The Equestrian Blog

Is Bart Simpson Addicted to Local Riding ?

Christmas is hardly over but confidential sources in Springfield report that Bart Simpson was written up before the holiday for blogging localriding.com in class.

Punished with the usual detention and 1000 lines of .....

'I must not blog localriding.com in class'.

Bart was asked why he broke school rules by viewing localriding.com in class.

Bart simply replied, ...... “Eat my shorts, man.”

Bart has been voted as the most unlikely boy to own and care for a horse. Lisa Simpson is said to be distraught at the thought Bart is once again muscling in on her starring roles.

You Learn Something New Everyday.

Here's something I never realised and never considered but makes perfect sense once you do think about it.

Why does your horse spook at the same thing twice ?

We all get frustrated when our horse spooks at the same corner everyday or the same flower pot he saw just two minutes earlier. But why.... well maybe the answer lies with,  “The theory of the dominant eye”.

You see, most of us (including horses) have a dominant eye. To find out which is your dominant eye, keep both eyes open and point at an object. Then close each eye, one after the other. You’ll find when you close one eye, your finger stays on the object, but when you close the other eye your finger appears to jump to one side.

For example, if you close your right eye and your finger stays on the object then your left eye is your dominant eye. The left eye being the open eye.

The dominant eye theory explains why horses tend to shy more when a perceived danger is on a particular side. Let’s say you’re circling to the right and your horse is left eye dominant. He seems pretty secure about his environment because his dominant eye is on the outside. He can see his surroundings and keep himself alert and safe from danger.

However, if your horse is right eye dominant, he’ll want to get his head around to the left so he can check out that environment with his right eye. The result is that he spooks more for objects that are to the left of his body. So ride along a road with a new piece of litter on the right and he spooks, then ride back along the same road and the litter is on the left and it's all new and he spooks again.

So...., make sure the first time he notices something new, you let him see it from both sides before riding on. 

Overcoming Confidence Problems

Confidence problems or losing confidence is quite common after a fall or an accident and some of us recover quicker or better than others.

Read how Amanda coped, in her own words, after a bad road traffic accident and how;  despite injury, despite pain and despite friends insistence, she soldiered on and has rebuilt her equestrian life. 

Her story is an inspiration .... Click Here to Read It !