A “change of rein” is a change in the direction of travel in an arena. For instance, if you are travelling clockwise in the arena, you must make a change of rein to end up travelling counterclockwise. A “change of diagonal” is a rider’s change from posting on one diagonal—that is, rising at the trot when the horse’s outside foreleg swings forward and sitting when the outside forefoot hits the ground—to posting on the opposite diagonal when travelling the other direction.  Regarding the change of diagonal for hunter-seat equitation riders, if you go to http://www.newrider.com/Library/Riding_Tips/changerein.html, you’ll find some numbered diagrams that will help you understand the following explanation:

Fig.1—Across the Long Diagonal-–If you are already posting the trot and the change of rein calls for a posting trot with a lengthening of stride, you don’t change the diagonal in the center of the ring (which would be X in a dressage arena), but should wait until you reach the end of the line and change diagonals just before you bend the horse in the new direction (Note: The rider of the black horse would change diagonals at M, while the rider of the brown horse, travelling the other direction, would change diagonals at K).  If, however, the test does not call for a lengthening of stride, but simply asks you to change rein across the diagonal, then you can change your diagonal at X or can wait until the end of the line and change your diagonal just before you bend the horse.  Changing the diagonal at X is considered the more elementary of the two choices, allowing the rider to change diagonals, then change the bend; whereas changing at the end of the line combines getting a new diagonal and changing the bend at the same time.

Fig. 3—A Half-Turn and a Half-Turn in Reverse—The top diagram shows a half turn, which is a half-circle, then a return to the track on a diagonal line.  In this case, the rider stays on the same diagonal throughout the half-circle and the diagonal line, then changes diagonals as he bends the horse back onto the track on the long side of the arena.  In the bottom diagram, the horse is performing a half turn in reverse, in which it leaves the track on a diagonal line, then performs a half-circle to return to the track.  In this case, the rider stays on the original diagonal until the end of the diagonal line, then changes diagonals as he changes the bend to commence the half-circle.

Fig. 6—Serpentine—These are three good examples of serpentines, except that they are all based on an odd number of loops, which would make you end up travelling the same direction that you started.  In order to change rein through a serpentine, you must have an even number of loops—2,4, etc.  The rider’s change of diagonal occurs as his shoulder crosses the centerline of the ring—about where the black horse is shown in the second of the three diagrams.

Fig. 9—Change of rein through a circle—The change of rein through a circle involves making a two-loop serpentine in the middle of a circle.  In this case, the rider changes diagonals as he changes the bend from the first loop of the serpentine to the second loop.

Figs. 12 & 13—Although the turn on the forehand, turn on the haunches, and leg yield are sometimes used in equitation classes, the change of diagonals does not apply.  The turn on the forehand and turn on the haunches are performed at the walk, and the leg yield back to the track is performed at the sitting trot.

Generally, the types of things that people can exchange for the opportunity to ride are grooming, mucking stalls, and feeding. If you are well-organized and good in mathematics, you might even be able to do some bookkeeping; and babysitting is sometimes attractive to the professional horseperson who has children. Anything that you can do for the professional that is not immoral, unethical, or dangerous is a possibility for a trade-out.

This type of arrangement, however, usually involves trading your work for the opportunity to have lessons, rather than for the opportunity to compete a horse. A professional can give you a group lesson once a week on a school horse without loss of money; but once you’re in the realm of showing, the situation is more difficult. There are shipping costs and stabling fees; so it doesn’t make sense for the professional to let you use one of his or her horses for showing unless the horse’s costs are being covered by a paying client who is competing in other classes at the same show.

Working students often complain that they are so tired by the time they get to ride that they really don’t get much out of the lesson. Although this route is a way to get “free” lessons from a professional, it’s a hard way to go. I think it would only be a good trade-out if you were receiving instruction from a highly-competent professional, so that you could take knowledge with you as part of your compensation, rather than leaving with only memories of time spent on a horse.

To find information on a thoroughbred horse’s pedigree, you can contact The Jockey Club on-line at:

http://www.jockeyclub.com

This organization can help you trace your horse’s background, provided the name the horse uses now is its registered name. (Also, check to see if your horse has a tatoo underneath its top lip. A Jockey Club tatoo will be present on any horse trained at a track, even if the horse didn’t race. This tatoo can be used to find out information on an animal even if you don’t know its registered name.)

If this fails, try contacting the United States Equestrian Federation to see if the animal were ever recorded there. If so, the USEF should be able to tell you the horse’s sire and dam and the horse’s registered name. The address, phone, and fax are as follows:

United States Equestrian Federation
4047 Iron Works Parkway
Lexington, KY 40511
Phone: 859-258-2472
Fax: 859-231-6662

http://www.usef.org

In hunter and equitation classes, most people wear either navy, dark green, or gray jackets, all with or without narrow pinstripes (black jackets are also acceptable, but rarely seen); light-gray or medium-gray breeches (although rust, canary, or fawn breeches are sometimes worn); black dress boots or black field boots, with the boot tabs, toe caps, and spur rests all being optional (brown is the traditional field boot color, but is rarely seen these days); white or pastel-colored shirts, with pale pink and blue seeming to be favorites; a black, velvet-covered helmet with either a leather or clear plastic chin strap (or a brown helmet if it is to be worn with a brown field boot); dark leather gloves (avoid leather imitations at all cost, for they usually slip when wet with rain or perspiration); very sheer hairnets for females, with the net matching the rider’s haircolor as closely as possible (these can be obtained from most drug stores); black riding crops and spur straps to match black boots, or brown riding crops and spur straps to match brown boots.

EQUITATION ATTIRE
In the USEF Rule Book, equitation attire is referred to as "appointments.” The Rule Book states: "Exhibitors and judges should bear in mind that at all times entries are being judged on ability rather than on personal attire. Riders should wear coats of any tweed or Melton for hunting (conservative wash jackets in season), breeches or jodhpurs and boots. Conservative colored protective headgear in accordance with Article GR801.3 is mandatory. Spurs, crops, or bats are optional. Judges may penalize contestants who do not conform." (Note: Article GR801.3 deals with riders wearing a harness–i.e., a chinstrap–in order to secure their helmets on their heads.)

Some of the language of this rule is archaic to riders today, so I’ll explain it a little further. A “Melton” is a heavy-weight, smooth, woolen fabric. Also called “melton cloth,” it was first produced between 1815 and 1825. Named after Melton Mowbray, a town in Leicestershire, England, it was often used for overcoats and hunting jackets. As for “conservative wash jackets in season,” I believe this refers to lighter-weight, washable coats for the warmer months–probably cotton or linen in the early days of hunting. Now, however, the typical winter riding jacket is still a wool one, while the summer jackets are usually a lightweight polyester, often with a blend of a stretchy material, such as Lycra.

The general thing to remember when choosing attire for an equitation or hunter class is to keep it conservative–no bright colors or wild patterns. From experience, I’ll tell you that a dark, navy-colored jacket is the best all-around color. It looks great on any horse, and this is important if you have to switch horses in an equitation competition. Also, darker colors in coats, helmets, and boots make you look thinner and more formal, and dark-colored gloves help conceal the movements of your hands, enhancing the concept of “invisible aids.”

As for attire in hot or rainy weather, “When management permits Hunter or Hunter Seat Equitation riders to ride without jackets, riders must wear traditional, short-sleeved or long-sleeved riding shirts with chokers or ties. Polo shirts and chaps are not permitted except in unjudged warm-up classes. Management or Judge may eliminate and exhibitor who is inappropriately attired.”

HUNTER ATTIRE
In the hunter division rules, the only references to attire are to "formal attire" and "ladies side saddle attire," so the restrictions in the equitation division (especially the references to "conservative" clothing) have usually been applied. The "formal attire" rules for hunter classics and appointments classes are as follows: "Riders are required to wear scarlet or dark coats; white shirts with white stock; white, buff, or canary breeches and protective headgear…. In classes restricted to junior exhibitors, protective headgear must be worn in accordance with GR801.”

Also, “When management permits Hunter or Hunter Seat Equitation riders to ride without jackets, riders must wear traditional, short-sleeved or long-sleeved riding shirts with chokers or ties. Polo shirts and chaps are not permitted except in unjudged warm-up classes. Management or Judge may eliminate and exhibitor who is inappropriately attired.”

JUMPER ATTIRE
In the jumper division, you often see white breeches, but the other attire is usually the same as for equitation and hunter classes, except in classes offering more than $25,000, in which case the riders wear “formal attire,” which is described in the Jumper section of the USEF Rule Book as follows: “Formal Attire. Black, blue, green, grey, scarlet or similar coats are permitted; white or fawn breeches; a white tie, choker, or hunting stock, and a white or lightly colored shirt must be worn. Shirts must have a white collar and white cuffs.”

Also, “Management, at its discretion, may allow competitors to compete without riding coats. If a riding coat is not worn, riders must wear a shirt, with a collar or a choker, neatly tucked into riding breeches. A windbreaker jacket or raincoat may be worn if conditions require. In all cases, riders must appear neatly attired to appear before the public or be subject to penalty of elimination by the judges.”

In an over-fences class, you should get into two-point position during the initial circle and stay there throughout the entire course. Concentrate on pressing the horse forward with your legs, rather than using your upper-body as a motivator. This way, you can stay still in your upper-body, making the performance look effortless, while using your legs to do all the work.

Be sure not to actively close your upper-body at take-off, but instead, let the horse’s jumping effort—that is, the arch of its back in the air, or “bascule”—close your hip angle for you. Also, if you’re riding a tense horse, don’t let the horse’s anxiety cause you to close your upper-body ahead of the motion, for this will actually make the horse more nervous and quick. Just stay where you are around the rest of the course, letting the horse’s jumping effort close your hip angle ever so slightly in the air.

The stillness of the rider’s upper body is very important to the accuracy of the take-off spot. If a rider notices a few strides from a fence that the take-off is going to be too long, he may lean forward, thinking that this helps the horse lengthen its stride. In truth, only the rider’s eyes have gained ground, so that it appears the horse has lengthened, although the animal is still on the same length stride and is not gaining any more ground than it was before. To get a true lengthening of stride, the rider should keep his body raised into two-point position at the same angle it was at the beginning of the course, then use his legs as a driving aid to lengthen the horse’s stride, only closing the body if he perceives that he must in order to stay in balance with the horse as the stride lengthens.

If you maintain a still upper body in two-point position, you’ll be able to gauge the effectiveness of your legs as a driving aid. If you find that the horse is not responsive enough to the leg aid, add a little spur on the approach. If that is not sufficient, tap the horse on its barrel with your crop on the approach. Once the horse learns that the sequence is leg, spur, stick, it will respond properly to the use of the leg only, knowing that it will be punished if it does not.

Talk to you next week! — AJ

Occasionally, I’ll come across a rider who is afraid of jumping fences, particularly large ones. When someone asks me about dealing with this fear, I have to be honest and say that I believe people should do what makes them happy, rather than feel that they have to overcome their worries and fears to prove to themselves or others that they are “up to par.”

Life is short, and going through it being a harsh judge of yourself will only make you unhappy. Having been offered this wonderful gift of life, it seems that the goal should be to enjoy it every day, concentrating on what you love to do and can do well, rather than setting goals for yourself that involve overcoming fear. Not everyone is comfortable with skydiving, bungy-jumping, racing cars, etc., but this doesn’t mean that he or she is an inferior person for avoiding activities that cause anxiety and fear.

Surmounting difficult odds may be admirable during unavoidable, life-threatening situations, but there is no reason to make life an uphill climb when you have the choice to do otherwise. Although I’m not a psychologist, I think that when a frightened person is determined to jump, it is not so much linked to feelings about the sport as to the issue of self-esteem.

It must be remembered that excellence can be achieved at any level. If you don’t feel comfortable jumping, but you are excellent at flatwork, then you should be proud of your achievement; or if you spend your entire showing career jumping on the three-foot level, but you do it very well, then you should be pleased with this accomplishment rather than being embarrassed that you aren’t moving up. My advice to those who struggle with fear is to love yourself for what you are so that you’ll not only enjoy riding more, but also find that your life is filled with greater joy and meaning, rather than with fear and disappointment.

Emotional riding leads to abuse, so it’s very important to control your emotions when you’re training a horse. First, realize the animal will usually be compliant unless you are “clashing aids,” by pushing and pulling at the same time, or are “overfacing” the horse by asking it to do something above its current performance level. For instance, a young, inexperienced horse (referred to as a “green” horse) may not have established its balance well enough while carrying a rider to perform a flying change. No amount of persuasion is going to result in a relaxed and “clean” change—that is, a correct switch of all of the feet to the new lead at once—so there’s no point in starting a battle you can’t win. It only gets the horse upset and makes it much more difficult to teach the flying change when the appropriate time comes.

A horse that pulls against the rider seems to lead to abuse more than anything else. Although a horse can be prone to travel on its forehand, particularly if it is built “downhill” with the withers lower than the croup, the animal is not going to be an constant puller unless you are not riding very well. Typically, the rider will be “clashing aids,” driving the horse forward with the legs while taking an unrelenting hold on the horse’s mouth. Keeping a horse in a round frame is not a matter of brute force, but rather is the result of excellent coordination of the aids, with the rider using half-halts to lighten the animal’s front end, while keeping the horse moving forward from the legs. (See “How to Perform a Half-Halt” by going to http://annamullin.com/how-to-perform-a-half-halt.) The hands and arms, working together in the half-halt, never give the horse a fixed object on which to pull, so the rider doesn’t end up being exhausted and angry.

At this point, I’d like to offer a word to the wise about equipment. You should always wear gloves when riding, for this will protect your skin from being rubbed raw if your horse begins to pull. If you want to contain your emotions and stay in the track of productive work, then don’t let your skin get rubbed raw, for this will surely cause you to become angry at the horse. Your excellent riding should make this a rare problem, but on occasion, the horse may be very excitable at a new location or you may be retraining someone else’s horse that has learned to pull all the time, due to its normal rider’s “hard hands.”

You should also carry a riding crop at all times when training, for another reason rider’s get angry at their horses is that the horse begins to misbehave—for instance, refusing to jump a fence—and the rider is not prepared to make an immediate, tactful correction with the riding crop. A situation that should have been easy to deal with becomes a much bigger problem when the horse realizes that the rider is unprepared to correct it. You can slap your horse on its barrel all you want, but it will not be nearly as effective as a tap with a riding crop. The more you advertise your lack of consistency in correcting your horse, the more difficulty you will have in training it.

Realize that the horse is just a horse, not some brilliant, emotionally-complex being. If you make your physical instructions to the animal easy to understand by making the wrong behavior slightly uncomfortable and the right behavior comfortable, then the horse will take the path of what is most pleasant. A master of this concept was Gordon Wright, whose famous book, “Learning to Ride, Hunt, and Show” is once again available and should be in every serious horseman’s library. You can find it at Amazon at this location: http://www.amazon.com/Learning-Ride-Hunt-Gordon-Wright/dp/1602397260.

Finally, don’t become embarrassed and take it out on your horse. I particularly see this happening at clinics and horse shows, where riders feel that everyone is judging them. The truth is that people have sympathy for those who are trying and face great difficulty, while they feel disdain for those who lose their tempers and take it out on their horses. I’d rather be known as a mediocre rider than a cruel person.

In summary, to avoid an emotional training session, don’t clash your aids or overface your horse; learn to half-half properly so that you don’t get into a pulling match; use gloves to protect your hands and carry a riding crop for immediate corrections; make the wrong behavior slightly uncomfortable and the right behavior comfortable; be consistent with your corrections; and don’t take your emotions out on your horse. If you implement these few things, you’ll be well on your way to success.

Talk to you later! — AJ

If a horse is excitable when it comes out to work, riders tend to work the animal for long periods of time in an effort to wear it out to achieve compliance. The initial excitability of the animal causes an adrenaline rush, just as though the horse were fearing for its life and needed adrenaline to enable it to run fast for a long period of time to escape a predator. If the rider (or even someone longeing a horse) doesn’t give the animal frequent breaks, the horse’s emotional state remains frenzied, which keeps the adrenaline flowing.

If a horse is very nervous at the start of work, it’s fine to give it short spurts of canter with the rider’s seat off the saddle in two-point position—no more than three times around the arena—followed by a break of about five minutes so that the horse’s level of both adrenaline and oxygen can decline in intensity. As you know, adrenaline and oxygen can cause humans to accomplish what seem to be super-human feats of physicality, and the same is true of an animal; so it is important to get the horse back to a more normal physical and emotional state before you start to work again, or else you’ll find yourself fighting a battle you cannot possibly win.

The oxygen and adrenaline levels are very important, but the horse’s mental state and its ability to realize it is tired are equally important. A walk on a long rein (or at least as long as you can have and still control the nervous horse) provides the animal an opportunity to relax; and once it has relaxed a little, it will realize it is tired. Just as you come to a point in a hard day that you think, “I’m worn out,” and start finding ways to take it a little easier, the horse will do the same. Instead of looking for things to spook at, it will just mind its business and cooperate.

This principle is true in all training of the horse. You don’t want to exhaust the animal, for this can be dangerous if your horse doesn’t have what it needs physically and mentally to do what you’re asking of it—for example, jumping a course of fences. What you’re really looking for is a relaxed horse that is willingly submissive. You’ll get this when you offer frequent breaks in your work routine.

If you’re longeing the horse, change directions about every five minutes, and take plenty of time while you’re switching the equipment to the other side, so the horse has a little time to settle. Also, don’t longe more than 20 minutes. After this time, when you get on the horse, walk it for at least five minutes on a long rein and let it relax. If you have time, you can even take the horse back to the barn, cool it out, then tack it up later for your ride. You’ll be amazed at how much more successful your work session will be if you’ll give your horse time to calm down, relax, and feel that it is a little tired.

If you’ve taken the route of short periods of canter in two-point, go three times around the ring, take a five-minute break, then do the same thing one more time. If this doesn’t sufficiently calm the horse, you can do the same thing twice more; but again, concentrate as much on a lengthy break time as you do on the cantering, so that the horse can become more calm, relaxed, and aware of the fact that its body is tired.

The people who constantly resort to lengthy gallops or an hour of longeing end up with a horse so fit that the initial problem of the horse being at a physical advantage is greatly increased. Also, overwork can cause lameness and other physical problems, so it’s not a wise thing to do. The next time your horse is keyed up, use short periods of work, interspersed with frequent breaks, to make the horse’s mind and body more manageable, rather than taking the lengthy and less-successful route of working your horse nearly to death or attempting to muscle it into submission.

Talk to you later! — AJ

With the weather being so cold and wet throughout the United States in recent weeks, it’s important to note how a horse’s lack of exercise can lead to colic.  For those of you who keep your horses in regular work, but have recently found the footing to be too slippery for riding, remember that a fit horse suddenly confined to a stall for several days will be prone to colic if you keep offering the same amount of feed.

This is especially true if the horse doesn’t have access to lots of drinking water, which is often the case when temperatures drop below freezing and the available water becomes a block of ice.  Ideally, the temperature of the horse’s water should be between 45 degrees and 65 degrees, and there should be a salt block in the stall or feed bucket that the horse can lick so that it will desire more water.  (Of course, keeping the water temperature up to 45 degrees is a challenge in many places; but just know that this is an “ideal” threshhold and do the best you can to make sure there is liquid, not ice, in the horse’s bucket.)  It is very important to cut the horse’s grain intake in half and increase the amount of hay on the horse’s days off, so that it won’t be hungry, but will not be taking in so much grain that it ends up with impaction colic.

Colic is severe abdominal pain caused by spasm, obstruction, or distention. Since horses don’t vomit the way humans do to relieve stomach irritations, they can get into sudden, life-threatening problems that require surgery or even be fatal.  Some typical signs of colic are:  lack of interest in food or water; swishing the tail or stomping a hind leg; looking at, biting, or kicking the barrel; straining unsuccessfully to pass food or to urinate; walking restlessly in circles, then lying down and rolling; and, if the colic is extremely severe, thrashing wildly on the ground.

It is important to keep a colicky horse on its feet and walking while you are waiting for the veterinarian to arrive.  This mild exercise helps food move through the body and limits activities, such as rolling, that can cause the intestines to become twisted.

Here are a few important ways to avoid colic in a horse:

I was watching a video on The Horse Forum (http://www.horseforum.com/horse-training/collection-bobbling-74912/) and noticed how the rider’s hands were greatly affected by the lack of a stable lower leg. When the lower leg is secure, the upper body can be independent-–i.e., can do whatever needs to be done without the lower leg negatively affecting it. Also, when the lower leg is secure, the upper body can work interdependently with the rest of the rider’s body—i.e., 1) the legs, 2) the thighs and seat (or “base of support”), 3) the torso, neck, and head (or “upper body”), and 4) the hands and arms. All of these can be coordinated to get the best performance from the horse. Each part of the rider’s body should be stable and balanced, in sync with the movement of the horse, rather than being slung around.Everything goes back to the rider’s legs and base of support. The rider should be forked in tight, just behind the pommel of the saddle. There should be an equal distribution of contact at the rider’s inner thigh, inner knee, and inner calf. The stirrup should be straight across the ball of the rider’s foot, and the heel should be pressed down as a means of holding the rider on the horse through downward pressure. (This is the same concept as the way that a bag of grain stays on a donkey’s back. It is the downward sifting of the grain on each side of the animal that holds the bag on. Downward pressure should be equal on each side to keep the bag of grain—or a rider—on the animal.) The position of the rider should be contoured to the horse, with everything lying flat against the saddle and against the flesh of the horse where the rider’s inner calf has contact with the horse’s flesh.

If the rider in the video mentioned above had this level of security in the leg, then the hands would not be moving up and down as she posts. If you’d like to see more of what I had to say about the video, you can find it at http://www.horseforum.com/horse-training/collection-bobbling-74912/ by scrolling down to the post by “amullin.”

Talk to you later! — AJ