Wednesday, 7 August 2013

So how fair is the Fairfax?

£220 for a girth you've got to be kidding me?

Yes cards on table am a complete cynic but none the less as my lovely saddler has them to try thought I'd see what the hype is about.

Day 0 Tuesday 6th August  20:30 sand/rubber Fairfax

So the potential confounding factors

recent physio (Mon)
recent saddle adjustment (30 minutes previously!)
sand/rubber school (usually ride in other school)
riding in evening (usually ride am) - so not been in overnight, had not run out of hay

All I could say is WOW the walk was huge and he was really stretching, saddle adjustment felt great too


Day 1 Wednesday 7th August  08:00 Fibresand Usual girth

So felt better than he had been feeling before physio/saddler more active walking out than I had been getting, less stretch down than last night but normal.


Day 2 Thursday 8th August  08:30 Fibresand Fairfax


Felt as he did yesterday in normal girth :-(

Day 3 Friday 9th August  08:00 Fibresand Fairfax


Felt as he did yesterday

Day 4  Saturday 10th August  09:00 Fibresand Fairfax


Felt as he did yesterday

Day 5 Sunday 11th August 14:00 Fibresand Fairfax


Felt as he did yesterday

Day 8 Wednesday 14th August 08:00 Fibresand Fairfax


Felt as he did Sunday

Sunday, 28 July 2013

Sunday Afternoon Q & A At Dovecot Stables Charles De Kunffy And Gerd Heuschmann

GH Bitless bridle does not communicate with TMJ and jaw, contact in bitless is to nose and poll, so riding in a bitless is different contact to bitted.

GH Lunging for young horse is about head control and getting used to handler; otherwise GH goes to ridden work asap.

GH Would ride 3 yo three times a week, 4 yo four.

GH 99.9% of time now lunges without side reins, strident dislike of Pessoa

GH does NOT like treeless saddle.

GH most horses shoulders are not when viewed from top symmetrical, right shoulder usually 2" - 3" further forward.

CdeK  always yield inside rein in shoulder in

CdeK How to correct BTV in medium trot?

Overflexion (BTV) needs to be resolved before  the nedium trot, start at the beginning every day every ride.

Overflexion  is a symptom the solution is behind

  1. Slow
  2. Abruptly give rein
  3. Drive




Saturday And Sunday Afternoon Lessons At Dovecot Stables Charles De Kunffy And Gerd Heuschmann

Saturday 

 13:00 lesson

 To correct btv

1. Slow down
2. Abruptly yield reins
3. Drive

 C de K uses both legs to aid for canter.

 13:30 lesson

 Had both riders leaning back to improve their seats and that was pretty much their lesson.

 14:00 lesson Had both riders leaning back to improve their seats and that was pretty much the lesson for one rider, the other he had doing SI

 14:30 lesson

 Had one rider lean back

 15:00 lesson

 Had one rider lean back and that was their lesson, other horse was more advanced and very nicely trained / ridden but he had both doing same exercises with other rider struggling.

 Sunday

 13:30 lesson

 Stopped rider following nod of head in walk with her lower arm and had her move her torso to follow.
14:00 lesson 

Lovely PRE had her doing various exercises very insistent she only yield for four steps

 14:30

lesson with GH Stretch every 15 minutes

 15:00 lesson

 The advanced rider from 15:00 yesterday had her doing school canter on her seat

 From what I saw over the two days CdeK is much better with the trained rider who needs refinement he is to my mind unpleasantly sarcastic to those he has to say "close fingers" to more than once or twice from his talk he thinks it is lack of rider discipline or can't be assed.

 He seems to have one correction for the seat and that is lean back, he is insistent on vertical upper arm by sides at all times and use the torso to yield left or right and to follow the movement in walk.

Monday, 22 July 2013

Charles de Kunffy and Gerd Heuschmann Sunday morning

Charles de Kunffy - training as therapy for horses

Always alternate

1/ Long <-------> short frame
2/ Long <-------> short strides
3/ Bending / straightness

You can always do four changes of something on a 20m circle

Hegel Dialectic

Wiki link here

C de K described it as


OBSERVE ============================= ANTHESIS                    
                                                                SYNTHESIS

Observe is the existing reality
Synthesis the reality we wish to achieve
Anthesis the flip (bad) side

Riding is surfing with your pelvis


  1. Leg energises
  2. Seat modifies
  3. Rein verifies

Focus on task in hand but do not compromise future

Make an ally of your horse

Duty ahead of mood

Duty versus inclination

Do not punish for perceived wrongdoing

Gerd Heuschmann - True lameness or bridle lameness?

We as riders create a problem but then 'fight' the symptoms rather than addressing the problem

Preserve the natural gaits

A young horse should have a long neck and hanging nose

Stiffen the back and you stiffen the hindquarters then the only joint free to flex is the pastern and fetlock joints so the suspensory end up taking too much load and you then get suspensory issues.

The swinging back is where riding starts

Kissing spines GH has seen > 1 unbacked horse with impinging dorsal processes so not solely caused by riding. Possibly we are breeding horses with narrower spaces, however impinging dorsal processes rarely the primary cause of lameness.

95% of 'back problems' are rider related, how can we as vets ignore the influence of 80 kg of rider on the horse's back?

Natural crookedness is intercostals and deep abdominals less inclined to stretch on one side, 2007 gene discovered in humans for handedness, similar in horses? Thus a horse is unwilling to stretch his stiff side