Knowing Your Horse
My simplified goal as an equestrian athlete is to progress. I want to progress up the competition levels, progress as a rider, and progress as a coach. None of that progress is possible though without good horsemanship. Horsemanship is a learned skill set that allows a rider to get to know their horse, understand their horse, and care for their horse. I can talk about this kinda stuff for DAYS but for now I'll just go into what it means to know your horse. (I'll get to the rest in time!)
It is so important to know your horse! You should know their normal temperature, normal respiration rate, how they feel normally under saddle, and what your horse normally looks like. Take the time to look over your horse while you groom. Despite best efforts to keep our horses perfectly safe and sound, they still inevitably come in with bumps and scrapes from time to time. Grooming is the perfect opportunity to find those little cuts and scrapes and treat them so they heal without blemish. When I attended the Emerging Athletes Program I was also given this tip: palpate your horse's legs while you groom. Palpating a leg means you add some light pressure by pinching your fingers down the back of the horse's leg to inspect for a pain response. All horses are going to give some response here but the idea is to gauge what a normal response is regularly for each individual horse so that you'll be able to tell when you get a painful response and hopefully catch a strain before it becomes severe. You can also use this concept while using a curry comb too. All horses are different, some like being groomed more than others and they all can take certain pressure in certain areas. Notice if your horse is extra sensitive in an abnormal area and don't ignore that! Unfortunately horses can't speak so we have to KNOW our horses to "listen" to our horses.
This week has been full of farrier visits, routine teeth floats, and a tropical storm blowing through to finish off the week (praying everyone stays safe in its path.) All that has really pointed me towards thinking about horse care and that's what I chose to focus on this week! Horse care is SO important and it's something I am SO passionate about. SO… this won't be the last time it comes up, stay tuned!
