The Saddle Mag

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 ...