Back in training

After nearly five weeks lame I’m glad to report that Shah is now back to normal again and we’ve started our ‘back to action’ training programme. On the vet’s recommendations we started with 10 minutes walking on the road, slowly building up every other day, up to an hour where we are now.

As Shah is now perfectly sound in walk, trot and canter I’ve started to add some small trots and will extend the length of these over the next few weeks, adding a bit of canter next week, then upping the length of our sessions and so on. I also tried him on some poles the other day and he happily flew over them so we’ll be doing more of that, and adding hill work as soon as I can.

With some extra care in form of a couple of massage sessions, a course of arnica tablets, some leg aid creams, a course of devil’s claw and plenty of turnout (he’s now out 24/7 – yippee!!) we should be back to doing some more rides quite soon. The only problem now is the belly!! Yep, after his enforced rest while being lame (turned out at day, in at night) and then now being out 24/7 while I start him up, he’s put on a huge grass belly. I can’t see the ribs anymore!!!

Luckily he gets more exercised now in the field as a new mare has moved in with them. Shah is the bottom of the pecking order and as the new girl is quite young and likes to play, he gets the brunt of it, being chased around. I feel sorry for him though as he doesn’t get anyone to groom/tail swish for him anymore. With the two mares now doing that, he gets left out. Once a grumpy old man, always a grumpy old man!

 

Bitting

I decided a little while ago to start looking for an alternative bit for Shah. I agree that the ‘normal’ jointed snaffle that I ride him in is not a kind bit and it has been known to not suit a lot of arabs that traditionally have small mouths and big tongues. He does a lot of head tossing and I was wondering if a new bit might help.

So, our bit journey started this week with a hired PeeWee (thank goodness you can hire bits these days, rather than having to fork out for loads of bits that might not work). It sounded good and came recommended by others so I thought why not.

But after about half an hour in the school Shah started to complain. His head tossing became worse and he was helicoptering like mad. So I got off and changed back to the snaffle. He was slightly happier but now confused. I suspect he was finding it hard with the peewee to find his sweet spot of when he gets tongue relief so started to get annoyed and just ended up head shaking badly.

This means that the bit is now returned to the box and will be on its way back to the supplier tomorrow.

Next one on the list to try: Myler. I won one on eBay today (for a great price I must say) so I decided to buy one rather than hire this time. I can always sell it again if it doesn’t work!

If that still don’t work – it’s either onto a Myler combination bit, or just stay with the snaffle and take the good with the bad!

 

Saddle sorted

I hope I’ve sorted the saddle now…at least for a year or two. I had been trying out a friend’s Free ‘n’ Easy saddle (Endurace Special model) and I decided to buy it after the saddle fitter came and fitted it perfectly to us.

The saddle fitter was very good I thought. She spent quite a lot of time on looking at Shah’s shape and evalute how he moves. She then fitted the saddle, which in this case involves an allen key and a screwdriver, and the webbers and looked at him moving without me on before I then got on and rode for about 20-30 minutes, making some more small adjustments before we were happy with it.

It’s a good saddle I think. Shah is happy with it and I’m reasonably comfy. I can’t say it’s the comfiest thing I’ve ever sat in but it’s comfy enough to be good for longer rides.

So now it’s back to getting fit again…

 

Saddles take two

I’ve discovered that it takes a long time to find a good saddle. After looking at western saddles I decided they were not for us. I still want to keep a foot in with English riding, maybe do a dressage test or local show now and then. So, after some deliberating I’ve decided to go for either a traditional looking endurance saddle, or maybe something VSD looking (not really sure what VSD stands for, to me it means ‘very nearly dressage’ as it’s somewhere in between a GP and a dressage saddle).

The choice is varied. You can go for a budget option (Thorowgood or Wintec are popular choices) but as I’ve just had a synthetic budget saddle I’d like to treat us to a nicer saddle that will last longer. There are also a range of mid range saddles and I do like the look of this one, Equxtra Terranger but the mechanism where you alter the gullet size can be bulky apparently so I’m concerned about it putting pressure on the withers. Or maybe this one from the Saddle Co, but I’m not sure about how comfortable they are for long hours in the saddle. So I’m down to the really nice, top range options, but I’d like to find a second hand one as I can’t really afford to pay £1500+ for a saddle. It’s a hobby, not a full time occupation! In this range you have, for example, Strada, Reactor Panel, WOW and Ortho-Flex saddles.

I might have found one…will let you know more when I’ve finally decided.

Just to check how Shah reacts to a different saddle I put his old one on the other day and he refused to trot and canter, so the borrowed saddle quickly went back on again and we were back to normal. Funny how sensitive they are, they will tell you whether the saddle is right or not. And even when it’s not perfect they will still tell you if it’s better than the old one. Wonderful animals!

 

Saddles

I’ve started the new year with looking for a new saddle. Boy it’s much more difficult than I thought – and expensive! My old saddle doesn’t fit Shah very well any longer, I think it’s pinching him as he seems a bit irritated around the withers/shoulders so I really need another saddle. The one I have now is synthetic and I bought it second hand three years ago so it’s not surprising that it’s coming to the end of its life.

First decision – what make/model? There must be thousands of various types of saddles, English, Western, Endurance, Treeless, GP, Dressage, Jumping, Racing etc. etc. I would like one that I am comfy in as well as Shah during our hacks, and potentially endurance rides. My preference is therefore leaning towards a western or endurance saddle, or even more preferrable a western endurance saddle! As I’ve never bought a western saddle before I asked my friends over at Arabianlines for some advice – and I’m glad I did. Turns out the tree in a western saddle is for the most part not designed to fit an Arab, it’s also much longer than most other saddles and Arabs are short backed so there’s the danger of them rubbing on their hips and affecting their hindquarters being able to move freely underneath them.

I also found another really good site for choosing western saddles – Western Saddle Guide. The site tells you that there are western saddles designed especially for Arabs, they have an Arabian tree which apparently is lower, shorter and wider to fit Arabs that normally have lower withers, rounder and shorter backs. This sounds really good, but unless you are able to try one out, how do you know they actually fit? We don’t have any western saddlers around where I live and most online western saddlers don’t have a ‘try before you buy’ policy. This is where treeless saddlers are very good, they will happily ship you a saddle to try out for a week (for a small fee) before you commit to buy. When you think about the investment, you might have to shell out over £1,000 for a new saddle, you really want to be careful. It needs to fit your horse well and it needs to be comfy for the rider too.

With regards to the investment I’ve learned that you basically get what you pay for. If you buy a cheaper synthetic saddle you get cheaper quality which is more likely to give your horse a problem. But on the other hand, not everyone can afford to pay thousands of pounds to get the right one. So what do you do?

Seems like most people try their way through several saddles until they find one that fits both them and the horse. What an expensive way of doing things! I’m seeing a friend this week to try out several saddles that she has to see if any of those makes and models will suit us. I then have to try and find either a second hand one of that model (eBay most likely) and potentially reflock it to fit well – or I have to buy a brand new one for mega money. Ok, I can always sell it one as second hand down the line, and as I do ride four to five times a week it’s an investment in our health, but I do think saddlers have riders over the barrel so to speak. Surely saddles should be produced that fit the horse and the rider’s wallet!!

What makes am I looking at? Several really, with or without tree. Ortho-flex, Reactor Panel, WOW, and Startrekk are just some I’ve considered. I’m also thinking I might get a treeless, cheaper, saddle to get by with over the next month or two until I’ve found the funds and time to have a saddle fitter come out and measure him up for an expensive treed leather saddle, be it western or endurance. Until then, I’ll just have to keep looking on eBay!

 

Royal International Horse Show at Hickstead

The Royal International Horse Show is taking place at Hickstead this week, 26-30 July, and it’s a great event as usual. Dressage at Hickstead are also holding an international event this weekend so the venue is set to be fully packed and if you’re planning to go I would advise you to come early as there will be long queues to get in over the weekend. Make sure you also bring a hat, sun glasses and sun cream to protect yourself as the hot weather is set to continue.

There are classes for all tastes, from elite showing classes with some of the best show horses in the country to a range of showjumping classes that include pony club and novice competitions. Coupled with over a hundred trade stalls and a fun park for small children the event has something for the whole family.

I went on Wednesday to watch the pure bred Arab show class in particular. Nine of the best show Arabs turned up and were judged preliminary in the River Lawn ring in the morning. It was a hot morning for the judge who had to ride them all and she must have had a tough time picking out the placings in the tough competition. All of them looked great and showed themselves off to the best of their abilities. None had a particularly bad time in the ring and the judge managed to get the most of all the horses, which makes the decision so much harder.

There were some excellent extended canter from several horses, Tahir and Toman I thought shone in the gallop, while Malekeiro showed his usual big movements in trot. Al Galero looked the part and didn’t really put a foot wrong but somehow didn’t shine enough for my liking. I’d like to mention Grashakyme, a novice horse in its first big open competion. He did very well, giving the judge a solid ride, and I think he has potential to go far and give the top horses some tough competition in another year or so. I’d also like to mention Grenade, a horse slightly in the shade of others sometimes but who put in an excellent performance in the morning’s ride.

After the preliminary judging in the morning all horses were put forward for the final ride and presentation in the main ring in the afternoon. Riding in the main ring on an Arab has always been my personal dream. You get to dress up in posh jacket and top hat and ride in the international arena with a much larger audience than what we’re normally used to in the ridden Arab show world. Seeing the horses going around all excited gives me goose bumps. They all performed very well in the scary arena, walking, trotting and cantering around all the huge fences. When they had finished showing off the tremendous paces the breed has we were tensely waiting for the final results.

Chestnut stallion Toman got a well deserved first place. Congratulations to owners Auchmillan Arabians and rider Ann Hooley who makes it look like a breeze. He looks like he absolutely loves what he’s doing and his show in the main ring was foot perfect. Grenade took second place with Malekeiro in third, Al Galero in fourth and Grashakyme in fifth. Sixth went to Silver Lil, seventh to Tahir, eighth to Mahradi and ninth to Red House Zinderella.

We were then treated to the one of the best laps of honours I’ve ever seen. All the horses did their usual excited canter around with Ann and Toman deciding to do another lap in full out gallop! What a treat for the audience – we loved it!

I’m looking forward to Saturday now and the part bred and anglo Arab classes. More to come here from Hickstead after that! Oh, and yes, more shopping…