Monthly Archives: November 2014

Professional Rider

Livery yards and facilities

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As the rain comes down and winter is finally here, early dark nights, and long wet days the livery yards in the UK struggle on. Horse Scout recommends when you endeavour to select a yard with good facilities. Horse walkers are super for assisting fitness, maintaining movement , and supporting rehabilitation. An indoor school can have huge advantages for training through the winter, enabling both early and late schooling, and a dry environment to train within.

Having professionals live onsite can help ease your mind, knowing the knowledge is there when the vet may not be. Long standing experienced horsemen often know when it is or is not appropriate to call for assistance.

If you are new to being a livery client, always make the yard aware that you may require additional help, to prevent accidents, or breach of yard policy.

Check out our fantastic yards listed with horse scout, view your friends, and there horses connections.

Horse Riding Tips

Rider training and position

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The annual BHS conference took place today at Catherston Stud. With leading showjumping trainer Corinne Bracken demonstrating the importance of having the ball of your foot in the stirrup. If your toe is on the stirrup this pushes the toes up which blocks the pelvis. With the toe in neutral our pelvis stays relaxed and we can absorb the movement.

We were fortunate to take on board this new awareness and will hope you do too. Rider proprioception is a fundamental part of evolving from a rider to a competent rider to a professional rider

Practise and see for yourselves!

For more information take a look at the British Showjumping Association

First Horse

Selling your horse or pony with Horse Scout, preparation for potential buyers

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It’s important that once you’ve made the decision to sell your horse, you advertise in a manner to help potential buyers understand their suitability. At Horse Scout sales questionnaires draw the correct information to help you reach your target audience.

Our top tips
Insist those trying always wear a hat, and ideally a body protector if they bring one, prevention always better than cure!

Preparing for sale
So the advert is live and you’re waiting for the phone to ring with potential buyers. If you haven’t already done so, below are our top tips on preparing your horse for sale.
correct information

Passport, Vaccinations, Breeding, Competition Record. Ensure you have all the required information to hand. The advert process with Horse Scout will ensure all areas are already covered!
Facilities

Have the right facilities to show your horse off. If you are selling a jumping horse and do not have any jumps then you may need to arrange to go rent a ménage, and jumps. make sure the horse is happy with where he is going and has seen the fences or surroundings before.

Handling
Try to get your horse used to being handled by others, especially if he is just used to you. Buyers will want to run their hands down his legs, pick feet up, prod and poke! Get him used to being taken out of his stable and stood up, and trotted up.

Riding
If possible, try and get your horse used to being ridden by other people who are suitable, and competent. This will increase the chance of the animal being settled when being tried by someone new and different. First impressions count, relaxed horses sell!

Clean and Tidy
Take time to prepare your horse to ensure he looks his best. Give him a bath, pull mane and tail be sure they look clean, tidy and smart. No one wants to be bucked off! Ensure bathing is done with ample time to dry, and be warm.
Clipping, Loading and Hacking
If you have said your horse is good to load, clip and hack then a buyer may want to see this evidenced. Make sure you are prepared, and can support your advertising statements. Any vices should always be declared in advance, after all there is a home for every horse!
All the best!

First Horse

Choosing the right horse for you, buying a horse for the first time

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Horse Scout’s top tips:
Horse Scout strongly advises that you stick to your itinerary: the choices you make should be guided by the person helping, managing, training you — and not influenced by the seller.

Age: This is a common conundrum… the novice rider needs an animal to have been backed and in regular work for at least a couple of years. Purchasing a 5-year-old with little time under saddle may be problematic, as horses will grow and change in temperament. As a rule of thumb, horses decrease in value after 11 years; age starts from January each year. Therefore buying a 10-year-old in December will leave you with an 11-year-old horse in January.
Budget: If the animal seems too good to be true, it probably is! Unless you have a personal connection to the seller, there may be a veterinary issue, which is not being disclosed, or there could be a lack of suitability of the horse for required purpose.
Type: Consider what you want your horse to do and view potential horses accordingly. If you want a quiet schoolmaster, don’t be tempted to view a young feisty thoroughbred. If you want something to hunt, don’t be impressed by something with flashy movement that probably won’t stand up to running on unlevel ground.
Breed: Avoid full blood thoroughbreds as a first horse unless the animal has references and history already suited to your needs. Mixed-blood ‘colder’ breeding will lend to an easier/less sharp temperament. After all, you would not purchase a Ferrari as your child’s first car!
Size: Horses can grow until they are 8 years old and breed will dictate the chance of the horse having a late growth spurt. Seek advice from a vet/professional when buying a youngster.
Sex: Consider where the animal will be kept. Some yards have a gelding-only policy. Always ask when a gelding has been gelded if young, as it may still have stallion tendencies!
History: If you’re looking to compete, buy an animal with a competition history. The animal’s experience will help to keep you confident eg if you are embarking upon a show jumping horse, buy a horse with a BSJA record, NOT just on a ticket.
Research: Keep looking at Horse Scout frequently. A good horse will go quickly. Horse Scout adverts get rated for the amount of information given – if it hasn’t got five stars find out why and ask appropriate questions.
Trial: If you arrive at the venue and immediately know the horse is not for you, say so. You’ll only be wasting the owner’s time and yours. Visit the horse more than once, as this may unveil character flaws or you might merely have missed something on your first visit. See the horse ridden before you get on, watch the horse jump before you jump, and hack alone and in company if hacking is important to your requirements. Video the visit so that you can watch it at home with someone whose opinion you trust and ask as many questions as possible.
Vetting: Confirm that the seller is happy to have the horse vetted, and possibly x-rayed before you book a visit. However, weigh up what level of vetting you need. If the horse is just for hacking, a three-star vetting may be enough.
Horse Scout believes there is a home for every horse.

Best of luck – the Horse Scout Team!

Stallions

Finding a good stallion

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When choosing a stallion to breed from there are many considerations, from confirmation, character, to performance and grading. The stallions competition results also play a large part in today’s climate, with an abundance of progeny from all disciplines helping to support how well the stud can stamp his stock. Locating quality stallions  can be hard unless you have knowledge and a clear understanding of exactly what you need. Assessing height, and bone you may need and expert or professional to support your decisions . The foreign breed is slowly taking more and more of a role even in eventing. Gone ate the days of the full thoroughbred , now enough blood has been selected and introduced that both gallop and movement is coming through . Contact an experienced individual with an understanding of your requirements, and an eye to see the weaknesses in your mare, or potentially asses the suitability to breed from her at all; with an abundance of outstanding young horses on the market it can often reduce the lottery of breeding by simply buying a correct youngster.

Horse Riding Tips

Rider balance when training the horse

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There is an increasing awareness that horse and rider should not be asymmetric. The ever expanding research in balance, biomechanics, and musculoskeletal impact upon the horse and rider combination is vast. Training horses to move freely without the riders influencing movement & freedom is a hard task. Professional trainers and coaches http://www.horsescout.co.uk/professionalswill be able to help you identify which rein your restricted on, this is very important in the both the horses and your own development with flatwork and jumping respectively . Horses with one sided development often present with an ‘unstraightness’ during jumping exercises. Until straightness can be achieved the horse and rider should be careful not to focus on height , but quality of the canter , replicability of the jump & straightness.