Kay Hastilow Master Saddler

Saturday, 17 February 2024

The Greatest Kindness You Can Do For Any Horse ...

Much of my work as a saddle fitter has involved handling clients’ horses or ponies. When saddle fitting, it is essential to get ‘up close and personal’ as you check their conformation, muscle development, assess for lumps and bumps, tightness, guarding, swellings and sores. Ideally, you will stand behind the animal to check the symmetry of the shoulders, rib cage and the muscle development in the saddle area. All of this requires the horse to stand still and accept this stranger handling them and working around them.

Over the years I, and no doubt most other equine professionals, have developed the knack of quickly building a relationship with the horse, assuring them that I have no intention of causing them harm. However, it is often the case that the owner does not have a good working relationship with their horse, and this can show itself as the horse having no respect of the owner, having very poor manners or sometimes, sadly, the horse is totally in charge and terrorises their human. This lack of manners and respect means that it becomes difficult, if not impossible for us to do our job. We have to spend a great deal of time establishing some ground rules so that we can work safely, and sometimes this is near impossible. We often risk injury, just because the horse is so poorly trained.

I have been lucky, in that only once was I hurt. A pony that I was trying to get to know swung round, knocked me clean off my feet and kicked me as I went down., ‘Oh’ said the owner. ‘She must think you are a vet. She loathes the vet.’ Thanks for the warning! Luckily my leg was not broken but I had an enormous bruise, and I couldn’t drive home for over an hour. I had to cancel my other appointments for that day and the rest of the week, which really isn’t funny when you are self-employed.

I digress. It is surprising how, in many cases I can get the horse to behave itself quite quickly. No massive ‘sorting out’ – that’s not my way, and it rarely leads to a happy conclusion. I want the animal to respect me, not be frightened of me. Simple things like looking it in the eye and saying, ‘not with me pal.’ Seem to work well. It is often much easier if the owner leaves us for a few minutes, as the nervous vibes really get to the horse. It’s essential that the fitter is calm and unhurried. Our shoulders must be soft and lowered. Horses may not speak words, but they sure know body language!

I’m going to ask a question here. Do you think that its right that we, the equine professionals, have to teach the horse manners? That we have to make it stand still and be handled safely? That someone coming to see your horse has to risk injury to carry out their work? Of course it’s not, but how can we change this?

Education would be a great help, as some owners seem to have come into horse ownership by routes that have meant they have had little to do with horses other than to ride them. Suddenly, they are left alone with this huge beast that looks them over and decides who stands where in the pecking order. If you don’t speak ‘horse’ you could be in for a baptism of fire.

The Pony Club does a great job in teaching many aspects of horsemanship, but often it is the parent who has caught the pony, washed or groomed it and prepared it for the rally or competition. This teaches the child nothing about communication and mutual respect, and ponies really can be terrific teachers with this.

Sadly, not everyone gets to have ponies and go to the Pony Club, many getting their first equine when an adult. Not everyone can afford full livery, and many don’t have a regular trainer, so expert advice and guidance isn’t to hand. What is often available is a huge amount of ‘expert’ advice from all and sundry and sorting the wheat from the chaff can be difficult. This can range from ‘I’ve seen Monty Roberts, and you just give them lots of love and cuddles and they will do anything for you.’ (this isn’t what Monty says by the way, but it’s often interpreted as such) or ‘give it a good thrashing, as it has to learn to respect you.’ Neither will work and you will be left confused, possibly frightened, and with a horse that doesn’t know if it’s coming or going.

I’m not going to tell you how to teach your horse manners – that’s a professional’s job, although everyone I speak to seems to agree that training consists of calmness around the animal, consistency in your commands, repetition and reward – a ‘well done and a pat’, not lots of treats.

Don’t be frightened to ask for help. Watch the professionals around you and, when you find one who’s methods you like and whose horses are a joy to be with, ask for lessons on horse handling. Building a sound relationship on the ground is a great base to build on for your riding with said animal after all. Then you can be proud as the horse stands quietly for the farrier/ saddle fitter/ physio or whoever, and they will be more than grateful.

A quote from Tom Roberts, that I’m happy to share here.

If you are fond of a horse and wish to do him a favour – train him well. Teach him good manners, good habits, both in the stable & under saddle. You never need worry about the future of such a horse if for any reason you may have to part with him. You assure him of friends wherever he goes. Perhaps the greatest kindness you can do any horse is to educate him well.

Tom Roberts. The young horse.

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Wednesday, 31 January 2024

Elephant In The Room. An Update

In the three years since I wrote a piece in my blog spot on overweight riders many things have changed. Social licence to ride our horses has become a really big thing, many believing that it is unacceptable to ride at all. Welfare, which should always have been at the forefront in all that we do has become more spoken about, but I might venture that in many cases, it’s not so much in evidence.

Before I go further can I put on record that yes, I’m reasonably slim, that yes, I have been overweight and yes, it’s really hard trying to shift the weight. I am not without sympathy or understanding for those with these problems.

So, in this post I speak of riders with horses that are too small or light boned for them. All too often we are asked to fit a thoroughbred, or similar type of sport horse with a saddle to “go eventing/ show jumping/showing (hunter type classes, for my American friends)”. The rider may or not admit to their correct weight, and yes, I am aware that there are many factors that can cause problems, but often it is in excess of 110kg – 242lbs. The horse, at 500kg and using the 20% scale can carry, say 100kg –INCLUDING saddle, bridle, stirrups, girth, saddle cloth, your boots, hat and clothing. I suggest that everyone spends a bit of time to weigh this lot – it will be far more than you expect. Add to this that the 20% guidance is for the horse at its optimal weight, and so, with an overweight horse many kilos will be deducted.

Have we have got to a stage, bearing in mind the social licence and welfare considerations, where saddles should not be fitted to these horses as this will facilitate the rider being able to work them? I have walked away from a decent saddle sale because the rider was, in my opinion some 35kg too heavy for the horse . That’s 5 ½ stone or 77lbs! Believe me, that was a difficult thing to do. I would have liked to make a nice sale and see the horse in a well-fitting saddle. I also have no doubt at all that the client was upset and hurt. How on earth can you say this without upsetting them? In this case it was the right thing to do, and it really is what all equestrian professionals should be doing. However, it is still ‘the elephant in the room’, meaning that we all know that it’s there, and a problem, but no one is prepared to address it.

Unfortunately, many who do try to compete when too heavy for their horse might be in for a shock this year. Certainly, in the UK and if not in place yet, soon to follow in other equestrian nations where this is a problem, people are being turned away from the competition. Many show classes have scales at the gate and have a maximum weight for each class. If you exceed it, you will be asked to leave. In dressage and, I believe eventingc the judges have a right to eliminate a rider if they consider their weight excessive for that horse. Surely other disciplines are the same or will follow. Endurance? Showjumping?

Whilst honestly full of sympathy for those who struggle with their weight, we just can’t allow this abuse of our animals to continue.

Let me leave you with this thought...

If you walked into a barn and saw someone beating a horse and, as you got level with them the whip broke, then the person asked you to give them another nearby whip so that they could continue as ‘he needs this to keep him in line’, would you give them the second whip? I suspect not. However, by ignoring or ‘not seeing’ the under horsed rider and walking on by, how much pain and injury will that horse suffer? Sadly, a great deal. It could well be broken beyond fixing. Why is this thought by some to be acceptable?

I’ll re-publish my original blog post about overweight riders when I have finished some planned edits to it and include a reminder of the formula I first shared in 2022 that can reliably help work out how much weight a horse can safely carry. In the interests of horse welfare and the growing awareness of the importance of our social licence, this is a subject for which all of us need to take responsibility.

Friday, 24 February 2023

Can Groundwork Replace Early Ridden Fitness to Save Saddle Fitting Costs?

Sharing expert knowledge helps everyone, emphasises Fellow of the Society of Master Saddlers, Master Saddler and Master Saddle Fitter Kay Hastilow, hence I thought it would be interesting to discuss a recent question in more detail, as it is both seasonal, and in these days of rising costs in every area of life, topical too….

Question - ‘Can I do just groundwork with my horse to start him back into work, so that I don’t have to have my saddle fitted now, and then re-fitted again quite quickly once he starts to gain fitness? It would be helpful to avoid the costs of two fittings if it is a sensible option.

Kay replies - I must say I was impressed that the enquirer had realised the horse’s saddle would be unlikely to fit when first starting back into work, and also that there would be sufficient changes to his shape to necessitate a second fitting in a relatively short timeframe. It seems that there is a much greater understanding of the importance of correctly fitting saddlery to the horse’s soundness and wellbeing and nowadays, for which we must all be grateful, as it is definitely a positive scenario.

If a horse has been out or work, the first thing to ask is why? Was it because of injury or lack of time / opportunity to ride? The answer to the former will be different to the latter, as correct and effective rehabilitation for an injury often requires the horse to be ridden. If this is the case, then it is imperative that the saddle is checked before the horse is ridden, which will include the saddle fitter checking that the saddle will stay straight and be balanced, as injuries often alter the horse’s way of going and can send a saddle over to one side. I expect that rehabilitation work will have included walking out in hand, but perhaps, if the saddle fit doesn’t look ‘too far out’, sit on for a couple of minutes before the saddler’s visit, just for safety. If the saddle does move when the saddle fitter sees it ridden in, steps must be taken to keep the saddle straight as the horse works, or there may well be further damage caused. Its also well worth noting that in most cases of injury rehabilitation, lungeing can be harmful because of the forces exerted on the leg, muscles or joint when working on a circle on a manmade surface, which might not be ideal in depth or consistency.

Should the break just be that the horse was turned away for convenience, so just purely unfit, it might be possible to do some preliminary work on the lunge and on long reins, provided you have a safe and secure area to do this. If using a roller, with or without attachments such as side reins, I suggest that you read Russell McKechnie-Guire & Mark Fisher’s research on pressures from rollers, which I shared recently. It makes you think - and no, just putting a pad under it doesn’t solve the problem.

It will be necessary to start to ride sooner rather than later though, as although you are getting the horse fitter, his back is not being prepared by groundwork to carry the saddle for any length of time. I am not talking about top line and shape, but the actual physical ability of the skin and coat to accommodate the normal wear and tear from saddle movement. Even with the very best fitting saddle there is always some movement side to side, and possibly a little back to front, as you are strapping a rigid item onto a moving surface. The skin needs to be prepared as much as the rest of the body. Also, the horse will almost certainly move differently when ridden, so the all the different muscles, ligaments, tendons and other tissues used to support this ridden shape need to be prepared and strengthened as well.

So, would this approach of groundwork to gain fitness be sensible? Possibly, in the short term, but my feeling is that, beyond a couple of weeks the horse really needs to be ridden – and unfortunately, this will lead to the need for the saddle fitter to call a couple of times during the period of increasing fitness, to get the saddle fit established. The risks of taking the alternative route could lead to the horse being injured and unrideable for a while. Just what we don’t want.