The Winter Q&A Series gives Eventing Nation readers a forum to ask their most burning winter-training questions. Panelists Katie Murphy, Doug Payne, Denny Emerson and Jennie Brannigan will answer reader-submitted questions through March, with their answers appearing each week on the blog. Have a question for our panelists? Submit it to [email protected]. Denny Emerson is answering today’s questions.
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Denny posted this picture on the Tamarack Hill Facebook page this week: "It would be more of a Vermont Christmas story if I could say that Core Buff was hauling in the Christmas tree from our own woods, but he's actually pulling Robert Heath on skis. This would have been sometime in the late seventies."
How do you recommend cooling off a horse after a winter ride, particularly if there is not a stable available? (Submitted by EN reader Laurie)
Denny: On the really cold, windy days, don’t ride your horse to the point where he gets soaked. On days when he is more soaked, if you have access to some sort of shelter, put on layers of polar-fleece coolers after the ride. When the first one gets wet from the steam, keep swapping it out until he is dry. You can also rub the horse dry with towels. If all you can do is turn the horse out in a field after a ride, just be sure not to get him soaked.
What are the best things to do with your horse when you don’t have an indoor arena and the ground is frozen/hard to keep them in at least light work? (Submitted by EN reader Linda)
Denny: Lumpy ground is a real ankle turner. Every rut that a tractor makes or a lump from a hoof print will freeze that way. You have to be awfully careful that your horse doesn’t get a stone bruise. When the ground is very frozen with lots of ruts, I would only walk. But it also depends on the horse too. If he’s fit then he has a better chance of being OK to work harder on the frozen ground. If you’re unsure, then just stick to walking.
With the ground frozen, I’d like to ride on the road, since the surface is even and cleared of snow and ice regularly. How much time do horses need at the walk to adjust from grass to pavement before it’s ok to do short trots? And would you use studs on a horse with just front shoes? (Submitted by EN reader Aneesa)
Denny: If you have to go on snow or ice to get to the roads, use borium on all four feet, unless the horse can go right onto a road. I don’t think it takes very long before you can start some trotting. Downhill trotting is much harder on the horse’s legs than uphill rotting. I would be very careful when you trot. Ideally, trot slightly uphill so you don’t have as much of the banging from the road affecting the horse’s legs.
