Welcome to the Year of Youth's equestrian blog for youth riders, horse lovers and horsey people. Join in the discussion on facebook, twitter, myspace, bebo and flikr.

Dear all,

If you haven’t been on the new FEI website recently, can I suggest you have a look at a short video update from Australia, where 38 horses are being trained ready for the Youth Olympic Games. (www.fei.org - Select Journey to Singapore 2010 in the Video player List)

The FEI Communications Team

While some of you may be feeling a bit down about the fact that Winter is certainly here (for most of us anyway!)

As we mentioned in the last blog, some horse owners actually get a bit of relief in winter if their horses suffer from sweet itch. Well, we got to thinking about the other reasons to be happy about winter in the horsey world….

Another condition that is predominantly a problem in the summer, when the grass is lush and green, is laminitis. This condition has the potential to cause damage to the lamellar tissues, which may be minimal or devastating. That is why it is so important to keep an eye a horse if it shows any acute symptoms at all. If you do spot acute symptoms (heat in the hoof, a pulse at the base of the leg, lameness, or a raised crest) make sure you remove the horse from grazing immediately and call the vet. Acute cases can be very treatable and preventable, which is why winter can be a blessing in disguise, as so many cases of laminitis are linked to excessive sugars caused by lush grazing. On the other hand, sever cases can leave the horse with severe permanent damage.

Be aware however, that there have been cases of frosted grass being a factor in the onset of laminitis, so sadly it’s not all good news about winter’s intrusion. Then again, there is always Christmas!

The FEI blogging team

Well for most of us winter is now fast approaching. Generally this is considered the more difficult time of year for many horse owners, with issues such weight loss, lack of suitable turnout and of course poor riding conditions to contend with. However, for many owners with horses that suffer with sweet itch, believe it or not, the grey skies and cold dark nights are actually quite a relief.

Sweet Itch is a distressing skin condition that affects thousands of horses across the world (globally it is often also known as Queensland Itch, Summer Itch, Summer Eczema and Seasonal Dermatitis). It is a seasonal (Summer) condition caused by a hypersensitivity to the bites of the Culicoides flies, more commonly known as “midges”/”biting midge” and “no-see-ums”, their saliva contain antigens, which sets off a reaction in the horse’s skin. (A horse with infected skin will not transmit it to another horse, it is generally considered to be genetic in cause).

The Biting Midge

Infected animals are very itchy and distressed, and rub themselves excessively. In more severe cases, this incessant rubbing can lead to hair loss and damage to the skin, including scabs and even open bleeding sores.

Sweet Itch is considered, along with laminitis, one of the major preventable welfare issues facing our equine population. Sadly, there is presently no “cure” for Sweet Itch, however, the FEI wishes to draw attention to the prevention and treatment of this condition, to promote the health and well-being of horses around the world. As the condition is caused by the biting midge, preventative measures can include stabling the horse at dawn and dusk when the midges are at their most active. The use of insecticides and fly repellents is encouraged also however, do check that the repellent in question is approved and does not contain any banned substances. Barrier techniques are also very effective, including the use of fly masks and rugs; by preventing the biting of the midge you also prevent severe reactions. Plus the future seems full of hope; there is currently a lot of research being conducted into the use of a vaccine and various other drug treatments.

If you have any other tried and tested success stories in the prevention of ‘Sweet Itch’, do get in touch with us!

The FEI blogging team

Erin Reidy is one of our Year of Youth Ambassadors. She began her riding career in California, but her world was turned up-side down when she was told “we are moving to Singapore”. Erin had to leave behind her best friends, her home and her school, but it’s horses that spring to mind when she thinks of her journey so far. She’s found that riding in Singapore is very different to the way she was taught in America. Erin tells us more…

Riding is my life. During the summer I ride everyday, go on trail rides with my friends, spend countless hours with my pony and repeat that same routine every single week. Going just 1 week without riding was horrible, so when I moved to Singapore and didn’t get to ride for 4 weeks, it was devastating.  But it wasn’t like I was expecting to jump right in and be able to have my 3 lessons a week. Of course nothing is that simple.

When I rode in California, I was trained the German way. Which I enjoyed and always strived for more. Here I’m not really sure what their technique of riding is, because it sure isn’t the way I learned to ride.

My jumping lesson… oh that was one of the lessons I wish to never EVER have again in my life. I fell off, started feeling sick and crying. But I wasn’t crying because I was hurt. I was crying because I missed my old trainer, my old pony and my old riding group.

I had been riding at Rancho Del Lago for over 4 years and that was where my whole life opened up.  I found something I loved and being able to be around animals made riding the number one thing on the list of things I love to do. From then on riding was my life. Riding at weekend, drawing pictures of horses and reading all about them, but then just as I was about to learn canter half pass….Singapore happened.

I knew that from the start I was NOT going to give up riding, in fact I was going to get the best out of this and ride more! That’s great news to me, but maybe not the best for my mom’s wallet…if you know what I mean!

Singapore Polo Club, the current place I’m riding at. My current trainer Pedja. He is a man who makes you do what he says. A man who you constantly want to impress with your riding skills. Someone who you are excited when they complement you. Despite the sarcastic comments, he was still a very good horseback rider and trainer.

Riding is different here. You don’t have your hands wide and you don’t have your stirrups really short for jumping, also you walk if you even dare to adjust your stirrups. When I was first here, I felt like a alien entering a new world. Nothing was similar to the way I was taught.

The ponies here are so different than the ones back home. Back in California the ponies at Rancho Del Lago were calm and really safe, and here they like to buck. But I’m not saying that these “new” school ponies are a bad thing. They actually aren’t. Back home I know I was spoiled with the good horses, so here I’m not taking the ponies on as a bad pony I’m taking them on as a challenge. I know that the harder horse I ride in my life the better rider I become. If I ride one horse who knows how to do everything I’m not really learning I’m just adding aids and the horse does it easily. Here you really gotta work for it. Its not a walk in the meadow I’ll just say that.

When I am older I will look back at this and realize that this was a great adventure and something I will definitely not forget but for now I’m just going to see what this new riding experience throws at me. Maybe with this exposure to both German and this new style I will become a great rider. And hey! Maybe in 10 years or so I’ll be riding in the Olympics. Anything is possible!

If you’ve joined us on the Year of Youth Facebook Group, then you may have seen that Richard Johnson (a big cheese at the FEI) who is looking after the Year of Youth has been engaging with young riders and answering your questions.

The FEI is really keen to find out what young people think about equestrianism and we’re really pleased that you’ve been using this fantastic opportunity to ‘Ask the FEI’. Richard’s pretty new to using Facebook groups, but we’re already hearing rumours that he’s already getting hooked – logging in whenever he has a break between meetings so that he can find out what you’re talking about.

He’s not shying away from the big issues either. Emma asked whether the FEI had anything to say about saddleseat, as she believes it is a cruel sport. Richard quickly got in touch with the right people to get a statement on the matter:

“The FEI is a confederation of National Federations put in place in order to govern the sporting disciplines that are practiced at International level. The FEI has put in place rules to ensure that the welfare of the horse is paramount during competitions and also increasingly when the horses are out of competition too. The National Federations and riders all agree to be bound by these rules and policies as a condition of being a part of the FEI Family. The sport of saddleseat is not an FEI discipline and therefore falls outside the jurisdiction of the FEI.”

Richard has also promised to get in touch with the USEF to raise Emma’s comments with them. So if you’ve not joined the group then you’re missing out! Get on over there now and join in the conversation! Richard told us that he’s learning a lot about how youth riders see the sport and is already using your ideas and suggestions to change the way that he works with other people at the FEI. At the Year of Youth HQ we think this is fantastic news! We’re already having an effect and you can be part of it, by joining us on Facebook now.

See you there!

The FEI blogging team

Tadahiro wins on Talexio

We were emailed recently by Tadahiro Hayashi who wanted to tell us his story on the Year of Youth blog. He started by apologising about his English (which really wasn’t that bad) and was keen to tell us about being an equestrian at Hokuso Riding Club at Chiba-prefecture in Japan as well as in Germany at the Ludger Beerbaum stable. We love this kind of email at the Year of Youth, it gives us a much better understanding of youth equestrianism around the world.

Unfortunatley the Year of Youth blogging team aren’t that great at speaking Japanese, so we were very grateful for Azusa Kitano from the Japanese Equestrian Federation who was on hand to translate and help us understand a little more about being an equestrian in Japan. We were particularly impressed with the photos of Tadahiro competing (and winning) on Telexio which you can see on the Year of Youth Gallery page.

We were interested to learn that according to Tadahiro, equestrianism in Japan wasn’t as popular as it was in other countries in his opinion. Fortunately for Tadahiro there are lots of opportunities to compete on a weekly basis to gain competiton experience and to improve as a rider, however involvement in international competitions proved more of a challenge.Unsurprisingly show jumping was the most popular discipline to train in, which seems to be true of a lot of the horsey people we have had contact with so far during the YOY.

We’re hoping to learn more about Tadhiro’s life as a youth rider and to hear other stories from Japan. So for now enjoy the photos and get in touch!

The FEI blogging team.

Andrea Wetzel is part of the Year of Youth blogging team and here she shares her thoughts on the importance of having the occasional break from her horses. She is a member of Canada’s 2007 Young Riders Dressage Team, and has spent the last 10 years training with Olympian Belinda Trussell at Oakcrest Farms, just outside of Toronto. Andrea divides her time between showing at the Grand Prix level, studying in the Honours BA program at York University, volunteering at her local dressage club and managing special projects and contests for the popular Barnmice social community.

Another summer (and show season) is winding down and I’m always nostalgic this time of year remembering how I used to feel when summer was over and I couldn’t spend all day, every day at the barn. I was not very happy that I had to return to school and only ride once or twice during the week. Luckily, now that school is much more flexible for me, I’m still spending every day at the barn! But it is an adjustment balancing all aspects of life when your training schedule is pretty intense.

Like with any other sport you need to give yourself enough time everyday to practice your craft and make it the best it can be. That’s not always so easy when you have other things hanging over your head, like deadlines for school or even work, and friends that want you to go out with them Friday night, even though you know you have to be up early Saturday morning to work at the barn. Out of all the things that horses teach us, it’s amazing the importance they put on responsibility.

I’ve known for a long time that riding professionally is what I want to do. No questions asked. With that in mind, I didn’t have too hard of a time juggling everything in my life. Yes, I’ve had to make some sacrifices for my horses but I don’t regret any of the decisions I’ve made. Each one has taught me so much about myself and has helped me to reach my goals. The sacrifices haven’t been major, life-altering ones by any means but it is hard when you’re younger to miss out on the school football game or a party because you want to be able to experience everything.

There is no doubt that you will have to make some sacrifices in your life if you are training and competing so you need to have a pretty good idea of what type of blanched life will work for you. My coach has always told me to make sure I have other things going on in my life other than the horses. Yes, the horses are my number one priority, but I balance them out with friends and family, school and work. It is very important to have some downtime from the horses. For example, my horses and I always get Sunday off (unless of course I’m at a show or in a clinic), for both of us to enjoy a relaxing day. I find that when I go to the barn on Monday to ride I’m always just that bit sharper with my own aids and reactions because not only has my body been able to rest for a day but my mind has had a chance to think about things and understand them. Even during a training session if I can’t seem to grasp a concept, I’ll take a short walk break, pick my horse up again, and usually 9 out of 10 times I’m then able to execute that exercise perfectly.

You can see how important down time is and knowing that you need to take it often takes some time to realize, but you’ll be happy that you did!

Till next time,

Andrea

Andrea can be contacted (and “friended”) on her Barnmice page

Have you got a horse-related question that you’d like some help answering? Or perhaps you’ve got tips you’d be willing to share with other members of the equestrian community? Well get yourself signed up to our brand new Facebook group “Equestrians and Answers!”

We’ve set it up so equestrians can help each other out with advice and tips… and hopefully make some new friends along the way.

To get a flavour of the group, here is a taste of some questions that are being asked:

 Jean: What home remedies can you use to get hair growth back on a wound?

Lee: I dont know of home remedies but original Cornicresine is best for hair re-growth xx

Hannah: I’m getting another horse, what should I look for when I go look at him?

If you think that you can help, or you’ve a question of your own, then please join us on Facebook and share your best tips!

It is weird not having the same pony face pop out of the stall when you walk by. It’s weird not riding the way I was taught, it’s weird not seeing my pony everyday. Every time I ride a new horse I miss Chester more and more. I keep thinking of the positives of riding new horses, I would become a better rider and all that but I would rather be the same level rider all my life and ride the one and only pony I really love. He means the world to me and I keep trying to convince myself that he will forgive me for leaving. Unlike humans he doesn’t know that it wasn’t my choice to leave. I miss him so much, it feels like I am on another planet. The way I was taught to ride is different from the way they want me to ride. It feels like I am supposed to forget all of what I have been taught about riding and learn it this way all over.

During my last lesson in Singapore I kept wishing it was my old trainer teaching me, the same barns surrounding me and the same pony I would ride that loved me. I miss them everyday. I wish Chester was with me every time I’m at the new stable. I wish I could see his beautiful eyes looking at me or when he and Giorgio play, I just wish I could see him again. I wish we could pay to buy and bring him over here. That would be like the best thing that has ever happened in my life, but I guess that won’t happen because the costs almost seem impossible. But even when someone comes to buy him, I know he will never forget me, and I will never forget him. He was one of the best things that ever happened to me. He was my best friend and it feels like he is so close to me in my heart but in real life he is across the world.

When I fell of the other day on this horse, I wasn’t crying because it hurt, I was crying because I realized that this was it, I was going to be riding these kinds of horses that act like this and they don’t act like my pony back home. It was like hitting a brick wall, realizing that no horse is perfect, but in my mind Chester was as close to perfect as it got. When I am not near him it feels like a part of me is missing, I love him with all my heart and wish that he was here with me.

I just wanted to write this for everyone who is missing a horse that they are away from. Saying I know how they feel. As if a part of you is gone, a horse becomes more than just a pet they become a friend for life, even when they are away.

Erin Reidy