The Saddle Mag

We all know how much this world can be expensive, so why not searching for some useful stables-stuff at the supermarket? Let's see 15 items you can find super cheapy! measuring cups; very useful for giving our supplements to our horses! microfibre towels; useful in lots of situations (tack cleaning, horse cleaning and so on) any kind of containers at very low prices; super useful for biscuits, sugar cubes and so on big boxes that actually work as 'real' grooming boxes but cost a lot less! any kind of hooks; perfect as bridle hooks!  coat hangers are fabulous for hanging up saddle pads! spry bottles; great for any kind of homemade spray (for example fly spray made by apple vinegar and water!)       small blackboards that you can hang on your horse's stall and write down there any kind of necessities or stuff! wet wipes are always useful for cleaning your hands and stuff at the stables paint brushes are perfect for the application of hoof gel/oil socks...

Vets said "stop with extreme breeding". El Rey Magnum was announced as being "the horse that the world was waiting for". This arabian foal has got an anatomical structure that has been defined by his breeders s being nearly perfect. He has the typical arabian head structure, but the bending of the bone is actually excessive. That's exactly what worried and moved the Veterinary Record, the British Veterinary Association, who argued that El Rey's skull shape is alarming and may cause him breathing deceases. Breeders obviously reply was that his skull shape is totally normal to arabian horses and also that this foal has already got a value of million dollars and lots of requests. We're clearly facing a case of extreme breeding, actually sadly popular in the Equestrian World, since we all know the costs of a foal of these genealogies and anatomic characteristics. The problem is that actually starting from this super-valued horse, lots of others will be br...

Hey Guys tonight I just want to show you this beautiful site in which you can find lots of interesting gifts and stuff, that all riders will certainly love! Here I post you just two examples but they really have lots of stuff on their site that you will love! This notebook can be personalized, by changing name and year, and look also at this super cool bag! That’s actually what all riders need to be stylish and carry all the stuff needed by our lovely four-legged friends (and we all know that they do need looots of things!)... This site is managed by a young woman, who actually has a Diploma in Equine Psychology and wants to share her knowledge and love for these gorgeous animals we all love. She used her studies also for writing an e-book which is actually FREE but just for a limited time!! Anyway, I’ll write down about this one tomorrow, so by now, you should all go and check out the site  https://www.jacquimariedesigns.com/  and fall in love with the stuff! P.s. just 12 w...

INGREDIENTS: -3/4 cup oatmeal -1/3 cup molasses -1/2 cup water -3/4 cup flour -3/4 cup bran -1/2 cup brown sugar -1 apple -2 carrots 1- Preheat oven to 400 degrees 2- grease muffin tin 3- shred apple and carrots and mix them with molasses 4- add brown sugar, flour, oatmeal and water 5- insert in a muffin baking tray 6- bake for 30-45 minutes Credits to:  aboutyourhorse.com

Hey guys, in this article I'll be talking about a very common problem, which is horses that paw. So we're going to analyze why horses paw and I'm going to give you some strategies that will help stop the pawing. There are basically three main reasons that horses paw: the first one is in a way 'emotional' as bored or frustrated horses can show this behavior; for example this can happen while we are tiding up our horse, as he may paw highlighting us the fact that he is bored; the same can happen when a horse feels frustrated because of a hard training. The second reason is a learned behavior such as a horse that starts pawing when sees that we are carrying its food; if we feed him at the very moment he is pawing, he will learn that in this way he can achieve what he wants, and he will do it every time we feed him, as we will have reinforced a wrong behavior. Horses also paw when they are facing a new situation, such as a trailer, a new place or things like that. Th...

Here's another one of those useful exercises for improving our riding skills; this one in particular focuses on the lead changes, hope you enjoy!

As you probably know if you follow my Instagram page (if not, go check it out!), today I spent almost 6-7  hours at the stables as there arrived 27 new ponies for the show that will be going on from  Friday and we had to test them and see if they were calm and quiet enough for children between 11-14 years old. I rode this guy, and he was quite good tough I tried to work on directing him correctly as, like lots of ponies do, he was always trying to move to the centre of the field. Tough all of a sudden he laid down and unfortunately I wasn't able to keep him enough fastly, so I got my feet off the stirrups and moved away. Of course I should have reacted differently, but I didn't have the time for thinking, anyway next time this happens, I'll be much more ready. Anyway I just searched a bit on the internet in order to understand why they do this and I found out that there can be so many reasons: first of all it can be the consequence of health problems, so if the horse does t...

Some horses become lazy from too much time spent on the same kind of work, speed and routine. What they need is some interesting exercises that stimulate them and make the work we're doing much funny and brain working. An example is what is usually called the 'Hangbahn'; this consists basically in dressage schooling on sloped outdoor terrain. This is perfect for those horses who are uninterested to perform in the arena or tired doing the same things and need to be rev up. The ideal is to find a quite sloped area in which there are some trees you can circle around. This outdoor area can be used for ride transitions, figure-eight around trees, half-halts, and ride leg-yielding exercises. This kind of work will stimulate the horse who will have the need to be careful of the terrain, re-wiring his brain in a positive way, mentally and physically. The best is to alternate a soft ground and an hard ground. Another useful exercise is based on a change of speed: gallop or fast trot...

Here's the first exercise I'm sharing here. Don't forget to check out y instagram Page  abs.equestrian  for other exercises and tips! Anyway this is perfect for improving your turning ability and the capacity of doing clean lead changes, which is not something easy to do at all and any rider know this! This can be done in both leads (sx and dx) but I advice you to start with the lead your horse feels much comfortable in, as we all know that usually horses prefer cantering in one lead instead of another. The other advice is to put every jul 24 feet apart which will be: 6 feet for landing, 6 feet for the take off and 1 canter stride. You'd better start doing this course at trot as leading the horse will be much easier and later cantering. The fences have to be kept low as this is not a show, but a technique exercise. Please, write me for any advice, questions or exercises you may need! Saba.

Horses with pink skin can get sunburned.   “The pigmentation in hair and skin protects against the penetration of ultraviolet light, so any non-pigmented horse or an animal with white-skinned areas is prone to sunburn damage,” says Dr Janet Littlewood MRCVS, a specialist in veterinary dermatology. “Although the horses most at risk are those kept at permanent pasture in the summer months, it’s important not to forget that  sunlight can also be damaging at other times of the year .” The  face and heels are most commonly affected  because these often have non-pigmented patches and less hair coverage. “It’s not a breed-related problem because nearly all breeds produce horses with white facial markings and legs,” explains Dr Littlewood, “but owners of animals with a thin coat should be particularly careful.” Ensuring fields have shady areas is essential, but even the most severe weather conditions won’t stop some horses grazing. There are equine sun barri...

A large number of horses, demonstrates to be afraid of water. Understanding where this fear comes from is not straightforward or easy at all, it requires non-indifferent patience and effort: it may derive from a trauma or an inborn fear. Depending on the case, you can intervene to help him. Here I will write an example of noninvasive intervention. First and foremost, as we always do, we gain its trust, with the methods I have already mentioned in previous posts. Later we can start lunging him. When the horse is calm, we will take a bucket of water and put it in front of it; Probably, we won't notice strange reactions, because it will bring it back to the water that he drinks it in the box, or in the paddock.  Next, we will take some water with our hands and begin to touch the coat with wet hands, including the head.  When it seems calm, we can begin to make it familiar with a small sheet with slightly raised edges, with water inside. The horse will have to slowly ...

HORSE'S COAT COLOR  Palomino, light bay and chestnut do not create any kind of problems in being photographed. Different is the case of the gray horses: young gray horses usually have darker-gray coats, but when they grow up the coat starts lightening. The camera may not even focus on its coat and the shades it has and we may have exposure problems; in his case it is fundamental to change the automatic settings and overexpose or underexpose it. It is important to have some testings and find out the perfect exposure.  With dark horses it is even worse; the steps to follow are the same. It is absolutely important to focus on the background (read the article:  what background to choose? ) in order to highlight the coat color shades.  Credits: I Nostri amici cavalli Magazine.  The photo is mine, Copyright Saba Armeni. 

Some days ago at the stables, I heard a riding teacher, saying this. I just thought: isn't this horse a living being? Starting to whip him, he forced the horse to stop doing what he was doing and continue trotting. I just believe that this behavior is inconceivable. It is true that some horses need to understand that while competing they can't stop for 'doing their business', but that is absolutely not the right method. Actually as I always say, the start is creating a relationship of mutual trust. If since now you have been whipping at him madly, he'd probably fear the whip now. To overcome this, read the article:  overcome the fear of whips . Then we can lunge him for some sessions of 5/10 minutes. Whenever he does the session without stopping for pooping, you can reward him. If he stops many times, you can try to stimulate with voice and movements (NOT VIOLENCE) him not to stop and if he does so even for 5 seconds, then you can let him stop and do whatever he ...

Actually a lot of horses, have been trained with a wrong use of the whip; 'cause of this, they develop fear against this simple device which instead needs to be an extension of our hand .  This is a huge problem that inevitably needs to be resolved, as the whip, if used correctly and not as a weapon, is an object that can be useful in lots of situations. The process of inserting the whip, begins as always with the establishing of a relationship of mutual trust (the process has already been explained in previous articles:). Afterwards, you will show the whip to the horse for short sections of time, rewarding it  with a treat,  whenever he seems quiet. Of course, to show it, the whip will be pointed down and never lifted up, because it would be synonymous of "scolding" or rebuke. After repeating this kind of easy procedure, for a few minutes and more or less two sessions a day, when the horse is beginning to show itself quiet about the whip, we can start passing ...

First of all you must understand why this happens. It might derivate by back pain or illnesses (for example: Cold Backed Syndrome ).  So, the first step is certainly a vet visit. If everything's ok with his health and nothing in its eating habits has changed, you have to concentrate on yourself: is your position appropriate? Do you use correctly reins and stirrups? Do you have a good balance and not lean ahead or back? If also these are not the causes, the horse may be scared by whip or spurs. In order to understand if this is actually the real problem, try to eliminate these advices for some days and see if the behavior changes. If this is the problem, you may have to integrate the presence of these objects slowly (read the article: Overcome the fear of WHIPS ).  if this is not the cause and even without whip and spurs, he continues bucking madly, you have to search for something else.  There are two other huge and frequent matters: 1) the horse doesn't tolerate the s...

Horses are on one hand brave animals, but on the other they have several fears that, if not got over, they will develop during their life. The best thing to do is to help them avoid those fears by letting them see that there is nothing to worry about.  If you do not work on these fears, or else you punish the horse when it shows them, you will end up making it develop bad behavior and an increase in that fear.  We might find ourselves, for example, in the case of a horse that is afraid of the obstacle pillars , perhaps as a result of trauma (a fall in which it has been hit by a pillar, for example).  The worst thing to do it would be to push him (perhaps with the help of the whip) to overcome the obstacle: the horse, following the intimidation and the beatings, might even overcome it, but surely this will help to increase the fear as it will associate the obstacle to the beatings;  If he will begin to force the horse, he may at any time discard and refuse, c...

Since I saw that lots of you were interested in "equestrian innovations", I thought that this could be an interesting article for all horse enthusiasts and riders.  From the mind of Arioneo society, Orscana is a new connected sensor that can be hung under any type of blanket . It is created in order to analyze all horse's moves when we cannot control him, (such as time spent lying down, or moving and so on) for example when he is traveling in the trailer (and maybe he is one of those nervously-traveling-guys) or more simply, at nighttime.  It also controls temperature underneath the blanket and detects the sweat .  Basically it gives a total monitoring of the horses's condition by analyzing its activity during day and night, watching t emperature underneath the blanket in stable, paddock or transport, and warning if the horse is out of its comfort zone .  It also anticipates the horse's needs for the following night, in conjunction with the weat...

Since yesterday I feel off the horse while he was bucking   assiduously, I thought that  this could be a  useful article for every horse rider. First of all you must ride a horse that is suitable for your skills, in order to be a perfect combination together. It is also absolutely important to wear always all of your protective equipment in order to be as safe as possible in case of fall.  However in case of need you have to decide rather to hold or let the reins. Of course if you horse is bucking or bolting and you loose you balance, it is always better to release reins to prevent being engaged or entangled. Be careful to let go your feet too: one of the most dangerous thinks that can happen is that your feet remain in the stirrups, so in case of danger if you feel like nearly falling, letting go your feet may be a good idea.  Once you are falling, try to roll out of the way of your horse's legs. Do not stick your arm out to break your fall as t...

WHICH BACKGROUND TO CHOOSE? The best place to photograph the horse is definitely a quiet place, where it is not subject to many distractions or elements that might frighten him.  Avoid road, cars and so on, because they would be both aesthetically and logistically unsuitable. Disagreeable are also white or dark backgrounds that would not outline the tone of the coat well and would end up flattening the figure. The ideal are landscapes and vegetation, or ancient walls on the brown or reddish tones. Moreover, I think the most appropriate background is the place that recalls the natural habitat of the horse. A photograph that portrays the animal in nature, surely transmits much more feelings than another taken in a place from which it is evicted. Applying this "trick" to the one shown in the previous article, you will have a wonderful picture with warm tones and vibrant vegetation ... follow the upcoming tricks for refining your technique! With a cue taken from ...

What is the best time to take a photograph of the horse? Surely the best times for photographing your horse are sunshine and sunset. The light in those hours is the best as the sky is colored of Warm colors that attribute heat to photography and to the subject. And if you are able toposition the horse on the basis of the source of sunlight at that moment, the sunlight will create around the subject of the photo a kind of luminous halo that will look golden. It is not advised to take photographs in the central hours of the day in the summer, because in addition to the suffering for man and horse in staying outside with such a high temperature, the image will be flattened by the excessive presence of light. In winter, but above all in the presence of snow, photographs taken at dawn or sunset are particularly recommended because they give a further light as snow reflects the sun rays. Credits to  https://it.pinterest.com/pin/408983209880878018/  for the image ...