HORSE MANAGEMENT NEWSLETTER AND MORE!!!
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Topics in this issue:
1) Survey response
2) Feature: Are you a horse trainer?
3) Recommended products and services: SmartPak Equine
4) Rally and rating tips: Hairnet trick
5) Questions and answers: trail trouble, breastcollars, breastplates, and
tack cleaning
6) Recommended books, videos, and CD-ROMs: 101 Jumping exercises
7) Fun and educational websites: Saddle pad dust patterns
8) Featured rule: Dress for Formal Inspections

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Survey response
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Thanks to all who responded to the Horse Management Newsletter survey. You
readers sent some great new perspectives and ideas for the upcoming issues.
Please remember, if you have a question or run across a good topic for an
article, recommended product, book, video, or website, please send it along!

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Are you a horse trainer?
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by Stormy May

On November 11th and 12th I was lucky enough to attend a clinic given by
Mark Rashid. Even the first day of rain along the coast at Moss Beach, just
south of San Francisco, didn't stop the auditors or participants from coming
away with a new perspective on the relationship between horses and humans.

One of the most interesting points Mark made was that anybody who works with
horses is a trainer. Either you are teaching the horse to do something you
want, or something you don't. Riders get frustrated when their horse does
something they don't like. Your horse may walk off during mounting, or jerk
his head down for a bite of grass. Does anybody have a horse that rushes
out of a trailer, resists when you're doing a rein back, or drops her
shoulder in a circle? Chances are, you've taught the horse that you wanted
that response.

You might ask, how could you have taught the horse these bad habits when you
get mad and punish the horse every time it happens? Or maybe you just
figure it's not that bad, so you let it continue.

The simple answer: you get what you settle for.

Every time the horse gives you a response and you praise him, give him
relief, or go on to the next movement, you have led the horse to believe
that he gave you the response you wanted. For example, if you're mounting
and the horse takes a step or two as you get on, you just trained him that
walking is acceptable as you mount.

If you go the other way, and when the horse walks off, you yell at him, jerk
the reins, or hit him with a whip, now what do you think he learned? He
probably just learned to be afraid of being mounted and to move more to get
away from you next time. The better alternative is to dismount, walk him
calmly back to the mounting place, and get on again. If the horse moves,
dismount, quietly put him back in place and get on again. It might take a
full ride or two of just mounting and dismounting, but in the end, you'll
have a horse that will quietly and reliably let you mount while standing
still.

This training principle applies to almost every situation. If you stop when
something is "good enough" then you've taught the horse that it's what you
want in the future. How many of us have taught our horses that it's ok to
pull on the halter to get some grass? Who has taught their horse that it's
good enough to do a rein back after resisting the bit for a second or two?

The next time your horse does something you don't want, take a minute to
think back about what you or another rider may have done to tell him that
it's really what you wanted. Of course, keep in mind that some things like
an extended trot, or a straight flying change, will take some mental and
physical training until you can get them on cue. Until then, break the
exercise down and don't stop until you get what you really want for that
step.

If you're training your horse to do an exercise that you haven't done
before, it's very helpful to have a mentor or trainer to emulate and guide
you. One of the most valuable parts of Mark Rashid's clinic was that he was
on his own horse. This meant that he could show the riders what the
finished movements should look like. Mark's horse was the best spokesperson
he could have had. Never before have I seen such a quiet, contented, yet
infinitely responsive horse. It was a lesson that I will continue to work
on for years to come.

Mark Rashid is the author of many books including:
Considering the Horse, Horses Never Lie, and Life Lessons from a Ranch
Horse. For more information on his program, visit his website at:
www.markrashid.com .

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Recommended products and services
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SmartPak Equine

I wish I had thought of this concept! SmartPak is a company that sells
equine supplements, just like many other catalogs do. The thing that sets
SamrtPak apart, is that they will individually package all of your horse's
supplements into separate, airtight, daily dose packages. These packages
ensure that your supplements will maintain full strength right up until
feeding time. The other bonus is that your packs are labeled with your
horse's name and the contents so they will get fed to the right horse every
day, even in a busy barn. The cost is typically just slightly more than
buying the supplements by the container. If you think about it though, the
time saved, accuracy of dose, and freshness all can make it worth the extra
dollars. The supplements may even end up being cheaper than buying from a
retail store once you add it up, and they will be shipped right to your
door, saving a trip to the feedstore.

If you visit their website you can order a free catalog. Just the catalog
itself is a valuable reference, containing great charts comparing various
hoof supplements, calming supplements, joint supplements and more! The
other fun part is that it shows which supplements they supply to many of
today's top horses. See what people are feeding the champions.

www.smartpakequine.com
1-800-461-8898

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Rally and rating tips: Hairnet trick
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According to page 46 of the 2002 Horse Management Handbook, if your hair is
long enough to put into a bun below the back of your helmet, here's how to
fasten the hairnet. First of all, use a 'bob' sized hairnet. Put on the
hairnet at your forehead, and twist at the nape of neck before putting it
over the bun. The figure-eight shape keeps in all stray hairs.

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Questions and answers
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Hello Stormy

I have just gotten back into the owning of a horse after 15 years. I
purchased a wonderful, gentle but feisty quarter horse. He is good for my
soul unless I take him out trail riding. He does just fine until we get
where there are other horses and he can see or smell them, then he gives me
fits, twisting and backing. In general he wants to go where they are. He
is in a perfect bit which I just got. He was in a snaffle that previous
owners gave me, but he did a lot of head tossing with that. Do you have any
ideas? What do you think of a bitless bridle as he also gives me lots of
trouble getting bit in mouth. He is such a sweetheart except for this.

Joan from Hartland, Michigan

Hi Joan,

Congratulations on getting back into the horse world! This topic fits right
in with this month's feature. Although you might not realize it at first,
every time you let your horse go past those horses while twisting or
backing, you are telling him that it's ok to do that. Fortunately it's
usually an easy habit to fix.

First of all, take into consideration that horses are herd animals, so when
he sees other potential herd members, it's going to be his instinct to try
to get to them at any cost. Where you come in, is reassuring the horse that
you're a strong confident leader, and he can trust your judgment about when
it's appropriate to approach other horses, and when it's not.

Before you begin the fix, make sure that your safety comes first. I always
recommend wearing an ASTM-SEI approved helmet, long pants, and footwear with
closed toes and heels. The next step is to plan a day or two when you can
go past the trouble spot and spend as long as you need without being rushed.
When he sees the horses, if you're comfortable staying on during his
twisting and backing then go ahead and stay on. If you're worried about
coming off though, just get off and start the lesson with leading.

All you're going to do is walk back and forth past the other horses until
your horse is thoroughly bored with the whole exercise. If you started out
leading, go ahead and get on once he's bored, and continue mounted. Don't
end for the day until he walks past the trouble spot exactly as you would
like him to. If you can come back the next day, repeat the same exercise.
The second day should take much less time than the first. By the third day,
it shouldn't take more than one or two passes before he realizes that his
job is to politely walk past the other horses. After you have success in
one spot, try to find another spot with horses to walk past and repeat the
exercise.

I'd love to give you some advice about what bit your horse may like. I need
a little more information about what type of bit you have him in now, and
what type of snaffle he tossed his head in. I love the bitless bridle for
most horses, but without knowing your specific situation I can't tell if it
would be the best alternative. Lastly, remember that if he resists when you
put the bit in, it may not be that he's objecting to the bit, but that you
or his previous owner trained him that it's ok to resist the bit being put
in his mouth. Just like the lesson walking past the other horses, take a
day and just practice gently putting the bit in his mouth until he's
accepting it like you want. A little time spent now will save years of
struggle in the future.

Happy trails!
Stormy

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Stormy,

What's the difference between a breastcollar and a breastplate?

Casey Hoffmann, C2, Panache Pony Club

Hi Casey,

Speaking of English tack, both the breastcollar and breastplate are used to
keep the saddle from slipping back. They are most often used when jumping
or riding up and down hills.

A breastcollar is one strap that goes from one side of the saddle to the
other and attaches to the girth, billets, or D rings on the saddle. A
breastcollar often has a thinner strap that goes across the top of the neck
as well.

A breastplate has two straps that make a "V" shape in front of the neck and
a third strap that fastens to the bottom of the girth. The top has two
spots that fasten to the saddle D rings and a short piece that goes over the
horse's neck right in front of the withers.

From my understanding, the breastplate, usually seen on field hunters and
show hunters, conforms a little better to the horse's conformation so may be
more comfortable for the horse to wear for long periods of time, such as
when hunting.

The breastcollar, often seen on eventing and show jumping horses may do a
better job of keeping the saddle from sliding back in strenuous situations
but probably isn't as comfortable when wearing for extended periods of
time. Breastcollars today are commonly made of wide elastic which wouldn't
restrict the horse while jumping as much as solid leather piece like you
often see on polo ponies.

If you're having trouble with your saddle slipping back while jumping, I'd
start by trying a nonslip pad. If you still need a breastcollar or
breastplate and won't be riding in it for several hours at a time, I'd
suggest an elastic breastcollar.

No slipping!
Stormy

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Hi Stormy,

It's Barb Seidel from Napa Valley PC & I was wondering if I could get your
advice/help getting a horse management program going in our club. Our club
numbers were dwindling so I ran ads in newspaper to attract new kids so we
now have a batch of greenies. Of course this is great news but we have to
mold those young minds in the ways of PC.

Celeste mentioned that none of them are coming to mounted meetings with
clean tack so I volunteered to do an Intro to Tack cleaning this Saturday
after the mounted lesson. If you have any hand-outs of have any suggestions
on what to cover besides what is in the D Manual, please let me know.

Thanks!
Barb

Hi Barb,

I'd love to have some sort of cute visual hand out appropriate for D's about
tack cleaning. The closest I've found is in the 2002 HM handbook on pages
42-44 there is a great tack cleaning guide. The information is easy to
understand but more pictures would make it fun. If anyone else reading this
newsletter has some good hand outs about tack cleaning I'd love to have a
copy to post to the Newsletter website for people to use.

If you would like further guidelines in setting up the horse management
program in your club, a good place to start is the November 2003 issue of
the Horse Management Newsletter at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HorseManagementNewsletter/message/8

Keep it clean,
Stormy


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Recommended books, videos, and CD-ROMs!
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101 Jumping Exercises by Linda Allen

This past weekend the United States Eventing Association (USEA) held an
instructors training workshop at Connie Arthur's Vista del Rio in Waterford,
Ca. The workshop was led by the well known USPC graudates and teachers Don
Sachey and Brian Sabo. During the workshop, they mentioned many great
reference books. One book that Brian Sabo uses all the time is the 101
Jumping Exercises book. It is spiral bound and made so that you can just
hang it out by the arena when you're working on a particular exercise.

Below are a few reviews from the amazon.com website:
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Excellent exercises for riders new and old

An excellent outline of basic exercises that can help horses and rider hone
the skills needed to safely and correctly navigate courses. Well designed
gymnastics with excellent descriptions and explanations as to the point of
the exercise are fantastic.
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Simplifies the process of attaining higher abilities

I bought this book hoping to introduce simple and concise exercises to my
youngster. What I was delighted to find, was a step by step manual
describing basic flatwork right up to and including more difficult grid and
course work. Excellent book which I highly recommend.
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Another must have

I haven't even finished reading this book yet, but I just have to say how
fabulous it is. I have just started my youngster over fences and have found
this guide invaluable already, with 25 exercises involving just ground
poles, it is already well used. The exercises build up in difficulty so you
are always making progress and at the same time having fun and educational
schooling sessions with your horse. I think there is something for everyone,
beginner to advanced.

As a budget conscious rider training predominantly on my own, I have found
these types of guides priceless and they have really helped me to formulate
a schooling plan each week. Our progress has been very rewarding. I noticed
that other riders at the barn were using the poles I left out in the arena
and so I started posting the exercises on the bulletin board each week -
inspiring everyone and creating great feedback and support. I know this is a
book I will get a lot of use out of!

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Fun and educational websites
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Thanks to Clair Spackman for sending along this informational website. The
page below shows what the Schleese saddle company says the dust pattern on a
saddle pad should look like when the saddle fits well. Once you're on this
page, take some time to look around at their other articles as well.

http://www.schleese.com/editorial/articles/dustpattern.html

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Featured rule
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2002 Horse Management Handbook page 34 section 22 E: Dress for Formal
Inspection

Dress must be either correctly formal or informal except for D-rated riders.
In exceptionally hot weather, the President of the Ground Jury may waive the
coat, stock tie and helmet cover requirements. If the coat requirement is
waived, white shirts with sleeves (not tee-shirts) must be worn without
neckwear. Ds are to be neat and clean, not necessarily properly formal or
informal. A list of formal and informal dress is on the following page.
[Editor's note: it's on the same page.] Any exceptions to these dress
requirements will be specified by the committees of the activities involved.
(Refer to discipline rulebook.)

NOTES: Show bows with metal fasteners are not allowed, as metal may cause
injury. It is the coat that determines whether the rider is formal or
informal, not the tie or pant color.

These rules are subject to annual addenda and corrections to implement
changes in discipline rules or USEF rules.

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Call for submissions
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Help make this newsletter the best it can be. Do you have any issues you'd
like to see addressed here? How about ideas for recommended products, books,
or videos? Want to submit your own article, or a question for the questions
and answers section? Send them to: stormy@... and I'll keep a log
of topics and articles for upcoming issues.

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