Feeding Corn Oil to improve the condition of your horse's coat

Did you know that a little corn oil in your horse's feed will improve the condition of his coat? And yes you can use oil from the supermarket. As always make any feeding changes gradual (The Basic Rules of Feeding Horses) and start with only a splash. Some horses won't like the taste at first, mixing with chaff helps, but once your horse is happy with this you can gradually increase the amount fed to around 80ml / 2.7fl ozs a day for a shiny coat.

Saddle Pads

What do you do when you find that your horse has changed shape and your saddle no longer fits perfectly?

 Ideally you'd have a saddler come out and refit the saddle or purchase another that fits correctly. But what if you believe the problem to be due to a temporary change in shape caused eg. due to loss of condition / lack of fitness. Do you invest in another saddle that may not fit in a few months time?

The answer to your problem could be the use of a saddle pad, there are a large variety available to eliviate all sorts of saddle fitting problems on a temporary basis. The one pictured above is the Prolite Wither Pad designed to s lift the front of a saddle and eliminate pressure caused by the points of the saddle tree on high-withered horses or where muscle wastage makes saddle fitting difficult.

The Wintec Front Riser Pad has an extra layer in the front to provide increased lift to saddles sitting to low on the withers and is ideal for fitting horses with a very low wither or minimal muscles across their shoulders.

The Prolite Adjustable Relief Pad has removable inserts which can be adapted to alter the fit of the saddle as muscle tone changes.

The Aerborn Aerolite Combi Riser is relief pad with additional removable shims in both the front and the rear aimed at adjusting the balance and fit of your saddle. Its pressure relieving, impact and friction absorbing properties help to alleviate bruising, saddle sores and dissipates the weight and pressure distribution under the saddle without reducing saddle stability. It's for use on young developing or rehabilitating horses, large yards where one saddle would be used on numerous horses or for just general condition change through the seasons

The Wintec Rear Riser Pad is made from shock absorbing foam which is moulded to fit the chamber of the saddle. It gives an extra layer to provide increased lift to the back of saddles for horses that are changing shape or have a poor top line and is ideal for fitting horses with a very high wither or sway back.

This is just a small selection of saddle pads currently on the market to give you an idea of what is available, they are great as a temporary measure but please remember that you really do need a well fitted saddle for both your horses and your own comfort and the best way to achieve this is with the advice of a qualified saddler.

How to build your own cavelleti

You'll find detailed instructions on how to build your own classic wooden cross cavalleti on the Texas Horseman's Directory.

For cavelleti that look a bit more like the polyjump multiblock plastic block you'll find full instructions at Home Insight Woodworking with APMonte!

There are also instructions  for making both wooden cavelletti and cavelletti from PVC pipes on ehow but there are no diagrams or photographs.

If you've come across any good instructions for DIY cavelleti or have any good ideas yourself please feel free to share by leaving a comment.

Homemade show jumps - oil barrels

 Empty oil barrels have always made useful jumps, poles can be rested on the barrels or the barrels themselves can be jumped.

Now an innovative design, barrel jump cups, makes them even more useful. The barrel jump cups are a triple jump cup bracket to fit on the lip of oil drums giving seperate heights under pole of 97cm (38"), 71cm (28") and 46cm (18").  They are of solid steel construction with no sharp edges and they come with one wall bracket.

The price seems to vary from around £18.00 up to £25.00 + p & P so it's worth searching online to find the best deal you can.

Hanging Plank Jumps - make your own

Planks for showjumps complete with fittings can cost up to £35.00 (and even more) each, so making your own is a real money saving exercise, especially if you have access to scrap wood but do make sure it hasn't got splinters, nails etc and is sturdy enough not to smash if hit.

These plastic coated metal fittings are called plank brackets and they enable you to make your own showjump planks with timber up to 38mm thick. They are available from a large number of internet retailers but we've found Robinsons to be the cheapest at £6.65 a pair.