Posts Tagged ‘trot and canter’

The name Sport Horse is given to type of horse rather than a particular breed of horse; it is a term to define a horse that will excel in equestrian sports such as Showjumping, Dressage or Eventing.

Sports horse breeders follow intensive breeding programs. The breeding goals differ from registry to registry, some more geared towards Showjumping others Dressage, Eventing or all-round top quality riding horses, this is reflected in the breeding, for example to produce a top class jumping horse only prestigious jumping blood lines are used to produce a horse with the physical attributes and athletic ability which is needed for show jumping.

Quality Sports horses have certain attributes which incorporates the following:

o Correct confirmation – Sports horses should have correct confirmation as this has a direct affect on the movement and jumping capabilities of the horse.

o Temperament – Sports horses must have a trainable and willing nature.

o Movement – Sports horse should have an athletic gait with good suspension in trot and canter.

o Jumping ability – Sports horses that are bred for jumping have excellent jumping form and conformation that allows them to jump higher.

If you are looking to buy a horse to compete, a sports horse would be a very good choice. You should set yourself some guide lines on the criteria of the horse you wish to buy; a good place to start is to identify your capabilities as a rider. Less experienced riders should look for an older experienced horse that knows its job; an accomplished rider may want to bring on a younger horse and take it through the grades, it is absolutely essential for the rider to realise their capabilities. Unfortunately many people make the mistake of “over horsing themselves” this is when a less experienced rider has bought a horse that is far too much for the rider to handle. This can ruin good horses and ruin a rider’s confidence. Set a budget, the height range that would suit you best and what you intend to do with the horse. This will narrow down the market and get you focused on the right market of horses for sale.

There is an abundance of Sport horses for sale currently in the U.K. you only have to look briefly at the equestrian classifieds and you will be sure to see several advertisers offering Sports horses for sale. There are many competition yards that have Sports horses for sale.

 Professional horse producers will often travel to Ireland and mainland Europe to source Sport horses from breeders and farmers.  The horses that are brought back to the U.K. are to be sold to the equestrian competition market. A good professional horse producer will help you find the right horse; you will usually find that there will be quite a few Sports horses for sale at any one yard so you will have plenty of Sports Horses for Sale to view. There are lots of yards devoted Sports horses for sale, so you will always have plenty of horses to look at, if they don’t have a horse that is suitable they will often be able to source a Sports horse for sale that meets your requirements, as they are more than likely to have established equestrian links with farmers and breeders overseas.

It is also possible for you to go to Ireland or the Continent to look for a Sport horses for sale yourself. It is good to look on the internet for Sports Horses for Sale to see if there are any abroad that you like, many yards will offer a service where they collect you from the airport and accommodate you while you view their Sport horses for sale.

If you are ever in doubt about what horse would be most suitable for you must always seek professional help from a reputable source, a person who has expertise in your preferred discipline.

Sports Horses for Sale [http://www.horsewizard.co.uk/marketplace?page=show_category&catid=39]

Horses for Sale

Author: Paul Simms
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: PCB Prototype & Manufacturing

So many riders are confused about how to warm-up their dressage horses so they can have a productive schooling session. So here are 9 tips to help you with your warm-ups.

As a rider and trainer, your goal in the warm-up is to take the restrictions away from your dressage horse’s body. So depending on the day, your warm-up could be as short as 10 minutes, or it could end up making up your entire ride.

1. Since your horse has probably been standing in the stall, spend the first 5-10 minutes walking around on a loose rein.

2. After walking around “on the buckle” for several minutes, pick up a contact so you can begin your warm-up.

3. Focus on the first three ingredients in the Training Scale-Rhythm, Suppleness, and Connection. I always start my work on those first three ingredients on a large circle. Then if all goes well, I’ll go large around the arena.

4. Rhythm: As you walk, trot, and canter around, check that the rhythm is always regular and the tempo is neither too fast nor too slow.

5. Suppleness: Spend as little or as much time as you need, suppling and relaxing your horse both mentally and physically. Work done in tension is a waste of time. When you supple your horse, you’ll relax him physically. Once he’s physically relaxed, he’ll relax mentally.

In a nutshell, to supple your horse, bend his neck 7 inches to the inside of a neutral position (neutral is when his nose is in line with the crease in the middle of his chest) while you close your leg on the same side.

Do a set of ” three supples” which means you’ll bend and straighten him three times quickly but smoothly. Then do nothing for 7 or 8 strides. Then do another set of “three supples”.

(This “suppling” technique is described in detail in Cross-Train Your Horse, Train with Jane Volume 1, and A Happy Horse Home Study Course.)

6. Connection: Use the “Connecting Half Halt” to put your horse on the bit. The “Connecting Half Halt” is the version of the basic Half Halt (a momentary closure of seat, legs, and hands) that puts your horse on the bit.

Close your legs steadily for 3 seconds as if asking for a lengthening, close your outside hand in a fist to capture and recycle the energy back to the hind legs, and keep the neck straight by giving 3-4 little squeezes or vibrations on the inside rein. The connecting half halt lasts approximately three seconds. During those three seconds, you “Add, add, add” hind legs through your closed outside hand while maintaining flexion at the poll to the inside.

In warm-up, I connect my horse and ride him either long and low, or if he tends to be heavy on the forehand, I ride in a “horizontal balance” with his topline is parallel to the ground.

7. When things fall apart, always go back to the beginning of the training scale. First, reestablish regular rhythm. Then, supple your horse. Finally, ask for connection.

8. While focusing on rhythm, suppleness and connection, it’s appropriate to ask the training level horse to do school figures like circles, serpentines, and shallow loops.

The first and second level horse also can do school figures as well as leg-yields, and rubber band exercises like gentle lengthenings, and then coming back to the working gait.

9. Many riders do a lot of transitions from gait to gait with their dressage horses in the warm-up. Personally, I think your horse needs to be warmed up sufficiently first before you can expect him to do good transitions. So, I save schooling the transitions until the second phase of my work after the warm-up is complete.

Author: Jane Savoie
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Duty on LCD/Plasma TV

So many riders are confused by how a dressage horse should look and feel when he’s honestly on the bit. So what follows are specific ways for you to tell if he’s on the bit by what you see and what you feel.

When a dressage horse is on the bit, this is what he’ll look like:

His entire outline from back to front looks round.
His hind legs step actively underneath his body, his back is up and swinging, his neck is long and low enough to be in line with the “power train” of his hindquarters, his poll is the highest point, and his nose is about 5 degrees in front of the vertical
From the saddle his neck is widest at the base (just in front of the withers) and becomes progressively narrower as you get closer to his ears.
From the side, his neck looks longish and relatively low rather than up in the air and short.

When your dressage horse is on the bit, here’s what he’ll feel like:

He’s one unit rather than a jumble of “disconnected parts”.
He’s more comfortable to sit on because his back is relaxed.
In trot and canter, he feels like a beach ball bouncing along.
His back (behind the saddle) is up and swinging rather than dropped and tense.
The energy is self-perpetuating. The power comes from behind, over the back and gets recycled back to the hind legs. If the horse is truly connected and isn’t crooked with the shoulder falling out and the haunches falling in, the energy is self-perpetuating. If the horse, let’s say, is popping out one shoulder and the energy is going diagonally across his body, then you have to come with your driving aids and recreate the energy because it’s not self-perpetuating.
Anything is possible within the next step. For example, he can immediately go from trot to canter. Or he can immediately go from working canter into a canter lengthening. Or he can do a canter depart in the next step.

If you’re not sure if your dressage horse is truly on the bit, ask for a transition. If it’s easy to do within the next step, then you know that your horse is on the bit.

Author: Jane Savoie
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Duty tariff