The idea of basic horse sense is to give people an understanding of the sort of things they
need to think about when they go out and buy a horse.
In this video we're aiming to try and give people an idea of how to go about getting
the right horse for them.
If people can have the right first horse, it can make all the difference for them and
they can learn to enjoy all of those wonderful experiences that horses can bring to our lives.
Horse ownership is not something that should be taken lightly.
It's a very serious commitment.
You have responsibility for a large animal and once you take ownership of that animal
you have to think about its feed and its health and its overall welfare and you have to really
understand that it is a major responsibility and you have to be prepared for that responsibility.
In order to be fully prepared for that you have to know everything that goes into owning
and caring for a horse.
One of the things that we've tried to do in this video is to teach people about all
of the aspects of horse care and horse ownership that they need to think about before they
go out and buy a horse.
Every horse is different, therefore we have to be prepared to be flexible in our training.
I don't think there is only one way that we can go in terms of training a horse.
As well as that every person is different and we have to find a way that works best
for us.
So we've got to find the way to link an individual person's personality with the horse's personality
and try and find a way that we can then work in harmony together.
There are three questions that you need to ask yourself before you ride a horse.
The first is have you had enough experience?
There's no point rushing out to buy your first horse if you've only sat on one once before.
At least six months of lessons on a well-schooled horse once a week would be the ideal.
This would give you plenty of opportunity to become familiar with what really is required
when you own a horse and also would give you enough skill to be able to buy a good quality
horse.
The second question is do you have enough time to care for the horse?
Horses are not just a one hour a week or even a one day a week pass time.
You need to make sure that you can visit your horse regularly, that you can check on its
paddock condition, its rug, make sure it's not caught up in a fence and all of these
things need to be taken into account.
If you haven't got enough time to care for it you really shouldn't buy a horse.
Third question is can you afford to own a horse?
Horses are expensive to keep.
It's got rugs, shoes, vet bills, feed and all of these things add up.
What you really need to work out is how much it's going to cost you to keep a horse in
the area where you live and then see if you can really afford to own it.
If you can't then you shouldn't be buying a horse.
Buying a horse is charged with emotion and it's easy to make a mistake and to get it
wrong.
There's really no such thing as a perfect horse, only one that fits your needs and your
abilities.
We've laid out for you here a six step plan which will help you take some of the emotion
out of buying the horse and should ensure that you make the correct choice.
The first step in this plan is to have a realistic idea about what your requirements are.
You should know what you want to do, whether you want to ride on the trail or maybe do
a bit of jumping or do some dressage.
If it's an all rounder that you want which would be ideal for your first horse then that's
fine but you should have some idea of what your basic requirements are.
Also be realistic about your abilities.
There's no point going out and looking at a $10,000 show jumper if you've only been
riding for six months.
It's important when you start to go and look at your horses for buying that you take an
expert with you.
It's going to cost you a bit more up front to take the expert with you but a knowledgeable
person will be able to point out things that you may not see at first glance.
The person going with you should be deliberately critical of all of the good and bad points
about the horse because you really want to have an honest appraisal of that horse and
of whether it's going to suit you.
It's a good idea to have the owner ride the horse first to make sure that the horse is
safe and then also to give them a chance to show off what the horse is capable of.
Then you need to ride the horse yourself with your expert watching and checking for strengths
and weaknesses.
You should never buy a horse on the first visit.
People selling horses can do all sorts of things to make them quiet for that first visit.
They might have ridden it for four hours before you got there or worked it very hard the day
before.
So therefore it's very important to make sure that you return to the horse and have a look
at it at least two or three times.
An unannounced visit can be a good idea to really see if the horse's temperament is exactly
as it was on that first day.
After you've been and visited the horse several times and had a couple of rides on it and
you caught it in the paddock and you've decided that yes this is the horse for me and the
one thing that you must do is to have a vet check.
A vet check is not a guarantee that your horse will be here perfect for the next ten years
but the vet will be able to give you a good idea of the strengths and weaknesses of your
horse and it will really help to make sure that you make the right purchase.
David why should people have a vet check when they're buying a new horse?
Vet checks are there to make sure that you're buying a nice happy healthy horse and also
make sure that the horse isn't carrying any injuries that may be a problem at the time
or most importantly that may become a problem in the near future.
What is your vet going to be able to tell you that your expert or your knowledgeable
horse person can't?
I think it's important to remember that your vet is the central person in the healthcare
of your horse and that starts when you actually buy the horse or just prior to buying the
horse.
The vet's experience and education will enable them to examine the horse in much greater
detail so that any subtle problems will be found by the vet where your experienced horse
person may be able to have a general idea but will not be able to go into the same sort
of detail that a vet can.
It's a great idea to try and have a one or two week trial with the horse that you're
looking at.
Understandably some owners aren't very keen to let their horses leave the property but
if you can work out arrangements with them then it really gives you a good chance to
assess the horse.
You can see what the horse is like on the road, you can test it out in traffic and even
see what it's like with motorbikes which can be particularly frightening for some horses.
A trial will also give you the chance to make a full assessment of the horse's temperament
to see how well it settles into a new environment.
You can ride it bareback, you can pop it over some jumps and you can really see if it is
a horse that's suitable for you.
One thing that you must remember is that once you take a horse on trial it becomes your
full responsibility so if anything happens you will have to pay the full price for it.
The final thing is to be clear about the conditions of sale and you really should have everything
down in writing.
Ownership papers should be transferred across to you and you need to make sure that everything
is clear and in place so that there will be no problems about the ownership of your horse
or the price that you are going to pay.
Temperament temperament temperament.
This is probably the most important thing you have to look for when you are buying your
first horse.
What you want to see in your first horse is an animal that is very relaxed around people,
it doesn't stomp and pour at the ground and get impatient when it is tied up.
It should be a horse that is comfortable out in company with other horses that doesn't
kick out at all, doesn't swish its tail around too much, a horse that is easy to catch in
the paddock and a horse that just generally gives off the signs of being relaxed and happy.
Size of your horse is very important, you certainly want one that matches up with your
own physical attributes.
There is no point if you are six foot tall getting a horse that is just 13 hands high
and you certainly don't want to get a horse to grow into.
Plenty of people have made that mistake before.
So you need to match yourself up with a horse that is really the right size for your physical
needs.
A hand is a unit of measurement which is applied to horses.
A hand is four inches or about 10 centimetres.
When we are measuring the horse, the horse should be on level ground and we measure it
from the last hair on the top of the wither there and go straight down to the ground from
there.
This horse is about 16.1 hands high.
Your first horse should probably be a good all rounder who can give you the chance to
sort out what particular aspects of horse riding you want to pursue.
You may have already decided however that trail riding is your main area of interest.
In this case you should make sure that you look at horses that are experienced in this
area.
In other words, the horse should be suitable for the purpose that you want it.
If you are keen to go to pony club or adult riding club then make sure that you are looking
at horses or ponies which have had lots of experience in this field.
Choosing the horse that is suitable for the purpose you have in mind will help to make
your riding a more enjoyable experience.
Confirmation refers to the size and the shape and the general look of the horse, the structure
of the horse.
Now, for your first horse if you are looking at a general all rounder it can have some
conformational problems.
It might be a little bit weak in the hind quarters or it might have a neck that is set
a little bit low.
These things don't necessarily matter.
You can still have a perfectly good horse that has one or two conformational flaws.
The more advanced you go in your riding the more perfect you want that conformation to
be.
For the advanced show jumper your horse needs to be pretty much spot on in the legs otherwise
you are going to have problems.
But your vet will be able to advise you on any conformational problems which could affect
your first horse.
This is an example of a horse that has pretty good conformation.
Now when you go to look at a horse to buy it the first thing you do is just step back
a little bit and have a look at the overall picture.
Does it create a nice image?
Is the neck in right proportion for the rest of the body?
And with this horse you would have to say yes it looks pretty good.
Then you move in and you have a look at things a little more closer.
The first thing we notice about this horse is his eye.
He's got a lovely soft gentle eye.
He's got a nice face and the ears are relaxed and alert.
So it's a nice start.
It looks like an intelligent gentle horse.
Coming back from that then we're looking at a neck, a good neck with a good length of
rain.
The length of rain being the rain that we've got from our hands coming down to here.
This neck is in nice proportion here.
If the neck is too short it can create some problems with the horse's balance.
The neck is set into a nice sloping wither.
And this is a good wither.
It's quite long and it slopes well and this enables us to have a good angle through the
shoulder.
If the wither is too short the shoulder can be a bit straight and that can often result
in restricted movement for the horse.
A horse with a slightly shorter stride.
Moving back along the top of the horse here he's got a good top line.
The top line is the weight and the muscle that we have on the top of the back.
You can see there's nothing of his spine showing up there and he's got a good top line and
a nice strong back along there.
The back comes into a good strong well rounded rump.
Perhaps slightly flat but it's a good strong rump overall.
If we have a look at the rear end of the horse here we can see that the point of the rump
here comes down in a straight line to the hock and then that follows the leg down to
the ground.
And that's a good well set on back end.
Coming back to the shoulder and going down the leg.
This horse has good bone.
What we mean by that is he's got a good strong lower leg there.
Good strong leg with good bone.
And this comes down to a pastin which is on a nice angle.
It's not too slopey which can cause some problems and it's not too straight which can result
in horses jarring up a little bit.
It's a good angle.
And from that it comes onto four well set hooves which are all quite even in their shape.
And this is very important.
There's nothing to suggest that this horse is pigeon toed or has one hoof that's a little
bit different in its shape from the other.
So overall this horse creates a nice picture.
He's well proportioned.
He's got a lovely eye and he's got good strength through his back and through his legs.
One of the important things to look at when you're buying your first horse is its age.
You really don't want a young horse that's a horse under four as your first horse.
And you really don't want anything over 20 because it may well only have a few months
left in it or it may already have problems that can stop you riding it.
So the ideal first horse would be somewhere in the range of 8 to 18.
The older experienced horse may have been there and done that and may well be suitable
for you.
But remember if you're getting an older horse there should be some compensation in price.
The older the horse gets the cheaper the price should become for you.
Telling a horse's age from its teeth is a really tricky business and not particularly
reliable.
Even someone who is a real expert in it is going to be struggling to give you the exact
age after the horse reaches 10.
Your vet will be able to give you some idea of the horse's age.
The horse may have a brand on it which can help with that as well.
And obviously if the horse has papers which can be confirmed as being the real ones then
that's the best way of confirming what the age is.
The breed societies in different countries have different ways of branding their horses.
This is an Australian thoroughbred and the way of reading the brands for this are the
R and the F on the left shoulder with the line underneath it.
That tells us which stud this horse was bred at.
Then on the other shoulder, on the right shoulder with this horse we have a 41 over an 8.
This means he was the 41st horse born at the stud on the other side in the 8th year of
the decade.
Now it's 2001 so this horse could be either 3 or 13.
And just by looking at him we can tell he's not 3 and we can tell that he's 13.
Stallions, mares or geldings, what are we going to buy for our first horse?
Well you can rule out stallions straight away.
They can be temperamental, difficult to handle in company and really not at all suitable
for the first horse buyer.
The experienced horsemen should be dealing with stallions.
So it comes down to a question of mares or geldings.
This is not a male female question.
You must remember that geldings are not in tyre, they've been castrated.
So therefore they may be a little bit more consistent in their behaviour.
However mares can have that little bit of extra spark which can enable you to build
a truly wonderful relationship with your horse.
So if it comes down to a question of mares or geldings I would always say that you judge
it on the individual horse.
What you said in your mind about which one you'd like, go and visit the horse and see
if it appears suitable for you.
It doesn't matter how long you've been working with horses, it's always a thrill to get a
new horse onto the property.
It's always exciting when they come off the float.
But then once you get over that excitement you've got to settle into the daily routine
of looking after and caring for your horse.
You need to do a daily check of your horse to make sure that everything is okay.
And there are a few key things you can look for.
First of all the general alertness of the horse needs to be checked out.
Does your horse look healthy?
Does he look happy?
Does he have a bright expression in his eye?
Is he energetic in his ways running around the paddock?
After that you need to check the coat of the horse.
Does the coat have good oil in it?
Does it feel nice and soft?
Is it smooth?
If it's getting a bit dry and maybe a bit of straw, like straw, you might need to look
at what your horse is eating or you may need to worm your horse as well.
After you've looked at that you need to think about whether your horse is eating properly.
Is he eating all the feed you've given him?
If he's just out in the paddock then it can be a little bit harder but you can check the
overall weight of the horse.
The horse that's in a healthy condition should have a good coverage of weight over the ribs.
You shouldn't see the ribs there at all.
It should have a nice top line with plenty of weight across the top there.
It should come back to a well-rounded, well-filled out rump.
There should be no sign of the poverty line which is the line which can appear down here
at the back of the horse when the horse is a little bit underweight.
When you check your horse each day you should check the horse's legs and feet because that's
often where problems can occur particularly if the horse is in a group shared paddock.
The horse can get kicked off from the back legs there or there may be some other problems
in the hoof.
You've got to check to make sure there's no stones or nothing else caught under there.
A really good thorough check of the legs and feet every day can prevent further problems
from occurring.
Remember, if you do find anything that's not quite right with your horse, your vet is your
expert and is the first person that you should consult.
Having a good vet available to you is a really important part of successful horse ownership.
Remember vets are experts in their field and when you start out with horses you need to
learn as much as you can from the vet.
You may find that further down the track you can deal with some of the small problems yourself
but you'll never get enough knowledge to be able to do away with the vet completely.
The difficulty with owning horses is that they can't speak.
They can't tell us what the problems are.
So you really do need the expert knowledge of the vet to be able to find out exactly
what it is that's bothering your horse.
There are a number of things that you need to do regularly in order to maintain your
horse's good health.
These include yearly visit from the vet or the dentist to do the horse's teeth, setting
up a really good deworming program for your horse and having a regular set of inoculations
for your horse.
Horses enjoy a visit from the dentist about as much as we enjoy going to the dentist but
it is an essential part of good horse care.
Some signs that you might look for to see if your horse is having problems with its
teeth are that it could be dropping a lot of feed out of its mouth when it's eating
or it could be throwing its head a little bit when you put the bit on and when you go
for a ride.
These can both be indicators of some problems in the horse's mouth.
Horses' teeth are constantly growing unlike ours and as the teeth grow down they wear
them down with their normal eating pattern and this results in very sharp edges.
Those sharp edges usually need to be filed down about once a year.
Usually have a few rasps for different jobs.
It's amazing most horses do tend to cope with this quite well however a lot of horses get
pretty threatened by it and end up playing up and in those cases sometimes they have
to be sedated.
So David, why do we need to deworm our horses and what's the best way to go about it?
We worm our horses because we keep them in a very confined area as compared to the wild.
Horses pick up worms from their manure and of course they graze in the vicinity of their
manure and in the wild of course that manure is spread over a much greater area compared
to a small confined paddock.
Worms cause problems such as diarrhoea, colic and also just a failure to put on weight and
these are very common because unfortunately people do get their deworming programs very
wrong.
The best worm program is through your vet who is your number one health professional
when it comes to looking after your horse.
So advice from him or her with respect to brand of wormers and also timing throughout
the year.
Some products will only last about six to eight weeks, other products do last up to
four months so depending on the program an average would be about four to six times a
year.
What inoculations do we need for our horses in Australia?
We inoculate or vaccinate against two major diseases, tetanus and strangles.
Tetanus is a disease that we all hear about and of course it's caused by bacteria, Clostridium
tetanus which can enter the body through any wounds or abscesses and it's extremely important
that horses do get vaccinated against this because the actual bacteria that causes tetanus
loves horse manure so not only should your horse be vaccinated against tetanus every
five years but so should the people who are handling horses.
For humans it's every ten years.
Strangles is a very severe infection of the upper respiratory tract.
In older horses we're looking primarily at symptoms of a very very bad cold, high fever,
lethargy off their feed and they usually recover fairly uneventfully within one to two weeks.
In younger horses though it can be fatal and the reason it can be fatal and the reason
why it's got the name strangles is because this bacterial infection results in very large
swelling of the glands under their throat which if they become so swollen then it can
block their airway.
The strangles vaccine is once a year so that's an annual shot which we try and time with
something that occurs annually such as having their teeth done.
Horse owners can actually vaccinate their own horses however the program should be under
the strict guidance of your vet.
There's a lot of things that you need to think about in the care of your horse and it's a
really good idea to set yourself up with a horse diary and you can keep a list of when
things were done and when they need to be done again.
There are a number of key aspects to bear in mind when you're looking for somewhere
to keep your horse, if you're looking for a paddock then you need to ensure that it
has good pasture.
It should be free of weeds and there should be no holes, rabbit holes or wombat holes
in Australia are particularly dangerous.
The paddock should also have safe fencing, post and rail fencing is ideal and electric
fencing will make it really safe.
Electric fencing with wire is ok but you should steer clear of any barbed wire.
Barbed wire can be particularly dangerous and cause nasty injuries for horses.
The paddock should also have plenty of shelter.
That shelter can be provided by good trees or if there's no trees around then it should
have a nice wooden shelter which can give the horse respite from the sun and from the
stormy weather.
The paddock should also have a good supply of fresh water.
This can be provided by a trough with taps running into it or by fresh creek water or
by a pond or a dam.
Dam water can get a bit stagnant and can be a little bit tricky so a spring fed dam is
the ideal for this situation.
You must remember that young horses are made up of 80% water.
This drops to 50 to 60% as they get older and it's essential that they have a good
regular supply of water.
You need to decide whether you want to put your horse into a shared paddock or a private
paddock.
A shared paddock can be great for the horse, it's in the herd environment which is its
natural environment.
There are some dangers of course, your horse could be kicked or it may be at the bottom
of the pecking or in the paddock and not be that happy.
Putting your horse in a private paddock can be a problem as well in that horses do need
that interaction with other animals.
If you go for a private paddock you need to be sure that you take your horse out of its
paddock every day and groom it and exercise it and ensure that it has a healthy happy
state of mind.
There's nothing better than that lovely smell of warm horses on a cold winter's morning
in the stable.
And stabling in a cold environment can be a particularly good way to keep your horse
healthy and happy.
Your stables need to be large enough, they should be at least 12 foot by 12 foot, they
must have no sharp edges and it's really important that they have a good air flow through them.
Plenty of horses get respiratory problems from damp, musty stables.
You have a choice of bedding with your stables.
Sawdust and straw are the ones most commonly used and they both provide good effective
bedding which will ensure that your horses don't hurt themselves and that they stay warm.
But remember that stables are a lot of work, you have to clean them out twice a day, you
have to check the water and your horses need to be groomed as well to make sure that their
circulation stays sound.
Horses also shouldn't spend too much time in the stables.
Problems such as wind sucking and cribbing and chewing can all be caused by horses which
have become bored through spending too much time in their stables and not enough time
out in the natural environment.
A healthy horse needs healthy food and getting the feed program right for your horse is very
important.
Horses are highly individual animals and have separate requirements.
You will need to find a feed regime which suits your horse, its temperament and working
patterns.
There are five simple rules which can help you develop a good feed program for your horse.
One, feed more bulk than concentrate.
The bulk feeds or forage as they are sometimes called are grass, hay and chaff and horses
need plenty of these to keep their digestive systems functioning.
Concentrate feeds such as grain and pellets are essential for providing protein.
If your horse is needing more energy then it is the concentrated feeds that you would
increase.
But you must always feed more bulk than concentrate.
The second rule is to feed your horse little and often.
Horses have small stomachs and cannot digest large quantities of feed in one go.
They are grazing animals and they are effectively meant to be eating 24 hours a day.
There's no point giving your horse a big bucket of feed in the evening.
You should try and break that up into two or three smaller feeds fed throughout the
day.
The third rule is to feed according to work.
The more work your horse is doing the more energy it is going to need and the more concentrate
you will need to feed it.
You should be careful however to separate your horse's feeding routine from its work
routine.
Don't work the horse just after it's been fed and don't feed the horse just after it's
been worked.
The fourth rule is to change feed gradually.
Horses are very susceptible to any changes in their feed patterns or in the feed that
you are giving them.
You should always change their feed slowly over the period of a week.
The fifth rule of feeding is to always have fresh water available.
An adult horse's body weight is made up to 50 to 60 percent of water and water loss can
cause illness and in a severe case even death.
The water requirements of any horse will depend on its age, the type of feed it's eating and
the amount of exercise it is taking.
It's essential that you always have fresh water available for your horses.
If you get into a good routine with your grooming most horses will really enjoy it.
Even stabled horses need to be groomed regularly because this helps to keep the circulation
flowing for them.
Your horse should have its own grooming kit.
This will help prevent the spread of any skin problems or infections from horse to horse.
A basic kit consists of a dandy brush with long stiff bristles to remove dirt and mud
from the coat.
A body brush with short soft bristles to remove the very fine dirt and grease.
A metal curry comb for cleaning your brushes.
A rubber curry comb for removing heavier bits of dirt from the horse.
A plastic or mane comb or a hair brush to work on the mane.
A sponge for wiping around the horse's eyes, muzzle and ears.
And a hoof pick and hoof oil or grease for proper care of the hoof.
Washing your horse from time to time is a good idea and there are a couple of points
to remember about this.
Make sure that you use a suitable horse shampoo and that the shampoo gets completely washed
out of the horse's coat.
Otherwise some skin problems may occur.
Also you need to allow enough time for your horse to dry so you wouldn't want to wash
your horse too late in the afternoon.
Grooming your horse is not just about keeping it clean, it's about making sure your horse
is healthy.
Particularly if your horse is stabled or rugged, you need to make sure that you groom your
horse on a daily basis in order to help with its circulation.
A good grooming, starting at the front and going all the way to the back, will really
make sure, it's like a massage for the horse, and it will really make sure that the horse's
coat and skin are in good condition.
A few tips about grooming.
When you groom, you start with the stiff bristle brushes and you move through to the softer
ones.
You start at the front of the horse and you move your way back and you always try and
follow the line of the horse's hair.
It's pretty easy to see the way that that hair grows out and you follow that line.
There may be some times when you need to go against it a little bit to get some particularly
difficult bits of mud off or you may need to use your hands a little bit to get some
mud off there, some particularly difficult bits of mud.
There are a few safety tips when you're grooming your horse.
Always stay close to the horse.
You don't want to do it at arm's length and when you move around the back of the horse,
stay close and talk to the horse and let them know that you're coming around.
As you groom your horse, you should always make sure that you don't kneel down, that
you're in a position where you can move quickly if the horse gets a fright.
So don't go down on your knees and in particular, never put your hand on the ground.
If you put your hand on the ground, the horse gets a fright and jumps sideways, you could
really do yourself a serious injury.
Enjoy your grooming time with your horse.
It should take between half an hour and an hour to groom your horse properly and most
horses have one or two things that they really enjoy.
Like this horse, he loves having just inside his wither there, Screts, just around the
side of his wither.
It really gives him a lot of pleasure.
He enjoys that and it's something we try and do regularly to help keep him happy and help
him really enjoy that process.
One final safety tip, when you're going around to the other side of the horse, always go
around the front under the neck or around the back, staying close to the horse, but
never go under the stomach of the horse.
It's not safe and you should never do that.
When you go to clean out the horse's front hooves, you stand by the horse's shoulder
facing backwards, run your hand down the leg and then just gently put your weight into
the horse and pick the leg up.
When you go to clean the foot out with your hoof pick underneath the hoof there, you start
at the heel and you work your way back with the hoof pick.
This will make sure it doesn't hurt the horse at all.
Then once you've got the worst of that out, give it a brush off.
There you've got a pretty clean hoof with the horse ready to start work.
Picking up the horse's back leg, you again are facing backwards and again staying very
close to the horse.
You run your hand down the inside of the horse's leg, this keeps it nice and safe and then
just pick it up and gently ease the foot back and then rest it gently on the inside of your
leg like that.
You go through the same process of cleaning it out from the heel to the toe.
Finding a good farrier is an important part of horse ownership.
There is an old saying, no hoof, no horse.
This recognises the importance of the hoof if we are to have a sound horse.
The horse should be shot every six to eight weeks and a good farrier will look at your
horse's overall confirmation to see if there is any corrective work which might need to
be done.
Farriers have a variety of tools that they use and it normally takes about 45 minutes
to shoe a horse.
Your horse could be either hot shot or cold shot.
Hot shoeing gives a neater fit but cold shoeing can be very effective as well.
There are different types of shoes for different horses.
A heavier, bigger horse will have a thicker shoe and there are many different types of
corrective shoes which can be put on for different problems.
You can even get glue on shoes for horses with particularly brittle walls on their hooves.
A necessary part of good horse care is the daily maintenance of your horse's hooves.
You should pick out underneath the hooves making sure that there are no stones caught
in there and then oil the wall and the sole of the hoof.
Let's follow the farrier's procedure as he shoes the horse.
The nail ends or clenches are cut off and the shoe is gently eased from the hoof.
The surplus growth on the hoof wall is removed with hoof cutters.
The hoof is cleaned and trimmed with the curved drawing knife.
This has its point turned over for safety.
Then the surface of the foot is made level by rasping the underside.
The farrier then shapes the shoe and places it on the hoof.
The nails are then driven home while the hoof is held between the farrier's knees.
The nail ends are rung off in the hammer claw and turned to form clenches.
The rim of the foot is tidied with a rasp and the farrier also rasps just under the
clenches so as to be able to hammer them over flat.
In the finished foot the nails are driven home flush with the shoe, the toe clip is
central and the clenches follow the line of the coronet band.
Transporting a horse is one of the most unnatural things we expect of our equine friends.
We're asking a claustrophobic animal to walk onto a rattly wooden box and to stand quietly.
It's quite remarkable that most of them do it so well.
However, a lot of horses do have problems and you certainly don't want to buy a problem
traveller with your first horse.
Your first horse should be good to load and should travel quietly and you want to test
this out before you buy it.
You should establish a good routine when preparing your horse for travel.
First, unless it is very cold, remove any heavy rugs that your horse may have on as
it will simply sweat too much.
Horses do sweat a lot when they're travelling.
Then put on travel boots to help protect the legs.
There are many different sorts of boots but for a smaller horse or pony the type of boots
that we show here will do the job well.
Next you should put on a tail wrap or a tail bandage and this will help protect the horse
from any damage caused by rubbing the tail.
Make sure that you have a good halter and lead rope on.
When you're ready to load the horse face it up to the float and try to avoid letting the
horse look away.
It should stay focused on the float and not see any other options.
Ask the horse to walk forward, always remembering to release the pressure on the rope and the
halter as the horse walks with you.
This is its reward.
This should be done whenever you're leading the horse.
Make sure that you don't stand in front of the horse.
The horse needs to see where it's going to walk.
If it can't see past you into the float it's a bit unreasonable to expect it to go on there.
Once the horse is on don't tie it up until the breaching doors or the ramp or the chain
are locked in place.
This is very important as the horse could really do themselves some damage if they tried
to pull back.
When unloading your horse always untie it before lowering the tailgate or undoing the
chain or opening the breaching doors.
There are a number of expert methods for teaching difficult horses to load and if you're having
trouble you should seek some expert help.
Remember your first horse should be a good traveller.
Horses are flight animals, humans are predators.
So straight away there is a conflict.
To overcome this we must earn the trust and respect of the horse.
This has to be done by ensuring that the horse learns not to think of us as the predator
or the threat.
And we can only do this if at all times we remain calm.
The moment we cross the border from calmness to anger the horse's flight instinct will
heighten and at the very least the horse will be less receptive to what we are asking it
to do.
We can never achieve harmony with a horse if we cross from calmness to anger.
At times you will need to be assertive but it should be calm assertiveness not anger
or frustration.
Calmness is not something that comes easily to everyone.
It's a skill and we need to develop it.
We need to train ourselves to remain calm in all situations so that we are always sending
off relaxed harmonious energy to the horse.
Having established that we are going to be calm next we need to ensure that our instructions
are always clear and that means clear to the horse not the trainer.
You must learn to think from the perspective of the horse and in this way you will ensure
that your instructions are always clear to the horse.
Many people make the mistake of thinking they are asking the horse to do something in a
clear way when the reality is that the horse has no idea whatsoever.
This is always most obvious with young horses.
For instance the young horse doesn't know the pressure with the leg on the side means
to go forward.
We have to find a way to make that instruction clear and that is done by rewarding the horse
each time it responds.
The reward in the case of the young horse we are asking to go forward is to lighten
the leg the moment that it shifts its energy.
Then the horse understands I go forward the leg lightens up it is clear to the horse and
in that way we can train the horse.
Horses learn behaviour by habit and by conditioning therefore in order to train a horse we need
to be absolutely consistent.
If the instructions are clear to the horse and then are consistently applied in a calm
way the horse will learn very quickly.
The horse has four paces the walk, trot, the canter and the gallop.
Now in each of these paces they move slightly faster the walk being the slowest and the
gallop obviously being the fastest but they also move their legs in a different sequence
in each of these paces.
The walk is a four beat pace the sequence of footfalls in the walk is the off hind then
the off four then the near hind and then the near four.
In the walk the horse should be at least tracking up that is that the hind hoof should land
into the footprint made by the front hoof.
The trot has two beats with a moment of suspension the sequence of footfalls is the off hind
and the near four together and the off four and the near hind together as they shift from
one to the other there is a moment when all four legs are off the ground.
The canter has three beats with a moment of suspension the sequence on the right rein
is the near hind then the off hind and the near four together then the off four and then
a moment when all four legs are off the ground.
The gallop is the fastest of the paces and has four beats with a moment of suspension
the sequence of footfalls for a horse galloping on the left rein is off hind, near hind then
off four followed by the near four and a moment when all four hooves are off the ground.
The gallop is ridden with the rider standing in the stirrups as with the canter the sequence
of footfalls changes depending on which rein the horse is travelling.
Establishing a good riding position takes a lot of time, a lot of practice and generally
the help of a good instructor but there are a few points that you can think about every
time you get on the horse to try and improve your position.
The first of these is you should always be trying to establish a straight line from your
shoulder through your hip and down to your heel.
This will ensure that your centre of balance stays nicely with the horse's centre of balance.
Your weight should be centred in your seat bones and you should be sitting in the deepest
part of the saddle.
Your elbow should be nice and relaxed by your side that should almost feel a little bit
heavy and then there should be a nice line when the horse is going well from your elbow
to the wrist and down to the horse's mouth.
Your knee should be resting on the saddle not gripping but just resting on the saddle
there and your lower leg should be wrapped nicely around the horse down to a nice deep
heel which should be below your toe and the stirrup should be nicely centred across the
ball of your foot.
If you can get all these things in place you're going to be nice and centred and balanced.
If we took the horse away from underneath you, you should land in a balanced position
like that.
You shouldn't fall over forward or fall backwards and establishing this is really important to
being able to use your aids correctly to get the horse to work well for you.
Maintaining a good position will help you to use your aids correctly and to get good
responses from your horse.
The basic aids that we use to give instructions to the horse are reins and hands, legs, seat
and back, weight and voice.
The hands are the most often misused aid and must always be remembered that they are there
to support the other aids not to dominate them.
They are used to help control the direction and to assist with the hold.
Try to imagine when you hold the reins that you have a pair of birds in your hand.
You have to hold them so that the birds don't escape but not so tightly that you squash
them.
The rider's legs are of vital importance and are used to control the horse's legs to assist
with direction and to provide power or impulsion.
If you want more power from the horse you will need to use more leg.
The seat and back are used to help improve the forward drive or impulsion.
It is also through the seat and lower back that we learn to absorb the movement of the
horse.
Weight is a very important aid.
When balanced correctly and in a good position, subtle changes in weight will help steer and
balance the horse.
Correct positioning of the head and in particular looking ahead in the direction you want to
go is an important part of using your weight correctly.
The voice can be a useful aid in calming the horse and at times the rider.
You are not allowed to use the voice when riding a dressage test but for basic training,
rewarding a horse and particularly when starting a young horse the voice can be very useful.
Of course the horse cannot understand what words are said.
It is the tone of the voice which is important.
When you are riding well all of the aids will be used independently and will collectively
help each other.
One thing to remember when you are riding is to breathe.
Many people concentrate hard and don't breathe in a relaxed way.
Good relaxed breathing will really help you to use your aids correctly.
Finding a good instructor can make a big difference to your riding.
With the right instructor you can really progress quite quickly and move on.
You don't need an Olympic level rider to teach you when you are starting out but there
are certain qualities which a good instructor should have.
A good instructor should be encouraging and constructive, never rude and abusive.
You should come away from a lesson feeling like you have learned something and that you
know what you are working towards.
You should feel that you are improving.
If you think back after six months and you feel you haven't progressed then there is
probably something wrong.
The general atmosphere of any good riding establishment should be calm and relaxed and
friendly.
A good instructor should also generally be able to demonstrate what it is that they have
asked you to do on the horse.
Ideally your instructor should be qualified.
In Australia that would be an EFA National Coaching Accreditation Scheme qualification.
Although of course there are many good instructors who don't have formal qualifications.
Above all else a good instructor, an instructor who is right for you, will make your lessons
and your riding enjoyable.
You may need to change instructors and move on as you improve your riding.
There shouldn't be a problem with this.
Most good instructors will recognise that it is a good thing to learn from different
people.
So let's hear what Amanda Ross has to say about what she looks for in a good instructor.
I'd like to see somebody that is learning themselves.
Someone that is either out there competing or has done well.
Someone that is interested in watching what is going on at the time, watching or learning
from another person so that all the new information keeps filtering in through your instructor.
Someone that understands learning, understands that it can be difficult the first time you
try something and if the horse doesn't go well it can be quite frustrating.
But someone that also is very direct that don't kid you, that don't say you're going
really well when you're bouncing all over the place and you think I don't think I am.
So someone that is very direct, very straight forward, preferably someone that can get on
your horse and help you improve it, help you ride it and get it going for you and on somebody
that's up at the times.
Pony Club provides great opportunities for young people to continue their riding development.
At Pony Club you can make great friendships and you'll receive instructions in all the
different disciplines including dressage, venting, show jumping, games.
You'll be able to go out and do musical rides, competing teams events and individual events.
It's a great chance to get out there, mix with other horse people and really enjoy your
time with your horse.
Pony Club gives you the opportunity to try everything.
Try any discipline you like, you can vent, you can show jump, you can show, you can camp
jump, you can do anything like that and then whichever one you tend to migrate to is obviously
what you're going to be good at.
I think kids do need to hoon, they have to play those games and learn self preservation
and just balance.
The games I think kids that miss out on playing all those games miss out on a lot.
I think you learn a lot about horses doing all those things, just going for rides and
the children playing games.
I think they have to do that.
Pony Club is open to people between the ages of 5 and 21 and there's usually a monthly
rally at which riders are grouped according to their experience.
The rally will normally consist of 2 to 3 hours riding plus a theory session and you
do need to try to have your horse reasonably fit to be able to cope with the long day.
Pony Club shouldn't be seen as a replacement for regular instruction but it can be an important
part of your horse skills development.
3 Olympic equestrian disciplines.
These are dressage, show jumping and eventing.
These are the only events in the Olympics where men and women compete against each other.
Dressage competitions have been traditionally dominated by European countries, particularly
Germany.
It is a rapidly growing sport and competitions start at beginner's level and move up.
Dressage competitions are held in 20 metre by 40 metre arenas for some lower level tests
and 20 metre by 60 metre arenas for all other tests.
All arenas use a conventional lettering system to indicate where movement should begin and
finish but the origins of this lettering system are obscure.
A dressage test is marked by up to 5 judges with the horse and rider being awarded a mark
out of 10 for each movement or series of movements.
Most horse breeds can perform well at the lower levels but it takes a special horse
to cope with the years of training and the demands of the higher levels of dressage.
Let's ask Rebecca Fenner what it takes to succeed at dressage.
Yeah, discipline, dedication and determination.
You're dealing with a living thing in a brain of its own so you basically have to be dedicated
to just keep plugging away.
Day after day you're going to have highs and lows.
You've got to have a certain fitness level.
It depends if you want to go as far as you can.
You really do have to be fit, you have to be dedicated and determined I think really.
So what about the horse?
What qualities should a good dressage horse have?
Movement is very important of course for dressage.
They've got to be flashy moving, loose, supple, extravagant, somewhat catches the judge's
eye.
Temperament, they've got to have a good brain for trainability because you can have the
best moving horse but he never makes it because mentally he can't cope.
Confirmation is important also because they've got to be able to physically do the high movements.
When you get up the grades they've got to be able to compress, contract, extend, collect,
engage and if you aren't built in the right way in the first place then you probably can't
do it.
Cantering down to a big jump provides one of the great thrills of riding and although
not as old as dressage, show jumping is a spectacular and exciting sport.
There are many different types of competitions but in simple terms the objective is to get
around a set course without knocking any poles down or without the horse stopping at any
jumps.
Show jumping horses come in many different breeds but it takes a special horse to make
it to international level competition where the height of jumps is over 150 centimetres.
Alison Rowland competed at the World Cup finals, let's get her thoughts on show jumping.
Self discipline is the main thing, you definitely need a hell of a lot of that, good work ethics
and I just think determination.
If you're looking for a horse, you're out there looking for a young horse to go on as
a show jumper, what are the qualities in that horse that you'd like for them?
Well firstly I think they have to have a sound confirmation, sound confirmation horses usually
don't break down so easily but then for show jumping they need to be athletic, very careful,
I go for carefulness first and then scope and I mean they have to be brave as well but
you can teach them to be brave.
Careful means really, well they really watch the rails and really want to stay away from
the fences, you know they really, like this one's really sharp in front and she's pretty
good behind too but it's wanting to jump the fence, not touch those rails.
Scope is well the ability to jump big tracks, big size fences and be able to cover the ground
between the fences.
What about in terms of temperament for the horse?
I don't mind the difficult ones because I find the difficult ones are usually the best
ones but you know starting off I think they need to have something with a pretty good
temperament.
Eventing was originally designed to test the training, courage and stamina of military
horses and their riders.
The sport evolved in the 20th century to test the dressage, cross country and show jumping
skills of the horse and rider combinations as well as the stamina and determination.
Eventing is a demanding sport for both horse and rider and thoroughbreds are the chosen
mount for most top competitors because of their speed and endurance.
These horses must be super fit but still capable of being controlled in a dressage test.
Amanda Ross is one of Australia's leading eventing riders and competed at the Sydney
2000 Olympics.
Amanda what do you look for in a good eventing horse?
They have to be of a certain type but if you're looking at the lower levels the temperament
is the most important thing.
I think you can have the most beautiful type of horse that has the best jumping technique
and moves like a ballerina but it can be a complete fruitcake.
So looking for the ideal temperament that is quiet, is very trainable, preferably something
that as a young horse I can see it walk trot and canter and maybe jump a fence and then
if it's easy to work with you can train it better than something that's a little bit
scatty.
What advice would you give to young people just starting out in eventing?
It's not very easy.
Horses are, they're unpredictable in the sense that you have to work at them.
You can't say to them I want you to do a perfect dressage test and jump clear because they
don't understand.
It comes through a rapport with horse and rider and the work that you put in at home
is 90% of the effort.
It's not all that competing.
So I think for someone that's dedicated, that has a love of animals and that genuinely wants
to work at something that's very rewarding and very enjoyable and it's extremely social
as well, I think it's a fantastic sport.
Do you have to be a bit mad to be an eventer?
Well everybody else seems to think so but I think you need to have that courage and be
able to focus.
I think if you get nervous by things, little things here and there then it probably doesn't
help your cross country riding.
But no I think you just have to appreciate an adrenaline rush, bit like bungee jumping.
You don't need to be out there competing with your horse if you don't want to.
You can just relax and enjoy riding out on the trail and enjoy spending time with your
horse.
Try to follow as many of the ideas as you can in this video.
They will help you to find the correct horse and they'll also help you to keep your horse
healthy.
Come back with your horse ownership.
See how you improve.
.