31 March 2022 - Flipbook - Page 94
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FARMWEEK
MAY 12 2022
HORSEWEEK
EQUINE MANAGEMENT NOTES
80CM: Aoife Davies and ‘Pip’ won the 80cm
class, after claiming second place in the
70cm class on week three of the Jump Mix at
Hagans Croft. (FW19-560NN)
1M: Kirsty Clingan and ‘Todd’ won the 1m
class on week three of the Jump Mix at
Hagans Croft. (FW19-562NN)
Aoife on a winning
streak at Hagans Croft
S
ATURDAY, May 7 saw another sunny
day for the third leg of Hagans Croft’s
five-week Jump Mix League. Not only
was the sun shining, but the future’s
jumping stars were also shining
brightly, as the cross-poles class and 50cm
class got underway.
Once again, there were clear rounds in
the cross-poles class for Megan Burns, Lily
Henderson and Rachel Stranney, who had so
much fun jumping the 12 fences unassisted
with big smiles on their faces, with everyone
receiving a rosette regardless. Those same
competitors took on the 50cm class and,
much to their delight, completed the course
with double clears, first went to Megan Burns
and ‘Merlin’ and second to Rachel Stranney
and ‘Snowy’.
As the course was adjusted for the 60cm
class, the arena party added back poles to
some of the fences, as well as fillers. A total of
12 competitors took on the challenge, however
clear rounds were few and far between, with
only four competitors finishing on a clear
score. Who got the red ribbon was down to
who completed fences nine to 12 in the fastest
time and that was Aoife Davis on ‘Arizona’ in a
time of 36.66 seconds. The blue ribbon went to
Ella McCrory on ‘Hey There Delilah’ in a time
of 37.41 seconds. There was great riding from
these competitors, well done!
The largest class on the day was the 70cm
class, where a total of 17 competitors jumped
the course of 12 fences comprising of show
jumps and rustic fences. With a record
number of those competitors jumping double
clear, the leader board changed frequently.
A total of 15 competitors jumped the course
clear all the way, therefore it was down to who
completed the course in the fastest time and
that was Melanie Talbot and ‘Calypso’ in a
speedy time of 26.15 seconds, cantering into
first place and the red ribbon. Second place
was Aoife Davis and ‘Pip’ in another fast time
of 27.88 seconds.
Fresh off their second place spot in the 70cm
class, Aoife Davis and ‘Pip’ had their sights
set on the red rosette for the 80cm class. The
pair took the turns and kept all poles intact
across the course, outdoing their time in the
previous class and notably achieving the
fastest time across the whole day of 26.03
seconds - nothing could deny the pair the red
rosette for the 80cm class! What a fantastic
day out for Aoife and her two ponies!
The penultimate class on the day was the
90cm class, where Charlotte McGladery and
her grey gelding ‘Dude’ soared over the fences
into first place, followed by Abbey Stevenson
and her beautiful black Friesian mare ‘ Belle’
50CM: Megan Burns and ‘Merlin’ won the
50cm class on week three of the Jump Mix at
Hagans Croft. (FW19-558NN)
in second place.
The last class of the day saw only one
competitor go clear and that was Kirsty
Clingan and ‘Todd’ in the 1m class. The pair
were delighted with their performance, which
was made even better by coming home with a
red ribbon!
Hagans Croft would like to thank everyone
who supported the third leg of the five-week
Jump Mix League. Thank you to the arena
party, Katie and Alice and to Black Horse
Photography for covering the event. All
photographs can be viewed and purchased
from the Black Horse Photography website.
This league runs every Saturday until May 21
and is open to everyone. Entries are via Hagans
Croft’s website: www.haganscroftequestrian.
co.uk or you can also enter via the Hagans
Croft App. Entries close each Thursday at
8pm and times are posted late on Thursday
evening.
To qualify for the final in week five, each horse/
pony and rider combination must compete
in three out of the five weeks and within the
same class. Competitors must compete in the
final to be eligible for league placings; placings
will be based on a points system. The final is
open to everyone with a separate prize giving
taking place for competitors on the day and
league competitors.
To find out more about the league, please
contact Gillian on 07849 106453 or go to the
website: www.haganscroftequestrian.co.uk
RESULTS
Saturday, May 7
Jump Mix
Class 1 - Cross-Poles Clear rounds: Megan
Burns, Lily; Lily Henderson, Emily; Rachel
Stranney, Snowy.
Class 2 - 50cm: 1) Megan Burns, Merlin; 2)
Rachel Stranney, Snowy; 3) Rose Henderson,
Tubster.
Class 3 - 60cm: 1) Aoife Davis, Arizona; 2)
Ella McCrory, Hey There Delilah; 3) Vivienne
Andrews, Sarah’s Pebbles; 4) Emma Andrews,
Mouse; 5) Roz Corry, Ted; 6) Cara Hamill,
Askamore Lass.
Class 4 - 70cm: 1) Melanie Talbot, Calypso;
2) Aoife Davis, Pip; 3) Maisie Anderson, Izzy;
4) Alex Hemsley, Vinnie; 5) Eva Wright, Cappa
Rose; 6) Ella McCrory, Annagh Storm.
Class 5 - 80cm: 1) Aoife Davis, Pip; 2) Emily,
Annie’s Treasure; 3) Ella McCrory, Annagh
Storm; 4) Janine Austin, Little Black Beauty; 5)
Sara Gray, Keizer; 6) Abbey Stevenson, Belle.
Class 6 - 90cm: 1) Charlotte McGladery,
Dude; 2) Abbey Stevenson, Belle; 3) Janine
Austin, Little Black Beauty; 4) Brian Firth,
Socks.
Class 7 - 1m: 1) Kirsty Clingan, Todd.
60CM: Ella McCrory and ‘Hey There Delilah’
took the blue ribbon in the 60cm class on
week three of the Jump Mix at Hagans Croft.
(FW19-559NN)
Equine sleep
by Kym Griffin, Equine Lecturer
SLEEP is vital for good mental and physical
health. Despite this, it is a topic that has
received relatively little attention in relation
to horse care.
While some horses will spend time lying
down in the day, most predominantly sleep
at night between the hours of 12 midnight
and 6am. This makes rest patterns difficult
to monitor, which may explain why it has
received so little attention.
Horses are polyphasic sleepers, so unlike
humans, their sleep is broken up into
multiple shorter sessions throughout the
day and night. Horses have two phases of
sleep, Slow Wave Sleep (SWS) and Rapid Eye
Movement (REM) sleep.
SWS is known as ‘rest of the mind’, during
this phase the brain cools and there is low
metabolic and neural activity, yet, there is
some muscle tone which allows the horse
to engage their stay apparatus. The stay
apparatus is a group of tendons and ligaments
that require minimum musculature effort to
lock the horse’s major limbs in place. When
the stay apparatus is engaged, then the
horse can remain standing whilst in the SWS
phase of sleep.
REM sleep is known as ‘sleep of the body’
and this is when dreams occur, learning is
consolidated and events from the day are
processed. During REM sleep, some regions
of the brain heat up and there are high levels
of brain metabolic and neural activity. In
REM sleep, the muscles become completely
relaxed. Lack of muscle tone means the stay
apparatus cannot be engaged, therefore, to
achieve this phase of rest the horse must lie
down.
Horses can spend as little as 30 minutes
in REM sleep per night, by comparison
humans will spend 90 minutes in this phase
of sleep. However, studies have shown that
although the time in REM is relatively short,
it is still essential for the horse to achieve its
full sleep cycle. The shortening of the REM
phase of sleep is likely related to the fact that
horses are a prey species, so are vulnerable
to predators when lying down. The fact that
this phase of sleep still exists in the horse,
despite pressure from predators, hints at
how important REM sleep is for normal
functioning. Research has shown that a
normal, healthy horse that is comfortable
in their environment will spend some time
lying down every night.
As in humans, there is a huge amount of
variation between individuals in how much
sleep is required for normal functioning.
Additionally, time spent sleeping can be
influenced by internal and external factors,
including age, nutrition, exercise, stress,
weather/ season, social grouping and
housing. This makes classifying ‘normal’
time spent sleeping difficult.
POWER NAP: Horses are polyphasic
sleepers, which means their sleep is broken
up into multiple shorter sessions throughout
the day and night. (FW19-500bNN)
RELAXED: In REM sleep, the muscles
become completely relaxed - to achieve
this phase of rest the horse must lie down.
(FW19-500aNN)
Studies on feral or free-living horses have
shown that they will spend approximately
5-11% (one to three hours) of their daily
time budget lying down. Domestic horses
have shown a greater variation, spending
on average 3-21% (45 minutes to five
hours) of their time budget lying down.
Some individuals in the domestic horse
studies failed to lie down at all during the
observation period. In domestic horses,
there are huge differences in management
systems, which could account for some of
this variation (Chapline and Gretgrix, 2010).
Achieving a full sleep cycle is a biological
need for all mammals and we can be sure
that horses that spend no time lying down in
REM sleep are likely to suffer physiological
and psychological consequences. At the
other end of the spectrum, the horses that
spent a lot of time lying down also showed a
range of stress related behaviours (Heleski
et al., 2002). More research is required to
determine exactly how much sleep is too
much, but it is worth noting that both too
much and too little time spent by the horse
lying down sleeping are indicators of poor
welfare.
What can we do to ensure our horses are
getting enough rest?
If stabled, ensure the stable is big enough for
your horse to get up and down comfortably.
Your horse should be able to lie on their side
without touching any of the walls in their
stable. Studies have shown that most horses
prefer straw as their ideal bedding, but this
varies by individual. Whatever bedding type
you choose, ensure it is deep enough to
provide sufficient cushioning of the joints.
If a deep bed isn’t an option, then include
rubber mats with bedding on top. For horses
that are outside, ensure they have access to
a dry comfortable place to lie down, a run in
shelter with bedding is ideal, but even cover
under trees is enough for most horses.
Where possible, monitor whether your
horse is lying down - look for signs of bedding
or dirt on their coat or rug and depressions
in the ground. If possible, monitor CCTV
footage or use a device that can be attached
to the rug, which will automatically monitor
time spent resting. If you suspect your horse
isn’t lying down most nights or you feel
they are lying down excessively, then have
them checked by a veterinarian as soon as
possible.
REFERENCES
Chapline and Gretgrix, 2010. Effect of
housing conditions on activity and lying
behaviour of horses. Animal, 4(5), 792-795.
Heleski et al., 2002. Influence of housing
on weanling horse behavior and subsequent
welfare. App.l Anim. Behav. Sci., 78(2-4), 291302.