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Rotational Falls
"A rotational fall," David explains first, "occurs at a jump when the horse’s hips rise higher than his shoulders, creating a fall in which in the horse completely somersaults, or at least lands shoulders-first. It happens very fast. The rider, many times, stays close to the saddle during the rotation. If the horse twists during rotation, the rider might land to the side of the horse. But when there is no twisting motion to throw the rider clear, the horse can land on top of the rider. That’s what makes rottional falls so dangerous. "Why does a rotational fall occur? The horse might be going too slow when he gets to the jump, or he might be going too fast. The rider and horse may not be communicating well, especially regarding the distance. There’s almost always a misjudgement of the take-off in a way which leaves the horse out-of-balance. The horse begins to take off--often he hangs a leg--and the fence hits the horse above one or both knees. The top rail of the fence becomes a fulcrum, and the horse’s hips flip upward, over his head. "There is no single reason for the dangerous rotational falls we’ve seen all over the world in the last couple of years. In light of recent tragic falls and our efforts to make eventing a safer sport, we’d like to reduce all falls, not just rotational falls. We'd like to eliminate rotational falls altogether. I don’t believe we’ll get down to zero falls of all kinds, but I believe that we might be able to eliminate rotational falls. How can I say that? You have to understand that only a small percentage of horses fall during competition, and the rotational falls are a very small percentage of those. (Don't confuse riders falling off with horses falling.) When you specify rotational falls, you’re talking about something that happens to horses competing at Prelim Level and up. You don’t see Novice horses somersaulting. "The numbers tell us that approximately one in every 300 starters results in a horse falling. We have only 1,000 Advanced horses in this country. That’s three falls a year. In fact, our studies show that .3 percent—that’s three-tenths of one percent—of event horses fall in this country. Hopefully, we’ll find ways to reduce even that!"
Breeding For Rideability The ideal sport horse moves like a dream. This animal brings power, grace and pure, undadulterated talent to his discipline. He learns easily and quickly. And let’s not forget, he always cooperates cheerfully with his rider. Without this last attribute, the first few qualities are difficult for the rider to direct. So what can breeders do to maximize the rideability of the horses produced by their breeding programs? "There's no 100% guarantee that you’ll get a very rideable horse when you breed," states Jean Thornton. "But I believe you can get a 98% guarantee." Jean and Denis Thornton own Equivale in Deleon Springs, Florida. They stand the cremello, RPSI stallion Blue Eyed Dream. In addition, they stand the Lipizzan stallion Conversano II Aloha II. With several younger stallions and a broodmare band, the Thorntons are busy people! Jean says, “The best thing breeders can do to get that 98% disposition guarantee is make sure they breed mares who proved they could do the job to stallions who proved they could do the job. If your mare is high-strung, you have much higher chances of getting a high-strung offspring. The majority of our clients are breeding mares who were successful show mares for years--very rideable. "Choose a stallion who is out there doing the job that you want the baby to do. Or if he’s not doing that job, he should still have a job! A career tells you that he’s rideable and athletic. No U.S. stallion is so busy breeding that he can skip proving himself in competition. I’d definitely steer clear of back yard stallions that never competed. Chances are, they never competed because they had difficult temperaments. No stallion should behave like a fire-breathing dragon. I’d geld that one. We insist that our stallions have the same docile temperament as our mares and geldings. [The article offers ideas and information from five prominent breeders. Be sure to read our Jan/Feb 2009 Issue to enjoy them all!]
Learn To Sit Up Straight How many times has your instructor told you to sit up taller? When you look at yourself in photos, do you wince at the way your shoulders hunch? When you’re riding, do you look down and your whole upper body position curls forward? That’s bad. The good news is, top A-circuit hunter/jumper trainer Michael Tokaruk offers information and exercises to help riders develop stronger, more balanced, straighter positions in the saddle. "Lots of people slouch, and not just in the saddle. If a person’s upper body posture is poor just walking around, it’s unlikely to magically change to something nice and straight when that person climbs into the tack. Poor general posture often translates to a roached riding position. So lots of people come to the show or the riding lesson with the tendency to slouch already in place. It’s a tough habit to break. It takes a lot of self-discipline to fix it plus, as I said, a person on the ground to help. “Remember, the whole idea of American hunter/jumper riding is to go with the horse. A correct position helps the horse do his job. It doesn’t interfere. The ability to go with the motion starts with the posting trot. The rider’s jumping position should be about 30 degrees ahead of the vertical. That hip angle translates smoothly into proper two-point and jumping posture. Exaggerated deviations from that angle—too far forward, off to one side, or leaning backwards—leave the horse trying to compensate for his rider’s counterproductive position. Upper body problems can start with many small things, such as looking down or timing mistakes. It’s easy to get started down the wrong path and soon one little mistake has developed into a much larger, bad, upper body habit! [This article offers lots more information. Read it all our our Jan/Feb 2009 Issue.]
Slam Dunk Your Halt You get only one chance to make a good first impression. It’s true in the dressage show ring just as it is in life. Training your dressage horse to halt square and still is important because the first halt sets the tone for the entire test that follows. The halt that ends the test is also the last thing the judge sees before he determines his final scores at the bottom of the score sheet. A beautiful square halt, one that can consistently earn a score of 8 or above, is fairly easy to achieve because it doesn’t require actual riding ability. What it requires is consistency. In order to halt square in a dressage test, you simply must always halt square no matter where you are and what you’re doing. A good halt thus becomes habit for the horse. When you get to the show ring you won’t have to think about it much at all. If you don’t care about a square halt when you stop to talk to your instructor, or when you halt next to a jump standard to take off your jacket, or when you stop to get off at the end of your ride, the horse doesn’t distinguish between those unbalanced halts and one in the show ring when it actually counts for points. The best time to get this concept across to your horse, to motivate him to always draw his legs up under his body when halting, is at the end of your ride. It may take a week or two, but your horse will clearly accept the idea that you aren’t going to dismount and take him back to the barn unless he’s square and still first. Here’s the drill: [Please read our Jan/Feb 2009 Issue to enjoy the entire article.]
“Rotational Falls": L. Allen.
There is lots more to all these articles! To read the whole articles, call Hunter & Sport Horse at 260-244-4019 and ask about back issues.
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January/ February 2009
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