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Ensuring that you select the right saddle for your horse is vital. It not only affects the position in which the rider will sit, and therefore can be beneficial in preventing back ache or muscle pain, but it also affects the horse. No responsible horse owner would want their steed to be in discomfort and pain and so choosing the best saddle is very important. There are companies available who will measure your horse and recommend the saddles that they think are most appropriate but as with most things this service costs money. I highly recommend this service as it ensures that you will not be causing any distress to your horse when you ride it.

Once the correct saddle has been purchased it is important to remember that positioning the saddle on the horse's back is also vital in ensuring your horse is comfortable when ridden. There are three main muscles in the horse's back which can be affected by the use of a badly positioned saddle. It is important to familiarize yourself with these and their locations before attempting to position the saddle on your horse. This will give you an idea of where the saddle needs to sit in order to be most comfortable for the horse.

In addition to the muscles which can be affected by the saddle you must remember that the saddle is positioned on the horse's back and so this can have an effect on the spine and its vertebrae. Remembering this should remind you of how important this lesson is and that you cannot afford to take risks with your horse if you want it to lead a long and painless life.

Firstly, place the saddle on the horse's back, forward of the wither. Once you have done this, slide it back along the back of the horse until it cannot comfortably go any further. This will vary dependent on the shape of the individual horse butthe lowest point of the saddle should correspond to the lowest point of the horse's back. If the saddle is in the correct position, the saddle tree will not be pressing on the scapula (the shoulder of the horse) but will rest in the natural grooves behind them. The most common mistake is to position the saddle too far forward and this then causes the saddle to press on the muscles in the scapula causing pain, impeding movement
and creating the possibility of saddle sores.

Once you have learned how to position the saddle you will find it comes naturally after a time. It is worth taking the time to do it properly though if you wish to remain the owner of a healthy, happy horse.

About The Author: The author is a regular contributor to Saddle Advice http://www.saddleadvice.com where more information about saddles and saddle sources is freely available.

Every year across Australia, thousands of horses are left neglected in paddocks. This often leads to a starved, sick and possibly unrecoverable horse. For a few fortunate  horses, intervention by horse rescue charities, the RSPCA or concerned horse enthusiasts can lead to the successful recovery of these neglected horses.

Mel, based in Lancefield Victoria,  is one dedicated horse enthusiasts who will go the extra mile to ensure a neglected horse receives the treatment it deserves and is 'rescued' from its environment, where necessary. Mel has the generous support from a small network of like minded rescuers, who chip in resources and help to ensure a horse is rescued and receives proper treatment

In recent times, Mel has rescued dozens of horses from neglected homes across Victoria. It is a stressful and sometimes costly pursuit but the ultimate reward for Mel is knowing that a horse has been saved from a potentially cruel and fateful ending, and receives the loving care that it deserves.

One of Mel's more recent rescues is a chestnut thoroughbred called Lochie. Lochie was rescued in August 2007, from a property under the spotlight of the RSPCA for having numerous starved, sick and neglected horses.

When presented to Mel, Lochie exhibited numerous illnesses as a result of neglect. Lochie had body score (Body score is how weight is rated) of approx 1-1.5, which is extremely poor.  He also was had an upper respiratory infection, laminitis and was crawling with lice.

The first few days of treatment for Lochie were critical and involved administering Electrolytes, probiotics, carafate tablets, small amount of food and water and 24/7 supervision. 

The Vet scoped him and found that he had roarer's surgery and was suffering from upper respiratory infection. The Vet also did a blood profile. Lochie started his regular diet on pellets, as they were easier to introduce than grain. Lice proved to be a sticking point for Lochie as Mel struggled to get rid of them.

"Loch was the itchiest thing I have ever layed eyes on. Even once I got rid of the lice he was still always itchy, you would go to unrug him and he'd be literally sitting on you going "oh scratch my bum scratch my Bum". Having clipped him and now seeing the amount of dead skin etc that was under his long coat I'm not surprised why he was so itchy".

Once Lochie's condition stabilised, Mel introduced him to a regular daily diet which included:-

- 2 Lucern hay
- 2 grass hay
- 1 Oaten Hay
- 12 litres Hay Cubes
- 2.25 litres Oats
- 2.25 litres Barley
- 1.5 litres Maize
- 2 litres Rice Bran
- 100 mls Apple Cider Vinegar
- 100 mls Oil
- Yeasacc
- Vit B
- Kelp Liquid

By September Lochie's weight had improved significantly from when he arrived and Mel started doing basic work on him to improve his fitness and build good muscular condition. It turns out Lochie rode exceptionally well and was a very well mannered horse. It was time to find him a good home.

By November, Lochie was looking spectacular - he was looking a million dollars, a magnificent turnaround compared to how he looked a few months earlier.

Mel found a caring and experienced person to free lease Lochie to, and much to her reluctance at letting a good thing go, Lochie joined his new family.

Mel continues to rescue and re-home horses and is currently rehabilitating an Appaloosa gelding who was near to death when rescued. Mel is grateful to all the assistance and donations she receives from generous horse owners and carers.

If you wish to donate or contribute towards the rescue and rehabilitation of horses Mel rescues, please email her at:-  chumbawumba @ optusnet.com.au.

One of my favorite teachable moments for parenting and horse showing is helping kids learn to set goals. Horse showing provides a great opportunity for young children to watch you set and achieve goals, for older children to participate with you in goal setting, and for teens to set their own goals in conjunction with you.
Much of horse showing is all about setting and achieving a goal. The goal can be one that you set for the season, like riding well enough to move up a class or jump height, qualifying for end-of-year finals, or braving the chaos in the schooling ring. Or, it can be as simple as setting a goal for the day , like to ride your best, improve on your hands or shoulders for an EQ class or improve your attitude with your horse or trainer.

With young children, horse showing is a great opportunity to role model goal setting. You may discuss a goal with them or share a goal that has been discussed by the trainer. As a parent, you can share what it will take to achieve the goal and what the costs of hard work and time it might take. You can help set milestones along the way and show how to amend or change the goal if it becomes unrealistic.

With an adolescent child, it is the perfect time to work together. The best approach is to have a prior conversation with a trainer and set some parameters or expectations. As a next step, set up a three-way meeting with your child and the trainer to establish some goals for training and showing. Again, share some milestones and try to be clear about what it will take to achieve the goal.

With an older teen, your role may change to the active listener, with the teen and the trainer setting the goals and then involving you in the discussion. It is important to help teens fully understand the link between a goal, hard work, determination and follow-through as well as failure, disappointment and barriers that may crop up.

Winter Circuit is a great time to work on goals. Many families go somewhere out of town, usually for a two- or three-week time frame. Even though you may only go for a long weekend, time seems to flow much more slowly at these shows. Winter Circuit shows are less intense for many trainers, which provides an opportunity to have some longer conversations with trainers and children.

I've discovered that there is often more bonding time at Winter Circuit shows. For example, those long times of waiting for the next class can be a great time to pick up the conversation on an important topic. And, trainers seem more relaxed at Winter Circuit shows because horses are usually purchased, the trainer is in a nice warm place, and no one is earnestly chasing points or qualifying for medals.

What are your show goals for the year? What can you role model for your children and what can you use as a teachable moment? How can you help them learn how to set a goal, manage both the achievement and the disappointment, and then learn an important life lesson as preparation for adulthood?

Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Veteran show mom Kathy Keeley is founder of ShowMom.com, the first online community created especially for horseshow mothers and daughters who want to learn how to successfully navigate the horseshow circuit and maintain a great mother-daughter relationship. Get our free horseshow packing list when you sign up for our free email newsletter, The Savvy Show Mom, at ShowMom.com.

Before either horses or riders master the sequential stages of their respective learning trees, they will travel in endless circles. The circle is the basic school figure we use to develop the essentials of rhythm and relaxation in either horse or rider. As they school their horses, riders should strive to make every circle the best they possibly can.

Circle work helps horses develop the muscles necessary to carry themselves properly in balance. Paradoxically, riding circles is the best way to teach a horse to go straight. Going “straight” on a circle means that the horse’s hind feet follow the tracks of his front feet. In other words, if you imagine a line on the ground forming the circle, the horse’s inside front and hind feet stay on the inside of that line while his outside front and hind feet stay on the outside of it.

As the horse works to stay straight on a circle, he strengthens muscles on the inside while stretching muscles on the outside. Just as we are right- or left-handed, horses tend to have a dominant side, too. Working the horse in both directions on a circle helps him overcome that tendency and become more evenly muscled. The benefits of circle work for the horse include improved strength, balance, straightness, and flexibility.

Riders must not only understand the theoretical mechanics of the aids that direct the horse on a circle they must also learn to apply those aids correctly in order to achieve consistently round circles of the same size. Riders do not simply apply the correct mechanical aids and leave them “on” to keep a horse traveling on a circle. Keeping the horse moving in a consistent rhythm while maintaining the correct shape of the circle requires that the rider continually communicate with the horse by:

applying the aids, assessing their affect, then reapplying the aids, adjusting their pressures as needed to make them more effective.
Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Etc.

The constant evaluation and adjustment of the aids while repeating the circle shape gradually refine the green horse’s understanding of the aids. Repetition also helps refine the rider’s application of individual aids and her coordination of the corridor of aids as a whole. Like the horse, the rider also develops both sides of her body. Riding circles will help her improve her balance, her strength, and her ability to coordinate the aids while riding in any direction.

While the aids for a circle are always the same, their application becomes more subtle as the horse’s training and level of understanding increase. To start, the rider places just slightly more weight on her inside seat bone. Her inside leg lies at the girth where it acts as the “driving” leg. Her outside leg lies slightly behind the girth where it acts as a “keeping” leg to prevent the horse’s hindquarters from swinging to the outside of the circle. The inside rein positions the horse’s head slightly to the inside of the circle. The outside rein receives the forward motion initiated by the driving inside leg and maintains the horse’s straightness on the circle.

The inside rein does not pull the horse’s head in the direction of travel and the outside rein maintains just enough elastic contact to hold the horse straight while allowing free forward movement. Remember, moving straight on a curved line means that the horse’s inside hind foot travels along the same line as the inside front and the outside hind foot tracks along the same line as the outside front foot.

The rider asks the horse to walk on by increasing leg pressure while opening or releasing rein pressure so that the horse has a place to move forward. At the trot, the legs drive the horse in rhythm with the horse’s strides. The aids for a canter depart are identical to those for the circle itself except that the rider coordinates them and applies them with more energy. Weight increases slightly on the inside seat bone. The driving inside leg asks for forward movement more vigorously. The inside rein continues to position the horse’s head slightly to the inside while the outside rein becomes slightly more resistant.

One of the times the rider uses a half halt is when asking for a decrease in gait from canter to trot or from trot to walk. The rider momentarily increases her weight on both seat bones while driving with both legs and resisting the horse’s forward movement with both reins. The upper body stays tall and open and the back muscles are slightly braced. This resistance is followed immediately by a decrease in weight and an opening of both reins to allow continued forward movement. When the rider wants the horse to halt, she follows the same sequence of aids as for the half halt but does not open the reins after decreasing the weight in her seat bones.

In the beginning, riders struggle to learn the correct aids to use. As a rider continues to practice and progress, the difference between simple application of the aids and true coordination of the aids is the rider’s ability to feel the results of her application of aids, to judge the effectiveness of the aids she used, and to make adjustments in the degrees of pressure and their timing in order to get a better result the next time. A rider needs an independent seat to be able to correctly coordinate all of the aids while riding a horse on a circle. While working toward that goal, however, students will ride an endless number of imperfect circles. Make each circle the best you can, then try again. Just keep riding.

© 1997-2006 Meredith Manor International Equestrian Centre. All rights reserved.
Instructor and trainer Ron Meredith has refined his "horse logical" methods for communicating with equines for over 30 years as president of Meredith Manor International Equestrian Centre, an ACCET accredited equestrian educational institution.

Rugging in winter

The previous article ‘to rug or not in summer’ discussed some of the pros and cons of rugging in summer and summarised by saying that you need to take several factors into consideration before deciding what to do. Some of the factors to take into consideration when deciding whether to rug your horse in winter include your local climate, your budget, the work the horse does, where the horse lives (in/out/both) and how much time you have available for checking the horse and grooming.

The unrugged horse
A horse will roll in the mud and dust and build up a protective layer of dirt and oil (secreted by the skin). The horse will thrive as long as it has enough feed (mainly fibre) to keep warm and good shelter to get out of wet cold weather. Problems occur however when you want to ride. The horse may be muddy/dusty/wet etc. Another problem is when the horse has a long winter coat and the weather is very cold. If you ride in the afternoon the horse will sweat and may not dry in time for when it gets chilly in the evening. The horse will therefore be cold and wet over night.

In a warm climate it is quite possible to work an unrugged horse. It is in a cold climate that conditions become more difficult. As long as you avoid getting the horse too sweaty you can manage. If you want to start working the horse for longer and harder periods then you may have to think about rugging.

Rugs and the weather
In cold weather good rugs can help the horse to maintain condition, as a cold horse will burn a lot of energy keeping warm. Cold driving rain is the worst kind of weather for horses and if the horse does not have adequate shelter from bad weather you will need to rug.

How many rugs
The coat of an unrugged horse stands up in cold weather to trap air and warm the horse. If you decide to rug you have to compensate for this mechanism as a rug will stop the hair from being able to do its job. In some circumstances a rugged horse is colder than an unrugged horse such as in the case of a badly fitting thin rug which will flatten the hair and reduce the movement of the horse without providing any real warmth.

The number of rugs needed obviously varies from state to state. Heavy canvas rugs can become a lot heavier when wet. More than one canvas rug at a time is not recommended for that reason. A better idea is to put lightweight doona type rugs under heavy canvas rugs if extra warmth is needed.

Checking a rugged horse
Horses that wear rugs must be checked more frequently than horses without rugs, especially if they are out in a paddock. Rugs can get caught and/or slip and become dangerous to the horse. Twice a day, morning and night is recommended. Horses that wear anything on the head need to be checked even more frequently due to the danger involved with hoods and neck rugs.

Rugs and injuries
Rugs can actually cause injuries to the horse. Common injuries caused by rugs include: -
• Pressure sores behind the withers, this can be due to the rug being too large in the neck, which results in the rug sitting behind the withers. Every time the horse lowers its head it pulls the rug into the withers.
• Pressure sores on the withers. Some high withered horses become sore from the sheer weight of the rugs.
• Pressure sores at the base of the neck where it joins the chest. When this happens to a horse it will be very reluctant to move. If it does move it may move in ‘fairy steps’ around the paddock. Some horses get sore in this area even with a well fitting rug. A padded bib is needed under the rug.
• Sores on the inside of the thigh form due to the rug slipping over to one side and the leg strap pulling up into the groin.
• Sores under the belly from cross over surcingles and a badly fitting hood. If the fasteners for the hood do not have enough ‘give’ the surcingles pull tight under the belly as the horse reaches down to graze.
• Horses can get caught up in fences and injure themselves by becoming hooked on a wire fence via their leg strap fasteners. Always clip them in toward the horse as this reduces the chance of this happening.
• If any fasteners break, the rug will usually slip and the horse can panic with a rug that is half on and half off. Panicking horses tend to injure them selves on fences as they attempt to get away from the rug.
• Hoods and neck rugs that slip can cause horrific injuries to a horse. Horses have been known to injure their eyes and even to drown in dams due to slipped hoods.

Leaking rugs
Remove and check underneath rugs regularly. If a rug is letting in water the horse can develop rain scald and other skin problems.

Care of rugs
Whenever rugs are removed, such as when the horse is being exercised, the rugs should be aired. Stable rugs need to be washed frequently as stabled horses have no choice but to lie in manure and urine. Washing heavy doona rugs can be a problem as they are usually too large for your own washing machine and public launderettes often ban horse rugs. Doona rugs can be hosed, scrubbed and hung out to dry when the weather is good.

A cotton rug under a doona rug acts like sheets on your bed. It is much easier to wash a cotton rug than a doona thus reducing the amount of times the doona needs to be washed. You will need two cotton rugs in this case so that you can keep changing and washing them. Some horses are sensitive to certain washing products. Baby products and wool wash are usually a good option with horse gear as they are gentle on the skin.

Heavy canvas rugs should be hosed and reproofed at the end of wet periods. Once or twice a year should be enough. Also, this is a good time to have any repairs done before storing them away for next year. Heavy canvas rugs should be hung when in storage rather than folded. Folding them can damage the fibres along the creases.

Always remember when taking a rug out of storage to give it a thorough check for spiders before putting it on the horse. With lined canvas rugs check between the lining and the canvas, as this is a favourite spot for spiders. Always wear gloves to do this to protect you.

Rugging a clipped horse
Horses in moderate to heavy work programs are often clipped. The horse must be rugged well to replace the coat. A soft warm doona rug usually works well under a canvas rug in this case. A cotton doona is better than nylon as it allows the skin to breath. Just a lined canvas on bare skin tends to rub the horse and is not usually warm enough if the weather is cold.

Cooling a horse down with rugs
If your horse is still sweaty after work and you need to leave him for the night a really good method of safely cooling him down is to put either hay or straw under the rug (try to ‘thatch’ it so that it stays for a while). The horse can then be left (either indoors or outdoors) and the hay or straw will absorb the moisture and help to keep the rugs dry and the horse comfortable. The hay or straw will fall out from under the rug during the night.

Stabled horses and rugs
The stabled horse is not necessarily warmer that the outdoor horse. It depends on the stables and how many other horses are in the same building. Lots of horses give off lots of heat. A stabled horse is forced to stand still which can mean the horse becomes cold. It is a good idea to check your horse periodically to see if it is warm enough late at night.

Types of rugs
Heavy canvas rugs, also called New Zealand rugs are suitable for horses kept outside during the winter months. These rugs are heavy duty and are often close to 100% waterproof if cared for properly. They must be well made to ensure best fit for the horse. It is not acceptable for the rug to be constantly hanging down one side of the horse. This type of rug is usually lined with either mixed fibres or pure wool. The latter is more expensive but warmer.

Synthetic outdoor rugs are alternatives to canvas New Zealand rugs and vary in quality.  Basically you tend to get what you pay for with rugs. The advantage of synthetic is they weigh less and so are easier to put on large horses by small people. Their lighter weight is probably more comfortable for the horse as well. Many synthetic rugs now have a different cut to the neckline, which brings the rug about half way up the neck. This new cut reduces the pressure on the withers in comparison to a traditional style rug.

Quilted (doona) rugs are used for warmth and are usually made of nylon. However those made of cotton are considered better even though they are not as hardwearing. Cotton is much more comfortable in terms of heat regulation. The rugs can be used either on their own in the stable or under an unlined or lined canvas rug outdoors. Fleece rugs are lightweight warm and soft but are not particularly hardwearing. They usually cost less than doona type rugs however so this is another factor to consider.

This article was written by Jane Myers MSc. Jane is the author of several books on horse and property care including Horse Safe, Managing Horses on Small Properties and co-author of the new edition of Horse Sense, all published by CSIRO (www.publish.csiro.au). Her website is www.equiculture.com.au.