Innehållsförteckning för November 2017 från Practical Horseman

Tune In I was blissfully unaware of how distracting a phone could be until I recently bought a new one. My old phone allowed me to get voicemails and texts, but I had to go into those applications to actually retrieve them. I could find emails only by going through the Internet. The plus side of this was that when I went to the barn, I was able to keep my phone near me for emergencies but still stay fully engaged in the moment, whether I was feeling my horse’s legs for heat or trying to figure out why his right leg-yield was easier than his left. My new phone is a mini-computer that is constantly dinging and lighting up, keeping me abreast of just about everything that is going…

An equestrian mental- skills coach and A-circuit competitor, Tonya Johnston has a master’s degree in sport psychology. Her book, Inside Your Ride: Mental Skills for Being Happy and Successful with Your Horse is available in paperback or e-book editions. For more info on Tonya’s work, go to www.TonyaJohnston.com. Christine from work left you a voicemail, Steve sent a text about rescheduling your daughter’s voice lesson, your brother emailed you about dinner on Saturday and Alice commented on your new profile picture on Facebook—but guess what? You don’t know any of that because you are with your horse and your phone is the furthest thing from your mind (turned off, in the car, in your tack trunk, on airplane mode or at home). Bravo! You have successfully navigated a significant challenge…

CHEER ON eventers as they compete in the Galway Downs International Three-Day Event, Nov. 2–5, in Temecula, CA. Bring the whole family to see the cross country unfold in Southern California’s wine country and enjoy live music, local vendors and lots of food; www.galwaydowns.com. WATCH young equitation talent compete in the ASPCA Maclay Finals, Nov. 5, in Lexington, KY. The Maclay is a highlight of the weeklong CP National Horse Show, which also features the Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping Lexington Nov. 4; www.nhs.org. CHECK OUT the 2017 PATH International Conference and Annual Meeting, Nov. 8–11, in San Antonio, TX. The schedule of events includes educational sessions led by industry experts, networking opportunities, discussion forums and annual awards; www.pathintl.org. EXPLORE clinics, demonstrations, an extensive trade fair and shopping…

We Have a Winner! Practical Horseman is pleased to announce that Joy Gonzales, of Hughson, California, is the winner of the Training with the Stars: Win a Day with Todd Minikus contest. She was chosen by the top show jumper from a group of 10 finalists. More than 500 equestrians entered the contest, sponsored by Vita Flex, by describing in 250 words why they deserved to win a oneday educational clinic with Minikus for themselves and nine friends. The 10 finalists also submitted a video of themselves and their horses. A lifelong equestrian, Gonzales is a fifth-grade teacher and mother of two. She has competed in jumpers but now has a 5-year-old rescue mare who shows promise as an event horse. “My horse, Lottie, is not your conventional mount,” Gonzales…

George H. Morris is the former chef d’équipe of the U.S. Equestrian Federation Show Jumping Team. He serves on the USEF National Jumper Committee and Planning Committee, is an adviser to the USEF High- Performance Show Jumping Committee and is president of the Show Jumping Hall of Fame. 1 This is a great rider demonstrating security and balance, but who has a little homework to advance her release to the next level of difficulty. The hinged stirrup irons are acceptable but not preferable. The joint that is supposed to bend, flex and absorb shock is the ankle joint, not the joint of the stirrup iron. Nevertheless, the rider’s heel is down, the iron is crossing the ball of the foot with the little toe touching the outside branch and there…

*Training Tip: Depending on the discipline and the level you compete at, the horse needs different degrees of lung capacity, muscle strength, endurance, coordination and nerve-muscle skills, suppleness and mental preparation. From experience, many top riders have a philosophy on training that fits very well with recommendations from human sport scientists to avoid six common causes of injury: 1. Doing too much too soon 2. Lack of continuity 3. Work that is too monotonous 4. Lack of rest and recovery (which includes combining high-volume and highintensity work) 5. Sudden changes in demands or an acute overload incident 6. Individual weaknesses. German show-jumping champion Franke Sloothaak has underlined that you, as a rider, must have a plan for your work with the horse, an analysis of how he should be brought…

Brown Overcomes Challenges At AEC Severe weather in early September was responsible for a historic first: show jumping preceding the cross-country phase of the USEA Adequan Gold Cup Advanced Final at the American Eventing Championship in Mill Spring, North Carolina. Matt Brown and the 11-yearold Irish Sport Horse BCF Belicoso, owned by the Blossom Creek Foundation, had one of just three double-clear crosscountry rounds and rose from fifth place after show jumping to win the championship on their dressage score of 33.5. “At the beginning of the week I joked with my wife [Cecily] that riding [Belicoso] is like riding an electric golf cart that’s slightly running out of batteries all the time,” said Brown. “He doesn’t have much blood to him, but he always is willing to go when…

Based at Fox Covert Farm, in Upperville, Virginia, Jim Wofford competed in three Olympics and two World Championships and won the U.S. National Championship five times. He is also a highly respected coach. For more on Jim, go to www.jimwofford.blogspot.com. Winter is the time to plan for improvement. Long walks during this time give your horse the strength and fitness to perform better in the coming year. While you are conditioning your horse, leave your headphones behind. If you disconnect yourself from the natural world, you are a menace to society and a danger to your horse. Headphones are mental “bling”—they tell me that your riding is about you, not about your partner. When told they are a defense against boredom, I ask, “How can you be bored when you…

Horses have a natural aversion to jumping crosscountry ditches. So do riders! But that doesn’t mean teaching this skill has to be a miserable experience for everyone involved. I’ve developed a system that does it in a gentle, progressive way guaranteed to produce successful results from the very beginning. In the seven or eight years I’ve been using it, I’ve never had a horse refuse to jump the ditch in the first attempt. Before developing this system, I spent many years retraining students’ “problem” horses who routinely stopped at or were eliminated at ditches. I got on the horses and schooled them until they were jumping ditches successfully again. It was an ugly process that I didn’t enjoy—I hated feeling that I had to dominate them. And no matter how…

Three for Swail Ireland’s Conor Swail and his mount, Flower, won all three FEI classes, including the grand finale—the $135,600 Longines FEI World Cup™ Langley—in late August at Thunderbird Show Park in British Columbia. From an initial field of 27 starters, Swail and Flower had the advantage of going last in the seven-horse jumpoff, finishing 3.6 seconds faster than second-place finisher Christopher Surbey (CAN) and the 9-year-old gelding, Daylight VDL. “I knew the time was easily attainable,” said Swail. Flower “is very good at running and jumping, so I let her run and jump the first few jumps. I didn’t take any major risks and just knew that with the way she was jumping, she would leave the jumps up as long as I didn’t make any mistakes.” Swail owns…