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Horse Mangement Newsletter by
Stormy May
Selected articles from HMN's January & February editions! To read the full newsletter, see back issues,
or to join the HMN's email list, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HorseManagementNewsletter/
* Note to Canadian Pony Clubbers: Any
Pony Club advice given below is based on the US Pony Club Rule book,
and should be confirmed with the Canadian Pony Club rule book (available
to download on the Canadian Pony Club Website www.canadianponyclub.org),
or ask your DC.
Contents
1) Feature Evaluate your own jumping position
2) Rally & Rating Tips Make your own break-away halter
3) Question & Answer Different types of protective boots
4) Featured Rule USPC statement on safety vests
Feature: Evaluate your own jumping position
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by Stormy May
Here is a very easy way to evaluate the most crucial element of your own
jumping position from photographs or video. For this project, you can use
still photographs from various stages of the jump (take-off, in flight,
landing) or a video that you can pause or play in slow motion. Photographs
and video should be taken from the side so there is a clear view of your
entire body. If you don't have any photographs or video of yourself readily
available, you can practice on photos from magazines.
The first step is to find the stirrup in the picture (or where the stirrup
would be if you are riding without stirrups). From this point, draw a line
straight up, perpendicular to the ground. You can draw the line on tracing
paper or just in your mind if you don't want to ruin the photo. There
should be approximately equal amounts of your body on each side of this
line. That's it!
It's amazing how just this one little trick will often reveal the main
instability in most riders' jumping positions. If there is more of your
body in front of this line, you are doing what's called "jumping ahead". If
more of your body is behind this line, you are "getting left behind".
If you can get someone to photograph or video you from the back while
jumping a jump on a straight line, you can also draw a line up the middle of
the horse to check your straightness to the left and right. Be sure to pay
special attention to your shoulder and hip alignment.
For some good visuals to go along with this article and ideas to correct
these habits, refer to the USPC "C" manual pages 126-128.
Rally and rating tips: Make your own breakaway halter
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Here's a surprisingly easy and inexpensive way to convert a nylon web halter
to a breakaway halter with a leather crownpiece. These instructions are for
your standard halter that buckles on the left side. If you have one that
buckles on both sides of the crown, you can skip the riveting step.
Start at your neighborhood thrift store, Salvation Army, or Goodwill. While
you're there, obtain a few sturdy leather belts that are the same width and
length as your current nylon halter's crownpiece. The reason you get a few
is because I bet you have more than one all-nylon halter in your arsenal.
Next stop is the hardware store for a small riveting kit with rivets that
can be set with the hand tools included in the kit. Then it's out to the
stable to cut off the current crownpiece from your halter. Next, cut the
buckle side of the belt off and trim it to the same size as the nylon
crownpiece you just cut off. Fold about 2 inches of the belt around the
ring where you cut the nylon crownpiece off, with the extra tab facing out,
not in where it might cause rubs on the horse's cheek. Follow the rivet
directions to punch holes and fasten about 2 rivets to secure the new
leather crownpiece.
That's it! If the belt's current holes aren't big enough for your halter
buckle, just make them larger with your standard leather punch.
Thanks to Ann Fickert, Liberty Oaks Pony Club parent for the belt idea.
Question & Answer: Different types of protective boots
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Hi Stormy,
I have two questions for you this time. What is the difference between the
different kinds of woof wear boots? For example, single lock vs. double
lock is pretty straightforward. But what is the difference between double
lock and woof all purpose? There's so many different kinds I just don't
know how to evaluate them - all the descriptions read the same :-(. Second
question: How can I tell if my 14.1 hh Morgan is a cob size or a pony size
for over the hock shipping boots? He wears 8 in. in the front for non
cupping stable wraps, (I suspect 10 in for cupping stable wraps) and the
typical 2 in bigger in the back. I haven't been able to find any
measurements from places like Dover or Stateline. Is the only option to
just order and see? I know that shipping boots don't provide adequate
support and everything, but a couple years ago I had to clean out a veteran
horse's hocks because he panicked coming out of a trailer (broke two of my
fingers, a bone in my wrist, and got pea gravel lodged in his hocks- it was
not pretty) I've decided it's nice to have the extra protection over the top
of wraps. Any ideas?
Thanks!
Jessie, C1, Carbon River Pony Club, Northwest Region
Hi Jessie,
Here’s the rundown of my experience of Woof boots (which is pretty limited).
Woof boots are great, in general they wear well and seem to fit comfortably.
The ones with more velcro straps will take longer to put on/off but they
will distribute pressure more evenly. The ones with “lining” should
decrease the amount the horse’s leg sweats underneath, thereby decreasing
possible slipping. All versions are suitable for use on cross country (they
don’t absorb water). There are versions with a PVC “strike pad” (the part
where the horse’s legs might brush each other). This is fairly soft and
flexible. That means it will probably be a bit more comfortable to the
horse but not offer quite as much tough protection as the polyurethane shell
which is more rigid, thereby offering greater protection from hard blows yet
not offering as much suppleness to conform to the horse’s leg. Boots with
an entire polyurethane shell won’t breathe as well as ones without it. Both
versions are lined with neoprene so there is always some padding between the
shell and the leg. That’s about it for materials, now for the styles. The
different styles of Woof boots that I see in the latest Dover catalog are as
follows:
Single lock brushing boots – general purpose design, 3-5 straps, single lock
velcro, PVC strike pad, nylon lined
Double lock brushing boots – general purpose design, 2-3 straps, double lock
velcro, PVC strike pad, nylon lined
All-purpose boots – same general purpose design, 2 straps (the straps come
in cool colors), single lock velcro, PVC strike pad, no lining
Pro ultra front tendon boots – has an open front design that people often
use on jumpers so that if they hit a pole, they will feel it more severely
than with all-purpose boots and hopefully pick up their legs better next
time (you may or may not agree with this philosophy), double lock velcro,
polyurethane shell for stronger protection but a stiffer fit, no lining
Sport club tendon boots – open front design, 2 straps, double lock velcro,
these have polyurethane “batons” (basically, just strips of rigid
polyurethane sewn into the PVC, to add greater protection than just the PVC
but not be as rigid and unbreatheable as a full polyurethane shell), no
lining
Ultra front boots – designed with a higher cut-out at the bottom front to
not restrict the joint (think of pictures of a horse’s fetlocks and pasterns
when landing from a jump), I can’t tell exactly what type of fastening it
has, but it looks like one large piece of elastic and velcro, Kevlar fabric
outside (I don’t know how this wears in comparison to the PVC or
polyurethane but should fit more comfortably than polyurethane), nylon lined
Cross country boots – designed with a lower, more supportive cup at the
bottom to help protect against overstraining of the tendons (similar to
sports medicine boots), 3 straps, single lock velcro, vents in the neoprene
to aid breatheability, no lining, foam/vinyl strike pad, this boot is
designed more to support tendons than protect against blows, although it
will perform both functions
Fetlock boots – smaller size to just protect the most vulnerable part of the
hind legs, the fetlocks, single strap, single lock, no lining
Now for the shipping boot question. The only real way to tell on the sizes
of those sort of shipping boots before you buy them is to measure your horse
from the ground at the back of the hind leg up to the point of his hock.
The customer service people should be able to take that same measurement on
the boot and see if the number is similar. I've never heard of anybody
putting shipping boots over the top of properly applied "Pony Club style"
shipping wraps but I would imagine that they wouldn't fit too well. If you
are up to doing the proper shipping wraps, you might just want to add a hock
boot that will strap on separately above the wrap. Shipping-style hock
boots are rather hard to find these days but a neoprene hock boot should do
the trick.
For future reference, cob size refers to a small horse/large pony, which is
just what your Morgan is, so cob sizes should fit him well.
Stay protected,
Stormy
Featured rule: USPC Statement on the Use of Safety Vests
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2002 Horse Management Handbook page 13 section 6: USPC Statement on the Use
of Safety Vests
The debate over the use of riding vests/body protectors continues throughout
the equestrian world and in Pony Club as well. USPC RECOMMENDS the use of a
properly fitted riding body protector.
USPC expects regions and clubs to ALLOW Pony Club members to wear a riding
vest. Currently, there is no conclusive medical evidence that riding vests
will necessarily prevent injuries. We have received expert medical opinions
that riding vests will not prevent or abate many forms of spinal,
neurological, or orthopedic injuries. Additionally, the use of riding vests
MAY contribute to heat exhaustion and distress in excessive temperatures.
It is also possible that an improperly worn or fitted riding vest may impair
a rider's mobility and/or vision.
USPC cautions its Regions and Clubs that they MAY NOT require or mandate the
use of a riding vest (except during a USEA-sanctioned Eventing competition
where they MUST be worn during the cross-country phase).
USPC believes that the decision of wearing a riding vest, and in what
situations it should be worn in order to achieve any benefit it may provide,
must be the decision of each individual rider and his/her parent or legal
guardian.
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