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'Feel' is an incredibly significant ability
of the rider, one that many riders lack and one that can take
years (a whole lifetime, really) to develop. Sadly, some riders
never do. An instructor might have an understanding of the
feel of horses, but have difficulty in communicating 'feel'
to their students. Some trainers and instructors might have
the physical ability to feel of a horse, but not a true understanding
of the complexities of using 'feel'. There are many exercises
that help develop the feel in students.
Lay one or two ground poles, 3-4 feet apart, and have students
proceed in a line over the poles at the walk. Use heavy rounded
wood poles, 10-12 feet long. Have the students look far ahead
(practicing "open" eyes) as they walk in a straight
line over the poles and see if they can feel which front foot
steps over the pole. Have students state loudly "right"
or "left" as a front foot steps over the pole/s.
This exercise can be advanced by adding more poles (at varying
distances), by asking students to feel hinds step over, by
progressing through the gaits and finally by coordinating
the aids with the stepovers. It takes a great deal of attention
by the instructor to monitor the class, while watching each
horse to see which foot does step over and if that is the
same one the rider said. Assistants can be help a lot and
poles can be set at both end of the arena to keep all students
engaged. Many students love this challenge and will want to
try again and again to get it right. Students at any level
can begin to learn to feel their horse's feet hit the ground.
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Check all English saddles to insure that the
safety latch of the stirrup bar is in the down position. Although
the safety latch is intended to hold the leather in place
and still allow a release in the event of a fall, the safety
latch cannot be trusted to release. These latches commonly
rust in place or just stick in place from all the grime that
saddles tend to accumulate, especially in out-of-sight places
like stirrup bars. With the safety latch stuck in the up position,
it is doing the opposite of what it was intended and is producing
a hazard instead of safety.
To help prevent the risk of a rider being drug by the stirrup,
these latches should be left in the down position always.
Stirrups would rarely slip off the bar in the course of normal
riding anyway, so there isn't really a need to keep the latch
in the up position. For advanced students, having the latch
down makes it easy to slip the leathers off for work without
stirrups, to strengthen their balance and ability
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Liquid Ivermectin is now available for horses.
Ivermectin, the preferred deworming agent for horses, is once
again being sold for oral administration. Available in 10
dose vials, at a significant savings over individual doses,
the liquid is easy to skirt in with a dosing gun, quick to
administer with no messy cartons, wrappers and paste.
As spring approaches, so does the need for deworming and for
herds over 10 head, this is the most cost effective and convenient
method. This product was reviewed in The Instructor (Spring
99) and prompted many orders for back issues. So we thought
we'd share it with you again.
Liquid Ivermectin is available in 10 dose vials from your
vet (under the brand-name Eqvalan) or it can be ordered from
Heartland Veterinary Supply (equine wholesale supplier), (800-934-9398
or www.veterinarystore.com). The applicator guns are only
about $10 for the plastic gun (for herds less than 10 head)
or about $40 for the stainless steel gun (worth the cost for
larger herds). A 10 dose vial of generic ivermectin is only
about $65, about a 40% savings over individual doses of ivermectin
paste.
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Colts and Fillies: As spring approaches, so
does the pitter-patter of little hooves. Obviously, the definition
of colt is a male horse under the age of four and a filly
is a female horse under the age of four, while a foal is of
either gender but still nursing (under six months).
In horse slang, especially with the Western crowd and on the
racetrack, the term "colt" may refer to an adolescent
horse of either gender that is ready for training, as in,
"breaking colts." When a cowboy (or cowgirl) refers
to "riding colts," it is not that they don't know
the difference between a colt and filly; they generally know
that and far more, if they are doing this work successfully.
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