In This Issue
Barn News
Dressage Training Video:
How to Keep an Active Canter
Dressage Training:
The Difference Between Rhythm & Tempo
Horse Care Tip of the Month:
Caudal Foot Pain
Life & Style:
Top 6 Things You'll Learn from Doing Barn Chores
Recipe of the Month:
Tomato Cucumber Salad
Paula's Pearls:
ļ»æ"Ah-Ha!" Moments in Riding
A Little Inspiration:
Something to Put It All into Perspective
About Paula Paglia Dressage
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Congratulations!
Kate Fales welcomed her new five-year-old warmblood mare, Roxette. She is a very beautiful and athletic mare by
Rousseau and of a Rotspon daughter. Kate has very high hopes for this mare in her dressage and three-day-eventing career. It will be fun to watch these two develop!
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Dressage Training Video
How to Keep an Active Canter
Source: Your Riding Success
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Dressage Training
The Difference Between Rhythm & Tempo
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Tempo: The rate or speed of motion or activity
Rhythm: A strong, regular, repeated pattern of movement or sound
There tends to be a lot of confusion like yours about these two concepts, but they are actually completely different concepts. One is sequence (rhythm) and one is speed (tempo).
If you think about the gaits of a horse, the walk has a four-beat rhythm, the trot has a two-beat rhythm of diagonal pairs of legs and the canter has a three-beat rhythm of the outside hind leg first, then the diagonal pair together and then the lead inside foreleg.
Varying the tempo of the gaits does not change the rhythm unless your horse makes an actual error or does something unusual such as stumbling, skipping or dramatically losing his balance. Rhythm just describes the sequence of the footfalls per stride, but has nothing to do with speed. There are many cases where the two terms are mistakenly used interchangeably.
The main focus in your trot extensions is to not allow the speed of your horseās steps (beats per minute, BPM) to change. He should learn how to extend his frame and length of step only, maintaining enough balance and strength to keep the number of beats per minute the same as in his collected trot. This is a big challenge, and you actually may not see many horses do it well.
It would give you a good idea of how to do this if you rode with the help of a metronome (I have an app for this on my iPhone). Set the metronome to equal your horseās collected trot, and then see what happens when you extend the trot. You may quickly find that your horse quickens the tempo rather than keeps the same tempo and lengthens his stride. Itās much easier to simply get quicker.
The majority of horses will opt to simply get quicker when you ask them to start medium and extended trot at first. When I start my horses into levels of work where they are required to learn this, I use only short distances and will use the corners of the arena to help me. I ask for a few steps of more āgoā in the trot, and then remind them quickly of the balance to come back into collection, preferably coming into a corner.
Again, most horses will initially try to run away and get too fast in the tempo. Once they realize that the answer is not to go for a long distance, but to go more for only a few strides, they get the idea that itās not about speed but about power and balance.
If your horse actually loses rhythm, it would feel almost like a different gait or an error. If you hop along a sidewalk and then all of a sudden just jog, thatās a change of rhythm. Without seeing whatās happening with you and your horse in person, Iām assuming youāre struggling with the tempo (and not rhythm) as are most horses and riders.
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Horse Care Tip of the Month
Caudal Foot Pain
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Caudal foot and/or navicular pain and disease is closely/directly related to:
- Internal hoof balance
- Underrun heels and contracted heels
- Lack of frog function
- Break-over point too far in front of the coffin bone
These issues can cause chronic shoe loss because the foot is not moving out of the way of the hind feet efficiently. A toe first landing, which directly affects the impar ligament, the coffin joint, and the navicular bone, is an incorrect foot movement; it should be heel first. These factors should be addressed in a therapeutic shoeing plan; the addition of a flat pad without correction of the hoof capsule will not help in the long run. Toe clips are unlikely to help caudal heel pain, or stop shoe removal if the foot does not move or land correctly. Clips can add to internal hoof stresses by preventing the break-over point from being placed under the foot, relative the end of the coffin bone.
Lameness from caudal heel pain or navicular syndrome originates as soft tissue inflammation, which can result in bone loss. Thus restoring lost bone will not help if the reason for the inflammation is not corrected. The horse needs to have a properly applied shoe specific to the individual horseās problem, along with anti-inflammatory medication. Once bone loss is sufficient to allow adherence of the deep digital flexor tendon to the navicular bone, this cannot be directly corrected within the hoof capsule. Now surgery may be required, in some cases.
Some horses do not develop proper internal hoof structure which allows them to maintain bone position on their own. Some horses will need external help to maintain frog support, and removal of wedges can take the horse back to its original misaligned state, even if barefoot and trimmed correctly.
A barefoot horse is preferable to the incorrect type of shoeing and trimming. Even barefoot horses, however, can have caudal foot pain due to misaligned coffin bones. They just never developed the internal hoof structure needed.
Shoeing, in and of itself, will do nothing to correct any of the above named problems of internal hoof balance; crushed, underrun, and contracted heels; and a break-over point that is not directly in front of the coffin bone. The latter will create leverage issues, making work harder for the horse.
To address hoof problems properly, one of our veterinarians will need to perform a lameness and conformation examination, take radiographs of the foot, and involve a farrier who is knowledgeable in corrective trimming and shoeing. There is no āone size fits allā prescription for horse shoeing. Simply having an egg bar or any other shoe will not help without correcting the hoof capsule.
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Life & Style
Top 6 Things You'll Learn From Doing Barn Chores
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To the outside observer, it might seem that working in a barn is unrewarding and just that: chores. I mean, all you're doing is feeding and turning horses in and out, cleaning stalls and sweeping aisles, right?
Well, anyone who has actually worked in a barn knows differently. In fact, people who work with horses have to become highly skilled, be fairly athletic, and must know how to pay attention to detail. While people can start with little to no experience, they usually get paired with longtime horse keepers who can mentor them until they have enough experience to work independently.
Working in a barn can do more than just give you a gym-level workout. Here are the top six lessons you won't be able to avoid if you stay long enough at the job.
6. Hard work is necessary
This is probably the first thing you'll learn if you get the chance to ever work for the horses.
You'll quickly realize how you can actually move heavy things if you put your mind to it. You might have to go up and down stairs or ladders to get to the hay loft. You'll have to fill feed bins and then horse buckets with grain. Those feed bags and hay bales need to be moved, stacked and then fed. The walks to the paddocks can be long, bumpy or snow-covered. No need for you to go to the gym after that!
5. It's ok to get dirty
Because you won't have any choice in the matter! You'll likely end up with hay bits in your hair and down your shirt, mud all over your lower legs, dirty jeans because of having to lift the feed bags off the dirt floor. Then there's the mouth goop that the horses leave on your shoulder as you lead them out, and splashed water as you fill buckets.
4. Team work makes the dream work
After you have to do the barn all on your own, you quickly learn the value of help. There's nothing better than two (or more) people sharing the chores, one person taking on one task while the second person does another.
3. Routine is wonderful
This lesson probably will come from the horses themselves. Horses thrive on routine. Timeliness, feed, exercise... the more regular these can be, the happier the horses in your care. You'll learn the value of establishing and then maintaining a routine.
2. Efficiency is key
Every barn worker learns all about efficiency and saving energy - not just the electrical kind!
Before you figure out your routines, you might end up having to walk back and forth to key areas - such as the feed room, the tack room, or the paddocks. Soon enough, you'll start figuring out how you can save as many trips as possible - because, let's face it - the number of steps you walk can add up pretty quickly when you're walking real distances!
You'll work out what you should carry with you even while you're heading to a paddock to do something else.
10,000 steps? Haha! Even after multiple step-saving attempts, you'll still end up somewhere in the 15-25,000 steps region. That's in ONE DAY!
But you won't be able to stand for inefficiencies ever again!
1. Horses come before anything else
This is truly the #1 lesson you'll learn if you work in the barn. While it's true that you're working for the barn owner, or for the boarders or lesson students, you'll soon realize that it's all about the horses. How will you learn this valuable lesson?
It might happen when you notice that one of the paddocks run out of water, and how the horses stand around the water tub waiting and waiting - in the heat of the summer. Or you'll notice how a horse gorges on his hay when he comes inside - after having finished the morning hay on that long snowy wintry day, when there's no grass to be found otherwise.
These mistakes will urge you to be more diligent because the horses are literally reliant on you. And it's a big responsibility.
There is one other thing that happens when you add all this up. In the end, you become a much more empathetic human being. Which will serve you the rest of your life.
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Recipe of the Month
Tomato Cucumber Salad
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Ingredients:
- 1 pint grape tomatoes - sliced in half
- 1 English cucumber - sliced
- 1/2 medium red onion - thinly sliced
Dressing
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cracked pepper
Directions:
Place tomatoes, cucumbers and tomatoes in a large bowl, set aside.
In a mixing cup or small bowl, add olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, sugar, Italian seasoning, garlic, salt and pepper. Using a whisk, blend until well mixed. Pour dressing over tomatoes, cucumbers and onions. Toss salad.
Can be served immediately or stored in the fridge, covered for up to 2 days.
***If making the salad ahead of serving, use half of dressing to toss salad and reserve half to add in later.
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Paula's Pearls
"Ah-ha!" Moments in Riding
Do you have back pain? If you can't sit with a slightly rounded or full lower back, a softly lifted chest, tucked and and pulled down shoulder blades, you risk a rider back which gets blocked, causing you pain. Search for a position which is not hollow in your own lower back. Hips must be open and calves on your horse. As a rider, we keep making small adjustments which make our seat more aligned and stable. This is important to keep improving our own alignment and creating a position of stability. Once we find this stable position we can relax within it. This lets our aids get transmitted more clearly to our horse.
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Paula Paglia, owner and head trainer of Paula Paglia Dressage in North Scottsdale, Arizona began her professional training career in 1979. Paula is a USDF Bronze, Silver and Gold Medalist and has been named ADA Rider of the Year numerous times through 2018. Paula has been an integral part of the training and success of her clients. She is credited with creating numerous winning horse and rider combinations through the FEI levels. She has developed Regional Winners and sent many students to the National Junior Young Riders Championships, the North American Young Riders Championships and the National Dressage Seat Equitation Finals.
Formerly the head trainer at Dynamite Dressage, and the head trainer at Los Cedros, she is thrilled to now offer her own niche to her clients: a full educational program based on dressage, developing amateurs, young riders and other professionals to their fullest potential. As owner of Paula Paglia Dressage, she has taken the best of training practices used throughout her career to offer a specialized experience for her clients. She considers her facility to be "heaven for horses." Owning her own facility allows her to cater to every horse's special needs.
Paula has trained with some of the most successful trainers and riders in the world, including Debbie McDonald, Leslie Reid, Christine Traurig, and Conrad Schumacher.
In 1992, Paula began importing warmbloods from Holland, Poland and Germany. Presently, Paula conducts personalized buying trips abroad for her clients, as she has extensive experience selecting and starting young horses and developing them up the levels.
Philosophy
The Paula Paglia Dressage philosophy is to develop a partnership between horse and rider. The well-being of the horse is the primary consideration. Paula evaluates each horse and rider individually and will design a program appropriate to their ability, yet focused on the long-term goals of upper-level classical dressage. Each horse and rider is developed at their own pace, allowing each team to be mentally and physically strong at each level of competition.
Paula believes that a successful training regimen is a logical, step-by-step process that utilized the horse's natural intelligence, his loyalty, his goodwill, and his honesty. A sensible, kind and structured training program will produce a horse with a strong muscle structure and a sharp working mind. Both are necessary to compete at the national and international levels of dressage.
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Paula Paglia Dressage
Services & Facility
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Services
- Boarding/Training
- Lessons
- Showing
- Purchase/Sale
- Clinics
- International Equine Procurement
Amenities
- Regulation arena with premium footing
- Oversized stalls, cleaned multiple times daily with premium shavings
- Fly misting system and cooling misting system
- Two all-weather turnouts
- Premium hay feed 5x a day
- Personalized grain/supplement feedings 2-3x a day
- Automatic waterers/outside tubs and interior buckets cleaned daily
- Hot water wash racks
- Locked tack rooms
- Laundry rooms
- Blanketing/final night check
- Caveletti course
- Access to Equine Corridor trails
- Regularly scheduled on-site clinics
- Trailering to shows available
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