Safety Cages, Uneven Legs and Russians

[Joane Pappas White <Lyoness@Castlenet.com>]

Hi All,

It seems like Steph's rules have already improved the quality of the
posts.  Three of the topics in the last couple of issues are really
interesting:

1.  Safety Cages.  I have never used them and also wondered if they
would catch on branches.  I seem to end up with pine needles and
branches in every part of my saddle and person already.  At the FEI
races where we crew, many of the riders use duct tape to completely
cover the safety cages.  I know leather would be prettier but it would
also be heavier and much less flexible.  So many of the FEI riders are
tiny ladies that getting caught up in the cages could be a real problem.
The duct tape might help.  What about safety cages with smaller
openings?  Anybody know of any?

2.  Legs of different lengths.  I had convinced myself for four years
that my legs had to be two different lengths.  Without even realizing
it, I had set my stirrups shorter on the right side on all my saddles. 
This summer I spent a week with Donna Snyder Smith and she showed me
that I was "hooking" my right heel into my horse like a security anchor
whenever I became insecure.  

Now I have been video taped before and have taken dressage lessons etc,
but no one has really picked up on this little subconscious behavior of
mine before.  After three months of streching exercises from the hip, I
climbed into my (not very often used anymore) western saddle last
weekend and immediately felt out of balance.  When I checked the
stirrups, the right side was over an inch shorter.  That used to feel
balanced to me!

It may not really be your legs but rather how you cock your hip, knee or
ankle that is creating your imbalance. 

I used to think that my right knee problems and even my numbness in the
right leg and foot were something I had to live with--wrong!  We have
discovered if I exercise my weak side, don't let my back (disc) get
irritated before a ride starts and keep my right foot from hooking, all
those problems go away.

3.  Russian Horses.  Janet Frederickson's Akhal-Teke named Sharteka from
the Northwest and Lari Shea's AT's would probably prove Wofgang wrong. 
They have good recoveries and good endurance records.  BUT so do most of
the desert bred horses.  The AT were bred in Turkmenistan which is
really more Middle Eastern than Russian.  A number of historians believe
that the AT was the original Arabian Horse and that the Darley Arabian
and the Godolphin Arabian (two of the "Arab" Studs that created the
Thoroughbreds) were really Akhal-Tekes.  If you have never seen these
horses, they are really beautiful but have an unusual conformation.  The
necks curve differently from the shoulder and the backs can be quite
long.  Ask Lari Shea if her AT's have better recovery rates than her
Russian Orlovs or her purebred arabs.  I'll bet they are not much
different.

I have two Russian Arabians (Muscat breeding and Arpan breeding).  Both
are purebred arabians.  They have great recoveries but then I was
looking for great recoveries when I bought them.  Our Egyptian and
desertbred(CMK) arabians have great recoveries also--probably for the
same reasons!  The only horses at the ranch that don't recover as
quickly (and they will recover within a couple of minutes) are Grandpa's
TB's and 1/4 horses and that might be because they are all over 17 years
of age--They are still Grandpa's endurance mounts as he says he is too
old to change horses now.

Joane and the Herd
Price, Utah
Lyoness@Castlenet.com