Horse Jump Hurdles, What Are They Composed Of
Posted by Mike Newell | Filed under Recreation & Sports
Horse jumps are carefully designed for size, height and safety of materials. These jumps test the training and expertise of both horse and rider in competitions. As this magnificent animal takes the jumps with rider leaning forward placing her weight in the most advantageous way. Both need to know the jumps are safe. By purchasing from a well known manufacturer, they are assured.
After safety concerns, price is important. A company may guarantee that his company s equipment is sold to you at the lowest price. This includes costing less than any other manufacturer charges for similar quality jumping equipment.
It is of the utmost importance to buy quality equipment. Wood or PVC, a man made type of plastic material, is used to build the jumps. Horse show planners consider PVC superior in many ways. It cannot rot like wood. It is long lasting and can be left out in inclement weather. It is very durable.
PVC is a more expensive material to work with, however, it can now be manufactured more cheaply than wood because of computerized methods. This makes PVC competitive in the market. It is, in fact, cheaper to buy than wood.
As in any other industry, there are a large number of types of jumps. Some are cavalletti, which are used for dressage exhibitions. Cross Country comes in a large variety of types including natural looking logs and pools for water for the horses to jump over. The Western jumps include situations that might be encountered on a natural wood trail.
There are specifications for each type of jump. As a beginner who wants to start with a few simple hurdles, you need to know some facts. You can set up your first jumps. Check each piece of equipment for nails or sharp pieces. A cross rail is a kind of upright fence made with two poles meeting at the center in a cross. This keeps the horse jumping in the center of the jump.
A pyramid jump and oxer jump are two other types. Any combination of two or three jumps in a row requires careful measurement of not only the height but the distance between the jumps as measured in strides. An upright fence must be correctly spaces as it is a difficult jump.
Measure the distance between jumps at approximately twelve feet for a horse or ten feet for a pony. Alternatively, you can measure your own horse s exact stride. Use a tape measure and set up the distance between jumps according to your horse.
It is crucial that you do not place a pole behind a jump. It creates a false ground line. That will make the horse perceive the jump to be further back than it actually is. Of course this will throw off his judgement creating a dangerous situation.
The requirements for the size regulations in competitions are stringent. Planners of the shows want to add accessories that are aesthetically pleasing to those spectators attending the event. You can buy accessories such as extra rails, cups, wings and flower boxes to make the ring a lovely place. Jumps can be purchased in package deals or individually. Appearance is not of primary importance, but it does add to the horse show experience.
Horse jumps allow the spectators to enjoy the grace of horse and rider as they clear them. They may not understand the difficulty of the jumps and how much training of both horse and rider are needed to accomplish clearing them gracefully; the spectators do derive pleasure from all the beauty and that includes how the course is presented.
To race horses or even get them to perform on crosscountry jumps tourneys, you should know where check into. On the web you will find that horse jumps is a important horse event that goes on every year and to find out the best tips look on the web.
Tags: equestrian business, equestrian equipment, equestrian jumps, equine training, horse business, horse jumps, horses, Recreation & Sports, show jumps
Cleaning Horse Saddles
Posted by Tyler Wilmas | Filed under Recreation & Sports
Taking care of your horse saddle is critical. The leather and metallic parts can quickly deteriorate if not properly maintained. Saddles are a pretty expensive purchase, so in order to protect your investment you want to care for your saddle properly on a regular basis.
Cleaning your saddle on a monthly basis will help keep maintenance minimal and prevent the hefty job of undoing long term neglect. If you use your saddle on a more regular basis, you may need to tend to it more frequently.
Saddles have a long lifespan in general, but if they are not cared for they can rot and deteriorate rapidly. It is also always important to use some sort of leather oil when caring for your saddle once you have cleaned it. This will help to preserve the leather.
You can straddle your horse saddle over a fence to scrub it. You may use water and a mild soap to begin cleaning, but do not soak or saturate the leather too deeply. You can use a medium soft brush to scrub the leather, but be careful not to shred or tear it.
You do want to take your saddle apart to clean those hard-to-reach places. Crud can collect in cracks and areas between saddle parts. You do not want your saddle to become a petri dish of funk that can make you sick, your horse sick or just plain reek a foul odor. Be diligent with the sanitation of your saddle and you will save yourself the grief of a nasty fungus ruining your riding time.
While you are scrubbing the main part of the saddle, soak the detached metal parts that are safe to soak. You will be finishing these later. Do not leave them soaking longer than it takes to clean the rest of the horse saddle. Do not soak any leather!
Remember that the horse is in contact with the underside of the saddle, so do not forget to clean this part as well. You will also need to clean all straps and harnesses and any metal pieces that are connected to the saddle core. Be sure these are allowed to dry before the saddle is stored to prevent rusting.
Once you have cleaned all of the parts of the saddle you should oil them, both the leather and the metal. Apply an even coat to the entire saddle and wipe any extra drips so that they do not dry and stain your finish with odd markings.
Once you have oiled your saddle and thoroughly dried off all of the leather and metallic parts, it is time to reassemble your saddle, Hopefully, you have kept careful track of all the parts that you detached. Do not leave any parts out when putting it back together or the saddle may fall apart or fail during use.
Taking Care Of your horse saddle will prolong it’s usefulness. You are working to keep up it’s looks and it’s functionality. Rust and rot can break down a saddle and have a negative effect on you or your horse’s health. If you tend to your horse saddle on a regular basis, you should have no problems keeping it in great, usable riding condition.
Article contributor, Tyler Wilmas, is a horse connoisseur and has many quality saddles for sale in his feed supply shop. To learn more about horse tack and other horse issues, read more of his posts online.
Tags: barrel racing, cattle farms, cow horses, english saddles for sale, farming, Hobbies, horse saddles for sale, horseback riding, horses, pets, ranching, Recreation & Sports, saddles for sale, show horses, western saddles for sale
Whether You Choose Local Or Name Brand, The Wishes Are The Same
Posted by Andre Hansen | Filed under Recreation & Sports
When choosing a western saddle maker it doesn’t matter if you select a local craftsman or a leading manufacturer to make your saddle. The wants that you’ve got to meet will be the same. The first thing you need to do is decide on who you would like to make your saddle for you. You may have friends who have dealt with one or the other and they can tell you what their experience was like for them.
You may have friends who have dealt with one or the other and they can tell you what their experience was like for them. Don’t let this one experience be your final factor. Ask around with other area folk and see who they preferred and why. You might want to take notes so that you may refer to them later.
You won’t use this as the sole factor in deciding who you may decide to make your saddle. You can use the notes and make yourself a guide line of the good and bad points each western saddle maker. When you have decided on who will be the saddle maker then you can move onto the other concerns.
The accord sets the terms to be followed by both parties, but particularly the saddle maker. The contract should be engineered to make him tell you when the saddle will be done. There should be contingencies drafted in case something goes pear shaped.
This doesn’t excuse the saddle maker from giving you quality work in a relatively adequate timescale. all of these tips pertain to both local saddle makers and giant name manufacturers. You can reach an amount of quality craftsmanship from either supplier. The giant name manufacturer may be busier than you expected, so there could be a time delay for getting the project started. This may because all your friends are doing the same.
Your local western saddle maker may be able to start earlier on your saddle because they are not so backlogged in their orders. The local guy may have time to put into his craftsmanship a private gratification and pride that the leading makers might not be in a position to do.
You can find more information about saddle makers at http://www.westernsaddlemakers.com, where you can read about Western saddle makers.
Tags: horses, Recreation & Sports, saddle craftsman, western saddle makers
Understanding and Treating Horse Cribbing
Posted by Duber Stewart | Filed under Home & Family
Cribbing is one of the various bad habits which horses can develop. It appears to develop as a result of boredom, in particular when a horse is confined to a stall for most of the day and has never been observed in horses which live in a natural environment (e.g. pasture based). With cribbing, the horse grabs an object (e.g. fence rail or feeding trough) with its front teeth, then arches its neck while pulling on the item, then sucks in air. Although the reason for this activity has not been proven, it is believed that the horse does it because it results in the release of brain chemicals (such as endorphins) which are pleasurable. The terms ‘crib biting’ and ‘wind sucking’ are also used.
This habit is sometimes mistaken for wood chewing. Both activities involve biting on wood and causing damage to it. However, they are really different habits. With wood chewing, the horse simply nibbles on wood, typically to occupy itself and to meet its natural desire to chew. With cribbing, the horse does not chew on the wood but simply grabs it so that it can stretch its neck so that it can suck in air. Examination of the damaged wood will show the difference as in one case it will be nibbled away whereas in the other it will show signs of being firmly bitten and then pulled.
Cribbing should be treated as soon as possible to minimize damage to your horse’s health. Untreated, it will result in the horse wearing down and damaging its teeth, leading to dental issues. It will also result in the neck muscles growing and thickening in an abnormal way (which is an issue for show horses in particular). It is also associated with various illnesses, such as colic, but there has been insufficient research to understand the nature of the association (e.g. does cribbing cause colic, or are both cribbing and colic both promoted by excessive periods confined to stalls).
Fortunately, it is possible to treat cribbing. Since cribbing is mainly due to boredom and lack of mental stimulation, one needs to provide the horse with interest and activity. Giving the horse as much pasture time as possible is very successful in reducing the amount of cribbing. Feeding should also be more interesting, with pasture feeding (eating grass) the optimum solution. If this is not possible, it should be moved to foods such as hay which have long chewing times rather than grain or muesli (which have short eating times and thus little stimulation). Many small feeds per day are better than one or two large feeds. Anything else which provides variety and stimulation, such as exercise and grooming, is also beneficial.
Unfortunately, once the habit of cribbing has been established, removing the cause will only reduce the frequency but not completely remove the cause. One also needs to stop the behavior as well. This can be very difficult as the horse can crib not only on wood, but on any item which in can hold tightly with its teeth and pull on. There are a variety of techniques to address this but no one technique works with all horses, so you may need to try different techniques until you find one that works with your horse.
One of the most common approaches is a ‘cribbing strap’, also known as a ‘cribbing collar’, which is a strap that fits around the neck with a mental plate on the underside to make it uncomfortable for the horse to swell its neck to suck air. Another device is the use of a muzzle, which allows the horse to eat but prevents it from grasping items with its teeth. One can also put a live (under current) fencing wire along fence rails to prevent the horse from grabbing the rails, or paint the rails with an unpleasant tasting paint (a number of veterinary approved products are available). In some cases, certain medications (in particular, anti-depressants) are helpful. Finally, if all else fails, there is a surgical solution.
Successful treatment of cribbing requires that one both improve its conditions (more activity, less boredom) and that one physically discourage cribbing using one or more of the above techniques. Either method on its own is likely to have only limited success.
This article on Horses Cribbing was written by Duber Stewart, the owner of Horses For Sale
Tags: Home & Family, horse, horse behavior, horse behaviours, horse care, horse crib biting, horse cribbing, horse wind sucking, horses, pets
I Love Horses
Posted by Rachel M. Quake | Filed under Self Improvement
I’ve always considered anything to do with horses to be “elitist” and never thought I, as a middle income wage earner would ever have more than a passing acquaintance with it, however, in 1981, I gave birth to a beautiful little girl who quickly became enamored with the huge beasts from the time she could talk.
At the time, I figured it was a passing fancy that she would soon outgrow, so I was not concerned with the costs involved with horses, riding lessons, equestrian clothing, etc.
When our daughter began school, she did not do well. Her teachers and the professionals we consulted said that she was mentally slow. They told my husband and me that we needn’t worry about college for her. But, we knew our daughter, and we knew they were wrong. So we set out to prove that our daughter was fine, and it was their assessment that was incorrect.
Her first riding lesson took place when our daughter was 10 years old. We watched in wonder as perched atop the horse, she transformed from the shy, introverted persona that she portrayed in school and became the self-confident champion that we had been sure lurked inside.
The cost of her riding became quite unmanageable for us in no time at all and we suffered more than a little making sure she stayed atop that horse in the following year.
Then, almost miraculously, when she was in the sixth grade, she received an offer that she, and we, could just not refuse. She could earn her lessons and receive them free, in exchange for helping out at the stables, doing chores from grooming the horses, to helping younger and less experienced riders. We had found a solution to the ever growing problem of how to pay for her “horse crazy” life.
Six years later, our daughter graduated from high school with top honors in all her subjects as well as with a full scholarship to one of the best colleges in the United States. When she was 17, she finally removed the name of her old horse, Merlin, from its place of honor on her notebook, replacing it with the name of her boyfriend. But the boyfriend was well aware that this honor was bestowed upon him only because he also had a deep passion for horses.
From the time she was in the sixth grade, she worked steadily at that stable, and received her 3.8 grade point average in college and graduated, without costing us any money at all.
We look back over our daughter’s growing up years and her educational career, and we realize that her passion for everything about horses, and her love of riding not only helped her be successful in that field, but in school and every other area of her life. The determination and work ethic that was required for her to follow her passion taught important lessons, and her willingness to earn her own lessons from an early age, showed her the way to achieve by hard work in a way that many other parents have wished their children possessed.
We feel very fortunate that we took up the “expensive” riding habit for her so many years ago as an incentive for her to adjust in this crazy world. The horses did what no other experts in their fields could have done–and they did it without saying a word.
Want to learn more about horses and the multiple benefits of being around them? Come to our website and learn how to take care of horses through feeding, health care, exercise, and even horse bedding
Tags: animal care, animals, horses, pet care, pets, Self Improvement
