Keep that in mind when you do first start riding your "winter woollie" - sessions should be kept short and simple at the beginning.
That means doing nothing stressful - including speed work, hard or sharp movements, and lateral work - yes, laterals. No matter how well trained your horse was when you put him away, if he has been off all winter, don't work him on lateral movements for the first while. These movements include leg yield, half pass, shoulder in and displacement of the haunches, and technically extend to turns on the fore and hind as well.
Lateral movements involve muscles that the horse simply doesn't use regularly on his own, and your job is to start getting his regular system going again, not stressing him unduly. Begin by walking and trotting to get his lungs working again, and to start conditioning his bones, muscles, tendons and ligaments for more strenuous activities. After a few weeks of basic walk, trot and canter, you should be able to start adding SMALL amounts of more difficult movements - a few strides of collection, a short distance of leg yield, and so on.
You many notice I didn't say jog as part of the basics - it is hard for a horse to jog or lope slowly and correctly as it requires a good deal of muscling to maintain a correct frame. A horse needs to be stretched, suppled and conditioned through regular riding before expecting him to work at his previous levels. Conditioning works on the theory of adding minor stresses each day and allowing time for rebuilding. By starting with hard maneuvres, you risk major stress which leads to injury rather than fitness.
Also keep in consideration the fact that he probably still has a pretty thick winter coat, and if you work him too hard he will sweat. Even though it has warmed up considerably (although as I write this it dropped back down to -16 C!) it is still too cool to advise leaving a wet or even damp horse turned out without a proper cool down period. Using a polar fleece cooler and leaving him out of the wind until he is dry is very helpful, then if he wears a blanket you can put it back on after he is dry.
Each horse is different and you will need to design your conditioning program individually. Age especially plays a factor as an older horse generally takes longer to achieve full fitness. Don't hesitate to confer with your vet about a conditioning program that will work for you and your horse with your desired goals in mind - and next year, you may decide to try harder to keep your horse exercised during the winter!
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Choosing a trainer - Part 1
Trina from Alberta wrote this note:
"What qualities do you look for when choosing a trainer for the first 30 - 90 days vs. an older horse who needs finishing or a tune up? Also what qualities do you look for in someone who is just going to be training your horse and you will only be taking a week or so worth of lessons before you bring your horse home vs. someone whom you want to use as a trainer/coach on a more permanent basis??
I guess the best place to start with a question like this is to break it down into several manageable questions. The individual queries we need to answer are listed below.
1. What qualities do you look for when choosing a trainer for the first 30 - 90 days for an unstarted horse?
2. What qualities do you look for when choosing a trainer for an older horse who needs finishing or a tune up?
3. What qualities do you look for in someone who is just going to be training your horse and you will only be taking a week or so worth of lessons before you bring your horse home?
4. What qualities do you look for in someone who you want to use as a trainer/coach on a more permanent basis?
You are the only one that can decide which trainer to choose over another possible choice, based on your own experiences, pocketbook, location, personality, goals, etc, but understanding your different needs may help.
Location of the trainer can be decided on by figuring out how often will you want to check on your horse. Many trainers prefer that the owner not come out in the first month, so being several hours away is practical enough in that situation. However, if you are planning on regular lessons, you definitely need one closer to home!
Try not to make your decision based on price - just because one is cheaper, or throws in free lessons doesn't make them a better trainer. Likewise, just because they have a fancy facility and a new truck and trailer and charge an arm and a leg doesn't make them the best either!
Ask around! Who uses what trainer for what discipline? Were they impressed with the horse when they got him home? Were they happy with the condition of the horse during the training period? Did they enjoy the lessons they took? And so on - ask the questions that are pertinent to your individual situation.
Until next week, when we start with the first question, feel free to run back to the archives and check out the articles on choosing a coach ), working with a coach and how to be a better coach .
If you are new to Northern B.C. Horse, check out all the previous issues on the Archive page.
Kristi is building a great knowledge base about horses, with the emphasis on our area of the world.
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Western, English, Penning or Trail riding, all equine sports have a voice on Northern B.C. Horse
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Many thanks to Nicole MacPherson and Julia Lord for their assistance with the three overo articles.
The splash white is the third and final overo pattern. Splash white horses are often very simply described as horses that look like they were dipped in a bucket of paint. The splash pattern begins under the belly, with small patches to even a completely white belly. Unlike frame, splash also often crosses the topline.
Gambling Man is a very good example of a splash white - and he was born to two solid Quarter Horse parents! Gunner (the well known Paint reiner) is also a splash white, though with much less white on him than Gambling Man - according the people I spoke with about splash whites, the way the white marking is on his head is indicative of the splash gene.
(see photos)
Blue eyes are very common in splash whites, as is "eyeliner" - when the skin immediately encircling the eye is black even though the hair around the eye is white. A minimal splash may have only a couple of front socks, and possibly blue eyes, and no other white. A two-toned tail is also common in splash white overos.
Splash white has been linked to deafness in several breeds, including Paints and Miniatures. Much like many other strange phenomenon, there does not appear to be a reason for this, but it does tend to run in families - apparently there is an entire Paint family in Australia that appear to all be deaf.
I started noticing the possibility that Brass, the stallion boarded at my house, was hard of hearing, and so asked several knowledgeable people what overo pattern they thought he had. They all immediately said splash white!
I have been testing Brass for a couple of weeks now, and if he cannot see me, he doesn't react at all - not to a cluck, calling his name, kissing, or even shaking a grain bucket. He is easily startled if I get well into his space without him seeing me in his peripheral vision, even if I have been talking to him. I am not 100% sure he is deaf, but 99.9% anyway!
The pictures on the photo page are of Gambling Man and Brass, the Paint stallion boarded at my place. Gunner is also apparently deaf, and he and Brass are very similarly marked. A picture of Gunner can be seen at this link.
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