The tips I learnt as a child that have stuck with me…
Educating riders and owners is something I’m seriously passionate about, not only because it’s so important to the welfare of the horse but also because I know how much I appreciated instructors taking the time to educate me on more than just how to get the horse on the bit. I look back and think it’s funny, the things I remember the most. In the lead up to my Children’s clinic on June 5th, I thought I’d share a few of my favourite simple but important tips that have never left me…
The velcro on the overreach boots must always be secured facing the outside…
I was about 17 in Germany when I was told this. I was tacking up a horse with another groom and I put the overreaches on. She started to immediately take them off and said “no wrong way” and I was gobsmacked that I had gone so long without realising overreaches had a certain way of putting on. It makes sense though, so if the horse scuffs itself it won’t pull the top tab of the velcro off.
How to not twist a curb chain…
This one is difficult to explain through writing, but I can definitely describe how long it took me to learn in which direction to hook each side of the chain onto the weymouth so it didn’t twist. Even if you think it looks straight, it’s often not! I had a Belgian trainer who took this very seriously and the words “ZE SHAIN IZ TVISTED” have haunted me ever since. I feel I now carry the legacy of annoyance for a twisted chain.
No mane must be stuck under the headpiece…
I have my mum to thank for this one. When I was a kid she would always come and fix the pony’s forelock and mane so it was properly separated either side of the headpiece and exclaiming “poor pony!” when there were any pieces of hair stuck underneath, like it was pulling their hair out. To be honest, if she’s around while I’m tacking up she still always checks for it!
Cutting a tail straight is not, in fact, cutting it straight…
From my showing days it was a sin to have a slanted end of tail so learning to cut a tail straight was included in my early education. You have to cut the tail on a slant so when the horse carries its tail up while its moving, it looks straight. Easier still, get someone to hold their forearm underneath the tail so its already in its carried position while you cut it. In this case, you can cut it straight.
For God’s sake shorten your reins…
It may be simple but I cannot tell you how many I people I see that shorten their reins ineffectively. To efficiently shorten the reins whilst maintaining contact and with control, simply grab the tail end of the rein you want to shorten with the opposite hand (just the part that’s coming out the top of your hard, not down where its flapping!) and just pull the rein through your hand to shorten it. If you need to shorten both then just do the same on the other side immediately. By grabbing and snatching for the reins to try and gather them up, the contact is disturbed too much.
Best way to adjust stirrups…
While training for my German riding exams one of my instructors was unimpressed by my clumsy, time consuming method of changing my stirrup length, and showed me a pain-free and safe way to do it. I’ll try and explain the best I can here… Keeping your foot in the stirrup but without any weight in it, pull your knee away so you can grab the top two straps of the stirrup leather (tail end and the one under it). Pull those straps so the leather slides through the bar and the buckle becomes visible. Using the other hand which is holding your reins, hold the tail end while your free hand moves the buckle up or down to the hole you want. When the buckle is done, hold onto the top two straps again and pull up so your stirrup moves into it’s new position on the leather and push your foot down into your stirrup hard, to pull the leather back through the bar so the buckle is back in position. If that made no sense whatsoever, you’ll have a to book a lesson and I’ll show you ;)
I remember I was participating in a lecture/demo with Christoph Hess back in Sydney, and he told me to shorten my stirrups so I did it in this way. He was SO impressed and told the audience to take note of how I was doing it because it was the correct way. So now whenever I adjust me stirrups I still feel a little hint of pride from that moment.
So many tips for bandaging…
I feel like bandaging deserves a blog post of its own! Firstly, to make sure it doesn’t slip down (I’m not actually sure if it works or not, because in my head I can’t figure out how it would work, but I still do it because I was told to do it and the straight A student in me won’t have it any other way), when you begin the exercise bandage, start it at a slight angle downwards so a little corner is left sticking up from where you start bandaging down. On your way back up, fold the corner down like a dog ear over the already wrapped bandage, then bandage over the top. I think this just keeps it more secure and stops it sliding around and down the leg without having to bandage too tight.
Always bandage the back of the leg inwards, so on the left legs you’ll be wrapping anti-clockwise and on the right legs you’ll be wrapping clockwise. This is to put tension on the tendons inwards not outwards, which is apparently better for them for some reason. It also means that when you secure the velcro, the velcro is facing outwards, so just like the overreaches, they don’t catch it and pull them off.
Each wrap around should move down the width of half the bandage of the previous wrap. Pretty simple.
When you reach the fetlock, try to create an upside down ‘V’ shape at the front of the fetlock. So when you bandage around the outside of the fetlock you angle the bandage downwards to wrap down and around the fetlock (I always go under the fetlock for extra support!) and when you come around the inside of the fetlock angle the bandage upwards to create the upside down V. This gives the fetlock joint move freedom to move.
The bandages must be rolled super tight, so when you wrap them round the leg you can just use the tension of rolled bandage as a guide for tightness. If you have to keep pulling them tight you risk bandaging too tightly.
When rolling bandages, finish them off by tucking a corner of the end into the rolled bandage to secure them. Otherwise they unroll too easily and accidentally and it’s just plain annoying.
Never secure the girth with tension when first putting the saddle on…
As a rule, if you have to use muscle strength to get the girth up when first securing it, you’re doing it too tight. It’s so unpleasant for the horse to have something put on their back and then the girth hoicked up when they’re cold. Wait until you’ve walked them out to the arena, then do up the girth. And even then probably not to its full tightness. As long as the saddle won’t slip when you get on, leave room to go up another hole once you’re on and walking around and the horse has loosened up even more. If you get to the arena and the saddle has moved, just ungirth, reposition, then girth up again this time tighter. At least the horse is warmer and used to the feeling by now so it won’t be so uncomfortable.
When tying a horse up, don’t put the end rope through the twine…
Loop the rope where you want to start tying and only put that loop through the twine, then pull the rest of the loops through starting from there. If you put the whole rope through the twine first and then start looping, you’re quick release isn’t at all quick because the rope is still through the twine and you have to feed the whole rope out to get the horse free. Even if you don’t need a quick release, it’s so much easier just to pull the tail end and it all come undone rather than undo it all and then have to pull the length of the rope out of the twine.
So there we have it, a few tips from my childhood that I’ve never forgotten. Some very basic, and honestly I always thought were just the done thing, but I continue to be surprised by how many people don’t know some of these basics. Which is why it’s so important to educate our young riders especially, so they pick up good habits. Wherever their riding hobby/career takes them, these tips will serve them well not only for the ease and safety of their own life, but also to gain the respect of other horse people.
If you have children that ride and want them to learn some solid basics in a fun, safe way, contact me via the contact form to book them into my children’s clinic on Saturday June 5th.