Saddle Trials, Weeks Two through Five

As a round, plump, muscular horse yet with prominent withers, Delphi is proving challenging to fit.

My barn buddy Angela's 17 1/2" 31cm tree Courbette dressage saddle:
Pros: it fit me well and was comfortable to sit.
Cons: when astride it pinched Delphi's withers.
Bottom line: it didn't fit Delphi.

The next item on order to test ride is the Jaguar by Harry Dabbs 17 1/2" seat wide tree XKC deep seat dressage saddle: Pros: deep seat, relatively large knee blocks and buffalo leather provide security; wool flocked panels that sit away from the horse's spine since the saddle is wider through the gullet; higher, wider pommel to accommodate the withers
Cons: unknown commodity English-made saddle so am wary of the quality; if horse changes shape saddle can't be adjusted due to no interchangeable gullet system
Bottom line: the wide channel cleared her spine well, however when seated in the saddle the flocking under the pommel pressed into the muscling on either side of her back causing pressure to her spine behind the withers. It's possible that some of the flocking could be removed from the panel to adjust fit, but I dislike the idea of digging into a brand new saddle that does not fit from the outset.

Saddle Trials, Week One

The process of choosing, fitting, and finally purchasing a new saddle is proving to be a great learning experience.

Fitting a saddle to the horse:
Place the saddle on the horse's clean back, two fingers width back from the shoulder, without a pad and without girthing the saddle.
*If the saddle is high in front, it is narrow
*If the saddle is low in front, it is wide
*If the saddle is level, it could be the right fit

Generally speaking, it is better to be slightly wide than slightly narrow. A narrow saddle can potentially hurt (or injure) the horse, while a slightly wide saddle can be used with extra padding (such as a sheepskin pad) to fit properly, and also allows for future widening due to growth or gaining muscle. Placing your hand under the saddle's pommel then "wiggling" the saddle (either from the ground or even more telling while mounted) allows you to feel any pressure points on the withers or spiny processes of the horse's back. The channel along the horse's back should be wide enough to allow a small fist between the rear gullet; this displaces the right amount of weight over the horse's back, rather than against the spine. Widening the gullet will cause the saddle to sit slightly lower on the horse's back, therefore the horse fills out your legs so you may want to lengthen your stirrup leathers a hole, and the same girth will fit a hole or two shorter.

The Wintec 500 Dressage saddle with Cair panels and interchangeable gullet, the saddle I currently own (size 18", wide tree):
Pros: As far as fit goes I like this saddle just fine, I recently exchanged the medium for the wide gullet to allow for Delphi's growth and muscle gain, and the Cair panels do a good job of distributing the weight over Delphi's back.
Cons: It's plastic! After three years of use the billets are cracking and need to be replaced.
Bottom line: while the saddle is functional and fits fine I prefer a quality, leather saddle.

The saddles I will be evaluating this week include
the Stubben Maestoso, size 17.5", wide tree:
Pros: Stubben's craftsmanship, quality vegetable tanned comfortable leather, smaller knee blocks for freedom of movement, traditional wool flocked panels, optional larger knee blocks and optional Biomex spine relieving seat.
Cons: Biomex seat is new and unproven, even the larger knee blocks aren't as large and therefore as secure as some other saddle models.
Bottom line: while the 32cm tree fit her withers properly, the too-narrow channel put pressure points along Delphi's spine therefor not fitting her.

The Bates Innova with Cair panels, interchangeable gullet, and extended blocks, size 2, wide tree:
Pros: largest available knee blocks seem to provide extra security and maintain correct rider position, interchangable gullet allows you to change tree size as your horse changes shape or if you ride multiple horses, Cair panel can also have traditional wool flocking added if desired, wide channel to distribute weight evenly over horse's back.
Cons: giant knee blocks look funny and seem like "cheating" on your seat since they hold you into the so-called "correct Dressage position," suede on knee blocks will eventually become smooth over time and will have to be managed when it gets wet, sizing is 0, 1, and 2, with 1 being 17" to 17.5" and 2 being 18" to 18.5" so 1 is a hair small and 2 is a hair too big for my body (a 5' 8" 125 lb pear shaped female).
Bottom line: even with the wide gullet it sat too high on her withers and put pressure where it doesn't belong, yet with the pommel still being a tad low.

Stay tuned to see what Delphi has to say concerning the trial saddles. Already she's happy that I've correctly fitted her ever-widening and muscle-gaining body with a wide tree from the medium that came with her current saddle; her withers and shoulders felt better immediately and she is less tense after only two rides with the wider gullet.

Blue Fox Farm Christmas Show

Wizard, down centerline/ Nefyn/ Karen schooling Wizard previously


Dean, Karen, and Judge Karen


Allerhand & Poder/ Delphi/ Wizard

Nefyn

Allerhand/ Pas de deux pair Delphi and Alli

The show on Sunday December 14 was great fun! Delphi was first to go, starting with first level test four then settling into second level test one. Wizard was up next and did a great job in spite of the spooky, windy conditions. Alli and Delphi tried on the basic quadrille for size and discovered it fit rather nicely. Poder is feeling better already and was trotting 'round his paddock and playing with General this morning. Congratulations to all who rode and thank you to our impromptu judge, Karen Brown! Thank you Teri Bludworth and Blue Fox Farm for hosting the show.

Ritter Dressage Link

Click to go to Artistic Dressage, Dr. Thomas Ritter's website dedicated to classical dressage.

All in the Family

The following is a montage of the photos I have of Delphinia's family.

Her sire, Adelssohn:

Her grandsire Mendelssohn (Adelssohn's sire):

Her dam's sire Topas II (her dam Dahlia's sire):

Here is what a quality breeding to Delphinia can produce- Daydream, Delphi's 2004 filly by Onassis:

Delphinia's full brother from 1997, Danny (photo from www.slrpix.com):

Jeff Moore Dressage Clinic

'Twas a beautiful day at Lurena Bell-Stanley's Belle Terre farm for the Jeff Moore dressage clinic November 3, 2008. For detailed clinic notes, click here.
Jeff Moore trains my trainer Karen Brown.

It works and its easy!

Ten meter circles: an epiphany.
To ride a clear ten meter circle with the hindquarters engaged and the horse softly on the bit going toward collection: the horse's outside foreleg abducts around the circle to turn the horse. The key is to bring your inside shoulder toward the horse's outside hip to keep the correct bend and engagement. The inside rein creates just enough bend, but DO NOT "hang" continually on the inside rein, rather give the inside rein periodically while keeping the horse in the outside rein, and keeping the horse's neck between the aids.
Thank you, Karen, for the giant light bulb hanging over my head during our lesson today!

Excerpt From "LOSGELASSENHEIT: Calmness, Relaxation, and Suppleness" by Dr. Thomas Ritter

An interesting excerpt detailing a trend that definitely happened to me with Delphi.

"Yet another category of calmness could be labeled "calm before the storm". This is a phenomenon that you can encounter especially in warmbloods. These horses withhold themselves. They "store" their energies, while appearing outwardly calm and downright lazy. Some of them appear quite unresponsive and work less and less, the harder the rider is working at trying to make them go forward. Then, when the unsuspecting rider least expects it, they can explode into a bucking fit, for no reason at all, other than that they cannot contain their slowly but surely mounting energy any more. New horse owners who just bought their first warmblood after riding exclusively Thoroughbreds, Quarter horses, or Arabians all of their life, are often in for a rude awakening, because they don’t understand their new horse’s psychology. Among baroque horses, this is luckily not a very common problem – probably due to the several additional centuries during which the baroque breeds have been selectively bred for dressage and for an outstanding character compared to most other breeds."

However, Dr. Ritter continues:
"the back of a horse who is losgelassen (implying obedience to the aids) is the safest place in the world for his rider, even in situations where something startles the horse, because the horse will remain on the aids, and the rider can re-establish the former calmness quickly and easily."

Activate the Inside Leg

By activating the inside hind leg, the horse carries more weight on the inside hind leg and the hock becomes engaged and steps further under the horse, causing the horse to "sit" by lowering it's haunches.
Say you're on a twenty meter circle in trot on the right rein (though this exercise works well within any gate); to activate the inside hind: put your inside leg just behind the girth and give a "kick" to swing the haunches away from your leg. Congruently with the leg aids, keep a steady contact on the outside rein while lowering your inside elbow and bringing the right rein up and out to shift the horse's quarters away and bring the head to the inside. When done properly at first on the green horse, you can feel the horse "jump" away from your inside leg. Then straighten the horse and ride forward, and even allow a bit of stretch by giving the inside rein, thereby also checking the horse's self carriage. This is an excellent exercise for unlocking resistance.

Schooling the First Level Horse

Product Review: Mosquito Halt

Product claim: a repellent that protects against flies and mosquitoes for up to two weeks.

Review: A chemically strong fly repellent, this spray does indeed seem to keep mosquitoes at bay. After hurricane Ike the mosquitoes in the Gulf South have become a real issue, as they always are this time of year, only slightly worse. This spray repels them and does stay on as long as you don't rinse, shampoo, or sweat it off.

Pros: The product does indeed repel mosquitoes and flies, and sticks to the horse until it is washed (or sweated) off.

Cons: It is heavy on chemicals and has an unpleasant perfume-like odor that clings to the horse's coat and even your hands after application. At $17 a bottle, it's a bit expensive.

Bottom line: Yes, it does what it says; it's strong stuff. If you can get past the chemical and perfume smell (which bothers me more than it does my horse) then it's a good product. I recommend it.

Counter Canter

Short periods of counter canter, such as the shallow counter canter loop in first level test four are best when teaching a horse counter canter. A more advanced exercise that Karen Brown taught me with Delphi is as follows:
Say you're in left canter. Make a smallish (fifteen meter) circle to the left in the left canter lead while doing left flexions to the inside and right counter flexions to the outside to establish a soft, obedient connection. Once the flexions are established and the horse is obedient they can be small: as you half halt with your seat, lower your elbow on the side you're flexing toward and "raise" the rein "out" to create the flexion. (I use quatation marks here because the movement should be obvious to the horse but through training eventually become so subtle that they are invisible to the casual observer on the ground.) Especially on a green horse, be sure to maintain a clear left canter aid with your seat and legs by sitting into the saddle with the normal swing and jump of the canter and keeping your left leg at the girth to create left bend and impulsion and keeping your right leg behind the girth to maintain the hindquarters and impulsion. (Emphasis on "impulsion!") As you cross the centerline, keep the well defined left canter cues with your seat and legs, all the while maintaining your flexions and counter flexions as you turn to the right. Turn and look to the right (but keep your left lead aids) as you begin a larger (20 meter) circle to the right in left lead counter canter. Be sure to continue the flexions during the entire movement to keep the poll and jaw soft and the horse obedient. As you again cross the centerline, straighten the horse and then ride forward back into the smaller circle to the left in left lead canter. You basically make a figure of eight in canter. This also allows you to practice the three loop serpentine in second level test one if you only have a small twenty by forty meter arena for schooling!

Product Review: Uncle Jimmy's Hangin' Balls

Product claim: A long lasting stall treat that horses love.

Review: This boredom-breaker was purchased recently while Delphi had to stand in her stall several days in a row due to wet weather. It's an eight inch ball of sweet feed with a loop implanted in it that you're instructed to suspend over the middle of the stall just above horse's eye level. However since it's so messy I've had to hang it against the side of the wall to keep the goo from dripping down onto Delphi. Because it is actually food, Delphi has paid slightly more attention to it than the other plastic boredom-breaker toys I've tried. The ball drips sticky goo that gets caught in her mane and coat, and it is very hard to remove even with a damp cloth. The flies are then more attracted to the goo in her hair coat. At $24 it's kind of an expensive treat.

Pros: It does occupy time if Delphi has to stand in her stall and it is more attractive to her than the traditional plastic boredom-buster toys, even the ones with treats. It does not mold and the ants and flies leave it alone even in 95+ degree weather.
Cons: It drips sticky goo so don't stand under it for long periods of time, and the goo gets on Delphi's ears, mane and coat which have to be wiped clean each day. After the initial novelty wears off and she figures out she can't actually eat it, she pays less attention to it.

Bottom line: I don't recommend it simply because of the daily mess at grooming time.

Happiness is Good Friends and Green Meadows

Three Trakehners: Lola, Gryphon, and Delphi, enjoying a peaceful moment at Blue Fox.
Lola and Gryphon, owned by Karen Brown, are offspring of the Trakehner stallion Onassis, who just achieved Elite status.

Product Review: Adequan i.m. (polysulfated glycosaminoglycan)

Product claims: to stimulate cartilage repair and reverse traumatic joint dysfunction.

Review: Delphi received a puncture wound to the front right medial knee in January 2008. After debriding the wound (cutting it down for drainage), her veterinarian Catherine Berry, DVM treated her with a combination of antibiotics, hydrotherapy, sweat wrapping and a single injection of Adequan i.m. near the end of treatment. The results were profound. The knee joint had become inflamed and swollen with infection, and Dr. Berry warned me that even under the best circumstances (i.e. the wound heals and there is no unsoundness) the joint itself would always be enlarged and misshapen (see photo 1). However, after the Adequan injection the knee healed completely, with not even a trace of unsoundness, and after a few weeks the joint returned to nearly normal size. A series of radiographs proved the joint was completely sound.

Pros: the product did indeed meet the claims of reversing joint dysfunction after a traumatic injury (see photo 2).
Cons: it is expensive, ~$100 per dose, and can only be dispensed by a veterinarian.

Bottom line: As there was no control in this case study, who knows that the joint wouldn't have returned to normal with traditional antibiotic therapy only? But Dr. Berry didn't seem to think so.

Shoulder In

Delphi and I have been working on shoulder in, which has the by-product of improving our canter transitions.
Prepare for shoulder in by first riding shoulder fore, where the inside hind leg reaches toward the middle of the front legs, and there is slightly less flexion and bend than in the shoulder in. The exercise is easier if the horse carries more weight with the inside hind leg on a circle, or as Karen puts it: when you "activate" the inside hind. From shoulder fore ask for more angle while keeping the same amount of bend. Out of the short side of the arena, ride the horse as though you were going to cross the diagonal, by leading the shoulders off the track to the inside, then ride shoulder fore along the long side of the arena, being sure that the hind legs stay on one line of the track, and the inside hind leg steps toward the outside front leg. Be sure to control the neck on the outside! Always remember to intersperse periods of riding forward to re-establish looseness, relaxation, and submissive contact in between periods of more difficult lateral work such as shoulder in.
Future inspiration point: the shoulder in prepares the horse to learn travers, which in turn prepares for the first steps of half pass. Exciting stuff!
Here is Karen Brown's student demonstrating shoulder in, showing good angle and just enough bend. Notice Music's inside hind leg stepping toward the outside front leg in both strides of the trot. Nice work, Crystal!

Warming Up for Rhythm, Relaxation, and Connection

A rider's eye view of the massive indoor at Blue Fox. To give perspective, note Delphi's ears: we're standing at H on the dressage arena (the cones you see Delphi's ears pointing at are B and F) and the horse in the distance is in the same indoor as us on the jumping grid. Grand, yes?

In warming up for school-work, I do as much posting trot as necessary to get Delphi relaxed, rhythmic, and connected by bending her deep to the inside around my leg and engaging her inside hind to get her into my outside rein. I insist that she stays supple by half halting on the outside rein after bending deep, even too deep to the inside and using inside leg to engage her inside hind. I do as much of this as needed to get her working in a connected yet forward cadence, before I pick up a firmer connection to begin working toward collection.

The Importance of Free Walk

Here's the lovely old racetrack- now turf- at Blue Fox Farm. The old starting gates are still tucked in along the tree line. Great place for Delphi to relax her muscles and mind in free walk while just "being a horse" after a schooling session. It is so important for the Dressage campaigner to have enough regular, stress-free exercise. Brisk walking across country on a loose rein is good, and eight to twelve hours per day of turn out with buddies is better. Both daily is best.

Walk to Canter Transitions

The following describes an exercise Karen Brown taught me for schooling walk to canter transitions. It has proven very helpful for Delphi.
At the walk, first take a few "short steps" (Karen's term for shorter, more energetic steps that lower and activate the hindquarters), counter-bend the horse and perform a half-turn around the hindquarters with the horse bent around your inside leg in the direction you want to canter while moving the outside shoulder around. The rider's aids for the canter depart are: outside leg behind the girth to maintain the horse's haunches while the inside leg creates the bend around the inside leg at the girth. The rider's inside leg gives a little "stomp, kick" at the girth while the outside leg stays firmly behind the girth to encourage the horse's outside hind as it activates into the first step of the canter stride. Remember to maintain a soft, giving jaw and poll by "vibrating" the inside rein while keeping a supple contact with the outside rein.
About the "stomp, kick" manoeuvre: It consists of quickly stepping firmly down into the inside stirrup (the "stomp") followed immediately by a tap at the girth with the inside leg (the "kick"); teaching this now will be useful in eventually teaching flying changes of stride (more on that later, grasshopper).