Gallop Equestrian Center

Long long ago, the FEI horse manager for a vaulting team I worked for taught me that his horses were only to be put under full vaulting pressure twice a week, and the rest of the week he had professionals lightly but efficiently cross train them, both in dressage and low level jumping land to work on their balance, power, flexibility, and carrying ability. Plus they trail rode to develop their accessory stabilizers and smooth muscles. He read a lot of Dr Klimpke and he had done this a long time. When he quit managing the horses were then used for vaulting 4 days a week and all broke down within 3 months. The next FEI team i worked for was in his neighborhood and former associates of his. They required me to help dressage the horses 2 days a week, trail ride once a week, use them for vaulting twice a week. They had watched and learned. It was all more simple when we could stand back objectively looking at just the job of developing these horses as athletes and it was not our personal mount. Keystone Equine's post reminds me of these concepts. We don't all get to trail ride our horses. But we can do long long walks, hack around the barn and fields even if we have to lead them at first, and keep in mind the need for them to use their bodies in different ways to support the whole package.

We ride and train our horses. We put them to work so that we can enjoy the facet of horsemanship that most appeals to us. This is not always easy on the horses and they often become sore. So, what do we do?

We call the vet and order the 'routine' injections. We call the massage therapist. We book the equine chiropractor or osteopath and ask them to fix the horse.

Then, we go back to our same old riding and training. Rinse and repeat. While I am in no way telling you to turn your horses into lawn ornaments, I want to ask a simple question.

Does your horse sport—your use—hurt your horses in the long term? If so, what can you do—starting now—to reduce this?

Maybe the arena ridden horse needs downtime in pasture turnout, daily, along with riding the trails. Maybe his barrel racing saddle with its notoriously uncomfortable short bars could be more often swapped out for a regular stock saddle, to reduce the pounds per square inch on his loins? Maybe our tense jumper would benefit from more slow and mindful dressage, without side reins, without competition goals? Maybe our walk-trot pony would benefit hugely from being ridden by someone who will ask it for a sustained and healing canter?

Maybe the horse who is doing a job with repetitive body movement can learn a job that uses his body differently, to help compensate wear and tear on the same soft tissues and joints? Maybe we could teach our horses to carry us in a more efficient manner? Maybe it’s as simple as stopping with the bull-headedness and leading the horse over to the corral rails or a mounting block, instead of hauling ourselves up into the saddle?

There is much written work about training for straightness and developing a horse’s body to its full potential. There is so much we can do to encourage the entire horse to relieve that one, sore, overworked body part, that place where he will eventually break down.

It always surprises me that the horses ordered to recuperate with hand-walking exercise are not taught to be led equally from both sides! But no, we lead them for hours while they load their shoulders unevenly...

We ride and train our horses. Then, we expect paid professionals to fix them. What if the number one goal in our schooling was to lengthen the useful lives and prolong the wellbeing of our good horses? What, then?

I believe in doing whatever is necessary to have my horses serve me comfortably. This includes paying for professional help. Where I have a problem, where I feel there’s an unspoken problem, is when our horses need ongoing body work and injections—the same things, over and over—without end.

The question is this: how are we riding on a daily basis, to make our horses more—or less—unwell?

Question: I’ve heard conflicting recommendations on when to start grazing my horses in the spring. Is April 1st too early to start grazing my horses?

Response: Spring grazing should be introduced slowly and delayed until grasses reach 6 to 8”. Calendar date is not important as weather conditions and grass growth can vary greatly from year to year. When pastures reach 6 to 8”, begin grazing for 15 minutes, increasing the grazing time each day by 15 minutes until 5 hours of consecutive grazing is reached. After that, unrestricted grazing can occur. A gradual change from one feedstuff to another provides enough time for the microbial populations to adjust. Without an adjustment period, these specialized gut microbes can die off after a rapid diet switch, which can result in the release of toxins and possible bouts of laminitis and colic. We also recommend feeding horses their normal hay diet before turning them out to pasture during the first several grazing events of the spring. This strategy should help avoid rapid intake of pasture grasses. Even though hay and pasture are both forms of forages, there are significant differences (e.g. moisture content). Additionally, new pasture growth (≤2”) is extremely high in nonstructural carbohydrates. This might not be an issue for fit, healthy horses, but may be an issue for overweight horses or ones with a history of laminitis.

Timeline photos

Check out these 4 must-know dragging patterns!

1. Dragging by working circles through the center of the arena pulls ruts out of the rail. Start by turning through the center half way down the long wall to create your first circle then move down by one notch with each new circle until you have covered the whole arena.

2. Dragging in a figure eight pattern helps to shift deep footing to worn out areas. Start by turning down the center then cut across back to the long wall at the 1/2 way point, changing directions to start the next loop. After completing the first figure eight move over by one notch to start the next one.

3. Dragging lengthwise helps to level off the footings and firm up the ends of the arena. Start by turning through the center half way down the short wall to create a long rectangle then move down by one notch with each new pass through the center till all the footing has been smoothed out.

4. Making half-arena circles between the centerline and the rail helps even out the footing if it's starting to develop high and low spots. This is usually a result of previous poor dragging techniques, uneven moisture, or both, causing sand in some areas to move or build up or become too shallow.

Check the full range of our favorite arena groomers here: https://trutexfooting.com/product-category/arena-drags

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What is the longest a horse can safely go without food?

More and more I see horses and ponies stood for long periods of time with no hay or haylage. Usually under the guise of a “weight control diet”. So how long can a horse be without food before damage is done? And what damage is done?

For those with a short attention span, I’ll give you the answer to begin with - 4 hours, maximum.

Why?

Horses are grazers. They are designed to eat constantly. They have no way of storing their acids and digestive enzymes, they’ve never needed to. They have no gall bladder to store bile and their stomachs release acid constantly, whether or not there is food in the stomach and intestines.

A horses stomach only holds approximately 8-15 litres. Depending on the substance eaten, it takes on average 4-6 hours for the stomach to completely empty. After this, the acids and enzymes start to digest the inside of the horses stomach and then the intestines. This causes both gastric and intestinal ulceration. It has been estimated that 25-50% of foals and 60-90% of adult horses suffer from ulceration. But I won’t go into detail about this, there is a lot of information around about ulcers.

So is that it? Are ulcers the only concern?

No, having an empty stomach is a stress situation for a horse. The longer they are starved, the more they release stress hormones, cortisol predominantly. Cortisol blocks insulin and causes a constantly high blood glucose level. This stimulates the body to release even more insulin, and in turn this causes fat tissue to be deposited and leptin resistance. Over time this causes insulin resistance (Equine Metabolic Syndrome). All of these mechanisms are well known risk factors for laminitis and are caused by short term starvation (starting roughly 3-4 hours after the stomach empties). Starving a laminitic is literally the worst thing you can do. Over longer periods, this also starts to affect muscle and can cause weakness, and a lack of stamina so performance horses also need a constant supply of hay/haylage to function optimally.

Let’s not forget horses are living, breathing and feeling animals. We talk about this stress reaction like it’s just internal but the horse is well aware of this stress. Door kicking, box walking, barging and many other stable vices and poor behaviour can be explained by a very stressed horse due to food deprivation (we all have that Hangry friend to explain this reaction). Next time you shout or hit a horse that dives for their net, remember their body is genuinely telling them they are going to starve to death. They know no different.

But surely they spend the night asleep so they wouldn’t eat anyway?

Not true. Horses only need 20mins REM sleep every 24 hours (jealous? I am!). They may spend a further hour or so dozing but up to 22-23 hours a day are spent eating. So if you leave your horse a net at 5pm and it’s gone by 8pm, then by 12am their stomach is empty. By 4am they are entering starvation mode. By their next feed at 8am, they are extremely stressed, physically and mentally.

Now I know the cob owners are reading this mortified. I can almost hear you shouting at your screen “if I feed my horse ad lib hay he won’t fit out the stable door in a week!!”

I will say that a horse with a constant supply of hay/haylage will eat far less then the same horse that is intermittently starved. They don’t eat in a frenzy, reducing the chance of colic from both ulcers and over eating. Cobs included.

However I’m not suggesting you sit your cob in front of a bale of haylage and say have at it! There is a difference between ad lib and a constant supply. There is much we can do to reduce calorie intake and control weight whilst feeding a constant supply.

The easiest is small holes nets. There are many. Trickle nets, greedy feeders, nibbleze, trawler nets etc. My personal favourite is the Shires Soft Mesh 1”. They don’t cost the Earth, they are easy to fill and they don’t have knots so are much gentler to the teeth. Now often I suggest these types of nets to owners and the owner tells me “Oh no, *** won’t eat out of those” 🙄 this is nonsense. If he was left it, he would. Remember, you can give a normal net and one of these for them to nibble at after. Better than leaving them with nothing at all.

A few other tricks, hang the net from the ceiling/rafters, it’s harder to eat out of a net that swings. Soak the hay, a minimum of 4 hours to be effective. Mix with straw but be sure to introduce the straw slowly and make sure it’s top quality and a palatable type eg Barley or Oat, otherwise they won’t eat it.

Don’t forget exercise. The best way to get weight off a horse is exercise. Enough exercise and they can eat what they want!

And lay off the bucket feed and treats! Horses on a diet require a vit/min supplement in the form of a balancer but that’s it. The odd slice of carrot or swede won’t do any harm but no licks, treats, treacle, molasses, cereal based rubbish. Even if it says low sugar or the marvellously misleading “No added sugar”! Your horse would rather have a constant supply of hay, I promise.

Written by Vikki Fowler BVetMed BAEDT MRCVS

A few edits for the critics-

Firstly, feeding a constant supply does not mean ad lib feeding. It means use some ingenuity and spread the recommended amount of daily forage so the horse is never stood with out food for more than 4 hours. I am not promoting obesity, quite the opposite, feeding like this reduces obesity and IR. This can be done whilst feeding your horse twice a day as most horse owners do. Just think outside the box for your own situation.

Secondly I am in the UK and this post is UK specific, use some common sense when reading. Yes in warmer climates, soaking hay for 4 hours is dangerous and studies show 1 hour is plenty in hot weather but in the UK’s arctic climate, a minimum of 4 hours is required. Equally the UK feed exclusively grass hay. I can not comment on other types.

Thirdly, yes every horse/pony and situation is different, but this is a law of nature and all horses have this anatomy and metabolism. How you achieve this constant supply is individual, the need for it is not.

Fourthly, the use of hay nets in the UK is very very high. I’d estimate 95% of horses I see are fed this way and very very few have incisor wear or neck/back issues as a result. Yes, feeding from the ground is ideal, but a constant supply, I feel trumps this. Again with ingenuity both can be safely achieved.

Finally, straw can be fed to horses safely, introduced very slowly, with fresh water always available, plus a palatable and digestible type of straw which will depend on your area. Again many horses in the UK are bedded on straw and most of them eat it. This is not a new concept to us.

Final finally 🤦‍♀️ and I feel I must add this due to the sheer number of people contacting me to ask, feed your horses during transport!!! I am astonished this is not normal in other countries! Again in the UK, we give our horses hay nets to transport. We don’t go 10 mins up the road without a haynet and a spare in case they finish! Considering we are a tiny island and we rarely transport even 4 hours, we never transport without hay available. I have never seen an episode of choke due to travelling with hay available. If you are concerned, use a slow feeder net so they can’t take too much in at once.

If you get to the end of this post and your first thought is “I can’t do this with my horse/pony, they’d be morbidly obese”, you haven’t read the advice in this post thoroughly.

Its that time again! Use cold water on your horses until it comes off cold, even after a minute of not hosing to test this, it should come off cold.

Photos from Cotswolds Riding at Jill Carenza Equestrian's post

As we have begun offering helmets with Mips technology, it's timely to share what exactly Mips is, what it does, and why it's so critically important.

Check out the full story - , but get an excerpt here:

Helmets have come a long way both in terms of design and the safety they provide. With each passing year, there's new and better technology and updated safety standards. However, not all helmets are created equal, with some having the latest and greatest technology, and others, including some of the most recognizable brands, not having yet adopted some of the latest protocols.

Introducing Mips, or Multi-directional Impact Protection System. Mips is a safety technology for helmets. In the event of an angled impact MIPS can reduce harmful rotational forces, which may be transmitted to the brain, by allowing the helmet to slide relative to the head. These rotational forces can cause concussions or even worse brain damage.

To understand the functionality behind MIPS, it is important to know what rotational motion is, and why it is so harmful to the brain. Rotational motion, in this case, is the result of the brain continuing to move or stretch after the head has come to a quick and sudden stop following an angled impact. Several researchers have linked severe brain injuries like Diffuse Axonal Injury (DAI) and Subdural Hematoma (SDH) to the transmission of rotational motion to the brain from angled impacts. Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (MTBI) or concussion is also believed to be caused by rotational motion.

In a helmet equipped with the MIPS technology, a low-friction layer allows the helmet to slide relative to the head, resulting in a reduction of the rotational motion that may otherwise be transmitted to the brain.

Do your research when looking for your next helmet, and make sure that it has Mips! , , , and all offer attractive helmets in a range of price categories that include this life-saving technology.

Happy Valentines to all of my hard working, sweeping, mucking, freezing horse loving friends!

‘I want to just ride’ - Say this to any seasoned professional in the game and they will look at you like ‘Oh honey’ 😂

You have to learn to be a rider, groom, horseman/women, business owner, lead a team, handle clients and alongside all this you’ve still got to muck out and pick a broom up until you can earn enough money to have someone help you do this whilst you are doing something else to earn this said money.

‘I want to just ride’ doesn’t exist and if you see someone doing that you have no idea how hard they worked to get in that position. So get sweeping my friend ♥️

Horse keeping can be so different. This is fascinating.

The pelleted feed he eats.

Timeline photos

World Champion Dressage Stallion Totilas Dies

World Champion Dressage Stallion Totilas Dies FEI World Equestrian Games gold medalist Totilas died Dec. 14 from colic. He was 20. Bred by Jan K. Schuil and Anna Schuil-Visser in the Netherlands, the Dutch Warmblood stallion (IPS Gribaldi—Lominka, Glendale) started his competitive career wi...

Photos from American Quarter Horse Association's post

I can credit the polo world for a true concept of proper fitness for performance horses. In good programs, the horses often go out twice a day. They go in sets of 3-5 or so horses. They walk for an hour (walking is IMPORTANT too), they trot for 15-20 minutes or so & walk some more. Most are “singled” several days a week. They short work/school them & breeze them out often. You have to condition their lungs too (that’s a whole other conversation I won’t go into right now but we’ll talk about it later). These horses are in incredible shape. They have to be.

I find proper conditioning to be undervalued & quite frankly, many lack knowledge on it. Whether they truly don’t know or they don’t care to know is a different story. You cannot pull your horse out of the pasture on the weekends & go expect them to perform for you after not touching them all week.
You’ll always see the bragging posts like “pulled sparkles out of the pasture after seven months off & entered the jackpot last night!! 7th in the 6D even outta shape!!”
I’m EMBARRASSED for you. That’s not impressive. Personally, I find it cruel & selfish.
That’s like someone pulling your happy ass off the couch after hibernating all winter & making you run a 5k.

Do better. Be better.

HAPPY Halloween!🎃

Here's to the girls.

The chore girls. The feedlot girls. The ranch girls. And the cowgirls.

Here's to the doers. The hustlers. The ones getting their hands dirty. The women who worked outside all day and the ones who fall asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow at night. The ones with callouses on their hands.

Here's to the women working beside men. The women who are keeping up and doing it their own way and surpassing expectations. The ones who need to be twice as strong to feel half as good.

Here's to the ones who scroll through Instagram and notice all the pictures of beautiful women. Then they put their phones down and go back to work with no make up on, their hair a mess, and their old chore clothes on.

The ones who feel more comfortable with a branding iron in their hands than a curling iron. The ones who own more wild rags than pairs of shoes.

Here's to the ones that aren't often talked about. The overlooked women. The ones whose silence on social media doesn't reflect the large lives they lead. The ones who actually stay honest with an honest day's work. The humble ones with big hearts.

May we know them and may we be them.

Here's to the girls.

We’ve helped hundreds of horses find new best friends over the years... But more so, we’ve answered thousands of inquiries. I’ll say it again like I say every year, in case someone out there needs to hear this...

HOW TO FIND YOUR “UNICORN”

1. PARAMETERS: Sticking to your “parameters” is only hurting your search. This is like when you have a friend who says they’ll only date a guy over 6 feet tall. Would you turn down meeting your soul mate because he’s 5’11”? I’ve learned from many good Horsemen over the years and the saying is true: God never made a good horse in a bad color. The number of times that people are looking for a precise height or a precise color and I think I have the perfect match for them to fulfill all their dreams, but they won’t budge 1 inch on height in either direction. I can tell you that my current 17 hand horse feels much smaller than my current 15.3h horse. It’s much more about their barrel and their neck set and then the height of their withers. Stop looking for the horse that is “5-7 years old 16.2-17.0h bay or grey gelding.” You are only sabotaging your own search here.

2. WRONG QUESTIONS: When people call about horses, I tell them what kind of rider he needs and what the horse wants to do for a living. Why does NO ONE ever ask that?! They ask how fancy his trot is or how his dressage score was last weekend or how many ribbons he has or how tall he is. They don’t ever ask, “Will he tolerate my mistakes? Will he make up where I’m lacking? Can I handle this horse? Does he have the same goals that I do?”

3. WRONG PRIORITIES: I always teach my students this lesson. My “keeper” horse as a 4yo was the worst mover in the barn. Choppy trot, canter like a tractor trailer on ice, pads on his feet, and some seriously unimpressive knees. If I pulled him out of the stall for you at a sales appointment at 4 years old, you would tell me to put him away! Then he won 3 events at 5yo. At 6 he’s a dream to ride because we’ve put in serious sweat equity for three years. I’m going to burst your bubble here. Unless you’re trying to literally win the Olympics, you don’t need the best mover in the barn. Find the horse that makes you SMILE, that you want to ride every day, the one you can train. Beyond that, you can teach it to win the dressage if you work hard enough. Heck, the worst mover I’ve ever owned won a dozen upper level events and got our Bronze Medal in dressage, and if you saw him today you’d swear that was the best canter you’ve ever ridden. When you’re shopping, don’t buy for the fancy trot. Find the horse that makes you smile.

4. MAINTENANCE: The number of people who put in search ads, “absolutely no maintenance“ or ask me if he has to wear shoes. So you’re telling me if I can find you your perfect unicorn that will make you happy for the rest of his life and you have to give him hock injections once a year, you wouldn’t do it? Because that’s about what you’re spending on your Starbucks this month. If you find a horse that will take care of you, you need to take care of it. Period.

5. VETTINGS: It’s been said by a million people so I’ll keep it brief. Vettings are a fact finding mission, not an attempt to rule out every horse you meet. No one can predict the future—-I’ve had upper level horses that would have failed as 4yos who never missed an event in their lives. I’ve seen vets give two thumbs up to horses who dropped dead a week later from a heart problem. Vets are our greatest resource, but they aren’t fortune tellers. Any good vetting WILL find something. Have your trainer help you understand what is realistic when the vet jargon sounds scary.

Here’s hoping that this list helps someone searching somewhere. Because I know over the years in my career, if I had stuck to my parameters and broken my rules, I would not have bought any of my eventual upper level horses. I would have missed out on so many special horses in my life, because I didn’t want a 3yo or I didn’t want him to be 15.3h or his ankles aren’t pretty.

When you find a horse that you like to ride and it makes you happy, that’s really all that matters. ❤️

Photo by Canter Clix

Welcome to horses!

If you really think about it....owning horses is a bit s**t 😂😂

What does your barn structure do for you during the most stressful part of your horse’s year? It’s hot outside and being that our horses are not summer animals, some of us are seeing challenges with keeping our trusty horses from being heat stressed. Here is where barn designs get interesting. In the Midwest, we don’t tend to hire barn builders who know horses and horse specific designs. The outcome of that is that they don’t plan for adding in heat alleviation as a priority. Since the hot season is a very short part of our year, planning to spend extra money for heat issues does not make sense for most buildings. In the South you will see things like overhangs planned for the sunniest side of buildings and features like a sprinkler system on the roof of buildings to relieve radiant energy levels every hour or more. When did you see a sprinkler system on a barn roof in the Midwest meant to lower the heat inside the barn below? Never have I ever. One of the most important factors is getting an updated and sufficient insulation lining (Think R factor10) in your barn ceiling with a silver reflective layer that’s able to reflect back up and out RE factors. It’s a step we often skip in favor of spending our money elsewhere and never have I ever had a builder explain that for horses this is the most important thing I could do for their health! We see horses with heaves, anhydrosis, excercise intolerance, and heat colic here all summer. We bring them inside to get them out of direct sun, but our barns have soaked in too much of that solar power. If your barn doesn’t have a great and updated insulation layer (meaning hasn’t had dust build up over the reflective insulation or birds rip it down) on the roof, vented roofline, overhangs to keep the sun from sending heat inside etc, the structure itself is likely to hold in heat and feel like an oven. We all put fans in stalls, to provide a breeze but at a certain heat and humidity point, we mainly move the heat around and our horses have gone beyond their ability to evaporate the heat levels they are experiencing. At this point our choices include using giant fans at front and middle of barns to try to push the heated air through and bring in cooler air, or to use misters. Below you will see options to set in front of horses who are struggling, so that you can help them cool off and relieve the heat stress they are experiencing. At Gallop we have always used both options to manage in summer. The battery operated misting fans set in front of a big pedestal fan are our favorites!

Photos from Saddlefit 4 Life ®'s post

Photos from The Equestrian Center's post

Be careful out there!

Timeline photos

‘’True sportsmanship is knowing that you need your opponent, because without them there is no game.’’

TIGHT NOSEBANDS HURT HORSES

There is no ignoring the scientific evidence: tight nosebands cause horses physical pain, and mental distress.

If your horse wears one, you should be able to get at least two stacked fingers under the noseband on top of the horse’s nose (as seen in the image). Measuring with side-by-side fingers, or on the side of the horse’s nose or other location won’t give an accurate reading, and may offer a false sense of tightness.

In addition to causing pain and distress, overly tight nosebands don’t allow the horse to open their mouth in an effort to avoid rein cues that are causing discomfort or pain. Unlike dogs, horses don’t vocalize when something hurts, and preventing such silent, behavioural feedback from the horse may result in compromised welfare.

Four years ago, my colleague Justine Harrison - Equine Behaviourist and I helped craft the message behind this infographic for the IAABC. The very talented Doggie Drawings by Lili Chin then took the message and did her magic. Thank you to all involved in helping to create this shareable message with the horse world.

Read to the very end. That is where it gets profound.