Glenshee Equestrian Centre

I have posted before on the position known as the “ turning seat ” and its necessity for balance and positioning through bends and in turns. The theory, in a nutshell, is that the rider’s hips and shoulders should be parallel to the horse’s hips and shoulders respectively.     Prevailing wisdom tells us that, while bending, the horse’s inside hip comes forward and inside shoulder comes back.    Therefore, the rider’s inside hip should be positioned slightly forward and inside shoulder should come slightly back (and outside shoulder slightly forward) to match those of the horse. It sounds like a perfectly reasonable theory, and in practice it seems to work.    But it may be based on a false assumption. Jean-Claude Racinet (among others, I am sure) makes the point that, when flexed laterally, the horse’s inside shoulder does not come back, but forward! Most assume the horse’s shoulders and hips remain perpendicular to the spine no mat...

   Have you ever been in a schooling ring at a show, preparing for your jumping round, when you realized those plain white poles just weren't preparing horse and rider for those bright, scary fences in the ring?  Most trainers bring a cooler to drape over a schooling fence to give it a more solid or even 'spooky' look.  But as a trainer, what do you do if your rider is on deck and you don't have a cooler?  Go without?  Borrow one?  Nah...  you improvise!  And if the closest thing you have to a cooler is the shirt on your very back, you simply strip to the waist and hang your own t-shirt over the jump!  If the shirt doesn't spook the horse, the sight of a glaringly white, flabby, forty-something, farmer-tanned physique should do the trick! That was precisely what one of my early trainers did to me in the schooling ring at none other than the Hampton Classic (for those who don't know, one of the snobbiest hunter/jumper shows in the co...

    i just had to share these amazing photos . Icelandic horses against backdrop of erupting volcano... need i say more? http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/04/more_from_eyjafjallajokull.html?camp=localsearch:on:twit:bigpic

So, a while back I posted about a new horse we took into our barn, Grady , a 12-14 yr old Irish Sport Horse gelding. With most of my own horses either retired or not up to any kind of regular riding, I though having a nice big, well-schooled horse to play with might be fun. His previous owner was frustrated with him and had basically given up on him – he was bought as a jumper and wouldn’t jump anymore, and his feet were costing a fortune in bar shoes and pads, and time with abscesses and soaking, so she wanted to be rid of him. I knew he came with some issues, namely his horrific feet, but my vet and I thought we could improve them with some proper care. And anyone who knows me knows that horsey-makeovers/rehabs are one of the things I like best about what I do, and I’m a sucker for a horse with a sad story that needs help. So he seemed like a fun project. He’s been with us now through the winter and his feet are a million times better than when we started. In fact, he’s ...

I recently heard a rumor that this girth might be discontinued, so I called Mikmar, the company that puts it out, and they informed me they have no plans to discontinue it. If you're interested in more information of this amazing piece of tack, or if you'd like to purchase one direct from the company, you can follow this link: http://www.mikmar.com/products-tixerant.html I do question having the likes of Amy Tryon (not known for her humane treatment of horses) as a spokesperson, but I suppose they were going for any familiar faces they could get. It certainly doesn't diminish the effectiveness of this design - I highly recommend it, not just for girthy horses, but for difficult-to-fit horses, especially those with broad backs who usually have their girths cranked up in a attempt to keep the saddle in place. But I think it could benefit just about any horse. From what I've seen from experimenting with our own horses, they all seem freer and looser in their backs ...

--> When is a canter not a canter?  When it’s a trollop . That’s the name I’ve jokingly given to the sad, four-beat excuse for a canter so many people seem to think is the same as collection.  Most people think of canter as the gait that comes between trot and gallop.  When you add a fourth beat to the normally three beat gait, it’s something of a trot-gallop; in other words, a trollop .  Slow like a trot, four beat like a gallop, but definitely doesn’t qualify as a proper canter. You see, by definition, canter has three beats and three beats only .  When what you are seeing no longer has three beats, it can no longer be a canter.  So what else is it, besides very, very wrong? And yet you see many riders, especially in hunter/jumpers and disturbing disciplines like western pleasure, where people seem to strive for this monstrous hybrid on purpose.  I know!  Why would anyone do such a thing?  I have to think (and this may be g...

People always look at me a bit strangely when I tell them my best friends are horses.  Here's an interesting article about horse-human bonds and why it's maybe not such a bad idea to have a few equine friends in your life.   For those of us who live and work closely with horses, this comes as no surprise, but it's always nice to hear science confirm what we already know and see every day.  And, it's another confirmation that good treatment of our horses goes a long way.  Enjoy! http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35911274/ns/technology_and_science-science/from/ET    

Billie over at camera-obscura has been a great resource in following the rollkur issue, and prior to the next FEI meeting on the subject, she has posted this logo and text , and invited us to do the same in solidarity with Dr. Heuschmann and his message at that meeting.  I hope you'll visit there and consider adding your voice to this important debate: ---- The FEI is holding a closed-door round table meeting on Feb. 9th to discuss the training method known as rollkur, or hyperflexion, which involves pulling and holding the horse's muzzle to his chest. This practice is known to have many negative effects on the horse, both physically and psychologically. Gerd Heuschmann, the lone voice for the horse at this meeting, has my support and appreciation as he presents his case "for the good of the horse" along with petitions and letters saying NO TO ROLLKUR. You can see a taste of this method in the Epona TV's footage in the previous post. Please take a moment t...

One of our readers has very generously agreed to participate in a virtual clinic here on the blog.  Reesie found GEC through a previous post on releases over fences .  She was good enough to submit some of her own photos for review.  In this post, I will critique some of them, which I hope will be helpful.  Please feel free to comment on the critiques or let me know if you think there is anything I've missed or I haven't explained well.  While this pic is blurry, it's easy to see a positive effort here.  I really like to see the low/following release and well balanced, centered position.  Her lower leg has slid back a bit, but her angles are well closed and her weight is in her heel, giving the impression of confidence and security.  That her horse looks positive over a solid xc fence is further proof. As anyone who has ridden xc knows, a crest release just doesn't cut it in the field over solid jumps.  This is ...

--> --> GHM recently posted some amusing horsie stories and encouraged the rest of us to do likewise.  Since so many of my own embarrassing or funny moments have already been described there, I thought maybe I’d share one of my personal favorites that you probably haven’t heard.  It involves my horse Nate while we were training with the British Horse Society in Scotland. As regular readers here may know, our Scotland adventure may not have been all we dreamed it would be, but it did have its moments.... One of my favorites involved trail riding.  It’s not a particularly funny or exciting story, but it is just so classically “Nate” that I have to love it.  It’s probably my favorite story from that trip.  You see, the facility we were at was not just a top equestrian center in the area; it was also an exclusive resort .  And many of the hotel’s clients would pay a good deal of money for the privilege of getting on one of the centre’...

   I received this e-mail today and thought I'd post it here for anyone who may be interested.  Phillipe Karl is urging concerned horsemen to sign a petition asking the FEI to officially condemn the horrific practice of rollkur: Dear Madam, dear Sir, On 9 February 2010, more than 20 experts will attend an FEI meeting in Switzerland to discuss once again whether the so-called hyperflexion (“Rollkur”) is an adequate method of training a horse. In order to support the opponents of this method and offer them further arguments, a petition has been initiated at www.no-rollkur.com. We’d like to invite you to support this action against hyperflexion – time is short! You were so kind as to sign our own petition calling for reforms of the FN rules, which was initiated in May 2009. This obviously bore fruit: The German FN eventually invited Philippe Karl for a meeting in Warendorf, Germany. They now have to find an appropriate date. We will of co...

Scrubbing feed and water tubs (I know I haven't been posting much lately, so here's a quick post while I start working on some new stuff...) I’ve been experimenting with a good old-fashioned natural household cleaner/disinfectant that works better, is cheaper and is safe even if you leave some behind in the buckets.  It’s vinegar.  Plain old distilled white vinegar that I buy in the giant size at the supermarket.  I figured that, since it works so well for bathrooms and kitchens, is recommended for cleaning fruits and veggies, and can actually be ingested on purpose, this might be the way to go. I normally mix up individual feeds for the horses in 8 qt pails in the feed room and then dump those into the feed buckets in their stalls.  After a few days, these can get pretty nasty with feed residue, supplements and, in particular oil (I feed a liquid vitamin E supplement as well as pure wheat germ oil for some of the horses.)  Even when it was warm...