Caring for the Dressage Horse

In this blog post, Supreme Products sponsored rider Hannah Esberger-Shepherd provides advice on the daily care for a dressage horse.

It was Hannah’s ride on Felicity Scott’s dressage pony Mornington Crescent that encouraged her love of the sport. After finishing seventh at the Pony European’s, Hannah quickly progressed through the ranks representing Britain in further Junior, Young Rider and Senior competitions.

Hannah has between 10 and 15 horses on her yard at any one time so good management is vital to make sure all the horses are given the standard of care they need to compete at the top level.

General Care of The Dressage Horse

Looking after a dressage horse requires care, attention and dedication. To make sure he looks and feels at his best, good daily care is paramount to your chances of success in the arena.

Daily Routine

I think it is important to have a daily routine for you and your horse. At my yard having a routine means that the grooms and I are always organised and work well together as we always know what is going on. This means nothing gets missed and everything is done thoroughly. I think routine for horses is also important, it allows a horse to have time to switch off, helping him stay relaxed.

I normally get up with my daughter Molly, this could be anytime but it is always early. I start riding my first horse at 8am and will carry on riding until 2pm. I will then have lunch before teaching for the afternoon. However if I am competing or doing clinics this routine varies. Fortunately when I am away the girls back at the yard keep everything running like clockwork.

Feeding

When it comes to feeding I think keeping it simple is the best method. I like my feed to be as close to natural as possible, therefore I find that Dengie Feeds are the best for this. I feed Alfa A or Alfa Oil in good quantity mixed with a course mix or Oats for horses that need an extra bit of energy. I find this means my horses take longer to eat aiding their digestion.

For extra help with condition I use Dengie Balancer, and Omega Gold Oil to make
their coats shine and give my horses a bit of extra energy. I feed hay in small quantities throughout the day so they are not left for a long time without eating.

Mucking Out

To make our life easier we have a horse walker on the yard which the horses all go on whilst their stables are being cleaned out. It is brilliant at getting the horses loosened up before exercise and sometimes after exercise as a cool down.

All of my stables are rubber matted which I think helps my horses legs, preventing minor stable injuries and knocks. We muck out early in the morning because I don’t like to see a horse standing in a dirty stable during the day and bed up with wood shavings. After the horses have been mucked out we regularly check the stables for droppings and skip out when necessary throughout the day.

Grooming

In the morning all my horses are flicked over with a brush before they head out for exercise or are booted up to go in the field or on the walker.

In the afternoon each horse is groomed thoroughly after their day’s work has been done. We use Oster Brushes that we are very fortunate to get from my sponsor Supreme Products. The brushes are brilliant especially for removing mud and sweat marks, and the range of soft brushes are ideal for the more sensitive areas.

Supreme Products Detangle & Shine is a life-saver when it comes to grooming through tails. It keeps them in great condition and makes it really quick and easy to remove shavings from the tails. On a weekly basis, to make sure that the manes and tails are in good condition all year round, I use Supreme Products Moisturise and Condition, which is a fabulous dressing that keeps the mane and tail moisturised, suplle and lustrous.

I am obsessed about the horse’s feet so all my horses have their feet picked out and oiled inside and out to try to keep them in tip top condition. If anything should go wrong I am a big fan of the Supreme Products Horse Care Range especially Supreme Products Foot Care Spray which is brilliant at getting rid of thrush and preventing foot infections.

If my horses are going to a show they get the full works to make sure they are looking good and standing out. Firstly I bath all my horses in Supreme Products Shampoos. Any chestnut horses are bathed in Supreme Products Chestnut Shampoo and the rest are bathed in Supreme Products High Shine Shampoo, both give outstanding results and help make sure my horses have a lovely lustre and shine to their coats. They are normally plaited up the night before using Supreme Products Easy Plait which helps the plaits to stay neat and tidy over night and covered with a Supreme Products Lycra Hood for extra protection, laying the plaits and keeping them pristine.

I must say that my horse’s coats have been brilliant in recent months and have really shone when they have been in the arena, I have really been able to see the difference in their condition since working with Supreme Products.

Exercise

All my horses are schooled four times a week to keep them thinking about the job in hand and to help them gain the necessary tools they need to improve. I will lunge each horse once or twice a week to add variety into their workload or do some pole work to keep the horse interested.

I wish I could incorporate more hacking into my horses work schedules to keep them happy and relaxed but unfortunately the road I live on is very busy so if we want to go hacking we have to box the horses up and take them to Osberton, which is a fabulous wooded parkland where the horse trials is held. However, this is a luxury for me and can only be done when the yard is not too busy.

When riding young horses I use exercise boots on their legs as I find they give better protection from knocks. Young horses have a tendency to become unbalanced when they are learning therefore I like to take extra precautions. However for older horses I like to use bandages on their hind legs as this gives them more support.

When I am not riding my horses I like to make sure they are able to switch off from their work and enjoy themselves, therefore they are all regularly turned out in the field.

Physiotherapy

I strongly believe physiotherapy plays an important role in making sure my horses are prepared from the challenges in front of them. You just have to have physiotherapy yourself to be able to feel the difference, therefore it must be the same for horses.

Every five to six weeks the physio visits my horses to give them treatment. Maxine, the physio, is brilliant. She knows when ‘things’ are not right and that gives me the knowledge to adjust that particular horses training to prevent injury or strain.
In between visit I use a massage rug before and after exercise. The results are amazing - I can feel it when a horse has had his rug on, they are much more loose and submissive as a result of using the rugs.

For more information please contact Supreme Products on 01377 229050 or visit www.supremeproducts.co.uk