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Building Stronger Horses

Updated:

October 4, 2020

Jec Ballou horse training, core exercises horse, balance exercises horse, groundwork horses, pole work horses

Stability Before Strength - Balanced muscular development cannot happen without first achieving a body that can stay stable throughout movement. In other words, a horse that is wiggling around trying to find balance, or one that has found balance by adopting a crooked posture, cannot develop strength in the ways that lead to better performance. Before a horse can add power to his locomotive muscles, he needs to find joint and limb stability while moving in his basic gaits.

How Can I Tell if my Saddle Fits Correctly?

Updated:

October 2, 2020

horse saddle fit, properly fitting saddle, how to tell if my saddle fits, does my saddle fit correctly? schleese, saddlefit4life

Q: I ride a Thoroughbred with a moderately roached (convex or round) back. How should I determine if my saddle fits correctly? A: The nine main points of saddle fit are absolutely common to all saddles and all horses – if you want to determine whether and how well your saddle fits, these points should be considered, and each of these points has video instruction on our website at www.saddlesforwomen.com.

Turn Pushy Horses Around with Three Simple Lessons

Updated:

August 28, 2020

Jonathan Field pushy horse, how do i control my horse, how do i stop bad horse behaviour, horse to behave, hold and wait horse, horse yield

You are who your friends are. That adage can apply to horses, too. How we treat them will often be reflected right back at us - for good or bad. Sometimes the difference between a harsh cue and an appropriate one can be subtle. Pressure can be effective, but intensity and timing can make all the difference.

How to Format Your Ride

Updated:

July 15, 2020

jec a ballou dressage, exercise programs for horses, best way to exercise horse, how to have an effective horse ride

Most of us intend for our daily rides to improve our horse at some level, either by adding to his physical conditioning or progressing his training skills. But whether or not your horse actually makes these gains often comes down to the amount of time you spend on each phase of the ride. The format of your ride determines the outcome of physical improvement.

Relationship between Resting and Recovery Heart Rate in Horses

Updated:

June 1, 2020

horse heart rate endurance, study on equine heart rates, healthy horse hrrecovery hr resting, equine science update

It would be better to base heart rate recovery tests in endurance competitions on each individual horse’s resting heart rate, according to the authors of a recent study. Veterinary check points (vet gates) are set up at various points along the route of an endurance race, to ensure that each horse is fit to continue the competition.

Keeping Children Safe While Handling Horses - the research may surprise you

Updated:

March 13, 2020

handling horses safely, equine guelph research, parents of horse lovers, coaches of child horse riders

Ph.D. candidate Lara Genik and Dr. C. Meghan McMurtry from the University of Guelph’s Department of Psychology conducted a survey at the 2015 Royal Agricultural Winter Fair (RAWF) in Toronto, looking into the prevalence and impact of less studied painful incidents among children while handling and riding horses. Genik’s research survey set out to understand common painful incidents associated with riding and to gain insight that could potentially lead to intervention through safety and educational programming.

Equitation Science

Updated:

February 19, 2020

equitation science, how to horses learn, learning theory horses, tania millen, international society for equine science ises

What is it and how can it help horses and riders? Riders train horses to act in ways they deem positive, whether it’s jumping a jump, walking down a trail, or performing movements in an arena. But to train horses effectively and safely, riders, trainers, and coaches must understand how they learn and react. Over the past 15 years, equine scientists have researched the learning theory of horses — how horses process, retain knowledge, and learn. Equitation science applies this evidence-based learning theory of horses to horse training, and explains horse behaviour based on horses being horses – without attributing human emotions, ways of thinking, or behaviour, to them. It’s a burgeoning field that is changing the way many riders and trainers think and act.