Monthly Archives: May 2008

The Grand National: The Demolition Derby of Horse Racing

Posted by Liz Goldsmith in 1, Commentary, equestrian, equine, horse racing, horses and tagged with , , ,

Just this week I watched a video of the Aintree Grand National Steeplechase, run in Liverpool, England. This amazing race has been run since 1839 and it is both incredibly awe inspiring and terrible to watch. The carnage of this race is unbelievable with horse and jockeys falling at every fence. And yet there are some tremendous success stories, too. Red Rum won this race three times and came in second twice! Jockey George Stevens rode five winners. It’s been won four times by horses that started at odds of 100/1. Jockey and mystery writer Dick Francis rode in the race eight times, nearly winning it in 1956.

Here’s the 2008 Grand National:

Then, after reading a bit about the history of this race I watched one of the most famous modern runs which took place in 2001 (part 1 and part 2). In the 2001 race 44 horses started and four finished. The horses that came in third and fourth actually fell earlier in the race and were remounted by their jockeys who rode to the finish.

I also watched the famous race that Dick Francis almost won in 1956.

Although I’d heard about the Grand National, I’d never known the specifics. It’s like no race that I’ve ever seen before. The race comprises 30 jumping efforts over 4 miles and 4 furlongs. It is run at about 800 meters per minute and it is truly the demolition derby of horse racing. In any given year, approximately 40 horses start the race and some years, only a handful finish. Horses and jockeys fall at literally every fence with many loose horses continuing to run — and jump — on their own (to all of those people who think that riders force their horses to jump, it’s fascinating to watch the horses that jump alongside those still mounted).

The fences are huge — the largest stands 5’2″– and with one exception, a water jump, all are covered with brush. Many of the jumps are so well known that they have nicknames.

The most famous fence is Becher’s Brook (fence 6 & 22). It stands a mere 4’10″ on the take off side, but there is a drop on the landing side of nearly 2′. The drop used to be even more extreme, but the jump caused so many injuries that the landing was leveled off. In addition, while there used to be a brook, the landing is now in a nominal amount of water (about an inch). Becher’s Brook is named after Captain Martin Becher who rode in the first Grand National in 1839. His horse, Conrad, plowed through the fence catapulting Becher into the brook.

Fence 7 & 23 is named Foinavon after a 100-to-one long shot who won the Grand National in 1967 after avoiding a huge pile up at this fence. A loose horse veered across the fence and kept every horse from successfully negotiating the fence except for Foinavon, who was too far behind. Foinavon avoided the pile up and went on to win by 15 lengths!

Fences 8 & 24 is the Canal Turn. This 5′ tall fence is positioned at a 90 degree turn to the left. If a horse jumps the fence straight, it causes them to lose ground so jockeys try to jump the fence at an angle.

Valentine’s Brook, jumped as fence 9 & 25, is similar to Becher’s Brook but not as severe. The fence got its name from one of the more bizarre events in Grand National history. In 1840, the Irish amateur jockey Alan Power laid a wager that he would be leading at the halfway mark on his mount Valentine. Determined to win the bet, Power was a furlong clear of the field at the Canal Turn but as he approached the next fence the horse slowed almost to a walk as if to pull up. At the last moment the horse changed his mind producing a spectacular corkscrew-type leap clearing both the fence and brook – which from then on became known as Valentine’s Brook.

The Chair is a fence that’s only jumped once on the course. It is 5ft 2in high, 3ft wide and has a 6ft ditch on the take-off side. The name comes from a seat positioned alongside which was once used by one of the judges. In modern times, the biggest problem posed by the Chair came in 1979 when loose horses caused nine of the runners to fall or be brought down.

Certainly, the Grand National is a test of endurance, talent and luck. It is hard to imagine a race like this in the US. It takes horse racing to an extreme that is both exhilarating and annihilating.

Micklem Multibridle – Side Pull Configuration

Posted by Liz Goldsmith in 1, Bitless bridle, equestrian, equine, horses, saddles, Tack and tagged with , ,

The Miklem Multibridle is an intriguing multipurpose bridle/halter/lunge caveson that can be used in both bitless and bitted configurations.

I ride one of my horses bitless and I bought the Micklem bridle to address a problem that I’ve had when using my LG bridle — the cheek pieces of the bridle creep toward my horse’s eyes and they also create rub marks. I also liked the fact that you could use it with a bit and wanted to have something in my tack room with this kind of versatility.

I ordered the bridle from Dover Saddlery. I paid $199 which is comparable to the padded leather Dr. Cook’s bitless bridle, which sells for $209. It arrived in a bag full of parts . . . and no directions. You’d think that putting together a bridle would be a no-brainer, but it isn’t. There are lots of extra pieces that require some thinking about. The quality of the leather is very nice and the stitching is even and straight. Overall the bridle is comparable in quality traditional bridles at a similar price point.

I’ve been riding in the Micklem Multibridle now for several weeks. I have two test subjects: Kronefurst, a 17 year old Trakehner gelding and Freedom, a 10 year old Thoroughbred.

The first configuration that I tried, the side pull, was a piece of cake to assemble as it used none of the extra pieces. The major difference between this and a regular bridle is the shape of the caveson, which is shaped so that it lies under the cheek bones. The nose band is placed higher than in a traditional bridle. Kroni wearing the Side Pull According to the Website, the nose piece should rest six fingers above the nostrils, which protects the fragile ends of the nose bones. The jowl strap is fitted snug and serves to hold the bridle in place. The bottom strap is fitted like a drop nose band, flush to the skin but not tight. The reins are fitted directly to the side rings.

The bridle works through nose pressure. Side pull bridles allow for very clear turning signals; if you pull on your left rein, your horse goes left. There is no curb strap, as in a hackamore, and no poll pressure.

My Trakehner, Kronefurst, goes pretty well in this configuration. He is a horse that was never comfortable in a bit (believe me, I tried many!) and was reluctant to take contact. In this mild side pull bridle, he relaxes, lengthens downward, and accepts contact. He really swings through his back. In this bridle, my horse can be a tad heavy but I find that preferable to curling up behind the bit. After riding in it a few times, I find that it makes me ride consistently off my outside rein and that I ride more off of my seat and legs. I did all of my normal flat schooling (leg yields, shoulder in, lengthening and collection). I jumped him over a few smaller fences (approximately 2′) but I didn’t feel that he was listening enough to my aids and didn’t continue. I have hacked him out in this and had no problems. The bridle fit him very well and I had no problems with rubbing, or with impingement to his eye.

The side pull configuration does not yet work as well on my Thoroughbred gelding. Freedom tends to ignore the bridle and pull through it. I am continuing to work with him as we have gotten some nice moments and because I like to give him a break from the bit. When he does relax and accept the bridle, his body is soft and relaxed.

The Micklem bridle in this configuration is similar to an English jumping hackamore, or to the LG Bridle in it’s mildest setting. The advantage that it brings is that it just fits better. It’s a nice design and it really does seem to follow the shape of the horse’s head in a much better way. Of course, it comes at a price. If you only want a side pull bridle, you can pick up a jumping hackamore for about $25 and it works reasonably well. It’s certainly your most cost effective choice.

If you are interested in how the other bitless configurations worked for my horse, you can read the next installment.

Related posts:

LG Bridle Offers Calibrated Control

On the Bit(less) Bridle: A Comparison

Big Brown’s Future is Set, but what about other Racehorses?

Posted by Liz Goldsmith in Commentary, 1, equestrian, equine, horses, Thoroughbred Racing, Racehorse Rescue and tagged with , , , , , , , ,

After a smoking win in the Preakness, Big Ben’s owners revealed that his retirement to stud is already set. According to an article in yesterday’s New York TImes:

The $50 Million Horse

By Joe Drape

It’s true Big Brown’s stallion rights were sold to Three Chimneys Farm for more than $50 million. Michael Iavarone, the president of International Equine Acquisitions Holdings and co-owner of Big Brown, confirmed he signed a deal after a week of negotiations en route to Pimlico today.

Three Chimneys already stands 2004’s almost-Triple-Crown-champion Smarty Jones, who commands $100,000 a mating and sees 110 mares a season. Iavarone says Big Brown will not run as a 4-year-old. If he wins the Belmont and becomes the first Triple Crown champion since Affirmed in 1978, he probably won’t run again.

The view of racing that the average person gets is influenced heavily by the phenomenal successes of horses like Big Brown and the tragedies of Eight Belles and Barbaro. The truth for most race horses is nothing like either of these extremes.

An article in the Thoroughbred Times examined the racing history of the crop of foals born in North America between 1990-99 using the Jockey Club database. The data provides an interesting picture of what is in store for the average racehorse.

  • Of the 360,741 named foals born during this period, 71% of them started somewhere in the world during their racing careers.
  • Only 48.1% of named foals won a race and only 36.9% won two races.
  • 13,208 horses, 3.7% of the total foals born (5.2% of all starters) were stakes winners.
  • Graded stakes winners was an even smaller number — 0.8% of foals born.
  • 34.7% of named foals started at the age of 2. Of those, 11.6% won a race.
  • More than 60% of named foals started at age 3.
  • The average foal races 15 times in his career; those sound enough to race started an average of career of 21 starts.
  • Average winning distance was 6.8 furlongs
  • Males had higher average earnings than females approximately $7,700 higher than the $41,475 while females earned about $8,000 lower than the mean.

While $40K in lifetime earnings seems like a lot, keeping a racehorse costs approximately $20K per year, so for many owners, they are lucky to break even!

And what happens to these horses? Unfortunately, with the costs of keeping a horse being high, and with the average thoroughbred running only 21 times, many of these horses have short racing careers and need to be re-homed.

For many of them, the future is not as bright as that to be enjoyed by Big Brown. Far too many end up at auctions where they are sold for slaughter. The lucky ones are retrained as riding horses — or, if unsound, find homes as companion horses.

There are some terrific organizations that work tirelessly (and without pay) to help these racehorses find new homes. All of them deserve your support both in celebration and in remembrance of these exquisite athletes. I, myself, have a retired racehorse that I adopted from CANTER New England and can recommend the organization and their expertise highly!

Trailering Safely – Loading Tips

Posted by Liz Goldsmith in 1, Commentary, equestrian, equine, Equine Safety, horse trailer, horses, Trailer Safety and tagged with , , ,

We’ve all been in this situation. You have somewhere to go and yet your horse will not get on the trailer. You start off calm and after 15 minutes your temper flares and your horse becomes increasingly obstinate. I once missed an event because my horse wouldn’t load. I know people who’ve literally spent hours trying to get their horses on a trailer and who have done everything short of picking up the darn horse and carrying him on.

I’ve seen a lot of interesting loading techniques over the years, many of them patently unsafe, both for the horse and the owner.

First there’s the lunge line behind the butt. I used that myself until I saw a horse flip over backwards. Luckily the horse wasn’t hurt, but I could certainly see the possibilities.

Next, there’s the broom on the butt scenario, where you have one person pulling and another standing behind with a broom (or a whip) hitting or pushing looking like a “push me pull you” from Dr. Doolittle. I’ve seen a few near misses when the irritated horse kicks out at the broom bearer.

Many people rely on the bribe your horse with food method. There are several variations on this theme. There are those who park their trailers in a field and leave their horse’s grain and hay on the trailer; others try to tempt their horse onto the trailer with carrots or grain. I’m sure we’ve all fallen into this trap as it’s just too expedient when you’re in a hurry. Unfortunately, rewarding your horse for its reluctance to load on your trailer only serves to reinforce its behavior.

But what do all the above methods teach your horse? That he’s in charge of whether he will get on the trailer. In addition, it makes loading into an unpleasant experience that involves threats, frayed tempers and occasionally injuries.

I used to have a horse that didn’t like to load. He wasn’t scared of the trailer; he simply wouldn’t get on. When I was at a boarding barn, there were always people around to “help.” Sometimes that worked; other times the help just got him too frazzled to focus. It certainly was easier when another horse was already on the trailer and at least once I put a decoy horse on just to get mine on board.

When I moved to a self care barn, I realized that 90 percent of the time I was going to be loading by myself. It was time to teach him to self load. In retrospect, I can’t believe that I waited so long. There is no longer any debate over whether he’s getting on the trailer, I don’t have to schedule extra time, and I no longer get angry and frustrated. It’s also the safest method because he gets on the trailer by himself; I just fasten the butt bar

What’s the secret? Patience, time, and ground manners.

Long before you try to load your horse it’s important to reinforce ground manners. If you can’t lead your horse without difficulty, if it pulls through you, lags behind you, or otherwise disregards your commands, it’s not going to get on the trailer. Start by making sure your horse will march along beside you (you should be at its shoulder), and will stop, back up and turn easily.

You can start teaching a horse the signal to self load by teaching it to move off in front of you on command. John Lyons calls it the, “go forward” cue, and it involves taking a 36″ whip and tapping your horse on the hip until it moves forward. Once the horse understands this, it can be applied to asking your horse to walk onto the trailer.

Once your horse is listening to you while you lead, you’re ready to load. The biggest mistake you can make at this point is waiting until you need to go somewhere. Instead, find a day when you have no commitments. Park the trailer in a quiet, level place, and spend as long as it takes.

Start by a ground rules refresher: march your horse out at a brisk walk and make sure it is walking beside you. Halt, back up, change directions. Then march up to the back of the trailer. It’s okay if your horse wants to take a look at it. By all means let him stop and take a sniff. Then ask him to go forward while you stand beside him. Do not lead your horse into the trailer. It’s just not safe and it’s much easier to fasten the butt bar if you’re not inside! If you do lead your horse on, then you are forced with the choice of either tying your horse on the trailer with the bar down (not good) or leaving your horse on the trailer untied while you run around to the back (also not good).

Once your horse steps onto the trailer ramp, even if he stops, ask him to stand quietly and praise him for the effort. Then ask him to go forward again. If he refuses, back him off the trailer so that you take control of the situation. I’ve found that backing your horse up (think 25 to 50 feet) often works well to make walking forward a more attractive option.

Most important is to stay calm and stick to the program. Once your horse is standing quietly on the trailer, praise him and let him stand for several minutes. Then unload and reload him several more times.

While the original loading session might be lengthy, if you make each loading session a consistent and pleasant session for your horses, you’ll find that before long, loading will become automatic and uneventful.

Trailering Safely: A Near Miss

Posted by Liz Goldsmith in 1, Commentary, equine, Equine Safety, horses, Trailer Safety and tagged with , ,

Last winter I had a terrifying experience when trailering my horse. I loaded him up after the last hunt of the season, enjoyed a lively tea, and after checking on my boy, drove the five or so miles home. About half way there, I heard some kicking. I didn’t stop as we were almost home, and since the trip was on back roads, my top speed was about 30 mph.

When I arrived at the barn, I went back to open the side door so he could see we were back. To my horror, he wasn’t standing on the driver’s side of the trailer (where I’d loaded him) but on the passenger’s side. His halter was hanging from the trailer tie (I use velcro ties, but it hadn’t disengaged) and the front bar of the stall he was in was hanging down.

You have to understand that my horse is not small. He’s about 16.2 and probably weighs close to 1400 lbs. I have a Hawk trailer with a partition in the middle. It’s a large enough trailer, but not huge. He had fallen under the partition and come up on the other side! He stood there, eyes bugging out breathing hard.

I must say that I just couldn’t move at first. It felt like I stood there for several minutes, although it probably was not longer than 30 seconds. I grabbed his halter, did a visual check of him in the trailer, and carefully unloaded him. To my immense relief, he walked off with all four legs working normally and no visible injuries. I went over him carefully and other than his obvious distress, he was okay. At the advice of my vet, I gave him several days off, some bute, and lots of TLC.

The obvious question though was, why did it happen? I’ve had the same horse and the same trailer for the past 10 years. The trip was less than five miles and it was undertaken at slow speeds with no quick turns or sharp stops. My only conclusion is that he had peed in the trailer after the hunt. Since it was a cold day, the pee (and shavings) had frozen and created a slippery surface and he had lost his footing and fallen.

I have always been cautious when trailering my horses as the risks involved in pulling your horse at high speeds in a steel box have always seemed high to me. This incident has reinforced my intent to make trailering as safe as possible. To that end, my next few postings will be on the art of trailering safely.

Household Items to Use at the Barn

Posted by Liz Goldsmith in 1, Commentary, equine, horses and tagged with , , , ,

We all know that as soon as something is marketed for equestrian use, the price tag always go up! Luckily there are a lot of common household items that can do double duty at the barn. The list below contains my own ideas and many that I picked up reading the Chronicle of the Horse Forum.

  • Ivory Soap: for cleaning white spots, bathing before clipping, sheath cleaning, and for treating fence boards that horses chew (truly a multipurpose product!)
  • Listerine: for cleaning water buckets and trough, treating itchy tails and as a liniment or inn a bath
  • Duct tape: for making hoof boots, temporarily serving as a zipper on a boot, fixing broken fence boards, temporarily fixing blanket tears.
  • Kitchen shelf liners: for non-slip saddle pads.
  • Microfiber cloths: for that “finishing touch”.
  • Car wash mits (sheepskin) for grooming ticklish horses.
  • Diapers: to make hoof boots (with duct tape) and as wound dressing.
  • Plastic gas cans for carrying water.
  • Saline solution (for contact lenses) for rinsing wounds.
  • Benadryl for allergies.
  • Infusium 23 to condition tails.
  • Panty liners: to cover wounds and to put in helmets to improve fit when you can’t find any of the regular shims.
  • Charcoal lighter fluid for cleaning clipper blades.
  • Baby oil for cleaning sheaths.
  • Baby wipes for cleaning faces, wiping tack, cleaning the baby oil of hands after cleaning sheaths.
  • WD 40 for getting burrs out of manes and tails (have never tried this!).
  • Corn starch for whitening socks.
  • KY jelly for sheath cleaning.
  • Baby powder on hooves to get hoof boots on.
  • Murphy’s oil soap as a leather cleaner.
  • Castile soap as a leather cleaner.
  • Thermacare pads over Epsom salt paste to draw out abscesses.
  • Silicone hair serum for detangling tails
  • Shop vac for vacuuming dirty horses.
  • Deep Woods Off for fly spray.
  • White vinegar for cleaning water buckets.
  • Rubbing alcohol for cooling out hot horses.
  • Nylon pot scrubbers for removing mud or rain rot.
  • Witch hazel for sweats, along with generic cling wrap.
  • Rubber Maid containers to store supplies and for grain.
  • Baking soda to clean water buckets.
  • Athlete’s foot treatment for scratches.
  • Car cleaning rags for just about everything.

What Size Horse do you Need?

Posted by Liz Goldsmith in Commentary, equestrian, equine, horses and tagged with , ,

In my opinion horses come in two sizes: too small and big enough. I’m 6′ tall and have long legs. I’ve never measured the horses that I currently own because they take up my leg and they feel right, but I’d guess that one is 16.1 and the other is about 16.2. In the past, I has a horse that was only about 15.3, but even he never felt too small. Both of mine are big enough without venturing into the “supersized” horse that requires custom tack, special shoes, and which is vulnerable to a host of size related soundness issues.

I’m sometimes amazed by the sheer size of the horses that some people ride. I have a friend who owns a draft cross that looks like it stepped out of a Budweiser commercial. He’s easily more than 18 hands. He certainly would not look out of place at a medieval joust and could easily carry a knight in a full suit of armor.

Now my friend — like me — is close to 6′ tall. All the horses she’s owned have been large. A previous horse was 19 hands, and it boggled my mind to imagine what type of mounting block (or ladder) you would need simply to get on him. At least I can understand why she likes larger horses. At times I’ve gone to shows (usually dressage shows) and seen tiny women riding huge horses. My first reaction has always been, save those horses for those of us who actually need them!

Large horses are definitely in demand these days. I’ve heard plenty of moderately sized people state with great assurance that they would never buy a horse that stands less than 16.2 and that they prefer horses over 17 hands! In fact, sellers commiserate when they have horses a mere 15.2 as the market for them is so much smaller.

So how large a horse do you actually need? I came across an equation on the Internet that is supposed to help you calculate, although it’s more related to rider weight than height.

  1. Add up the total weight of the horse, rider, and tack. Our example: Horse + rider + tack= 1188 pounds
  2. Measure the circumference of the cannon bone midway between the knee and fetlock. Our example: 7.5 inches
  3. Divide the total weight by the circumference. Our example: 1188 / 7.5 = 158.4
  4. Divide the result by two. Our example: 158.4 / 2 = 79.2

Values below 75 are great! Values from 75-80 are acceptable. Values over 80 indicate weaker legs and a need to train carefully, especially downhill. At this level a rider needs a horse with more substance.

I’m not sure that I would bother with the calculation, although I believe it makes sense that a horse with more “bone” is capable of carrying more weight. In my experience, I’ve found that rather than height, it’s the build of the horse that makes the difference. A horse with a large barrel and well sprung ribs can take up your leg better than a taller, narrow built horse.

I prefer a horse that’s built with a reasonably long neck and a good sized shoulder — since my torso is long, it helps me balance better. Generally, I like a horse with a slightly long back for the same reason. However, those rules are made to be broken. My OTTB is quite short coupled and I have to be very careful to keep my upper body still as he is very sensitive to shifts in weight. He may not be very big or long, but I love the fact that he’s nimble as a cat and thinks he’s just a bigger horse than he measures.

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