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The problem: A difficult pony for an eight year old - Pony club and similar competitions. From: Jackie Rhone
Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2007 1:54 PM
To:
Malcolm Green
Subject: Your adviceDear Equifeast My 8 year old son, Louis, rides a 13hh, 12 yr old mare Taffy, we have loaned her since February 2006. She is owned by an 18 yr old girl who's had her for 5 years,
prior to this she was in a riding school. Taffy and Louis have got on reasonably well together, they've done PC camp last year, various PC rallies etc and Louis has been learning to jump, she has been great. On the odd occasion
she's been a bit spookey but nothing too serious. In January of this year he got a double clear 2ft jumping competition but since having a really bad day in March where he fell off in 3 classes (at the same jump), finally being
eliminated in the third. She now is really spookey jumping and Louis is now not confident to jump her. His last attempt she refused to go down one end of the arena (spooking, napping etc) and being only 8 (although he's a good
rider, he is only 3 1/2 stone) and doesn't have the physical strength to deal with him bad behaviour. Having said all that he has just been placed 1st (weekend before last) in a dressage competition with a score of 74.68%. We
hacked this weekend and she was good until we met a dog that was not under control and she got herself in such a stew (not naughty, she seem genuinely scared) that she jogged sideways for about 1 mile! Also she has decided it is
really scarey being unloaded from the lorry, having spooked at the skip bucket a few months ago, injuring herself when she threw herself sideways off the ramp. She boxes fine and travels well and then stands at the top of the ramp
shaking when you come to unload. Her behaviour has been worse in the last few months so I put it down to spring grass. I've tried her on SuperCalm (last 3 weeks) but she does not seem to have improved. Do you think Cool, Calm
& Collected would benefit her? Also she has clicking in the fetlocks on her hindlegs which I'm told is arthritis and she has oil in her feed for this, it doesn't seem to cause her pain but the joints just click from time to
time. I look forward to hearing your comments/advice. Jackie Rhone Our reply:From: ext Malcolm Green [mailto:malcolm@birdcareco.com]
Sent:
06 June 2007 10:27
To: Rhone Jackie (Vertu/ChurchCrookham)
Subject: RE: Your advice
Dear Jackie, My apologies for not replying yesterday. This is exactly the sort of problem Cool, Calm
and Collected is usually very good at. Indeed I know of two other very young riders (8 and 10 year olds) whose ponies have been far more jumpable since using our supplements. These are Jessica and Natasha Hewitt. They have a number
of ponies on the supplements and every one of them has shown improvements in behaviour/performance. They are now riding and jumping ponies they had stopped riding earlier and even buying ponies rejected by others for bad behaviour,
supplementing them for 2-3 weeks and then reschooling them over jumps with great success - much to the amazement of the former owners! Having said that our approach is not an instant, miracle cure. Both Louis and Taffy have some
confidence building to do. CC&C will help with that process. The trick is not to push too far too fast. Lots of small gains will get you there faster than trying for one big gain. Here is a link to an explanation of what I
mean: http://www.equifeast.com/EquiFeast/Behaviour/behaviour.html#how
So my advice is to start Cool, Calm and Collected (or WINNINGEDGE - see below) ASAP. Test Taffy out with some short hacks and mildly scary situations but don't push too hard. Keep the jumping fairly low for a while while they both rebuild their confidence. Keep the adrenaline down! I would normally say that CC&C or WINNINGEDGE would also reduce tension, increase concentration and so improve dressage scores but 74.68% is already well out on my league so I should keep quiet!! Well done to both of them. I am told by the vets that the clicking back legs are not likely to be a problem. My wife's 16 yo gelding does it and it doesn't seem to cause any problem. However it does indicate an underlying issue of an aging pony so appropriate joint and soft tissue supplementation would be wise to help prevent accelerating damage. There are three choices from our range. You could use Easy Mover with CC&C. Easy Mover is unique in its combination of joint and soft tissue support. Or you could consider our very comprehensive WINNINGEDGE products. WINNINGEDGE Silver would be cheaper for you than CC&C plus Easy Mover. WINNINGEDGE Gold would be more expensive but both stronger and even more comprehensive and is recommended for older horses and show jumpers. Both contain the CC&C and EM ingredients. I have attached both the general information booklet and the WINNINGEDGE booklet. I hope this helps you make your decision. Feel free to ask any more questions you may have or ring me on 0845 230 1086.
Malcolm Green
Director
EquiFeast The outcome: From: Jackie Rhone
Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2008 1:00 PM
To: Malcolm Green
Subject: Progress Update
Hi Malcolm I just wanted to email you on our progress following feeding Cool, Calm & Collected, since end of June 2007. Taffy, has become a different pony following a disastrous few months last year. Louis is now confidently
jumping her around 2ft classes, was placed 5th in November, joint 1st in December and another double clear last weekend. This was all indoor showjumping, we are yet to get outside but I think that we have definitely turned a corner
with them both. She is no longer stopping, he is confidently "riding" her at the fences and what's more they are both enjoying themselves. He will continue to do his dressage, which will start up again in the Spring and
hopes to compete in some tetrathlon competitions. So I just wanted to say thank you and we'll keep you posted on our continued progress. Kind regards Jackie Rhone |
