Photo Critique

Shannon and Kiyus are the FIRST to be evaluated!

Here is a wonderful example of a dressage/cross-country (it looks like a saddle that could be used for both) pair Kiyus and Shannon. The photo is a bit blurry but I can still see enough to evaluate it. Kiyus is an Arabian/Trakehner and has just come back from a year off.

I will start with the rider. Shannon has a gorgeous seat, which is wonderful to see and is the basis of a riders’ position so the rest is a piece of cake. For riding dressage her stirrups are a bit short, she could try to lengthen her stirrup and her calf a bit and sink further into her heels. The length would be fine for jumping and cross-country. This horse has a long girth for this rider so a longer stirrup would also help her keep her legs ‘around’ him.

Some people are not able to put their heels down completely because their anatomy does not allow it, everyone is different but most people can get some flexion if they practice stretching on the edge of a stair or doing lots of 2-point while riding. The heel along with the knee and hip are shock absorbers so ideally they should be soft and very flexible.

Shannon has a nice line from the ear to the shoulder, hip and heel. Her back looks soft and is positioned correctly for the canter. She has a gorgeous soft looking hand and a strait line from the bit to the elbow.  She could open her chest a bit more by rolling her shoulders back and lift her head slightly from the center of her helmet up. I think she is looking down with her eyes they need to come up too.

Kiyus looks wonderfully soft and relaxed. His ears are positioned slightly back so I can tell he is listening to the rider. The rider has him on the bit, his head and neck are flexed nicely, I like to see a perpendicular line from the front of the horses face to the ground and he nearly has that. He is a bit heavy on the forehand however so the rider might want to practice more transitions to engage him better in the hind end. So for example: walk, trot, halt, canter, walk, halt, trot etc. At the walk ask him to ‘march!’ keep him engaged at all the gaits. Change direction, circles and serpentines also help with balance. If you ride outside hill work is great for strengthening the hind end. Hind end engagement looks like it will come easy on this horse with these exercises. Since he has had a year off do this slowly, engage at the walk and trot before expecting it at the canter etc.

Kiyus is nicely muscled even after a year off and because he is white or nearly white I assume he is a mature horse. When using transitions to engage the hind end the rider needs to make sure the horse is physically up to the challenge. Any soundness issues in the hind end make it more difficult for the horse to use himself well. You and your vet have to be the judge of how much is too much. For a healthy fit horse lots of transitions will engage his hind end and make him more responsive and balanced. If the horse becomes agitated or nervous from transitions you need to stop and evaluate the reasons why that would happen-pain? Frustration? Confusion? A horse in almost all cases is happy to work for you, if they are not happy it is usually an indication of a problem.

Shannon is dressed appropriately for schooling although she should tuck the back of her shirt in. I can’t tell if the horse is dirty or it is his coloring in this photo. I am a stickler for a clean horse especially if they are white-there is nothing worse than a dirty white horse. I love Quicksilver shampoos and products they work great on the light color horses. (I know because there was a time I had 8 white/grey horses I was in charge of-hunt mornings were brutal at that barn!).

All in all this is a picture of a very competent rider and horse that just need some fine-tuning. Thanks for the photo Shannon!

ANOTHER SAMPLE CRITIQUE

This is a wonderful Icelandic horse that I watched win some classes at a show in Denmark, the rider is sitting in this gait. Overall the picture is nice but I would ask the rider to make a few changes to make the overall picture fabulous: The rider should first slide a bit deeper into the saddle, she seems to be sitting toward the back of the saddle too far. She should relax her knee a bit and sink into her seat and heels. Her shoulders could be just a bit more open and her head should raise from the middle of the top of her helmet so she avoids the 'turtle' head look. She looks soft in her elbow and she has a strait line from the bit to her elbow from this view although I think she has cocked her hands outward from the wrist and this should be corrected. The horse needs to be a bit more engaged behind, his hind leg should be reaching further under himself, this I believe is because of the riders seat. Transitions help to engage a horse as well so more transition exercises would be helpful for this combination. In Denmark as well as the Icelandic world there is not an emphasis on turn out-so anything goes. In America we put a large emphasis on the turnout of both the rider and horse so I will judge this picture as an American would. I am of the opinion that good turnout looks more professional so that if the judge has a tie in a class the better turnout will win. It comes down to basic horsemanship. The horse is beautifully turned out, clean and shiny. The horse is not trimmed nor has he had his mane pulled which is the way Icelandics are supposed to be turned out. The tack looks clean and neat. The rider has chosen an outfit that looks good on the horse, we can see the outline of her position well and the white pants really make you look! Her boots should be clean and shiny . Her hair should be tucked in.