Equitation Exercises

As riders, we know that equitation is important, but we don’t always practice it as often as we should. We focus on the horse and not on ourselves and forget that often how we are sitting on the horse has more effect on the horses actions than anything else we do. Here, though, are a few ideas for exercises to work on either by yourself or with a friend to help improve your riding and build some muscle.

The best way to start to focus on your equitation is with a friend or instructor. The friend should know how your leg should look and from the ground be able to tell you how to fix leg, seat, hand, or other issues. The horse you choose to practice on should be able to lunge, calmly and quietly, and for at least 20 minutes. 

Start with the horse in your usual tack, saddle, bridle, etc and bring a lunge line and lunge whip. While you sit on your horse, have your friend or instructor lunge the horse, start at a walk and move through the trot and canter in both directions.  Do not move to a faster gait until you have master it at the slower gait. If possible, ride the horse without using the reins, your friend should have control over the horse so reins should not be necessary. Use these exercises to focus on your body position and building strength without worrying about how the horse is moving. All of these exercises should be done for short periods of time at first and time should increase as rider becomes more comfortable with the exercise

Exercises while lunging:

• Two-point at all gaits
• Two-point without stirrups at all gaits
• Sitting without stirrups
• Posting trot or canter without stirrups
• Sitting or posting with arms outstretched to the side
• Add circles with your arms, large and small
• Stretching at the walk
• Stretch to touch toes
• Stretch fingers to poll of horse
• Stretch fingers to tail of horse
• Stretch to touch toes
• Stretch legs: grab ankle and pull toward butt to stretch thigh
• Eyes closed
• Take off saddle and ride bareback-still keeping proper position
• Set up a small cavaletti 
• Start at the walk, slowly increase speed and height of jump
• Start with stirrups then drop stirrups
• Bareback after rider is comfortable without stirrups
• Add more cavaletti around circle
• Practice dropping and picking up stirrups while horse is moving

Exercises in the arena:

• Same exercises as on the lunge line, but keep your reins and continue to focus on your position rather than the horse
• Gymnastic exercises
• Start simple with trot poles then small jumps
• Work toward bigger jumps and more complicated rhythms
• Drop reins through the exercise
• Drop stirrups though the exercise
• Bareback through exercise
• Jump course without stirrups
• Jump course bareback
• Equitation patterns

It is best to not work alone when focusing on equitation, your instructor or friend should be helping you find the correct position so that it becomes second nature to you when you are on a horse. Without eyes on the ground, you may end up learning the wrong position that you will have to eventually unlearn. Having better equitation and riding muscles will give you more confidence and make you a better more effective rider which will make both you and your horse happier.

The value of Equitation Practice

When most kids get started riding, the focus of riding lessons is on equitation. Instructors focus on our bodies, how we sit, where and how we use our legs, hand position, and seat. The first shows for kids are often focused on equitation and not on who has the fanciest horse. 

As riders progress in the horse world, the focus moves away from equitation. The focus becomes the horse: Is the horse moving properly, is the horse picking up his feet, is the horse listening? Then, if the horse is not working properly, we ask what can we do to the horse to fix the issue.

Riders often forget that the early focus on equitation had a purpose. Equitation is more than just sitting on the horse, its being in the right position to communicate properly. When you are in the correct equitation position, you are much more effective at communicating what you want the horse today as well as staying balanced with the horse so that the horse can move the way it should. When you move out of that proper equitation position, your weight shifts and can get in the way of the natural movement of the horse causing it to have many of the issues we try to fix as riders. 

The value of equitation goes beyond just communicating with the horse and allowing them to do their job. Proper equitation, especially when practiced regularly, can save your life, or at least a hospital bill. Equitation helps build proper muscles and balance which allows a rider to react faster and more effectively when the horse is not behaving. If the horse stumbles, a rider with strong equitation skills will be less likely to be thrown forward because their leg muscles will be strong, their balance will be natural, and their weight will be in their heels in the best position to keep them moving with the horse. As you can see in the video accompanying this article, the riders equitation strength keeps them from falling off when the horse gets bad spot at the jump. Since the ride cannot get his stirrups back in the short distances in the combination, he uses his strong leg muscles and balance to stay with the horse and keep the rhythm going through the jumping combination. The rider is obviously used to jumping without stirrups which helped this go from being a compete disaster to a beautifully ridden combination. 

Proper equitation is something riders should always practice when riding and should make a point to work on building strength and balance through equitation exercises as it might just save their life someday.

Drug Use in horses

With massive drug use scandals rocking many professional sports, its time for the equine community to take a look at their practices when its comes to the use of drugs. The issue of drug use is in all levels of the sport from local hunter shows, with trainers using calming “supplements” or butte to help the new riders deal with a stressed horse to the Olympics in 2008 when several horses were disqualified from show jumping and dressage for testing positive for banned substances. This trend is not only doing a disservice to the reputation of the equestrian community, but also putting both riders and horses at risk of injury or death. The international equestrian governing body, the FEI, has an extensive list of banned substances and strict rules about following the spirit of these rules by not allowing and testing for substances with similar effects even if not specifically listed in the rules. Even with these rules, riders and trainers still continue to use the medications and supplements. While the FEI and other competition governing bodies do urine and blood tests, not all substances can be easily tested for and not all horses are tested at events. The most controversial types of drugs are those that have either a calming effect, a pain relieving effect, or a sensitivity effect. 

The calming supplements can work in many different ways and can be administered in many different ways. Some definitely have a greater effect than other supplements. Some are also significantly more dangerous than others. Smartpak offers a wide variety of calming supplements, mostly herbal remedies that may be support the horse being calm along with a proper feeding and exercise regimen. Riders should be cautious about giving these supplements as there may be substances in them that are banned in competition or may have a more significant calming effect than desired. Riders should consult with their trainer and veterinarian before starting their horse on any supplement. Even with these herbal supplements, riders should monitor their horses behavior and be cautious when riding or asking their horse to be athletic as the horse may not be able to react as quickly or be as agile as when not on the supplement. There are other substances on the market that pose significantly more danger to both horse and rider. This article from the chronicle of the horse last year discusses the use of intravenous magnesium sulfate at a hunter/jumper stable. Magnesium sulfate will suppress the nervous system of the horse when injected intravenously, if the injection is not done slowly and in the right amount, this can lead to the death of the horse. Magnesium sulfate is one of the ingredients in the injection used to put horses down. Add the risk to death of the horse to putting a rider on a horse without a fully functional nervous system and you have a recipe for disaster. Especially when asking a horse to do a hunter or jumper course where the horse is running and jumping and expected to be functioning as a finely tuned athlete, having a suppressed nervous system can lead to injury or death of both the rider and horse. 

Like calming supplements, pain killers also put both horse and rider at risk of death or serious injury. While bute (Phenylbutazone) and banamine (Flunixin meglumine) are two of the most common pain relievers for horses, there are many kinds of pain relievers both topical and oral that riders can use. While most effective pain killers for horses require a veterinary prescription, they are often readily available from barn owners, trainers, and other riders. While it is prudent to keep both bute and banamine around incase of injury or colic, often these substances are not used in prudent manners. Both bute and banamine can have severe side effects if used inappropriately and both can have long term health effects. Bute can cause ulcers and stomach bleeding if used in too high a dose or for too long and can also lead to colic, kindney failure and other serious health problems. Banamine, if given intramuscularly, can cause severe tissue inflammation and should be given orally or intravenously. Banamine has all the similar side effects of bute as well. 

On top of the clinical side effects, there is another consideration that riders and trainers often ignore. Pain killers affect the pain response of the horse, so the horse is less aware what hurts. While this is the intended effect, if you ride a horse while it has its pain response decreased, it will not know if it does something to hurt itself. This can cause the horse to push itself too hard which can lead to strains, re-injury of the problem area, and other issues. This puts the rider at risk because if the horse pushes itself to the breaking point, the rider may get thrown when the horse injures itself and may have little or no warning when this happens. Bute and banamine can be used to treat specific conditions, but should not be used when the horse is going to be ridden. A horse, after being treated with a pain killer, should be given at least 24 hours between its last dose and when it is ridden next to prevent injury. 

Unlike the calming supplements and pain killers, the sensitivity drugs are often not used with good intention. While it can’t be proven, the show jumpers that tested positive for capsaicin were accused of potentially using it to make the horses more cautious over the jumps to prevent knocking rails. Capsaicin can be used to relieve sore muscles, but it can also be used to make the skin more sensitive. The saddlebred association has also had several scandals break from their use of “soring” to make their horses step higher and with more animation. These sensitivity treatments can also cause the horse to injure itself by trying to avoid the pain or sensitive areas. These practices are cruel and any rider made aware of their trainer using these practices should find a new trainer.  

Most drugs for horses should be used to treat specific ailments of the horse and when the horse is being treated it should not be in training or being ridden. Exercising the horse puts both rider and horse in danger of injury or death and there is no reason to risk exacerbating the issue with exercise. 

Horseman's liability: Denis Quaid being sued for flawed trail system

As reported by TMZ, Lester Wood is suing Dennis Quaid for a “flawed trail design” that put his life in danger. Wood had been given permission by Quaid to borrow a horse and ride across the star’s property to reach a park in the Pacific palisades area of Los Angeles. During the trail ride, the horse was spooked by sprinklers than came on near the trail, the hose then reared and fell on top of Wood. Wood had to be taken to a hospital and held in critical condition with “a concussion, fractured scapula, torn aorta, multiple pulmonary emboli, broken ribs, a nicked liver, a tear in his bladder, fractured lumbar discs, a shattered pelvis, internal bleeding, and a torn meniscus in his knee.” Wood was not wearing a helmet and was not paying attention to his horse when it spooked as he was “looking at his watch”. 

This brings several issues into light for the horse world. Can we lend out horses to friends or other riders safely? What are our responsibilities when allowing people to ride on our property? Should helmets be required of all riders?

Most of my fellow horseback riders that I have talked to are generally comfortable allowing other people, and especially experienced riders (as Wood claims to be), to borrow our horses to ride or take on trail rides. Most of these riders do not think they would be at risk for being sued if the horse misbehaves, spooks, or the rider has other issues. Especially when lending horses to experienced riders, other riders assume that they understand the risks and will not be upset if something does happen. This incident is a reminder to know your state laws, what they protect against and what they don’t, and to be cautious when lending out your horse.

Most people when heading out on the trail assume there will be obstacles and other things that can spook horses. The question is: where is the line between expected obstacles and things the property owner should have cleaned up, or warned riders about? From this case, are the sprinklers near the trail a normal obstacle or should have something been done to avoid this issue? Should the trail be moved or should the rider have been warned that may happen? Should the property owner have to make any guarantees about the safety of their trails and property? The answers to these questions may depend on state law but they are questions to consider before allowing people to ride on your property. 

Many states are starting to require that all riders under 18 years of age wear a helmet anytime they are on a horse and especially during competitions. Some states are even considering requiring helmets for all riders, regardless of age, like with motorcycle helmet laws. If your state does not require helmets, this leaves the property owner with a decision. For liability purposes, its safer to require helmets, but that also means you have to enforce that rule at all times. Protecting yourself against liability and the personal freedom of your clients is hard to balance at times. Property owners, riders, and anyone else around horses should be made aware of the risks and should be cautious about allowing people around horses who are not familiar with risks and safety precautions. 

Colic: A preventable and potentially fatal condition

Colic is simply another word for abdominal pain, but in horses, this can be a sign that something is seriously wrong with a horses digestive system. Horse’s digestive systems are fragile with many areas that can cause the horses pain and can even turn fatal for the horses. 

There are many different types of colic in horses as well as many different causes. The major types include impaction, displacement, and torsion. Impaction involves food or sand getting stuck and packed into the intestines. This can cause severe pain and inability to pass fecal matter. Displacement involves part of the intestines get trapped around other internal organs which can cut off blood supply to the intestine or the other organs as well as trapping food or fecal matter and stopping the function of the other organs. Torsion is when the intestines wrap around themselves and can end up cutting off blood supply as well as the ability to pass food through. Many of these require surgery to fix and may be fatal to the horse without immediate intervention. 

Causes of colic can be wide ranging from things as innocuous as weather change, to changing diet, stress, worms, injury, or even drinking too much water. As the weather starts to cool, several issues can arise to make colic far more likely. First, just the weather change can cause horses to stress enough to cause colic. If your horse is prone to this, establish a routine and if possible, bring the horse into a stall at night to keep his temperature more even. As the weather gets cooler, horses tend to want to eat more and feel the need to drink less. This is the perfect storm of changes in diet to cause an impaction colic. The extra forage, especially in the short period of time, will collect in the gut and the lack of water will slow digestion down so that the food will become stuck. 

Another major cause is diet change. If you need to change your horse’s diet, there are several things to keep in mind. As the diet changes, the horse’s digestive tract needs time to get used to the new food and digesting a different volume of food. Especially when increasing grain, the tract needs time to adjust to the larger amount of simple carbohydrates. When changing a diet, its is important to make sure the horse has plenty of water and that the diet changes slowly. 

Other important ways to prevent colic include:

• Keeping your horse on a regular worming schedule
• Regular feeding schedule with more feedings rather than fewer
• Making sure horses cannot eat too quickly 
• Regular dental care and veterinary care
• High fiber in the diet especially in places where sand colic is an issue

If you see your horse behaving outside of his normal behaviors, it may be a sign of colic.

Signs of Colic include:

• Pawing and/or scraping
• Stretching
• Frequent attempts to urinate
• Flank watching: turning of the head to watch the stomach and/or hind quarters
• Biting/nipping the stomach
• Pacing
• Repeated flehmen response
• Repeated lying down and rising
• Rolling
• Groaning
• Excess salivation
• Loss of appetite
• Decreased fecal output
• Increased pulse rate
• Dark mucous membranes

If you think your horse is colicing, he needs to be watched carefully. Horses should not be allowed to roll if at all possible. Rolling can be the cause of the torsion and displacement types of colics which can lead to major surgery. Depending on the severity of pain, banamine should be administered orally or intravenously, never intramuscularly. If after given banamine, the horse does not improve, your vet should be called. Walking the horse may help get the digestive tract moving, but you should never force a horse to walk. Too much walking may cause a horse to further injure himself from stretching at the wrong time or from exhaustion. Water can be provided to the horse, but food should not be offered as more forage can exacerbate the problem. Other treatment methods should only be done by experienced personnel and preferably by a vet or with vet supervision. 

The best way to treat colic is through prevention. Prevention is best achieved by knowing your horse, his personality, his eating habits, and keeping up with his general heath care. The better you know your horse, the more likely you are to see the signs of colic before it becomes life threatening. If you see any behavior from you horse that is not normal, you can always call your vet and ask for their opinion before having them come out to your barn or bringing your horse to them. 

Jack’s Gulch: Horse camping for beginners

Ever wanted to take your horses camping but are not able to train your horse to hobble or high-line? Jack’s Gulch is the perfect place for you!

Located off of Pingree Park road, Jack’s Gulch has 5 camping sites with horse stalls attached. The stalls are metal pipe fencing, 6’ tall and 12’ by 12’ so there is plenty of room for the horses to wander around. The campsites will fit a horse trailer or camper as well as a tent. There are plenty of trees around to provide the horses shelter and shade. This is a beautiful site and provides access to the Comanche Peak Wilderness and many miles of trails to explore. For the adventurous rider, there is even an old plane wreck near one of the trails that takes a bit of searching to find. 

While this type of camping with horses is far less intensive than backcountry camping, riders still need to be prepared and make sure to bring important supplies for taking care of their horses. The follow list is not a complete list, but is the bare minimum you will need to bring.

Things to bring include:

• Weed-free hay (if possible start feeding this several days before the trip)
• Grain and other treats
• Water (for both people and horses)
• Horses often prefer water from home
• Water is not always available at the campsites
• You may also want to bring flavored electrolytes to help horses drink
• Buckets
• Hay net
• Manure fork 
• Muck bucket
• Other trail riding supplies (see trail riding articles)
• Other camping supplies

There are miles of trails accessible from the Jack’s Gulch campground. Riders should watch signage within the campground as they do not want horses off the trails or in the group camping area. Trails from Jack’s Gulch include Little Beaver Creek and Fish Creek which connect through other trails to make a great loop ride. The Poudre Wilderness Volunteers have a great map of the trails available in this area. 

Also keep in mind:

Some of this area was affected by the High Park Fire, so there may be unseen hazards and downed trees that riders need to watch out for.

This area is in the mountains where the weather can change quickly, it gets very cold at night and there are wild animals around. Riders should be prepared for these conditions and be willing to change plans. 

See these sites for more info on camping at Jack’s Gulch and how to reserve a spot.

http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/arp/recarea/?recid=36677

http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/arp/recarea/?recid=36675

Happy trails!

Hewlett Gulch: Nature recovers quickly

Just a short drive up the poudre canyon, Hewlett Gulch offers a great chance to explore the areas affected by the fires this summer. The Hewlett Gulch area was affected by both the Hewlett Gulch fire and the High Park fire and may have downed trees or other hazards that riders need to watch out for. The pictures accompanying this article are from a trail ride through the area several years ago.

Just 11 miles up the canyon from Ted’s Place, the turn off for Hewlett Gulch is on the right over a narrow bridge. This turn can be tricky for longer horse trailers, so drivers need to plan ahead and drive carefully. The parking lot is not large and may be difficult for larger vehicles to use especially during high use times such as weekends or holidays. There is no designated trailer parking, so be courteous and park so that others can use the parking area as well. 

For the difficulty in getting there, riders are hugely rewarded. The trail heads northwest following an old road bed and creek. In this area there are remains of old homesteads from the Poudre Park settlement in the early 1900s. The trail crosses the creek several times then heads up west up the hill. The official trail at the private property fence, but trail users still use the area past this point. In fact, if you get permission from the private property owners, riders can continue to ride all the way into the deer meadows or glacier view areas. This ride will take most of the day, so riders should plan ahead to have their trailers meet them at the other end of the ride. 

The trail takes riders through narrow canyons, up steep hills, and through beautiful open  meadows. The views and terrain are beautiful and rewarding. The pictures are from a ride in 2007, so the vegetation will look very different. This ride though is a great chance for riders to see how fire affects the land and to watch as nature, the unstoppable force, reclaims the land. Already in the fire area grass and bushes are growing back and by next summer there will be small stands of aspen and sapling pine trees starting to sprout. Riders should use caution, especially if riding off trail, as the land may be unstable in places where the fire burned hot or completely burned the roots of the trees out of the ground.  

Happy Trails!

Soapstone Prairie Natural Area

Located just 20 miles north of Fort Collins, Soapstone Prairie offers hours of riding, many trails to explore through mostly unspoiled prairie. While there are many trails in the area, riders need to observe signage as many of the trails do not allow horses. The horse trails are accessible from the south parking lot, which can be accessed by turning left after the entrance station. The entrance station is there to provide information, there is no access fee. The south parking lot has ample room for horse trailers with pull through spots, a mounting area and hitching posts. From the parking lot, riders have several options. 

At the west end of the parking lot, the Cheyenne Rim trail leads northwest and connects into the Red Mountain Open Space. This trail will take riders into Red Mountain, then into Wyoming for a long day ride. Red Mountain is a beautiful area to ride in and in this area riders have several options to loop back to Soapstone Prairie. While this trail does connect to the Canyon Trail, riders are not allowed on the Canyon Trail and should read signage. 

The other horse trails are accessible from the entrance station. Riders should ride back to the main road (Rawhide Flats Road) then continue Northeast on the Pronghorn Loop. There are several available loops from this trailhead. The pronghorn loop is about 8 miles and will be a 2-4 hour ride. 

For a longer loop, riders can connect to the Plover trail, although it is closed from Apr. 1 through July 15. The Plover trail connects to the Sand Wash trail and back into the Pronghorn Loop. Riders should be cautious when taking trails as the Plover trail and Sand Wash trail connect into trails that are not open to horses. 

Rider should be vigilant for rattlesnakes and other wildlife while out on the trail. These areas are also used for stock grazing and riders should give stock and ranch workers plenty of space. Also, because this is a wildlife preserve, no dogs are allowed even leashed or in cars. 

Happy trails!

Elkhorn Creek

A fairly new (opened 2010) recreation area, Elkhorn offers a wide variety of terrain and trails to explore for any level of trail rider. The roomy parking lot provides ample room for horse trailers and pull through parking spots and a separate hitching post make this parking lot ideal for riders. 

The trail heads out from the west side of the parking lot through a fairly easy to open gate. Following the trail through beautiful open stands of pine and aspen, riders are quickly presented with several easy creek crossings before the trail opens into a grassy meadow. In the meadow riders can explore and find an old homesteader cabin. From this meadow, riders have several options and may have to do a bit of off trail exploring to find the areas they want to explore.

From the meadow, riders can follow the creek south following an intermittent trail that leads to an large open meadow with beautiful views of the Never Summer and Mummy Mountain ranges near Rocky Mountain National Park. From this meadow, if you turn north-northwest through part of the meadow, riders can connect with an an old access road. Following this road, through several gates, riders can connect to the Molly Lake and Lady Moon trail systems. Currently, the Lady Moon area is closed and riders may see forest service workers clearing hazard trees and doing other maintenance. Past the Lady Moon trail, the access road continues through open forest areas and eventually connects to the Molly Lake trail. 

Following the signs to the right, a quarter mile trail through a stand of aspen trees leads to Molly Lake. Following the trail around to the north side of the lake offers a beautiful view of the lake and meadow and offers a great chance to let the horses rest and grab a picnic lunch. 

From the lake there are several trails riders can take around the area but they should use caution as there is some private property in the area including the area around Lady Moon Lake. If riders return on Molly Lake trail and follow the old access road, they can connect to the disappointment falls trail that leads back to the Elkhorn Creek trailhead. 

Following the old access road, riders will go through several gates, but need to turn right at the gate with a trail leading east at the gate. On the other side of this gate, there is another forest access road and the trail should be fairly easy to spot. This trail leads through some meadows and trees and does have some tight and muddy spots and may be more challenging for beginner riders or horses. 

For their efforts, riders are offered beautiful views of Rocky Mountain National Park and glimpses of the Shambala Mountain Shrine.  This trail connects to the north side of the meadow with with the cabin and reconnects with the trail back to the trailhead. 

With many other trail options and acres of backcountry to explore off the trail, this new trail area is a place to explore over and over.