Dressage Rules

Horses- Horses that compete in the Olympics and WEG are typically warm-bloods.
Arena- Dressage is performed in a 20 by 60 meter arena or a 20 by 40 meter arena with letters all around (AKVESHCMRBPF) 20 by 40- (AKEHCMPF) and in the middle the letters are- DLXIG
Tests- Dressage tests are usually marked from 0 through to 10-

0- not executed   

1- very bad

2- bad

3- very bad      

4- insufficient

5- marginal

6- satisfactory

7- fairly good

8- good

9- very good

10- excellent                                             

Tack- Tack for dressage is always English tack and your score also depends on how good you look and how neat your clothes and tack are. For dressage, a dressage saddle, cavesson or hanoverian bridle and a saddle pad. Tack is usually black but can be dark brown.
Clothing- Professional dressage riders dress very formally for competitions. They wear cream or (preferred) white breeches, white gloves, mostly white shirts, top hat or helmet, possibly tie and tailcoat or black riding jacket. (Tailcoats are worn in advanced competitions)

Stay horsey,
~Livinia :)

Pilates for Horse-riding!

What you need-
Gym ball.
Dumbbells.

Exercise 1- On the gym ball, tilt pelvis back and forth.
Exercise 2- Move pelvis sideways.
Exercise 3- Hip circles- move your hips in a circular motion.


Exercise 4- lie on your tummy, your hands together under your chin. Lift your head and chest. Do the same exercise but with your hands by your side.
Exercise 5- Stand straight with your legs slightly apart, using dumbbells, slowly lift your arms until they are in front of you and in line with your shoulders.

Do these exercises a few times each, 10 minutes a day will improve your riding and balance!

Stay horsey,
~Livinia :)

Lundy

The horse breed- Lundy- originates from the UK, although it is not a native breed from the UK, it was bred by crossing Welsh, Connemara and Thoroughbred. The Lundy's head is rather large with big eyes. Their legs are sturdy and have a long body. They can come in all solid colours such as chestnut and brown and also can be dun. The breed is quite small, they are usually around 13.2 hh. They are generally nice, kind and willing horses. Since they come from colder climates, they are agile and are hardy.

Stay fluffy,

~Livinia :)

Peritonitis

So today, Pondie was diagnosed with Peritonitis, he is an old horse (but doesn't look like it) so it was rather worrying but so far he is fine. The symptoms can be similar to colic and it can be confused with it too. Some symptoms of Peritonitis are-
- Looking and kicking at abdomen.
- Loss of appetite.
- Depression.
- Diarrhea or constipation.
- Rolling

Pondie was rolling, lost his appetite and was looking at his belly, which are all common signs of colic but of course, the best thing to do is call your vet out and have them see what is wrong. Peritonitis can be fatal (to humans and animals) if it is not treated immediately or properly. There can be different causes for horses getting Peritonitis, some more severe then others.
Causes-
- Bacterial infection (eg- worms in the soil)
- Injuries (eg- piercing through abdomen)

Injuries can be more fatal because if a- for example- stick penetrates the skin and goes through the abdominal wall, the dirty stick will introduce more bacteria then would if a horse consumes worms.
Bacterial infection can make the horse sick if a horse consumes something like worms, they can make small holes in the stomach, breeding more bacteria, creating inflammation of the horses peritoneum and causing pain and discomfort for the horse and eventually can be fatal if the horse is left untreated for too long.

Stay horsey,
~Livinia :)  

The perfect bend

Bending your horses neck and head to the inside of the arena is vital in dressage. It may be difficult to achieve this, and it may need a professional horse trainer, but to help and get the results you want, I will share with you this 'must need' dressage training.

1- start to do a 20 meter circle on your (example) left rein. Some horses won't bend their necks is their not relaxed or warmed up so you will have to give them a forward trot and a canter on both reins.
2- To do a bend, you have to see the horses eye and muzzle, so you will need to pull back on the inside rein and keep the outside rein tight. If your horse pulls his head up, release your reins and try again. Remember to not get frustrated too soon, this takes practice.
3- If you are having trouble, do a tiny (and I mean tiny) circle in your 20 meter circle, your horse will bend their neck nicely, they can bend their neck to your knee is you wanted to do that. So try what you did in the small circle and do it on the big one.
4-Once your horse finally does the head bend for at least one circle, try it in trot, remember to keep the trot lively and big.

I hope this helped,
I didn't post the breed of the week last week because I had my cousin visiting and it was also Easter.

Stay horsey,
~Livinia :)

Brushes

Grooming your horse is the preliminary level of riding and caring for horses, you have to do it, whether if your making your horse look nice or neat, to get the dirt and mud off before tacking up and to check for injuries, it needs to be done. So here are the brushes you use from the first one you have to use to the last.

Step 1-  You will need a rubber curry comb and a hard brush. Start by moving the curry comb on the horses coat in circular motions to loosen mud and dirt, then brush it away using the hard brush.

Step 2- Brush the dirt off the horses legs with the hard brush.

Step 3- Using the soft body brush, brush over the whole body with it, removing any remaining dirt.

Step 4- With the mane comb (or the mane and tail brush) and a hard brush, untangle and brush the horses mane and tail.

Step 5- Pick out your horses feet using a hoof pick.

Step 6- (optional) you can brush your horses face using a goat hair (or soft bristled) face brush. If you have washed your horse, after soaping and rinsing your horse, use a sweat scraper.

Stay horsey,

~Livinia :)

Tiny Horseland Haul!

I went to Horseland today and I thought I might share what I got with you guys! I put some items in that I got last time because today I only got 2 (I told you it would be tiny).

#1- Cream joddies! I got another pair of jodhpurs because I needed a new pair for competitions, I didn't get white ones because I wasn't planning to and there are extremely expensive but for these, they originally costed $60 but I had a voucher for $20 off (for $50 or more spent) so they were $40.

#2- I got a new pair of gloves. I got them for only $20, they are black and this velvety kind of texture, I got cheap ones this time because I have more expensive, better quality ones at home but I needed a pair for normal riding and especially with what I'm doing with Pondie, he is quite strong so I needed gloves with a good grip.

What I got last time!-
#3- Blue Jodhpurs! Yep, another pair. I got them just for normal riding purposes.

#4- A new halter for Pond. A red one in fact. I thought red would look nice on a chestnut horse? Now I want a red saddle cloth to match that.

#5- Curry comb and sweat scraper- I always misplace those two tools! It's always the curry comb and sweat scraper.

That's all. Sorry that it was small but at least it was something :)

Stay horsey,
~Livinia :)