Shopping for English Saddles can be confusing, as you need to be able to fit both you and your horse. We recommend you start figuring out what seat size you need as a rider, and you can then start shopping around for a suitable gullet size and fit for your horse.
Upper Leg Measurements
When sitting tall in a chair, measure the length between the start of your knees to the end of your glute muscles.
Rider Hips
If you are overweight or got a larger than normal seat, we recommend you to go up one size from what the seat size calculator gives you above.
Rider Height
Having long legs is a blessing and a curse as a horse rider, as you can reach around your horse more easily, but most saddles are designed for 'normal height' riders. If you are skinny with long legs we recommend the passier saddles. They tend to fit most riders.
Alycia Burton is an intrepid rider with daredevil skills. She can ride bareback which she has perfected to the level of an art. A few years back, she had posted images of herself posing along with Classic Gold rush (A Palomino Paint horse) which became so popular and viral on YouTube that she became a sensation on the internet. Both Alycia Burton and her horse can jump up to 1.70 meter. She is a full time professional horse trainer who is highly specialized in free riding. Furthermore, she is actively involved in all the major events held in Auckland, New Zealand.
Alycia who was born and brought up in New Zealand comes from a small noble family with her parents and three elder brothers. She dropped out from school ealry with no plans on pursuing higher studies. Due to her sheer will and dedication towards her career and horses, she decided to lease a twenty acre property in Karaka where she decided to train horses that no one wanted to convert them into rideable friendly horses.
Free Riding of Alycia
The free riding of Alycia is very distinctive since she does not follow the basic training principles. She has even released a documentary, which was meant to educate the viewers to highlight the relationship and trust between a rider and a horse.
Alycia has recently launched plenty of DVD's and CD's which includes self-made youtube videos. The viewers can enjoy the free riding videos. Back in 2014, Alycia Burton and her horse were focusing on entering Guinness World Record in the category 'Free Jumping'. She commented that 'Extreme riding is a touch of madness'.
Growing Up With Horses
Alycia Burton grew up amongst horses in her home country New Zealand. However, her interest in horses was kindled much later. Unfortunately, during the interim period, she became a victim to drug abuse and lost all interest in living a full life. Alycia Burton gave up schooling when she was aged fifteen. One fine day, when she was on her way back home passing through the City Impact Church; she uttered the words to God "I'm done. What are you going to do with me now?" It was those vulnerable moments, which turned the course of her life. Alycia Burton frequently attended the events organized by the church, which ultimately inspired her to begin a new career by working with horses.
According to Alycia, a sense of excitement stirs up while riding horses. This type of euphoria helps in stimulating the mind, body and soul when compared to alcohol consumption. At present, Alycia focuses on educating young equestrians all over the world about coming from a tough background, and believing in yourself.
About Classic Goldrush
Classic Gold rush was bred exclusively for the racing industry, which is big in New Zealand. Unlike other horses, Gold rush was extremely difficult to manage. Considering this, he was gelded young. One of the unique characteristics of Classic Gold Rush is that it prefers to stay with people. As a result, it is quite difficult to either stable or yard Gold Rush unless there are people or horses standing besides him, as he suffers from separation anxiety.
Alycia said that when she was working with other horses, Classic Gold Rush likes to watch her whole day scanning each moments of her activity. Albeit Classic Gold rush pretends to be a schoolmaster, he is extremely difficult to ride since he is very sensitive and reactive. This horse has a special ability to pick up the behaviour patterns of each rider.
Another unique characteristic about Classic Gold rush is that it cannot be either forced or bullied to execute a particular activity, everything needs to be on his terms. Alycia says that her horse is her best friend since he forgives her whenever she makes any mistakes. Goldrush and Alycia are a great team and have both supported each-other through tough times.
According to Alycia, there is a special bond between herself and Classic Gold Rush, which is extremely hard to break. She is hoping to send a message to the outside world that nothing is impossible. She has received huge offers from interested buyers of Goldrush that she has turned down as"He doesn't owe her anything".
Is Goldrush a 'Palomino' Horse, and what Does it Mean?
Yea Goldrush is a gorgeous palomino paint coloured horse. Palomino represents a unique gender color, which is found in horses only. It normally consists of a gold coat along with white mane and a tail. Palomino is produced through a genetic mechanism, as a result it is not one-hundred pure breeding. According to color breed registries, majority of the palomino horses has an equine coat color.
Unlike other horses, its unique color stands apart in a ring. It is one of the most sought right after the parade horses. These types of horses were extremely popular and appeared in several television shows and movies during 1940's and 1950's. Most of the people might be quite familiar with one of the most prominent palomino horses named 'Trigger'. It is deemed as one of the 'smartest horses in Hollywood movies'. The second best palomino was Mister Ed who had appeared in his personal TV show during later 60's. Palominos are broadly classified into three namely:
1. A light palomino:- The eyes and skin of this type of palomino is dark even though the horse is not a cremello.
2. The colors of a Classic Palomino are quite similar to that of a gold coin.
3. Darker gold palomino Normally the Palomino horses have either a yellow or a gold coat. It has a light cream color. These horses have a darker skin tone with brown eyes.
Alycia Burton & ProHorse Australia
We were lucky enough to meet Alycia Burton when she was traveling Australia in 2017. The ProHorse team took a lesson with her, you can read more about her top tips here.
The Percheron horse is a breed of horse that has origins in western France. It is a draft horse and mainly bred for use in heavy lifting work around the farm. The horse is well muscled and has a high level of intelligence. They are also very willing to work making them the good draft horses that they are bred to be. Percheron horses exists in a variety of colours but they are mostly grey or black in colour.
Not many people know that the Percheron horses were initially bred to be war horses (the bigger the better) but they were then put to work pulling carriages and later on used to pull farming ploughs in the farm. While it is a taboo to eat horse meat in some places - the Percheron horse was also used for food.
Percheron Size
The Percheron horse size today varies from country to country - they range from the height of 15-19 hands in height in France, the United States and in Britain. This makes them one of the taller horse breeds. The weight of stallion varies from the mare by a few hundred kilos but their weights generally rotate around 800-1200 kilos. Being big eaters, the average Percheron can eat up to 30 pounds of hay in a day aside from the regular supply of other foods.
Characteristics
The Percheron horse have full broad foreheads and large eyes in contrast to their small ears. Their ears often give the owners an indication of the horse's well being. Their chests are also deep and wide whic are common characteristics in draft breeds. Their jaws are also quite strong and most of them have white markings on their coat in the areas around their heads and legs. Colours other than grey and black exist such as roan (but can only be registered in the United States). They look quite majestic with lots of hair covering their hooves.
Percheron horses also adapt very fast to different climates; this makes them quite versatile. Their ability to carry or pull very heavy load and still maintain their grace makes them a favourite draft horse. In addition, they are used to draw carriages for this reason.
The Percheron Horse Today
As a result of their intelligence, Percheron horses can also be trained to jump hurdles for shows. Their even temperament makes them less prone to tantrums, making them easy to instruct. They are also considered to be cold blooded horses because of this quiet temperament.
Percheron horses perform better when they are well taken care of so it is imperative to provide them this care. Attention should be paid to the hair around their hooves as these can harbour bacteria. Breeding Percheron horses with lighter breeds creates more agile horses. Or there are breeders who mix them with other breeds to produce even stronger draft horses.
What Is A Bot Fly?
Bot flies are parasitic insects whose larvae grow inside the flesh and guts of animals. They are also commonly referred to as warble flies. Bot flies sometimes use mediums to deposit their eggs onto a 'host' (i. e. a horse). Some of these mediums can be mosquitoes, ticks and the common houseflies. This is a mechanism that the bot fly uses as most animal hosts can usually tell when the bot fly approaches.
This happens when the female bot fly pins down the smaller fly and rotates it into a position that allows for the bot fly to deposit her eggs under the wings of the small fly. In the case of the smaller fly, it will probably land on an animal at which point the eggs will drop onto their skin and dig, effectively implanting in a mammals body. The warmth of the animal encourages the hatching of the eggs to start. Host animals can also accidentally ingest the larvae, which ends up in their guts when they lick an area that has been bitten by botfly that will usually leave its eggs at that spot.
Why Are Bot Flies Dangerous To Horses?
Bot flies are more common in the summer when it’s hot. One of their most common effects in horses includes irritation once they are deposited on the animals’ inner legs and on their knees. This irritation sometimes happens in the mouth or nose of the horse when they ingest the larvae or when the larvae eggs are laid in the area around their mouth.
Another danger that is caused by bot flies on horses is ulcers. These can either be on the mouth or in the digestive system walls; small intestines and stomach lining. This is often as a result of erosion of the skin around those surfaces as the larvae attach themselves on those walls.
Attachment of the bot flies larvae on stomach walls of the horse will in addition cause the animals a lot of pain due to the ulcers. This also translates in poor eating habits by the horse resulting in overall deterioration of their health.
Moreover, the horse might become anaemic, suffer blockage in the intestines or even suffers oesophageal paralysis.
How To Prevent Bot Flies
Going by the severity of bot flies, and the effect to the health of a horse - as a horse owner you should take precaution to avoid this from happening. This can be done through constantly grooming your horse and always be on the lookout for the larvae. They can seen as small yellow eggs sitting in the horses coat.
Washing the horse's legs with hot water will cause the larvae to hatch and then you can apply an insecticide to eliminate them. Make sure you consult your veterinarian before giving the horse any internal insecticide or using an external insecticide is also advisable. Or you can also simply use a scissor and cut them off if there are only a few.
Proper disposal of manure far from the stables will also reduce flies from being in the stables and lower the risk of being used as conduits for the eggs. Removing the manure can also kill the larvae in it effectively breaking the cycle before they mature into the bot flies.
