Equestrian Life April 2018 Issue

training
TRAINING
outside the box!
Brace yourself - I’m going to be controversial and
upset some people with this article!!
WORDS BY TINA CANTON BHSI BSC (HONS) UKCC LEVEL 3
You’ve only got to look on
Facebook these days for a clue
as to how many people are
struggling with various aspects of
training and managing horses. Of course,
the best thing to do is get good advice from
experienced riders / trainers, but often we
feel like we are asking silly questions, or
don’t have the luxury of a good mentor
who is open to a holistic approach with
managing horses. By posting on social
media it is very scary what some of the
keyboard warriors suggest (who often have
never produced horses well!)
I have long been a huge believer in looking
at riding and managing horses from a ‘big
picture’ point of view. Everything matters!
From how much turnout suits them, to
the type of exercise they enjoy and the
basics of shoeing / saddle fitting. It never
ceases to amaze me the number of horses
who come to us with ‘problems’ that are
easily traced back to how they are ridden or
managed. We seem to have more and more
horses with ‘behavioural’ problems such as
napping / spooking etc, but often when we
quiz the owners, they are fed too much, not
ridden enough or don’t have enough variety
in their work to challenge and channel
them. Going round in circles being nagged
for perfection can’t be much fun! Obviously,
we need to check that basics such as
dentistry has been done well and there are
no underlying pain issues.
So, with this in mind, I want to try to
promote a growth mindset within training
that every horse teaches us something.
We should learn to be brave, experiment
and above all listen to what the horses
enjoy! We unfortunately have a lot of
underworked, under-stimulated, lonely,
isolated and confined horses due to modern
management.
It’s amazing how many
people don’t lunge as part
of their exercise routine,
or if they do, they don’t
use a gadget!
Right, now I’ve upset everyone - I’d like
to offer a few suggestions that have often
helped us turn these ‘problem horses’ into
valuable, fun competition horses who give
their owners lots of fun!
Firstly - when something comes into us
with a government health warning on -
the first thing we do is put the horse on
very low energy feed and turn them out as
much as possible. If they can be out with a
friend even better but obviously you have
to balance this against injury risk. Modern
management calls for individual turnout
to decrease injury risk, but if you can have
horses paired up they are much happier.
All my best Eventers live out at night all
year round in pairs. (Even the night before
a competition - they are plaited with hoods
on and mud boots) Short term schooling
horses we keep individually, but they always
see another horse. Going out at night uses
up so much ‘silly’ energy and they are much
looser through their bodies moving all
night - as they are designed to do!
The next thing we do is work the horses
from the floor to develop obedience and
respect. I’m too old and broken to get
straight on and risk a rodeo! This also
allows you to assess the horses ability to
take a correct contact, self-balance and
any evasions they may have perfected. It’s
amazing how many people don’t lunge
as part of their exercise routine, or if
they do, they don’t use a gadget! Lunging
should mimic riding, so they should be
worked in the correct outline with lots of
transitions. It’s often at this point that any
irregularities in movement can be picked
up and we can look at vet intervention if we
think there is a pain cause.
When we start ridden work it totally
depends on the horse what we do, but
hacking is an integral part of any horses’
routine. We are very lucky as most of ours
is off-road so it must be very hard if you’re
somewhere with a busy road - but you could
always box up to hack. We hack in company
to start and see if they are confident to go
in front. If they are happy then they will go
on their own. We always start everything in
a neck strap as well.
42 April 2018 Equestrian Life