ISSUE 73
DEC 2021
LYNDAL OATLEY’S
DYNAMIC DUO
THE WOMEN BACKING
EQUINE WELFARE
WILL MATTHEW’S
TRUE WERTH

PLUS: EMMA BOOTH SALUTES ZIDANE, HEATH RYAN’S CALL FOR CRITERIA, JAMES ARKINS MAKES HIS MOVE, CARO WAGNER’S NEXT CHALLENGE, 60 SEC TO IMPRESS THE JUDGES, KERRY MACK’S SOFT TOUCH, BRIDLELESS RIDING, SEABISCUIT, UNDERSTANDING ANAESTHESIA & FEEDING STARCH.

AUSTRALIA`S BEST EQUINE MAGAZINE
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ISSUE 73

CONTENTS

DEC 2021
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A Few Words

FROM THE CHAIRMAN

ROBERT MCKAY

Ryan's Rave

BUILDING FOR BRISBANE 2032 STARTS NOW!

BY HEATH RYAN

Dressage

CAROLINE WAGNER’S SPECIAL TOUCH

BY ROGER FITZHARDINGE

Showjumping

JAMES ARKINS MAKES
HIS MOVE

BY ADELE SEVERS

Dressage

LYNDAL OATLEY HONES IN ON HERNING

BY ROGER FITZHARDINGE & ADELE SEVERS

Para Equestrian

ZIDANE – MOTIVATOR, FIGHTER, LEGEND, BEST FRIEND

BY EMMA BOOTH

Training

THE SECRET TO
‘SOFT HANDS’

BY DR KERRY MACK

Off the Track

THE WOMEN TRANSFORMING EQUINE WELFARE

BY ADELE SEVERS

Dressage

PERTH BOY FINDS HIS TRUE WERTH

BY ADELE SEVERS

Training

THE SKY IS THE LIMIT

BY KIM DYER

Health

UNDERSTANDING ANAESTHESIA

BY DR MAXINE BRAIN

Dressage

60 SECONDS TO GIVE A FIRST IMPRESSION

BY ROGER FITZHARDINGE

Lifestyle

'SEABISCUIT'
TAKES THE CAKE

BY SUZY JARRATT

Health

A GOOD GUT FEELING FOR PERFORMANCE HORSES

BY ELLIE JOLLEY
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© Amazing Creatures Photography.
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I grew up with a love of horses. When a big, strong warmblood entered my life, I knew I’d have to find a way to ride him that didn’t involve muscle – and so began my journey to riding bridleless.

When I was just a toddler, my mum would find me jumping on the backs of our racehorses while they were laying down in the paddock. I had found my place in the world, and that place was with horses; at this point, I received my first pony.

Growing up I loved the thrill of competition, mainly eventing and show jumping. There was something exhilarating about taking a fence at full speed, the lift of flight. I thought this was the ultimate in riding, until I witnessed something even better… the idea of riding without the bridle!

As an adult, after having two kids, I found time with the ponies more difficult. However, it did open up my world to new and wonderful experiences because I didn’t have as much time to compete.

START OF THE JOURNEY

I decided to do an equine therapy course, where I discovered the wonderful world of liberty training. Connecting with a horse with no bonds on really made me see the truth of a relationship with the horses and that’s where I needed to start.

I dived into this area of horsemanship and absolutely loved it; it was like finding the missing piece of the puzzle and became part of the foundations to riding tackless and without the bridle, as you need to have a super loving and trusting relationship with your horse to be able to do this.

An amazing horse had come into my life, his name was Lufthansa (Lufty, which comes from ‘air’ or ‘aerial’ in German) and he is a super showjumping horse. He loves to jump! The only thing was, he was ridden in a harsh bit and even with this on he was still super strong to jump. I am tiny, only 152cm (5ft) tall, and I had very little control of this big, 16.2hh jumping warmblood, so I set myself the biggest challenge of my horseriding career – to ride and jump this horse bridleless.

I did my research and connected with some amazing inspirational people who ride this way all over the world; I had my starting point, and purchased my first “liberty ring”.

 THE RELATIONSHIP

Fair to say Lufty and I didn’t have the greatest relationship to start with. He was used to being told what to do and perform a certain way by his previous big, strong, male owner. I couldn’t take this same approach with him. I wanted to gain a mutual trust and respect of each other and so we started our liberty journey.

Lufty is super playful and I discovered that this was the way to his heart with his liberty sessions. He found them so engaging and fun, and I would encourage him to free jump and enjoy himself. I started noticing how eager he was then to wait to be caught for our sessions. Our relationship started to blossom, which was so exciting. I loved being with him this way.

GOING BITLESS

I knew that if I was to ride without a bridle the next obvious step was to ride bitless. I did so much research on this topic so I could fully understand why we use bits and why riding bitless can be rewarding — not only for the rider’s skills, but also for the comfort of the horse.

The bitless bridle I started with is called a “side pull”. It applies pressure on the sides of the nose and can maintain a contact similar to a snaffle bit; as a dressage rider or when jumping, I feel you are still able to create a frame and engage the hind end with this type of bitless bridle.

To ride well bitless, you need lightness, super balance and accurate body aids. This was a wonderful way to improve my riding and I loved starting to train this way… and so did Lufty! Taking the element of pain away from his mouth that he’d perhaps come to expect from harsher bits meant our relationship became more positive. Then when I felt we had achieved an ability to communicate with little rein aids, it was time for the liberty ring…

“I had to laugh in
between the hurting.”

TAKING THE BRIDLE OFF

At this point I was super excited about how far we had come, not just in our relationship but in the retraining to lightness that we had achieved. Now to tackle my mindset: riding a big, powerful horse with gear on is one thing, but then to take it all away and trust… well, that’s a massive step, but one I was determined to do.

When it came to eventually removing the bridle, from a safety perspective, I started in a fenced arena and also made sure my backup cue and halt was pretty perfect on the neck ring first, without the aid of the bridle – while the bridle was still there for backup. This all went really well, and I thought “let’s just do it” and, from his back, I did what I’d seen all my mentors do and took off the bridle.

At first, we both stood there and just took in what I’d just done. I could see Lufty processing the situation and he was hesitant to move. I got the courage up to ask for a walk; he moved off with small steps and I thought, “I must test the brakes now”. He came to a stop… super! We started playing a bit more and I thought I won’t push it as it was a great start to riding bridleless and didn’t want it to go wrong as my safety was at stake… I wasn’t wanting to fall off a 16.2hh horse at the best of times.

Over the course of the next couple of weeks, I did get a bit too excited and decided that we could do a small trot, so might as well try a little canter. I asked and he gave, but boy did he go! I panicked and decided to bail as he was picking up speed; I landed hard, off to the side, and he turned and looked at me as if to say, “What are you doing down there?”

I had to laugh in between the hurting, as he genuinely was unsure of what had just happened. I was annoyed at myself for losing confidence. I took myself back some steps as I knew it was all me and I needed to gain my own trust in Lufty, so I set my next challenge to trot over a small jump. It felt like a small victory for my confidence when we did this, and I rewarded him like crazy. Lufty thought that this was awesome as he only needed to do a little bit of work for a big reward!

We finally started to build on this amazing feeling of free riding and, with the help of some amazing people like Alizee Froment and Melanie Ferrio-Wise, we were on our way to our end goal of jumping a course of jumps.

SUCCESS

It was the most amazing feeling of riding and flying over a 1.25m jump with no bridle; it beats anything I have ever done in my life with horses. When we got to this level, I was over the moon; without the trust and dedication to our relationship, I would not be in this amazing place. We can easily now do a course of jumps, and in a beautiful, relaxed state. Lufty has taught me so much as a trainer and now I ride all my other six horses with just the liberty ring, in dressage, jumping and out trail riding this way. It is the most phenomenal feeling… the ultimate in riding, in my opinion.

Learning to ride bridleless is so worthwhile as a competition rider because you learn to refine your skills to a whole new level of lightness and absolute correct aids because there is no room for error with this type of riding. When you then go to compete, your horse is amazingly attentive to listening to you, which creates beautiful harmony between horse and rider. Cross training with a traditional bridle allows for a refinement of rider skills, as so much is then not allowing heaviness of hands on the bit and is aimed at lightness of aids, which results in a happier horse.

Ultimately, the sky is the limit when you believe anything is possible. Never give up and always live your dreams as you never know where they will take you.

Learning to ride with a liberty ring or bridleless should always be performed in a safe environment and it’s always best to seek the help of a professional trainer.

ABOUT KIM DYER

Kim is passionate about helping people create a beautiful bond with their horse. She runs Heartland Equestrian and holds liberty and bridleless clinics across Victoria and interstate, and has also featured as a coach at the Online International Horse Fair. Kim was to be an official educator at this year’s postponed Equitana, however, she will now take part in the International Horsemanship Showcase and present Teaching your horse the Spanish Walk at liberty’. The event takes place virtually on 11 December and features a host of renowned trainers, including fellow Aussie Warwick Schiller. EQ

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