Tricks of the Trade

Drill Team Maneuvers

Teaching

Tack Room

Lessons getting stale? Tired of traveling in the same circles? Try doing mounted drill team work with your riders! You can do drill team maneuvers with two riders or more. It develops rating skills in your riders and helps them learn the true meaning of teamwork. For extra enthusiasm, let the riders pick the music and choreograph the pattern. There are numerous maneuvers you can make with drill team riders, from basic school figures to fancy wheels and pass-throughs. Drill team patterns can be done for all levels of riders and may be done at the walk, trot or canter. We recommend starting at the walk and reserving canter movements for only the most advanced riders.

Kathy Reimer,
BC Canada

CHA Asst. Clinic Instructor

Rainbow reins, the multi-colored rubber reins made popular by pony club, are helpful teaching tools for young riders because the instructor can easily tell the student what amount of contact she should have by saying, “Put your hands on green.” But rainbow reins can be expensive so we just use colored electrical tape to mark our reins for the same effect!

Amy Habak,
Wheeling, WV

CHA Asst. Clinic Instructor

Herd Management

Horse Lingo

Never a farrier around when you need one? Try scheduling your farrier to come once a week, rain or shine, during your busy season and keep the herd on a rotating schedule. Not only will this make things easier for you, but also if you have problems in-between shoeings, you can get the horse fixed up and back in service quickly.

Holly Fox,
Davis, CA

CHA Asst. Clinic Instructor

Fishing and horses are two sports that just don’t mix all that well. And while horses are known to have a condition called FOUNDER, that is not to be confused with a tasty, but funny looking fish known as a FLOUNDER! Founder is a layman’s term for the serious and sometimes life-threatening disease technically known as LAMINITIS. Laminitis can be caused by many things known and unknown, such as over-eating grain, excessive weight, excessive stress, etc., and manifests in a an inflammation of the laminae of the hoof. The laminae are the highly vascular connective tissue between the inner structure of the hoof and the hoof wall. Since this is a closed space, inflammation and swelling causes severe pain and distress for the horse. A foundered horse needs immediate medical attention and the rehabilitation will be a joint effort between a skilled farrier and your vet.

Joanne Young,
Houghton, NY

CHA Clinic Instructor

Drill Team Maneuvers Read More »

Teach the 3 Different Ways that People Learn

Teaching

Tack Room

A good reminder for instructors, as we approach the busy teaching season, comes directly from the newly released CHA Instructor’s Manual. People learn in three different ways: auditory, visual, and kinesthetic. The auditory learner will benefit most from the explanations that accompany any effective lesson, while the visual learner will learn more from the demonstration. A kinesthetic learner will learn best from actually practicing the motor skills. All of us learn in all three ways, but typically individuals will favor one method over the other two. For this reason, it is important to make sure all of your lessons present information in all three ways. Remember, that for a visual learner, a poor demonstration may leave a lasting impression of the wrong thing. For this reason, it important for the demonstration to be very good and you should avoid demonstrating the wrong thing or how not to do something. (The new Instructor’s Manual is now available by calling the CHA office; it is a valuable tool for instructors and trail guides).

A bit frequently seen in tack rooms everywhere is the “Tom Thumb snaffle” or western snaffle. This is a shanked bit with a jointed mouthpiece. This bit is commonly misunderstood and believed to be a very mild bit, because of its jointed mouthpiece. In fact, the bit can be quite harsh since the jointed mouthpiece allows the bit to squeeze the chin of the horse, an action referred to as the “nutcracker effect.” Additionally, when the shanks come together from a pull on both reins, the jointed part pushes up into the roof of the horse’s mouth, which is a highly sensitive area. This bit is definitely a leverage bit and is not a direct pressure bit like a snaffle. Horses using this bit will frequently open their mouth to try and escape the pressure. The bit definitely has its use, but if it is a mild bit you are looking for, this isn’t it.

Herd Management

Horse Lingo

Funguses and skin disorders are common problems in the summer, especially when the same grooming equipment is used for a large herd. Brushes and grooming tools should be disinfected regularly through out the season. Place the brushes in a five-gallon bucket and soak in a mix of bleach, detergent and water. Allow the brushes to soak for at least an hour, rinse VERY thoroughly (to avoid skin irritation caused by the bleach and detergent) and allow the brushes to dry in the sun. Disinfect brushes and grooming tools every time a horse shows signs of a skin disorder or on a routine basis, weekly or monthly. Whenever a horse shows signs of a skin disorder, be sure to disinfect and isolate his brushes and tack, so that it does not come in contact with any other horses.

Stride Vs. Step: a stride refers to one complete cycle of all four feet during the gait. For instance, the canter (or lope) is a three beat gait and one stride of the canter includes all three beats (the outside hind, then the inside hind and outside fore as a diagonal pair, then finally the inside fore). A step is the action of one beat during the stride. So one step in the canter stride would be when the leading fore leg moves forward as the final beat of the canter stride.

Teach the 3 Different Ways that People Learn Read More »

Teach Conformation

Teaching

Tack Room

I always like to ask my students to evaluate the conformation of the horse they are riding. It makes them think about the horse’s way of going (paces, straightness, and flexion) then we discuss how to improve. It teaches them to think for themselves and to understand and empathize with the horse a little more.

Jennifer Diggle

Sweaty Stinky Saddle Pads

Saddle pads are awkward to store and generally need airing out to diminish the sweaty horse smell that can get oh-so-pungent in the summer. Make a space in your tack room just like a hanging closet in a bedroom, with a hanging bar. The more pads you use, the longer the bar needs to be. Get plastic pant hangers, with the pinch-clamps and you can hang each pad so that it dries and airs out. You can store a huge number of pads in a relatively small space and best of all, you can retrieve any pad on the rack, just like you pick a shirt from your closet.

Julie Goodnight

Herd Management

Horse Lingo

  

» Back to Tricks of the Trade directory

» Click here to submit your trick to“Tricks of the Trade”

Teach Conformation Read More »