Equestrian Life Magazine September Issue 220 | Page 36

Dawn Westcott is editor and
founder of Equine Tourism and the
Exmoor Pony Club and twice world
champion in Horse Agility with her
Exmoor stallion, Hawkwell Versuvius
aka ‘Bear’

The Value of
Groundwork
Creating a perfect riding horse is, as we all
know, never completely straightforward.
There are many considerations - the
individual horse, the environment,
facilities, trainer ability, planned activities
and so on. When you have a beautiful,
strapping youngster, you can be forgiven
for being keen to get on and ride as soon as
possible.
It’s worth bearing in mind, however, that
horses and ponies take time to mature - both
physically and mentally - and that groundwork
can play a valuable part in laying solid
foundations for a safe, confident and physically
able riding horse, before and during backing
to saddle. As well as helping horses to build
trusting and confident relationships with their

handlers and future riders, they can develop
the ability to focus, concentrate and cope
with a wide range of tasks and stimuli. They
also become supple and flexible and develop
the right muscles to eventually carry a rider learning to balance and develop correct paces,
meaning less strains and injuries later on.
Whether the groundwork includes in hand
Classical exercises or agility/liberty work (or
both) horses will become more confident,
responsive and lighter to handle - with the
advantage that they’re then more likely to
go nicely in a simple snaffle, or even bitless
and will work through from behind in natural
self-carriage. While a young horse will still
need all the usual careful introductions and
development in his ridden work, the inclusion
of proper groundwork training will iron out a
lot of problems and ensure he’s strong enough
- in mind and body - to do his job. Patient
training at a young age will reap the rewards in
the long term. Food for thought.

Riding Clubs Update
We’re now almost a full season into our local
West Somerset Riding Club activities, which
has included various training, competition
and social activities almost every weekend –
and it’s heartening to see members steadily

Sarah Anglberger from the University of Equine Veterinary
Medicine in Vienna working with 2 year old Exmoor Holtball
Tambora to improve her groundwork skills.

improving and progressing throughout the
season, with continual encouragement from
the dedicated voluntary team of organisers
and helpers. All that hard work pays off at the
various Inter-Riding Club competitions, where
local clubs compete against each other in
show jumping, dressage and cross country. At
the recent South West Rising Stars Dressage
Competition on 18th August at the Conquest
Centre in Taunton, twenty local Riding Clubs
took part, with the West Somerset Riding Club
and Polden & Bridgwater Riding Club teams
eventually taking the coveted sashes and
rosettes in the top placings.

The Exmoor Pony
Club & Holtball
Exmoor Pony Stud
It’s been a busy month for the Exmoor
Pony Club running workshops, preparing
for the 2013 Exmoor Pony Festival (report
next month) and promoting the breed with
media interviews and activities. Enthusiasts
have been learning how to improve their
groundwork and handling skills, using their
energy and body language to establish
‘connection’ and understanding with Exmoors.
Non-Exmoor owners are finding Exmoors great
teachers in creating better equine partnerships
and riding horses. Details of workshops and
demos at Holtball Exmoor Pony Stud can be
found at www.exmoorponyclub.co.uk.
This summer the Holtball working students
have also been learning how horse agility and
liberty work helps to establish mutual respect
and understanding, as well as giving the
ponies purpose and learning opportunities.
One thing that has surprised them is how
keen the ponies are to get involved in these
activities rather than simply grazing in the
fields. Sarah, an Equine Sciences degree
student from the University of Veterinary
Medicine in Vienna, has been working with
the Exmoor pony youngsters at Holt Ball
to develop their Agility skills and hone her
understanding of horse behaviour and
training. Work placements and internships
give the students time to properly learn
about the ponies, including how to create
natural herd management systems, herd
behaviour and interaction, and breeding and
stud management. With no ‘conventional’
stables, the ponies live in groups - so to handle
and work with them the students need to
learn how to read and listen to the ponies
and present themselves in a respectful and
appropriate way to win their trust and cooperation. They get an invaluable opportunity
to learn how to use energy connection and
body language to get the best results.

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