The Jerez Horse Fair, Spain (every year in early May)

by Susanne Risse [Hidden Trails] 07/06/2011

Spain's world famous sherry producing town, Jerez de la Frontera, plays host to the most prestigious equine heritage event in the whole of Europe, the 'feria del caballo'.


The annual fair began as a livestock show in 1284 and is now a magnet for horse lovers.  There are all kinds of horse related activities during this festive week, such as international show-jumping competitions, vaulting, dressage, horse rally, select livestock exhibitions and auctions.  It attracts many thousands of visitors each year who come to witness the remarkable displays of horsemanship along with the bullfights and exhibitions of Sevilliana (flamenco).  During the day the González de Hontoria park fills with hundreds of riders dressed a la Andaluz, and carriages that drive through the streets of the show ground in a majestic spectacle well worth seeing.  However, the highlight of the Jerez Horse Fair is undoubtedly the "Como Bailan los Caballos Andaluces " or the Dancing Andalusian Horses.  People eat, drink and dance until the early hours of the morning with an incredible, enjoyable atmosphere that seems to transform the park into one big flamenco hall.  Children’s attractions, bullfights, sevillana dance competitions and fireworks are other festive activities that complete the programme of the Fair.

A riding tour culminating at the Jerez Horse Fair is an extraordinary experience for those interested in horses and Spanish traditions. Organizing ferias is one thing that the Spanish, and the Andalusians in particular excel at and the Feria de Caballo de Jerez is certainly no exception.

Join us on the Atlantic Coast Ride in Southern Andalusia and combine a fabulous horseback trail with some exciting days at the Feria del Caballo in Jerez! 

For more information, please contact Hidden Trails.  Thank you!


Calgary Stampede, Canada (every July)

by Susanne Risse [Hidden Trails] 07/06/2011

Join the Calgary Stampede - the largest outdoor show on Earth!

The Calgary Stampede events include, chuckwagon racing, the world’s largest rodeo, a parade, stage shows, a grandstand show, agricultural competitions, First Nation exhibitions and concerts by top artists. This is an event the whole city gets into - Stampede Fever runs wild!

Taking place in July, this high energy ten-day event attracts thousands of people from around the world.  Hidden Trails offers trips in the Canadian province of Alberta that can be arranged to fit in and around those dates so you can enjoy a trip to the Stampede and a few days horseback ride in the Rockies!  Please feel free to contact Hidden Trails for further information.  Thank you!

 

photo@Calgary Stampede

Pre flight checklist

by Susanne Risse [Hidden Trails] 07/05/2011

Article first published by Richard Winters in Ride Magazine


I train horses in southern California. That means I have more riding days available to me than probably anywhere else in the United States. I was recently presenting at an expo in Wisconsin and realized that many of the attendees had not been able to ride for the last five months! Right about now, theses hardy mid-westerners will be getting out their horses to prepare for some spring and summer riding. While I was at the expo, I spoke to many folks about the importance of properly preparing their horses to be ridden after a lengthy time off. If they assume that their horse would feel like he did when they turned them out last November, they might be in for a big (bucking) surprise. That’s why an equine pre-flight checklist is so important.

A pilot always takes time to check out his aircraft inside and out before he taxies down the runway. The longer the plane has been sitting dormant, the more thorough the pre-flight check will be. My friends in Wisconsin haven’t ridden their horses for months. I know that most of those horses will be pretty fresh for the first couple rides. It’s even that way here at home. My young horses in training feel fresh on Monday morning, after only two days off! I can’t remove every variable, nor eliminate every risk. I can, however, prepare my horse physically and mentally before I step on and thus increase my chances for a successful ride. Below are a few ideas to get you started with your pre-flight checklist.

Begin With Ground Work


If you catch your horse and he seems distracted and full of himself, get him dialed in through ground work. Send him in some circles each way. Get his feet busy doing something productive. This can be done with a halter and lead (12’ long) or free in a round pen. Remember, you’re not just trying to chase him around until he’s sweaty and tired. You’re trying to exercise his mind. As you engage him mentally and get his feet busy, you’ll automatically exercise and warm up his body as well.

Saddle Your Horse Untied

If your horse has not been saddled for a while he could be cinchy and buck when you first tighten the girth. If he’s tied to a hitching post, this could turn into a big wreck. You can drape the lead rope over your arm (never wrap it around your arm), or you can have a helper hold the horse while you saddle him. The important thing is that you are aware of how your horse is reacting to the procedure and that you are adjusting accordingly. It’s always a good practice to make your cinching up process a two or three step procedure. Don’t tighten the cinch too snug all at once. Draw it up incrementally after you walk your horse out a few yards. Politely cinching your horse up in this manner will help prevent him from getting resentful being saddled. This will also possibly keep him from bucking if he tends to be cinchy or cold backed.

Send Your Horse Through The Full Range Of Motion While Saddled


I’m not going to get on a fresh horse, that I don’t know until I have the opportunity to move him around at the trot and lope (in both directions) while saddled. You can saddle a horse and lead him around for an hour, then step on and promptly get bucked off. Until I see that horse travel through the full range of motion with the saddle on, I really don’t know if he’s prepared or not. The saddle feels different at the trot than it does at the walk and different still at the lope. It also feels different when the horse turns and pushes off in a new direction. Again this can all be done on the end of a lead rope or you can work him at liberty in a round pen.

What Am I Looking For?

I want to see the horse traveling around relaxed and in an efficient manner. In other words, if it takes twenty pounds of energy to lope around this circle and the horse is putting forty pounds of energy into it, then I’m not interested in getting on yet. I’m looking for smooth transitions and a level top line in my horse’s profile. Whether this part of the pre-flight takes five minutes or twenty-five minutes, I’m going to continue until my horse is mentally and physically warmed up and in a receptive frame of mind.

Don’t Wait Around – Get On!


After my horse is warmed up and moving out relaxed with the saddle, I’m going to get on. Waiting too long to mount, after the ground work, might put you back where you were before you warmed your horse up. This is especially true with green horses and those just being started. When you give them too much down time before mounting, they’ll forget what everything felt like when moving around the pen and buck you off when you do ask them to move out.

Remember, your horse is an animal. Not a machine. He’s not like a golf cart that can sit in a garage for weeks and then have you jump in and take off. Your horse is simply an attitude with four feet! Don’t be the one that emails me this spring saying. “I don’t know what happened. I saddled him up and got on. Everything was fine and all of a sudden, for no reason…” What they are really saying is “All of a sudden, for a reason that I was oblivious to, he….”

With proper prior preparation you won’t have to be one of these folks. Knowing what to look for in a pre-flight checklist can go a long way in keeping you and your horse out of trouble and ready to fly. (I mean ride!)

 

Irish Derby from June 24 - 26, 2011

by Susanne Risse [Hidden Trails] 06/21/2011

The Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby is one of the most prestigious horse racing events of the year. Held at The Curragh, one of Europe's oldest sporting grounds, this event attracts the attention of horse-lovers from across the globe, and especially in the horse-mad country of Ireland itself. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 mile and 4 furlongs (2,414 metres), and it is scheduled to take place each year in late June or early July. It is the Irish version of the Derby Stakes, and it is currently held three weeks after the English event. For more information visit www.curragh.ie

IL PALIO - horse race in Siena, Italy

by Susanne Risse [Hidden Trails] 06/08/2011

Going to be near Sienna in July or August? Don't miss Il Palio!
The Palio di Siena (known locally simply as Il Palio) is a horse race held twice each year on July 2 and August 16 in Siena, Italy, in which ten horses and riders, dressed in the appropriate colors, represent ten of the seventeen Contradas, or city wards.

The exciting race, in which the jockeys ride mixed-breed horses bareback, involves circling the Piazza del Campo, on which a thick layer of dirt has been laid, three times and usually last no more than 90 seconds. It is not uncommon for a few of the jockeys to be thrown off their horses while making the treacherous turns in the piazza and indeed it is not unusual to see unmounted horses finishing the race without their jockeys. A winning horse does not need to have its jockey! This race is unlike any other.

A magnificent pageant, the Corteo Storico, precedes the race, which attracts visitors and spectators from around the world. Tens of thousands pack the square to get a taste of the action, creating a vibrant atmosphere.

Photo by: Fabio Muzzi (c) 2003