|
|
 |
|
Archive for November 13th, 2009Celebrating Success with Ravel and Steffen Peters Ravel and Steffen Event Benefits the Equestrian Aid Foundation SAN DIEGO (Nov. 13, 2009) – When he entered the room with his confident style, it became the crowning moment to a spectacular evening. Ravel was among his fans and friends. On November 5, guests gathered at the home of Steffen Peters and Ravel – Arroyo Del Mar Farm in San Diego – to relive the team’s accomplishments of the year, including a clean sweep of the Rolex FEI World Cup Dressage Finals and the World Equestrian Festival CHIO. The event lived up to its promise to deliver a once-in-a-lifetime event featuring a rare video, commentary by Peters, and a visit from Ravel. Proceeds from “Honoring Ravel” benefited the Equestrian Aid Foundation (EAF), a nonprofit that provides assistance for basic medical needs funding for those in the equestrian community suffering from catastrophic illness or injury. Read more> http://www.horsesinthesouth.com/article/article_detail.aspx?id=8853 Six Tips from My Favorite Farrier! by Ruth Hogan-Poulsen1. Treat you horse’s feet like your hands. For example, if your hands are dry, you would put on a moisturizer; if they are not dry you would not. Your horse’s feet are the same. If they are dry and cracked and brittle, put on a product that increases the moisture content of the hoof. If the hoof capsule is wet and soft, use a product that shields the hoof from environmental moisture. Environmental moisture can come from a wet stall, wet grass, the wash rack, too many baths, or a wet soggy pasture. 2. Pick your horse’s feet before and after you ride. Pick your horse’s feet before you ride to examine the health of hoof and to remove dirt, stones and any debris. You should also pick them after you ride to make sure you haven’t picked up any foreign objects such as rocks, nails or hard packed footing. 3. Always pick the horse’s hoof from heel to toe. In other words, pick in the direction toward the point of the frog. 4. Be sure to clean in the clefts next to the frog where thrush can be most prominent. 5. When examining the hoof while grooming, check for sharp clinches which can cut your horse and may also indicate a loose or twisted shoe. 6. Keep your horse on a regular shoeing schedule, even if he just needs a trim or reset. Keeping your horse on a regular shoeing schedule can prevent many costly and damaging lameness issues. You can send in questions about your horse’s feet if you like. Submit to ruth@ruthhoganpoulsen.com. www.ruthhoganpoulsen.com Riding Your Horse to Music – Sound System Tips, by Ruth Hogan-PoulsenI’ve had a lot of people ask me about the best way to listen and ride to music. There are a number of factors to consider. 1. Your safety and the safety of others riding with you is the number one priority, so be sure that your horse and the other horses around you are aware that the music will be on and that you don’t start it in full volume. An unannounced drum roll at the wrong moment can surprise any horse or rider, so be thoughtful about the start of the music. You should consider starting at low volume and then turning it up make sure your horse and everyone around you is OK with the music. Once the music is going, most horses will enjoy it as much as you will! 2. Where are you riding when you want to listen to music? Are you in an indoor or outdoor ring, or are you hacking out? If you are in an indoor arena with a convenient power supply, most any sound system or boom box will work. (If no power supply, get a big stash of batteries!) Many of the newer boom boxes come with a small remote control you can put in your pocket so you don’t have to get off or have an assistant to change the music or volume. Although headphones used with an iPod or Walkman type gadget is more private they can present problems. It is NOT safe to ride in an arena with other horses and riders with headphones on. If another rider has a problem or a loose horse comes running into the ring, you may not be aware of a potential problem because you can’t hear what is going on around you. Think of riding like driving your car. You should be completely aware of what is going on around you to avoid a potentially dangerous situation. The second reason I don’t like my riders to use headphones is that the horse cannot hear the music! Yes, in fact the music does influence your horse. Many horses will know when “their” music comes on and quite remarkably adjust their gait into the tempo of the music. 3. There are some products that have been made for small speakers to go into your saddle pad, so that both you and your horse can hear the music. I think this is a great compromise for hacking and riding to music for pleasure without the danger of using headphones. However, if you are riding to music on a daily basis with the goal of competing to music, then you need to use a sound system where the music is louder and around you as it will be at a show. You and your horse need to experience the sound and fullness of the music as it will be at a show, many times before you go down the centerline. In doing this, you will help your horse adjust to the music, volume and depth of the sound. This will help eliminate spooking or getting nervous when the music comes on. Many horses will become more “alive” when their music comes on. Try not to squash this enthusiasm, but rather use it and recycle it for more expression and brilliance! After all, it’s FREESTYLE! GO FOR IT! www.ruthhoganpoulsen.com How to Memorize a Dressage Test, by Ruth Hogan-PoulsenHi everyone. A lot of you have been asking me about how I begin to diagram a pattern or how I start to memorize a test. I start with these blank arena diagrams. I find them useful for a number of things. …and many more! So I though I would give these diagrams to you guys for your use. Feel free to print them off and use them any time you want, and while you are on my site, sign up for the newsletter if you have not already! You will automatically get the link for the diagrams in the welcome letter of my newsletter, so you don’t have to go looking for it! Link to FREE DRESSAGE ARENA DIAGRAMS: http://www.ruthhoganpoulsen.com/downloads.html www.ruthhoganpoulsen.com |
