AMC Equine Performance

Train your eye to identify (and feel) the difference. PICTURE ON LEFT: The overhead view of this horse looks a bit like a jack-knifed trailer. The neck and body... of the horse appear as multiple straight lines, rather than as a continuous curve matching the path of the circle or curve being ridden. Notice how the horse’s nose is being pulled to the inside of his shoulders. Often the head is twisted when this happens, causing a head tilt. From the saddle, look to see if the ears are level. If one ear is higher than the other, the horse’s head is tilted. From the ground, check if ears are level, or with the horse coming toward you, look to see if the horse’s head hangs correctly vertical or incorrectly on a slant. There may be an exaggerated crease (hollow) between the top of the shoulder blade and the base of neck on the inside. The outside shoulder is popping to the outside. The outside front leg is tracking to the outside of the curved path of travel. The rider may notice that the horse feels stiff through his body and it may feel like the horse’s ribs are pushing against the rider’s inside leg. The horse’s inside hind leg is tracking not only to the inside of his body, but all the way to the inside of his front leg. This obviously does not allow for the inside hind leg to be able to reach under his body for proper positioning and weight carrying. The horse on the left is clearly crooked and on the forehand. PICTURE ON RIGHT: The overhead view shows how the spine is aligned with the path of travel. The horse appears to be pleasantly filled along the outside of his body in a continuous curve. The shoulders are pointing in the direction of travel. The hind end is also correctly in line and now able to propel the horse forward. You can surmise from the picture that the horse is tracking up and under his body with his inside hind leg, and that all legs are tracking properly and bearing weight more correctly as he moves. When the horse is bent correctly through his whole body, the horse’s nose hangs over his chest, rather than to the inside of his body. The horse is now able to straighten and gymnastically progress in his training. The overall quality of movement will improve and the horse will appear to be buoyant and alive in his movement instead of moving in a stiff and set manner. SUMMARY: As riders, it is very easy to concentrate on what we see in front of us and forget what’s happening behind. It doesn’t help that riding sometimes seems counter-intuitive. Overcoming our natural tendency to use our hands for everything and to pull on the inside rein to bend or turn can be difficult to re-program! Simply stated, when we use our inside rein to get a bend or to turn our horse, we are, by default, riding from front-to-back and putting the horse on his forehand. We must remember to keep the horse’s hind end in mind at all times and ride from back-to-front. This takes the proper use and coordination of our whole bodynot just our inside hand. To help the horse to be correctly aligned (straight), WE must be correctly balanced and aligned in the saddle. A crooked rider WILL negatively affect the horse. A crooked horse can also make the rider crookedoften without the rider even realizing it. In this partnership, it is the RIDER'S responsibility to be correctly balanced and aligned, as well as to develop the correct timing and application of the aids in order to effectively help the horse in his training. Learning to ride from inside leg to outside rein (along with a zillion other details) takes time and practice, especially because we often have to overcome ingrained muscle memory, faulty proprioception and the inherent crookedness in our own bodies. The journey is worth the effort. When you FEEL your horse on the aids and in your outside rein, you might just hear the angels sing!

September > October > November In absolute LOVE with how my little guy is coming along! #cattinwhitelynx #cowpony #proudmomma

For those considering getting an order in, Total Sport Graphics allows us to bring in clothing items to get customized! This works out perfectly as Old Navy currently has an amazing deal on puffer vests. $25 for thick and warm puffer vests. Originally $45. They come in rose, white, grey, and black. After customizing, the vests should work out to be around $35 give or take!

Hi guys, Ripper here! Just making an appearance to tell you about my mommy’s partnership with Equi-Smart Massage and how she can get you a discount for your next appointment! If you book a massage appointment with Melissa Caccamo at Equi-SMART, you can use her promo code BA04AC ... to get a discounted rate on your next treatment! I’ve heard that she makes your pony-children feel super good and I can’t wait for my first treatment! Message us for more info!

Happy Thanksgiving! Hope everyone is staying safe and spending lots of time with loved ones Just an update- I’m going to be doing another clothing order soon so comment or private message me if you’d like to purchase anything! Any clothing item or accessory you would like with the AMC logo on it, we can likely do. Orders are completely custom with logo, name, colour, etc... Just message me what you’d like and we can work out all the details. Items are covered at your expense! The company we work with uses the Gildan brand for most items FYI. Pictured below are the sweaters from the last order, all completely custom. Next order has a lot of sweat pants so far and maybe some jackets or vests for the cold weather