Phillipa and Wiggins last wrote about the upcoming summer months and the goals ahead of them, lets see what happened....

Blog 2 – Buckle up! It’s going to be a bumpy ride…

Last time I wrote, it was the beginning of June. We had just competed at the RoR regional champs. The summer had got off to a good start and we were riding on the crest of a wave…but not for long.

After riding one morning, I turned Wiggins out and gave him his breakfast. I noticed that he couldn’t seem to get his head down to his bucket. I held the bucket up for him and he ate fine. I gave him a good check over but couldn’t see anything so I thought he might have pulled a muscle or something. Anyway, by the afternoon he was able to graze so I didn’t think much of it. A few days later, a lump appeared under his throat. After a week or so, the lump became an abscess and then it was panic stations. I had been taking his temperature, watching for discharge, listening for a cough…nothing. I took the precaution of isolating him just in case, but was pretty sure it wasn’t strangles. That was until the vet came. It’s fair to say she didn’t fill me with hope. The yard went into lockdown and Wiggins was isolated. I was beside myself. Not only to think that Wiggins might be really ill, but if anything happened to anyone else’s horse, I wouldn’t have forgiven myself. After what seemed like an eternity, the tests came back clear and the lump started to heal. No idea what it was, but that was June gone.

We had lost a whole month, but it seemed we were back on an even keel, and as a bonus I found out we had qualified for the RoR National Championships at Aintree. I was so excited to be given the opportunity to ride at the home of the Grand National! We got back out competing and at our first competition after his time off, Wiggins won both his section and his class. I was so proud of him! But again, our elation didn’t last long…

A new horse arrived at the yard at the beginning of August and caused a bit of a stir. Wiggins started pawing at the ground really aggressively. He did it so badly that I brought him in one day and he had worn the front of his shoe away and the clip had gone into his hoof. An emergency visit from the farrier and we seemed to have had a lucky escape. However, a couple of days later he went really lame. Cue more time off. After a couple of weeks, he seemed fine so I decided to have a little ride. It was quickly apparent that he wasn’t fine. I had booked him in for a gastroscopy clinic, so I asked the vet to have a look at him while he was there – he seemed sound (and he didn’t have ulcers!) so they suggested just giving him some more time off. Anyway, things didn’t improve. We missed the BD area festivals. Then we missed the RoR National Champs, so I arranged for nerve blocks and x-rays to be done. THEN! The day before the vet was due, I noticed a splint had popped on his front leg – the one he had been lame on. It was like a lightbulb moment. Sharon and I couldn’t believe we hadn’t thought of that before. So, over the last couple of weeks, he has slowly started coming back into work. Dare I say it, but we seem to be on the up again. Let’s see how long it lasts this time, especially with winter on the horizon!

Poor Phillipa and Wiggins, it has been a rough ride for sure, but on the positive side, Wiggins has returned to work in a positive way and dare we say it, so far so good! 

What do horses and cheese have in common?

Calling all riders who ride in a “school”…

Regardless of what you are doing in the school, I want you to visualise this…..

A cheese wedge! 

As the majority of schools are fenced in, or have boards of some sort, the “track” is where we all migrate to, especially if the dimensions of the school are at most 20x40.

Being on the track is fine, however as your horse – or cheese wedge – is, well, the shape of said cheese wedge, I’ll explain…

Viewed from above (like a bird’s eye view) when you look at the dimensions of any horse, you will notice their quarters are wider than their shoulders, and they are wider than the neck/head, hence being “wedge” shaped.

So, as your horse walks/trots/canters along the track, supported by the fence, his hind legs on the correct track, as are his forelegs, with his neck ahead of all that, you would say he was “straight”, BUT he isn’t. Nope, not one bit. UNLESS you are supporting his shoulders and riding towards a “shoulder fore” shape, THEN he will be straight.

Look at the diagram below, the “horse” is on the track, as is the “cheese wedge” BUT notice the angle they are both at when allowed to “follow the fence. You should see that when we talk about “straight” we need to fire an imaginary arrow directly through the horse’s nose/chest/dock (tail), with the hind legs stepping into, or over the tracks of the fore feet. When the horse follows the track with no support, the quarters are naturally to the inside, and the horse automatically “falls out” through the outside shoulder.

So? I hear you say. Well, once your horse loses balance, as he will once you turn away from the track, that is when being on the track becomes a problem. The moment you turn off the track, lets say to ride a 20mtr circle in the middle of the school, the problems have already begun, to turn you know HOW to make the turn, (for the purpose of this example I will say you are riding on the right rein), so you put your outside leg behind the girth, you look where you want to go, you use the outside rein and inside for guidance, all theoretically correct, BUT, as you ask your horse to step off the track he feels “stiff” or “wooden” or likewise, and it is like turning a ship! Your first ¼ of the circle is wobbly at best, the horse is out of balance, flexing at the poll, NOT bending through his body, (looking the right way but that’s all) and your circle resembles a dodecahedron!

But I rode it “right”, so why have I managed to invent a new type of move?!

Well, it is easy, because you were on the track, the horse’s quarters were already on an inward incline, his outside shoulder was loaded and he was anything BUT straight to begin with, you then asked him to create a shape which his body was simply unprepared for. He was effectively going left while you were going right!

So, lets rewind this and look at how your horse could have achieved what was required.

You are riding down the long side, BUT you have his shoulders and body straight, his quarters are following his forelegs, his shoulder is not glued to the fence and to achieve that, you have already created a small amount of bend around your inside leg, SO, you approach your circle in the middle, you ride it EXACTLY the same as previous, BUT this time your horse already has balance, straightness and is capable of bending the correct way. This creates a perfectly formed circle which has no straight sides or looks like a drunk squirrel was in charge of the reins!

All this began BEFORE THE CIRCLE, by being aware of your horse’s shoulders not being on the track!

As a matter of course we should all ride on the inner track for periods of time, not sure how far in? Well, imagine you have a friend riding at the side of you, but they are on the track, you are on the inside of them, this will highlight how much you MUST support the outside of your horse, it is not just about the inside of them, the outside is equally important. You will also feel how much your horse migrates back to the track!

Riding circles in open areas is also a great highlighter of the outside support, your inside leg is for the horse to bend AROUND your OUTSIDE aids create the bend.

This is not only important for flatwork but also jumping, I categorically guarantee your horse will jump better once you sort the cheese wedge out. I promise.

 Happy Riding peeps, remember, stay off the track!