz

CONTACT USWe would love to hear from you. Send us an email:

editor@equineonline.co.nz

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July

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contents6 | NEWS

8 | BREED PROFILE: FALABELLA MINIATURE HORSE

9 | TOP 5 TIPS FOR WINTER RIDING

10 | HORSE OF THE MONTH

12 | YOUR STORIES: MY RETURN TO RIDING

14 | JOHN THOMPSON’S PRINCIPLES OF DRESSAGE

20 | JUMPING WITH JILL ULLRICH

24 | WILD AT HEART

26 | PHOTO SPREAD: MITAVITE SHOWJUMPING & ALLTECH COMBINED TRAINING WINTER SERIES

29 | SERIES: RACEHORSE RECYCLING PART III

34 | COLUMNS

29

The five equestrian athletes for the 2016 Rio Olympics were named at a formal selec-tion announcement in the United Kingdom. Included in this crop of athletes is New Zealand’s highest capped Olympian Sir Mark Todd, who currently has five Olympic medals to his name. Todd is now set to compete at his eighth Olympic Games. Joining him in Rio and round-ing out the eventing team will be Jonelle Price, Jock Paget, and Clarke Johnstone. Backing up the strong eventing team will be Tim Price, who has been selected as the travelling reserve. Flying the f lag in the dressage event is Palmerston North’s Julie Brougham, selected for her first Olympic Games. Julie departed for Europe in March to focus on her Olympic build-up and is excited to be joining the team for Rio. “I’m really delighted to have been selected.

I am thrilled with how Steiny has performed in Europe- he has shown he can foot it with the European horses. It has been a wonderful expe-rience and good preparation for Rio.”

By Yvette Morrissey

Julie Brougham and Vom Feinsten

More than 60 horse and r ider combina-tions competed at the Tack Up Winter Series in Levin, vying to win the $1000 prize for the best overall performed horse and rider. This event, held on May 29, was the first in a series of four shows. Riders must attend al l four shows to qual i fy for the pr ize. Starting at 30cm, the jumps increased through-out the day finishing at 1 metre. Due to the pop-ularity of the event, the last class (1.10 metre) had to be cancelled as it was getting too dark.The next event is to be held on July 24.

By Brooke Burns

NZ OLYMPIC RIDERS NAMED

N E W S

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TACK UP WINTER SERIES

Libby Booth riding Rapid Return. Photo credit: Clicked Equine Photography.

By Bev Morrissey

The team of western riders competing at the Youth World Cup this month

A team of young Western r iders are representing New Zealand at the 20th American Quarter Horse Association Youth World Cup, hosted this year by Australia. The biannual event is being held at the Australian Equine and Livestock Events Centre, in Tamworth (NSW) with 14 countries attending. The Youth World Cup is an educational, leadership, and competition based event for American Quarter Horse Youth Association members from around the world. It gives youth a unique opportunity to learn in a hands-on setting with other international youth horse enthusiasts. The New Zealand team selected were watched over a two year period by selectors. The team members selected are: Olivia Pearson (team captain), Aimee Drake, India Holder, Nick Carlisle, Jessica Bon. Also attending are Hollie Bruce (Reserve), Sally McPherson, Alice Hughes Bruce, who are up and coming

riders that are taken along in a leadership role. The Team Coach is Vicky Evans, and the Team Manager is Gary Holder. The riders will compete for medals in English and Western disciplines which include trail riding, cutting, and horseman-ship. There are other individual events including reining, ranch riding, hunt seat equitation, hunter under saddle, and showmanship. There are also opportunities for team members to learn from some of the industry’s leading riders and trainers. Team captain Olivia Pearson says “I’m super excited and proud to have been chosen to rep-resent New Zealand along with my team mates. We are extremely lucky and as a team we all get along really well and have a great bond. I know we will all help each other. We are excited to be representing New Zealand and hope to make everyone proud.” The competition runs from June 23 to July 3.

N E W S

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WESTERN YOUTH HEAD TO WORLD CUP

TACK UP WINTER SERIES

By Grace GreyBy Grace Grey

The Falabella miniature horse is definitely one of the cutest horse breeds in existence. Fa-mous for being one of smallest horse breeds in the world, Falabellas stand an average of eight hands high!The breed originated in Argentina in the nine-teenth century by Patrick Newtall due to his in-tention to create a small pony with a conforma-tion similar to a horse. Newtall later passed his knowledge on to his son-in-law Juan Falabella to continue the breeding program and eventu-ally Juan passed his knowledge onto his own son, hence the breed’s name.

FALABELLA MINIATURE HORSEBy Grace Gray

BREED PROFILE

By Grace GrayFalabellas come in a large range of colours. Due to their intelligence and ability to learn new things quickly they are not the cheapest of horses. These horses also have a lifespan of up to 45 years and therefore make the perfect lifetime companion! Although these wee horses aren’t your typical sport or working horse, they have their uses. They are quite strong, so can be driven with small carts. They can also be ridden by chil-dren up to eight years old, but are also fit for the show ring and free jumping up to three feet.

A DV I C E

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FUN FACT!

A unique feature of the

Falabella is that they have 17

vertebrae instead of eigh-

teen, and at least one less

pair of ribs.

TOP 5 TIPSSo it’s winter. It’s cold, wet and slippery, and if you don’t have access to all-weather or indoor arenas, then you may need to get a bit creative in order to exercise safely. After all, no one wants their horse to slip and become injured. Here are some ideas to help maintain muscle tone and fitness and add some variety to your training routine.

for winter riding

Going out for a hack is a great way to get your horse moving, and you can always incorporate some of your regular workout exercises while you’re out.

1If you prefer to stay home then you may be limited to riding at the walk. Training the walk correctly is invaluable for horses of all types and disciplines and the benefits are often overlooked. Use this time to refine your basics and practice transitions within the walk, leg yielding, shoulder-in and the halt. More advanced horses can be introduced to travers, half pass, and rein-back.

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3 Cavalletti at the walk incorporated a couple of times a week into your schedule is a great way to strengthen the haunches. Make sure the horse is engaged before attempting pole work and set-ting the poles at 15 to 20 cm above the ground spaced 0.8 to 1 m apart should be appropriate for most riding horses. Play with different layouts to add variety.

Try doing some work in-hand instead of riding. If you’ve never done it before, ask for les-sons and start with basic exercises. Even some-thing as simple as taking your horse for a good walk can be beneficial. In a short time and with practise you could do more advanced lateral movements and supplying exercises.

Additional core strengthening and supply-ing exercises like carrot stretches, rounding the back, and turns on the hind/fore are all beneficial. Check with your vet or body worker first and get them to show you some safe and easy stretches..

There are plenty of things you can still do with your horse in winter.

By Jana Kruyshaar

By Grace Grey

A DV I C E

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• Bridles Browbands

HORSE OF THE MONTH

tom

Sponsored by

Equine

Our July Horse Of the Month winner is Tom, who was nominated by his owner, Rebecca. Rebecca and Tom are now the lucky new owners of a pair of exercise boots from Pique Equestrian.

“Tom is a clydesdale and thoroughbred cross who I start-ed riding when I was 13. I am now 15, although when I was younger I used to climb on him off the ground bare-back and he wouldn’t move a muscle. He was breed in Gisborne and became a pig hunters and games horse before we bought him. We are now doing level 4 dres-sage and jumping 1.20m. Tom was not bred to special-ise in any sport, but he gives me great pleasure and tries hard at every thing I throw at him.So far we have jumped 1.35m bareback, ridden side saddle, played games, competed in dressage and hacked around. Tom will hoover any food we give to him and is always looking for a scratch. Tom proves that any horse can do a wide range of disciplines and doesn’t have to specialise in anything. We would love some new dressage boots to show off as Tom continues to add to his resume.”

Pique Equestrian is located in Queenstown, Central Ota-go and are stockists of bridles, browbands and boots.

*Entries are accepted from those living in New Zealand only. For full T’s and C’s email editor@equineonline.co.nz.

piqueEQUESTRIAN

WHAT MAKES YOUR HORSE SPECIAL?

Tell us and be in to WIN a pair of XL dressage boots valued at $45 from Pique

Equestrian NZ! Nominate a horse you think deserves to be Equine Online’s ‘Horse/Pony of

the Month’ and tell us their story- it can be funny, inspirational, sad or plain strange! *Entries should be under 300 words and

emailed to editor@equineonline.co.nz

Online’s

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Stockists of • Boots • Bridles • Browbands

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QUOTE/UNQUOTE

WE ARE WHAT WE REPEATEDLY DO. EXCELLENCE, THEN IS NOT AN

ACT, BUT A HABIT.- ARISTOTLE

My return to riding

“ I DECIDED TO get back into riding after my partner started racing sprint cars, and I felt I needed a hobby for myself. Two years ago,

the search for a horse began. I hadn’t ridden in 20 years and needed some-thing super safe as an adult return-ing to riding. I went and looked at a 16 year-old ex-steeplechaser aptly named Stitched. The girl who was grazing him rode him first, and then my friend got on. I jumped on and walked across the paddock, but he stopped in the corner. I gave him a squeeze with my legs, and the next thing I know he’s galloping around the paddock. He started bucking, and as I began to fall my right ankle got caught in the stirrup. As my left shin hit the ground, I felt a searing pain burn through my leg. My friends called the ambulance and tried to comfort me as I was dry retching from the pain. The medics gave me gas and air to get my leg splinted to get me into the ambulance and off to hospital. The x-rays revealed I had broken my left

After suffering a horrific fall in 2014 when a horse she was trialling bolted on her, Sasha Hatten-Brown (Manawatu) is back in the saddle. She spoke to Emma Hurrell about her decision to continue the search for the right horse, and how finding him changed her life.

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YO U R S TO R I E S

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YO U R S TO R I E S

canter phobia. It took a good friend of mine to threaten to chase me with a whip if I didn’t canter before B in the dressage arena. It sounds un-necessary but it was exactly what I needed at that time. Two years to the day I had my accident I sat my first ever dressage test. It was the best feeling in the world to overcome such a massive accident with a long recovery and be out competing on my own horse! My good friend, show-jumper Bernard Denton and his partner were a crucial part get-ting me back into riding. They helped

me to improve my riding position, and any gear I needed they let me bor-row. Two years to the day I had my accident I sat my first ever dressage test. It was the best feeling in the world to overcome such a massive accident with a long recovery and be out competing on my own horse. This year I also started jumping with Bernard’s guidance. So far I have done winter dressage days, pony club fun days, and combined train-ing. I plan to do the show jumping winter series this month at Manfield. It takes a lot of determination and a stubborn personality to get back in the saddle after a serious accident, but I am proof it can be done. I try not to let setbacks get me down. It wasn’t easy; I remember coming home in tears after being dumped on the ground many times and feel-ing frustrated when DB wouldn’t go on the float. I‘ve had to learn a lot, but I’m lucky I have a great group of supportive friends who offer a shoulder to cry on and a sounding board for learning opportunities.”

Sasha broke her leg in six different places

Sasha recently competed in her first dressage competition A quiet moment with DB

My return to riding tibia and fibula in six places. Two days later they operated on my leg, inserting a rod and screws through my tibia. After five days in hospital I was off home in a wheelchair and crutches. Two months later I had another operation to remove a shard of bone on the top of my tibia as it was damaging the blood supply to my shin. As I healed, my motivation increased to get back in the saddle. I got a horse down from the Waikato, who failed a flexion test and con-sequently was sent back. A costly $1000 mistake. Then I found Joey, a gelding who hated to be mounted and would buck every chance he could. I blamed myself for his behav-iour and thought maybe I am just not meant to ride. I was about to give up my quest for a horse when I found DB Export, a 20 year-old station bred from Gisborne. DB was previously a 1* eventer who was now being used as a farm hack. I managed to get him for only $900 from a young lady out of Marton. He was the perfect ‘been there, done that’ schoolmaster. It took me 18 months to get over my

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YO U R S TO R I E S

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YO U R S TO R I E S

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F E AT U R E

Principles of Dressage

JOHN THOMPSON’S

OUR TRAINER

OUR RIDER

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F E AT U R E

Our rider is Dafydd Flye, who is a riding coach and equine behav-iourist and also owns and runs Alacrity Equestrian Centre in Canterbury. He rides two horses, Arawa Commodore (Frodo), a welsh section D stallion owned by Shaun Horan, and Almirante

(Harry) a 10 year-old gelding he co-owns with Jane Hutchi-son. Frodo has only recently started dressage after being started as a late 9 year-old. Harry is training towards Prix St Georges this year.

Rider clothing provided by

John Thompson needs little introduction; a Kiwi that moved across the ditch at age 12, he returned to New Zealand in 2015 to pursue his dream of repre-senting his country at the Olym-pic Games. This year he won the Grand Prix Dressage Horse

of the Year title aboard Antenello. He is the New Zealand reserve for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janerio.

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F E AT U R EF E AT U R E

Dressage is balletJohn likens dressage to ballet; the horse is the ballerina and the rider is the coach. John himself comes from a background in dance, and his brother is a professional ballet dancer, so he understands that in order to perform a movement successfully, the posture of both the horse and rider needs to be as correct as possible. “We have to look at what we need to do to make ourselves and our horse more symmetrical,” he says.

#1

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F E AT U R EF E AT U R E

When your student doesn’t speak English, it makes for an interesting experience, says John. In order to train the horse, you need to create a dialogue that the horse can understand. John creates this dialogue by asking for a cue, and then a correction if the horse doesn’t respond to the cue. “The cue or correction technique makes train-ing black and white to the horse, thus making it easier for the horse to understand what his or her rider wants.” All riders give the horse a cue when asking for them to do something, for example, if the rider wants his or her horse to go from a working trot to a medium trot, the rider will half-halt and squeeze with the legs to cue the horse to go forward. The horse will then give a yes or no response; either he does it, or he doesn’t. If the horse fails to give the desired response, this is when you apply the correction, says John.

“The correction in this case would be to apply two short, sharp kicks.” How much pressure should you use when mak-ing the correction? John says that on a scale of one to ten, the cue should be a one, and the correction should be a ten. Not every horse will have the same ten, however. “For a sensitive horse, their ‘ten’ may be a gentle kick, but for a lazier horse, their ten will be a lot stronger. The rider needs to figure out the correct amount of pressure to use for each horse.” He says one of the most common mistakes the rider can make is to nag the horse. “Don’t do the ballet for the horse. Gradu-ally increasing pressure is like having a long winded conversation with a child- they’ll switch off eventually. By asking for a cue, and then a correction you end up conditioning a response from your horse.”

Create a language the horse can understand#2

Harry is losing impulsion in the trot, so Dafydd applies a cue, and then a correction to ask for a more active trot

Harry now has a more expressive trot

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F E AT U R E

Stay inside the box#3The goal for the rider, says John, is to stay within the box (see below right). “The horse will only ever cheat in four ways. They can change their rhythm, bend or contact. When they do cheat, we call it resistance which is basically having incorrect posture.” The horse can change his rhythm by going too fast or too slow, the bend by going left or right, and the con-tact by going above the bit or becoming over-bent. He says it’s the rider’s job to have a cue and correction for each one of these issues. “As soon as the box starts altering you stop doing the exercise and fix the body.” Using the example from going from a working trot to a medium trot, John says “If you go up a gear and the horse starts to go hollow and run, then you know the box has turned to rubbish. In this instance, you would bring them back, fix the box by dropping the neck, and then ask for the transition again.” Exercises John says that riders can be so committed to completing a move that they don’t correct the horse when it starts going bad. “I think a lot of riders expect the exercise to fix the is-sue. Exercises never make your horse better, but they show you where your weakness is.” He likens it to doing sit-ups. “If you do 100 sit ups a day with the incorrect form, you’re not going to get a six-pack, but if you do three sit-ups with the correct form, that is going to be more effective.”

Out of the box...

In the box!

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F E AT U R E

Jumpingwith

JillUllrich

Jill Ullrich is a professional show jumper, teaching and producing many successful riders in New Zealand and America. She travels around New Zea-land taking show jumping clinics, and Equine Online was lucky enough to sit in on one when Jill gave a clinic at the Christchurch Riding for the Disabled in May.

OUR

RIDE

RS Sophia rides Gus, a 10 year-old thoroughbred gelding who has competed in show jumping to 1.20m.

Cherie rides Yeti, a five year-old mare she bred herself. They have recently started competing.

Words: Yvette Morrissey

T R A I N I N G

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For this lesson we have two very different horses. Cherie’s horse, Yeti, is a five-year old mare Che-rie bred herself who is still developing her jump-ing technique. Yeti has been well-schooled on the flat and is moving into her competitive show jumping career nicely.While Sophia’s thorough-bred gelding, Gus, has competed to 1.20m, he has an incorrect technique and can become quite tense. Jill summarises each of the horse’s issues: “We want to encourage Gus to relax enough so he can use his body more effectively over fences. Yeti has some jumping technique prob-lems that could stop her from being the nic-est horse she can be, so we are mainly work-ing on that. While we want to make Yeti sharper, we want to encourage Gus to relax.” Jill explains that while the jumps have been set up smaller today, they are still very technical. “Because it’s winter, I like to lower the jumps and include some trickier lines. Then in the spring, we make the course more like the tracks they will find at the shows and add in the height. If the horse can jump something more technical at home, they find it easier when they’re out competing.”

Opposite ends of the spectrum

Start on a lineTo start the lesson, Jill has each combina-tion do their individual warm up. She then sets up two jumps seven strides apart (see right).“I always start my riders on what I call a line,” Jill says. “By warming up on a line, you are getting more information. They could jump a single fence ten times and do it beauti-fully, and then we move on to a line and we find out the rhythm they use is too big or too little.”Sophia and Gus are the first to go, and Gus is noticeably tense. Sophia makes a few 20 metre circles between the fences to set him up for the next fence.Then it’s Cherie and Yeti’s turn. Yeti takes a big leap over the first fence.“Don’t get behind her and chase her to the fence,” instructs Jill, “We’re going to break that habit.”

Once each combination has completed a set of jumps, Jill has them halt several strides from the final fence. ggggggggggggggggggggggggg “This teaches the horse to continue straight after the jump, rather than stopping them on a bend or turn,” she says.

Halt for straightness

7 strides apart

T R A I N I N G

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Jill says she doesn’t often use this technique, but it works really well for Gus.“Usually I would get the rider to go over a sin-gle fence, ride straight, halt and then rein-back to get the horse off the hand and to relieve any tension, and then repeat the fence. When we used that technique however, Gus became more and more tense. So instead of halting, Sophia would ride a few circles after the jump and this worked a lot better.”According to Jill, the circling encourages Gus to go into a shape where he can canter and “have it work”.”We’re putting him in a shape where his body and his brain will jump a better fence. If we can get him to canter well, he will approach the fence better, and the panic disappears.”

Circle to soften

Once each combination had successfully ridden the warm up exercise on the line, Jill moves on to a dif-ferent exercise. She sets up four jumps- an oxer with a four stride broken line to the left to a one stride with a four stride broken line to the right to a vertical (see right).Jill explains that a broken line is usually referred to as a curve, however the way she wants her rid-ers to ride it is by going straight, and then using the

Putting it all together

Whenever Gus goes back to being tense, So-phia returns to the circle exercise that works for him

“You have to be quite sharp when riding this exercise, and because Gus is naturally quite a sharp horse, he can overcook quite easily and panic.”Sophia continues to circle Gus as soon as she feels him become too tense. After a few attempts, they suc-cessfully complete the line.“With Gus, it’s all about getting his mind to work cor-rectly. When he is relaxed, that is when he jumps cor-rectly.”Once Sophia and Gus completed the exercise suc-cessfully, Jill has them finish over a slightly higher single fence. “To finish, we want to do something nice and simple that we know he will do well.”

outside hand and leg to turn the horse or “break the line,” straightening them for the next fence.“Going through the four strides, there isn’t a lot of time to think. When they land from the one stride they need to collect and balance and turn to meet the last fence well. This exercise basically condenses what we’ve been working on, giving the horse and rider less time to think, to make them more efficient.”Gus struggles with this exercise at first because Jill says it is the one and two strides that make him un-settled. Sophia has to circle a few times before the final fence, as she couldn’t get on the correct line into the fence.

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Bounces for a sharper horse

Jill has Cherie and Yeti finish with an exercise over four bounce jumps. “Yeti jumps a bigger fence with her body and never rotates her shoulder joint,” says Jill.Jill says bounces encourage the horse to get off its front end, forcing them to rotate their shoul-der up and in front of them. Because there’s no stride, they only have to touch down once and then rotate again. Because Yeti has problems with rotating her shoulder, this will help her to build strength she needs to become a better

jumper. The first time Cherie took Yeti through the bounce combination she took a rail.“That happened because she wasn’t coming up correctly in front. “Unless her shoulder is up in front of her when going through the bounce, you’re going to take a rail. Take her through again- she will get it eventually.”On the fourth attempt, Yeti finally understands and begins to use her shoulder correctly.“This exercise is literally going to the gym for this horse,” says Jill.

Bounces - like going to the gym for the young horse!

Yeti is now rotating her right shoulder more correctly

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T R A I N I N G T R A I N I N G

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Ellie O’Brien from Finesse Equestrian Training is one of six trainers that has been selected to take part in the 2016 Kaimanawa Stallion Challenge. Her stallion, Tama, was sent to her after this year’s muster. In this six part series, we will follow Ellie and Tama’s progress from wild stallion to trusty stead.

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Wild at

heartWhen I found out I had been selected for the Kai-manawa Stallion challenge, my goal was to share my experiences openly and with humility, in the hope that my story would help improve the numbers of horses successfully re-homed into domestic life. My aim was to share my observations, my failings, and the training tips that worked best…and if we came any-where in the competition, well, that would be a bonus! My number one goal, however, was to be a student of the horse. I was honoured to have two mentors who have inspired me greatly, Warwick Schiller and Dan James, give their support and recommendation for my application. When I was notified that I had been selected, I knew I could not let them, or particularly my horse, down. As I waited for my Kaimanawa to arrive, my excitement grew. Of course ideas for names were tossed around, and with a particular thought in mind it seemed fitting to ask my Aunty Lynne if I could name him after her late son, Corporal Luke Douglas Tamatea 2/1 RNZIR. Luke, commonly known to most as Tama, was tragi-cally lost to us in Afghanistan in 2012. He had previ-ously done a lot of his training in Waiouru and the Kai-manawa ranges, where my new stallion was soon to be

mustered from. I felt blessed when Aunty Lynne gave her approval, and when I first laid eyes on my horse I had this feeling a very special journey lay ahead. Tama is an older stallion who stands at around 13.2hh. He has a wise, old presence about him: calm and very proud. Tama is a thinker and is also incredibly sensitive. It would not do to be mindless about what I do around him, and he keeps me just far enough away. Tama’s main response is flight, but I sense that if he cannot get away he may fight. I like to observe horses so I can get an idea of how I need to meet them to be the best teacher I can be. One of the best ways of doing that is to look for what they like and what they don’t, building on what they like to grow our trust and a pathway for communication. Tama didn’t seem to like anything! He was not particularly food driven like others, not curious, in fact not interested at all! If anything, he seemed quite shut down. Remembering the experi-ences of his very recent past, this was most likely a trauma response. I would just need to be calm and take whatever time it would take.I did observe that Tama only ever bit his companion

PART ONE

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Malakai (Elise Lett’s Kaimanawa colt), never kicking him. So there was a starting point- I could at least work closer to his hindquarters without worrying him. Once familiar with my presence I set about quietly teaching him an ‘approach and retreat’ method to turn his hind quarters away and face me. I also want-ed to get him used to having the flag on his body, still and moving, building up to flapping around, and then swinging the lariat. This will aid in setting him up for success in what is to come later.

You can follow Ellie and Tama’s journey by clicking here and liking their Facebook page.

You can also follow the other rider and stallion combi-nations by joining the Kaimanawa Stallion Challenge Facebook page.

Mitavite Showjumping & Alltech Combined Training Winter seriesRiders gathered at Tielcey Park to take part in the second of the four-part winter series on June 19. These photos and more from the event are available for purchase at www.equineonline.co.nz

Photography by YK Stewart Photography

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Mitavite Showjumping & Alltech Combined Training Winter series

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T R A I N I N G

RACEHORSERECYCLINGPart IV. This month Jax discovers the reality of the phrase ‘break a leg’, Yvette discusses her overall goals when retraining an ex-racehorse, Jess has a new kid on the block, and Claire finds a huge improvement in Ouch.

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dressage day on August 7. Due to only being able to ride on the week-ends Ouch’s work has consisted of fitness work on a Saturday and a schooling session on Sunday. Our fitness work on Saturday still has a component of schooling involved as Ouch is required to be working though from behind, stay in a steady rhythm and focus on me rather than the pukeko two paddocks over. His fitness work is also a bit of a mental challenge as I have begun taking another horse on the lead next to him. The first day was a disaster as all Ouch wanted to do was race the other horse, using our half halts and also altering his stride and speed helped Ouch to focus on me rather than the horse next to him and by the end of our first ride we finally managed to complete one lap of the track in a steady rhythm. Since then the time for Ouch to relax has decreased with our last ride only needing two laps before he relaxed into a steady rhythm and stopped pulling.

CLAIRE AND OUCH

This month hasn’t really gone to plan with the bad weather and a hectic work schedule which has resulted in me working overtime and not being able to ride during the week. I have also moved grazing and now have Ouch grazing at the local Trotting Club so I have the use of their track in the afternoon. This means that once I get my head lamp sorted I will be able to safely ride at night. The time off has definitely benefit-ted Ouch as the improvement from my article last month is massive. At walk and trot we can now work in a consistent frame, stay off the forehand the majority of the time, work in a steady rhythm and can adjust his stride length and speed as and when required. We are still failing miserably at our canter so this is going to be our major focus between now and our next

RIDER: Claire Madden LOCATION: Kumeu, AucklandOCCUPATION: HR Assistant HORSE: Major Ouch (Ouch) AGE: 8HEIGHT: 15.3hh DAM: Ouch La Fe FeSIRE: Art Major STARTS: 32 WINNINGS: $30,390

DISCIPLINE: Showing

This month Claire battles with daylight saving, but finds a huge improvement in Ouch’s training.

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I wanted to dedicate this entry to what I want to achieve overall when I’m training my horses- both ex-race-horses! My first ex-racehorse, Regi, taught me a lot- just how sensitive and intelligent thoroughbreds are. I think the number one thing to start working on with your ex-racehorse is establishing a relaxed rhythm. Not all ex-racehorses will track up right away; it’s best to first find the rhythm the horse finds easy to relax in. For my horses, this was a little slower than the working paces, and once you finally get that relaxation, you can ask for a little more forward movement and they will eventually begin to track up. Once I have this, I start to work on the contact. For the first two months, I found working Regi in a long and low frame helped to relax the back

YVETTE AND BOMBA

and build muscle, however they can’t continue to go around that way forever. Once the horse has nailed the correct rhythm and I could stretch them in the walk, trot and canter, I would pick them up for five to ten minutes at the end of each session. It took me just three ses-sions for Regi to be in self-carriage. It was such a great feeling to just sit there with soft hands and look pretty! It just proves that slow and steady wins the race- if you take the time to teach the horse the basics (their A,B,C) it makes teaching the more advanced stuff a whole lot easier! I have a saying: you should only ask the horse to do something when you’ve got their brain. Essentially what that means is, the horse must be relaxed first before you should ask it to do anything, or teach it something new. This is especially important for an ex-racehorse who has come from a busy, fast-paced atmosphere. So take it step-by-step, and don’t be afraid to go back a step and make a correction before con-tinuing forward.

A horse with a good rhythm in self-carriage!

RIDER: Yvette MorrisseyLOCATION: Christchurch OCCUPATION: Editor HORSE: Keeparunnin (Bomba)AGE: 7 HEIGHT: 16.1HH DAM: Goldilocks SIRE: Keeper STARTS: 19 WINNINGS: $25, 825

DISCIPLINE: Dressage and showing

In this update, Yvette discusses her overall goals when re-training an ex-racehorse.

The result of three months of hard work...

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Someone should have given me a heads up on ‘break a leg’ just being a turn of phrase....sadly they didn’t. Off I went to the jumping clinic and ‘break a leg’ was thrown about in jest before I left and next thing I was lying on the arena with a jump pole on one side of my leg and a 500kg horse on the other- not the result I was after. On the bright side I broke my fibular and that according to the doctor is the ‘best break you can have’. It has however changed my plans with the “Willsybeast” and I’ve decided to turn out both my horses for six weeks while my leg heals. So here’s a few tips on turning out your horses for a spell. If you rug your little darlings make sure you check them from time to time and if you can give them some “nuddy” time to have a good roll and get some sun on their backs!

To shoe or not to shoe? It’s an individ-ual decision and it depends on what kind of terrain your horse is on and the condition of their feet. I noticed towards the end of the season that my mare’s feet were cracked and looking pretty worn so she’s going shoeless to give them a chance to grow out. My four year-old is a big sook and will no doubt end up stag-gering around like a toddler with no shoes on so he’s sticking with his. Make sure there is adequate feed for your horse so they maintain their condition and keep warm; both my spoilt thoroughbreds are continu-ing on hard feed, something that I’ll probably regret come first ride time in six weeks! Finally, don’t forget to check for mud rash as well. I’m endeavoring to be as positive as I can be about this set back; riding is a dangerous sport and these things happen. I’ll be spending time with my family and working on some flexibility and strength in the form of yoga and Pilates and in six weeks-time I’ll be back with a vengeance...

JAX AND WILLS

Wills is continuing on his hard feedWinter is the perfect time to give your horses a well-deserved break

RIDER: Jax Van BuurenLOCATION: WhangareiOCCUPATION: Mother/ Radio Announcer HORSE: Buffalo Ben (Wills)AGE: 4HEIGHT: 16.2hh DAM: Princess DowerSIRE: Buffalo Man STARTS: 1 WINNINGS: $0- but sold for $18,000 as a yearling

DISCIPLINE: Pleasure and something involving jumping!

This month Jax has an unfortunate incident and offers her winter turnout advice.

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Shakey is already impressing Jess with his jumping abil-Step one: flatwork!

Shakey has been so much fun to work with so far! I’ve had him just over a week now and while on his first ride he resembled an overgrown llama, he has now started working with his head down and soft. The first day we just checked to make sure we had a walk, trot, canter, stop and steer button. I discovered that when ridden, his first reaction was to drop behind the leg and bring his head up. For the second and third sessions I lunged him in the chambon to help to teach him to drop his head and work a bit softer. By his fourth session he started to understand the head down question and while he took it a bit literally by putting his nose to the ground I would much

rather this than him having his head up in the air like a llama! For the second part of the test drive, I took Shakey over a couple of jumps. He handled every fence very well which was a relief. For now I’ll now focus on flatwork and hacking for a wee while until he’s a bit stronger over his back. So far I am super impressed with his brain and how quickly he has settled into the routine here! He’s gone from being a bit bolshy on the ground to leading on the end of the rope and standing like a lamb in the yard. I’m excited for this young horse’s future!

JESS AND SHAKEY

RIDER: Jess Land LOCATION: Christchurch OCCUPATION: Owner of Jess Land Equestrian HORSE: Metalworker (Shakey) AGE: 5 HEIGHT: 16HH DAM: AndalanSIRE: Kings Chapel STARTS: 9 WINNINGS: $4,375

DISCIPLINE: Eventing and show-jumping

This month Jess has a new mount, Shakey! But does he have what it takes to be a show jumper?

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T h e b r a i n / b o dy c o n n e c t i o n

This month columnist and personal trainer Freya Thompson discusses the brain/body connection and how it can improve your riding.

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“Outside rein, inside leg, feel your seat, soften your contact, posture, lengthen your leg.” Are you struggling to perform the 101 things your instructor is yelling at you? You feel like your hands are soft but are constantly getting told to soften. You’re asking for some leg yield and are sure the aids are correct but somewhere along the way there is a “miscommunication”. Try taking five minutes each day to work on the brain-body connection, also known as co-ordination. Try these exercises:

Alternate nostril breaths

Inhale through left nostril with right blocked off, block off left exhale through right, inhale through right, block off and exhale through left. Repeat x 10

Crossing the midline

From standing, tap left hand to right foot in front of body, tap right hand to left foot in front of body, tap left hand to right heel behind body, tap right hand to

left heel behind body. Repeat twice.

Make it fun

Play a game of Twister with some friends!

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C O L U M N : H E A LT H A N D F I T N E S S C O L U M N : R E T U R N I N G TO R I D I N G

C O L U M N : H E A LT H A N D F I T N E S S

t h e f e e d i n g m i n e f i e l d

After 30 years, adult rider and columnist Marie Gordon is back in the saddle. This month Marie reflects on her decision to get back into horse riding and the many things she learned along the way.

I have mentioned before that I have spent a lot of time standing in the paddock, bewildered by the com-plexities of feed balance, trying to work out how far to move the electric tape to keep my horses within the correct weight range. Much like learning to ride it seems there’s a ‘feel’ that goes with the knowl-edge you need about feed and feed requirements to get the combination about right. I don’t know if that’s true or not but it seems that way to me. Someone recently asked me, when I was inquir-ing about feeding minerals, “are you going to the Olympics?” That put into perspective for me what I am really dealing with. Through that initial conver-sation with the vet and subsequent discussions, trial and error, research, stress and success, I think I would summarise what I have learned, so far, with: 1. There is grass and then there is grass 2. There is a science to understand what and why you feed and you need to do your research 3. Too much of a good thing is a bad thing 4. Keep it simple

I’m not completely sure I am out of the minefield but at least I can see more clearly!

Soon after Bess (my first horse) arrived I asked my vet to give her a general health check to give me some guidance on feeding her to ensure she maintained a healthy weight and stayed in good health. I wanted to make sure I did all the right things from the outset. I received some general advice on how to achieve ‘maintenance’ and armed with my newfound knowl-edge set off on my first visit to the local feed store. I had no idea what I would be walking into when I got there. It felt like there were more dilemmas to be had than in the pick and mix section at Countdown. So many options, so many choices, so many opinions. There seemed to be a lot of ’stuff’ to address problems you didn’t know your horse even had. I eventually got started with a very basic premixed feed which on looking back now was even more than was necessary for the work she was doing, but what did I know at that point? With my second horse, Georgie, I have had the same scenario to manage. Lots of rich grass and a horse who loves it just a little too much. I have to say I have found the term ‘easy keeper’ to be a misnomer! Easy for no one. Georgie’s on a continuous management programme and I am on a continuous watch to make sure she maintains a healthy weight!

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C O L U M N : R E T U R N I N G TO R I D I N G

A R E YO U W E L L - B A L A N C E D ?

Columnist and BHS riding instructor Senara Caddy discusses how rider balance can not only improve your position in the saddle, but your relationship with your horse.

this exercise by reducing body movement and merely putting weight on one seat bone and adding a touch of outside leg – see how easy your horse will turn!

Test to see if you are a balanced rider: In rising trot, stretch both arms out in front of you so there is a loop in the rein, if you bump back in the saddle or fall forward, you are relying on your hands for balance. If this is the case return to walk, reposition your seat into the deepest part of the saddle and check that your lower leg is lined underneath your seat and try the exercise again until you can balance using your core and seat. When doing this exercise start with just a few strides and work towards building up the exercise to several times around the arena. You can also improve your arms and hands with this exercise by letting your elbows come down first as you return your hands to normal riding position.

If you are aware that your balance on your horse is not that great it is important to improve so you are not placing worry or stress on your horse. Contact a qualified coach to come and give you some exercises to help improve your balance and position.

Good balance is essential for both horse and rider. If you are in balance the horse can cope with your additional weight without disruption. Different types of riding require different body positions, for example the position of a dressage rider verses a jockey’s position on a galloping horse. The theory of balance, however, is the same. When a rider is out of balance it is impossible for the horse to perform what is asked without stress and ease, as well as heighten your chances of falling off. A horse’s confidence and trust grows when a rider is able to balance and does not unbalance him physically with sudden and unex-pected movements. This is one of the reasons why it is not advisable for learner riders to ride novice horses. It is important to think about your balance in all directions. It is not just if you are in front or behind the movement of the horse but also that you are not sitting lopsided or with more weight on one side or the other. Try these exercises to test your balance:

Create awareness of how much your horse is affected by your balance: Walk on a long rein, lean first to the left for a few strides and then to the right. You will feel how much the horse follows your body weight. Refine

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C O L U M N : C OA C H E S C O R N E R