Innehållsförteckning för Christmas 2021 från Your Horse

Could you rehome a rescued horse, pony or donkey and provide the safe, loving home that they deserve? A Shetland foal who struggled to walk is now thriving in his new home. Doolittle and his mother were rescued by the RSPCA and placed in the care of Blue Cross when he was eight months old. “When Doolittle first arrived, he was struggling with movement,” says Jess Hall, horse welfare assistant at Blue Cross. “The ligament that usually releases as the horse moves was getting stuck on the patella, so his legs would get stuck. “Sadly, this is quite common in the tiny Shetlands due to the bad breeding that often happens.” Doolittle had corrective surgery, and after box rest was able to go back out into a paddock. After 173…

MEET THE TRAINER HANNAH ESBERGER-HANCOCK is an international dressage rider and trainer. Her career began competing ponies for Great Britain and she has since gained seven national and 23 regional dressage titles. She’s based near Sheffield with a string of exciting horses, including her own and her father Robert’s Iggy Pop. A QUALITY FREE walk will come only with correct application and development of the scales of training — rhythm, suppleness, contact, impulsion, straightness and collection — with the first two being the most important. While there are no shortcuts to good marks, there’s much you can do to improve your horse’s free walk both at home and in a test situation. From ironing out tense steps to finessing the stretch, Hannah Esberger-Hancock shares her secrets to success. PROBLEM: He…

MEET THE TRAINER NIKKI BARKER is an international dressage rider and trainer who’s based near Newmarket. She’s sponsored by Knowles Equestrian, Spillers and Goodbye Flys. Find her on Facebook at ‘Nikki Barker Dressage’. MEET THE RIDER & HORSE JANE VON SEELEN HANSEN has owned 16-year-old Hanoverian Missy for nearly six years. The duo train at advanced medium level and are working towards prix st georges. SURE, WE’RE ALL used to riding circles and serpentines when we’re training, but top dressage rider and coach Nikki Barker is keen to mix things up and turn your schooling sessions pearshaped — literally. Not only does she have a shapely arsenal of fantastic exercises to try on the flat, she’s full of ideas to mix up where we’d usually ride them. Intrigued? Read on…

MEET THE EXPERT LUCY GRIEVE MA VetMB MRCVS is an ambulatory vet at Rossdales in Newmarket and former BEVA president. She works with all types of horses, from happy hackers through to amateur sports horses and elite racehorses. Her main areas of interest are lameness, diagnostic imaging and poor performance, and she is passionate about maximising the welfare of the horse at all times. WITH MORE AND and more horses falling into the ‘overweight’ and ‘obese’ categories, owners are under huge pressure to slim their horses’ waistlines down. It might seem acceptable to us to have ‘round’ horses and ponies, but the dangers of being too fat are serious. Obesity is a trigger factor for conditions such as EMS (equine metabolic syndrome), which causes insulin dysregulation and laminitis. Alongside metabolic…

MEET THE EXPERT DR DAVID MARLIN is a renowned equine scientist. He is consultant to the British Equestrian Federation and a member of its World Class Performance Scientific Advisory Group. He has worked with the FEI on climate-related projects, including preparing teams for five Olympics, including Tokyo 2020. He also has an extensive background in the testing and development of equestrian products. David is the President of the UK National Equine Welfare Council and editor of the journal Comparative Exercise Physiology. Visit drdavidmarlin.com WATER IS THE source of life. Without it, neither man nor beast can survive. It is therefore essential that your horse not only has easy and constant access to a reliable supply of clean, uncontaminated water, but also that as a responsible owner, you monitor their water…

Gifts for her…

Trained teacher Katie Ward escorts visiting groups of children around Sherwood Forest, in character as Maid Marian. She hopes that one day her horse Sir George will play his part too About my job… I’m a trained teacher and four years ago I was offered my dream job — running group visits to Sherwood Forest for Notts Outdoors, the outdoor and environmental education service from Nottinghamshire County Council. I work Mondays to Thursdays, often in costume as Maid Marian and escorting groups including school children, the Scouts and Brownies and home education families around Sherwood Forest, helping to bring the legend of Robin Hood and his band of merry men to life. An admin team takes the bookings for the various sessions, after which I liaise with group leaders, finding…

To enter, visit yourhorse.co.uk/win/pony485 WITH CHRISTMAS JUST around the corner, you may be struggling to know what to buy the pony-mad child in your family. Membership to the ‘Think Like a Pony’ online club is a unique gift to give this festive season, and we have five premium annual memberships up for grabs. Think Like a Pony is a leading organisation in the field of equine therapy, pony training and children’s natural horsemanship. The club’s aim is to educate young people in how to communicate with a pony and ride in balance. These valuable skills will help them to develop confidence, resilience and powerful communication skills. The Think Like a Pony club is the UK’s first-ever virtual club dedicated to teaching children how to communicate with horses respectfully and how…

MEET THE TRAINER JONTY EVANS rode for Ireland in the 2016 Rio Olympics aboard Cooley Rorkes Drift (‘Art’), finishing eighth as a team member and ninth individually. In 2018, he sustained a serious brain injury in a fall at Tattersalls and was unconscious for six weeks before spending time in a specialist neurological unit. He returned to competition in August 2019, and now competes and trains from his Gloucestershire base. MEET THE RIDERS LYNNE NABARRO rides Cara, a 12-year-old event mare whom she has had since a four-year-old and competes in BE100 classes. HANNAH BROWN rides Scooby, a seven-year-old sport horse gelding whom she has had for two years and competes in showjumping at discovery level. HORSES COME IN all shapes and sizes, with different jumping techniques and stride lengths,…

MEET THE EXPERT SUE TAYLOR MRCVS runs mixed animal veterinary hospital Connaught House in Wolverhampton. She is also a racecourse vet at Wolverhampton, Uttoxeter, Haydock and Aintree, is an examiner for the Worshipful Company of Farriers, and in her spare time she trains point-to- pointers and hunter chasers. Visit connaughtvets.co.uk LET’S FACE IT, winter isn’t the most pleasant of seasons to keep horses — and an expensive emergency vet call-out is one thing you can do without. Less time in the field, cold temperatures, wet weather and sticky mud can play havoc with our horse’s health. Despite best efforts, not everything is preventable, but there are things you can do to keep common winter conditions at bay — and keep your veterinary bill to a minimum. 1 Keep him clean…

Email your question to yh.ed@yourhorse.co.uk Simple solutions for horse owners GOT A PROBLEM? Need an answer? We’ll know someone who can help Welcome to our Ask The Experts section. Over the next nine pages we help to solve your horsey problems, with help from trusted professionals. This month’s panel answer your questions on worming, dealing with a horse who gets excited at competitions, transporting horses safely, getting started in drag hunting and lots more. If you’ve got a question you’d like answered, get in touch today. In partnership with…

WIN! Turn to page 26 for a chance to win a premier membership.…

VETERANS UK’s oldest pony celebrates his 50th birthday Bamboo, a Shetland pony from Norfolk, is believed to have celebrated his 50th birthday this year. Although he doesn’t have an official birth certificate, both his owner and vets have aged him to the equivalent of 135 in human years. “Bamboo is such a lovely pony to own and everyone adores him,” says Holly Banns, Bamboo’s owner of the past nine years. “It’s amazing that he’s reached his half-century, and he just keeps on going and going. “Even at the grand old age of 50 he enjoys being decorated with flowers and a leisurely walk to deliver cupcakes to guests at our glamping site,” says Holly, who runs Back on Track Retirement Livery with husband Tom. “He has had a few health…

IF YOU’VE NEVER been on a fun ride before, I insist you book one immediately. They’re brilliant. They offer all the best bits of a competition (professional photographers! A tack stall! Cheesy chips! Guaranteed rosettes! An excuse to sit in a camping chair, drinking wine out of a can at 2pm!) with none of the downsides — getting eliminated at the first fence; waking up at 4am; being told off for forgetting a hair net… The beauty of a fun ride is that it is zero pressure – you ride with whoever you want, you go at the speed you want, you jump if you want to, and you don’t if you don’t. The other wonderful thing is that it gives you the opportunity to explore a new route without…

CLOSE UP, LAURA Collett’s Tokyo Olympic team gold medal is unexpectedly large. The fact is, roughly 556g of gold plated pure silver (made up from recycled electronic devices donated by the Japanese public) produces a disc with an 85mm diameter that is a startling 12mm thick. Thank heavens for such solidity and presence, though, because the 32-year-old eventer still has trouble believing that she is its owner, that she stood on the apex of the podium (alongside Tom McEwen and Oliver Townend) to collect it and, after it had been placed around her neck, said to her similarly incredulous teammates: “Is this actually happening?” “It was surreal. It still hasn’t sunk in, partly because it’s been so manic since I’ve been home and I haven’t even watched it back yet.…

MEET THE TRAINER TOM MCEWEN was a part of Britain’s gold medal-winning Olympic team in Tokyo, where he also netted individual silver. In 2018, he helped Britain to team gold at the World Equestrian Games in Tryon and he won the Pau CCI5* in France in 2019 — all riding Toledo de Kerser. Tom is an ambassador for Jump 4 Joy. Visit tommcewen.co.uk and showjumps.com. MEET THE RIDERS KATIE WILLMAN rides dark bay eight-year-old gelding Tinx, who Katie mainly showjumps but would like to event. JASMINE UNDERWOOD has had her eight-year-old chestnut mare Indy for a year and the pair competes in eventing. CAMILLA SMITH and 16-year-old bay gelding Lucas event at one-star level. WHETHER YOU ARE jumping across country or a course of showjumps, ensuring your horse is straight…

MEET THE TRAINER CHARLOTTE SMITHWHITE is an under-25 grand prix rider based near Ledbury, Herefordshire. She offers onsite competition, training and sales livery, alongside freelance riding and coaching. MEET THE RIDER Hartpury University student ANYA STRILKOWSKI rides seven-year-old mare Some Like It Hot (‘Hot Hottie’), who has previously evented but who is still green in her flatwork. IN AN IDEAL world, horses would have three perfect paces — a ground-covering walk, expressive trot and uphill, three-beat canter — but that is rarely the case and usually one pace is weaker than the others. But all is not lost, as there are exercises that can help improve a horse’s movement by building their strength and balance. Hot Hottie is a mare whose canter is a little downhill and has a four-time…

MEET THE EXPERT LEONA BRAMALL MVB CertAVP(EM) MRCVS, an equine vet at Oakhill Veterinary Centre in Lancashire, holds an advanced veterinary practitioner certificate in equine medicine. Although passionate about all areas of equine medicine, her primary areas of interest lie in dermatology, gastrointestinal disease and foal medicine cases. oakhill-vets.com/equine MOST PEOPLE DO not think of horse’s hooves as part of the skin body system, but the hooves are in fact a continuation of a horse’s skin. Therefore, coronary band dystrophy (CBD) is considered to be a dermatological condition. The precise cause remains unknown and there are likely to be a number of factors at play in incidence of the disease, but an immune-mediated cause is speculated in genetically susceptible patients. This means that it is a type of condition or…

MEET THE EXPERT SARAH HUNTER MRCVS is an equine vet at Clevedale Vets in North Yorkshire. She graduated from the Royal Veterinary College, London, in 2012 and is currently working towards a certificate in Advanced Veterinary Practice. In her spare time, she enjoys exploring her local area through riding and running. BECAUSE HORSES ARE a prey animal, they have large eyes positioned on the side of the head, which increases the area that they can see so that they can look out for danger more easily. The eyes sit within a bony crater in the skull called the orbit, which contains muscles, nerves and blood vessels that are required for the eye to function. The eye has a tough outer layer called the sclera, the white part of the eye…

To enter, visit yourhorse.co.uk/win/xmas485 Worth over £1,500 TO KICK-START the festive season and get you in the mood for all things Christmas, we’ve teamed up with Zebra Products to offer one lucky reader the chance to win this amazing selection of prizes. Our winner will receive an amazing selection of goodies worth over £1,500, to update their own wardrobe as well as some fabulous new kit for their horse. This prize will make Christmas 2021 one to remember. Zebra Products is a distributor of premium equestrian brands and includes clothing, saddles and accessories, whips, bits, stirrups, boots for horse and rider, care products, supplements, rugs, helmets and much more. Our lucky winner will receive the following... ■ Lin grip Rl riding leggings These leggings from Cavallo, the brand for high-quality…