Riders who can roll their pelvis from side to side without moving their body or legs are more likely to have horses that are happy and perform well. Riders can test this unmounted, by sitting on an exercise ball and rolling their hips toward their ribs; the idea is that those with the ability to roll the pelvis well will be able to do this without moving their legs or upper body. 

Dr. Mette Uldahl of Vejle Hestepraksis in Denmark and the country's head Fédération Equestre Internationale veterinarian recently worked with a research team to study the relationship between balance and riding success. The researchers asked 20 female dressage riders to sit on an inflated exercise ball. They were then asked to roll the ball left, right and in circles using only their pelvis without engaging their legs or upper body. The team also asked the riders to balance on the ball, with legs lifted and arms outstretched, for 30 seconds. 

The researchers also investigated the rider's performance and their horse's heart rate, stress level, and behavior during a dressage test ridden in an indoor arena. A dressage judge also scored each pair, offering notes on the duo's quality and harmony. 

The scientists found that riders' ability to roll the exercise ball correlated with their quality and harmony score. The team also found that riders with a greater ability to balance themselves on an exercise ball without using their feet actually earned lower quality and harmony scores. These riders' horses also showed more conflict behaviors while being ridden. 

The researchers conclude that though balance is important in riding and should be practiced, it's important that the type of balance practiced is that which best creates harmony with the horse.

Read more at The Horse. 

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Drs. Léa Lansade, Miléna Trösch, Céline Parias, Alice Blanchard, Elodie Gorosurreta and Ludovic Calandreau have found that the high-pitched tones foster relationships and stimulate certain learning processes. Dubbed “pet-directed speech” (PDS), this way of talking is characterized by repetition of words, a high-pitched voice and a wide pitch range.

To test the benefits of PDS, the research team created a social media survey for riders and horse owners, and found that 93 percent of the 845 people surveyed used this type of language. However, only 44 percent of those who used it thought the horses were sensitive to this manner of speaking.

To assess the impact of voice, the researchers conducted two tests on 20 horses that had never heard PDS. An experimenter spoke to the horses individually, using PDS or a neutral tone (like that used when adults speak to other adults) when grooming. The horses responded more favorably to the PDS: they were calmer, looked at the experimenter more and tried to groom them. None of these actions were shown in horses that were addressed in a neutral manner.

The second test involved an experimenter trying to tell a horse where food was located. She stood with a covered bucket in each hand, one of them containing food. The experimenter repeatedly moved her arm  to point at the bucket the horse had to “choose” to get the food reward while speaking in PDS or neutrally

The horse chose a bucket at random when spoken to neutrally. When listening to PDS, the animals chose the bucket indicated to them.

The team determined that PDS captures the attention of animals and helps them better understand the experimenters' intentions. It also facilitates communication with horses during everyday interactions. The scientists report that using PDS could improve equine welfare as horses are sensitive to human emotions.

Read the paper here.

Read more at HorseTalk.

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Smith works diligently to make placing horses in the program as easy as possible. Owners retiring horses to the program need not complete the transfer paperwork themselves; the program also takes horses in on very short notice and there is no mandatory monetary donation for horses entering the program, though most owners and trainers will offer one, Smith says.

The goal is to make it easy for those in the industry to do the right thing—and to help as many horses as possible. Smith is very focused on relationship building, knowing that if she takes on a horse that requires extensive rehabilitation, down the road, that same owner may also offer her a sound horse that is retiring that needs no rehab.

Horses accepted into Second Stride need not be recently retired, either; the program accepts broodmares as well as stallions, which are gelded upon entering the program. Assisted by many volunteers, horses are typically adopted quickly; the program has rehomed over 1,000 horses since its inception, placing them in homes all over the country and in a variety of disciplines.

With the increase in Thoroughbred-specific shows and events like the Retired Racehorse Project's Thoroughbred Makeover, many horses retiring sound are being sold privately. Smith said she wishes more owners and trainers would consider donating their sound horses to nonprofit aftercare organizations. Sound horses can be adopted out for a higher fee than those horses with limited second career options, helping fund the horses that need longer-term care or more rehabilitation before they are rideable and able to be adopted out, she notes,

For more information about Second Stride, Inc., click here.

Read more at the Daily Racing Form.

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The duo monitored the nine horses for 33.5 hours over 15 days, applying models to learn about the roles of aggression, kinship, proximity, social rank and social networking during mutual grooming.

All nine horses groomed themselves during the study period for nearly 36 minutes. Six of the horses engaged in mutual grooming: two stallions, one colt and three adult mares.

There were 84 recorded mutual grooming sessions, with the average session lasted about 85 seconds and always comprised only two individuals. The grooming was almost completely symmetrical: When one horse started grooming, they almost immediately began receiving grooming as well, on the same part of the body. When one horse stopped grooming, the other did as well. Additionally, horses that spent less time self-grooming spent more time being groomed by another horse.

The scientists concluded that mutual grooming assisted in strengthening familiar relationships and helped with parasite removal. Their findings did not support that mutual grooming assisted with relationship repair. For example, the top-ranked horse never groomed the second-ranked horse, but he did direct aggression toward him.

Read the entire article here.

Read more at HorseTalk.

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In order to continue to work, vets and farriers were mandated to establish protocols that followed state and local distancing, quarantine and decontamination guidelines. During lockdown, many equine clinics were able to continue to see emergency cases, but were unable to perform elective surgeries for multiple weeks.

When lockdown lifted, most clinics still didn't return to “normal”; many are unable to allow clients into waiting rooms or pharmacies, so workers meet their clients in parking lots to either take the horse from the owner or to deliver medications.

Many farriers are now unwilling to have clients or trainers hold horses while they are being shod, electing instead to have their assistants hold or to place the horse in crossties. Between clients, all tools are disinfected. Even when stay-at-home orders are lifted, may vets and farriers will keep their biosecurity practices in place to keep staff and clients safe.

Though the pandemic has changed the way equine professionals must interact with their clients, requiring much more interaction from a distance or via phone or text, equine professionals still strive to give their two- and four-legged clients the best of care.

Read more at Horse Illustrated. 

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