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DRESSAGE CLINICS WITH JEAN PHILLIPPE CAMBOULIVES
Novice Clinic - 03 - 04 August 2010
We are
delighted to
announce that
Jean Philippe
Camboulives will be running a
FREE
Grand Prix clinic on July 27th in the KEP indoor hall from 1pm to
9pm.
This is for riders, instructors, judges and
dressage enthusiasts from all provinces
and represents
the start of our very exciting journey to introduce Grand Prix in
Gauteng .
Riders are invited to apply to ride.
The link will be updated 07/07/2010, please look on the noticeboard on the
AGHS website under SANEF Clinics heading.
Lameness Seminar by John Mc Veigh and Carol Furness from The Baker and Mc Veigh
veterinary Clinic
On wed evening we were all treated to a brilliant Lameness seminar by
John Mc Veigh and Carol Furness from the Baker and Mc
Veigh veterinary practice. The seminar was held at the beautiful
Summerveld racetrack clubhouse at a very low cost of R50 and included snacks and
refreshments including some delicious estate wine. It was extremely informative
and covered topics such as the pre-purchase examination, which really stressed
the importance of having radiographs taken, as no matter if the horse costs
nothing to buy, one still pays the same to keep it and would not want to get
emotionally involved in a horse that has serious problems.
We had the privilege to go through slides of different causes of lameness such
as OCD, navicular syndrome, fractures in the foot as well as laminitis and many
more. It was also shown how important the veterinary radiographs need to be as
some faults can be hidden by the angle of the radiograph taken. The second part
of the seminar was loads of fun and John made sure we all got the basics right-
so from now on we should all be able to detect unsoundness in the legs, which
leg it is and what grade it is. 1/10 being a very slight lameness to 10/10 very
serious lameness. This was taught to us by watching many different video clips
of different horses trotting out and then together with the vets we had to point
out the head nodding and which leg was lame and how serious it was.
For those unable to attend here is some valuable information you should know.
Lameness occurs when a horse develops a limp - detected by nodding of the head
when trotting.
Lameness is easiest to see when the horse is trotting on a flat solid surface.
If the pain is in just one leg, you’ll notice that the horse is not moving
evenly. The severity can range from a barely noticeable difference in the stride
(1/10) to a reluctance to put any weight on one foot (10/10) or move forward.
A lame horse will often throw his head in rhythm with his stride. If the horse
is sore in a front leg, he will throw his head up as the sore side touches the
ground but in a slight lameness one might not notice this, so it is better to
determine the lameness by the horse nodding down when the sound side touches the
ground. If the lameness is in a back leg, he will have a steady head, but his
hip will dip on the unsound leg when trotting as the horse will lean onto the
sound side. He may also drag his toe and/or have a shorter stride on the sore
side.
If the horse hurts in both front feet and/or all four feet, you won’t notice a
limp. Instead, he will keep his head and tail up and move with a short,
stumbling stride (this was also noticed in a video whereby the little horse was
extremely unhappy with its large rider). Sometimes if the lameness is in the
front and the hind- which can easily occur as the horse would have shifted all
his weight off the hind and on to the front. In this case you will notice the
head nods the same time the sore hind leg touches the ground.
While an observant horse owner can recognize that a horse is lame, pinpointing
the exact site and cause of the lameness is usually a job for a veterinarian.
Listen to your horse through his movement- they will usually tell you if they
are experiencing pain- if your horse is acting out of the ordinary i.e. stopping
at jumps, not wanting to go forward or tripping all the time- don’t beat him up-
have him checked by your vet as you might find he is in pain.
The Dressage Committee hosted a very successful workshop/seminar
on Saturday 14 November at the REA, attended by 20 participants, who were
riders, instructors and judges.
Loosely based on the book ‘Riding from the Inside out’ by Lisa
Champion, local horse- and human- physiotherapist Juli-Ann Riley (sporting an
impeccable CV) presented a practical and accessible seminar on the effects of
posture on the rider’s seat, and thus on the going of the horse.
She illustrated her talk with problem postural positions, which
were easily recognisable to us all, and explained how these lead to problems in
the horse . . . hollowing, not working forward, not working straight, falling on
the forehand, etc. She emphasized that the rider cannot expect their horse to
work in the correct frame until they have gained postural control of their own
body. Only then is it possible to ride with an independent seat ( the ‘middle
position’), and to begin to influence the horse correctly.
For the presentation, Juli broke the relevant muscles down into
three groups 1. core or ‘cuddle’ muscles which have to be activated (they are
not what you would think they would be!) 2. stabilizer muscles which also
have to be activated, and 3. mobilizer muscles which have to be stretched.
She illustrated these with anatomical slides, and then practically demonstrated
how we were each to find and mobilize our own. Three junior riders ( sorry
girls l couldn’t get your names, but you know who you are, and thanks for your
enthusiasm!).; birthday girl Cheryl Danchin, and Dressage Committee Vice-Chair
Belinda Smithard were all willing guinea-pigs, after which we used the mats
provided to find our own. Juli moved amongst us giving expert individual
attention and guidance to all.
It was a very valuable seminar, with us coming away with
practical experience, a hand-out of relevant daily exercises, and Juli’s
encouragement to ‘practise .. practise .. practise’. This starts with ‘perfect
practise off the horse’ and then she gave guidelines how to approach ‘perfect
practise on the horse’. She made the point that just correctly visualising the
intended muscle will begin to activate it, and ended off with the quote:
“Whether you think you can or can’t do something, you are right”. All who
attended the seminar came away with a renewed enthusiasm that we ‘could’!
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