Showrider - Sielja Dantved

25/03/2022

Restitution, what does it mean?

Often the main goal when training a horse is to build muscle & endurance, so the horse can perform better. To get there you need the right training & the right feed, but restitution is most certainly important too. 🍀

It’s during restitution that the horse develops, here the horse uses the nutrients from the feed to repair & rebuild. When we train the horse, it creates micro damages on the muscles, this is what can cause soreness to the muscles. These micro damages are repaired by the body itself during restitution, & during this process the muscles develop & get stronger. If the horse doesn't get the right amount of nutrients & time for active rest & restitution, the horse won't be able to perform to the fullest. In severe cases the horse will deprive the horse from thriving & a lack of energy will occur along with muscle soreness.

Always remember to give your horse time for active rest. Active rest is when the horse gets to move around, without any type of work load. The best way to get that active rest, is to turn the horse out as much as possible on a big field.

Immediately after training the cells in the horse's body are extra susceptible to nutrients like sugar & amino acids. This is because the muscles are ‘hungry’ to get the glycogen stocked up again. The same applies to the liver, as this is where the carbohydrate reserves are, which the horse draws from during training. Advantageously you can time one of the horse's feedings so that you feed right after training.🌾

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23/03/2022

An attentive horse 💙

When your horse is not paying attention to you, you loose the ability to influence & improve your horse's balance & therefore you won't be able to prepare & ride into an exercise.
When the horse's attention is on the surroundings instead of on you, the ride will be a struggle, this is also what some would call a 'lazy' horse...so how do we fix that? 🔍

A good way is to keep your horse on his toes, never knowing what to expect. This keeps the training interesting!
Don't ride the same thing too many times & make sure you change the training from day to day. Come up with new ways to train the circles, the leg-yields & the shoulder-in.
Personally I love to use transitions! In the middle of a circle, I do a transition. This is very unexpected & unusual for the horse..Why put 5 steps of extended trot in the middle of a 20m circle? Cause it keeps things interesting!

Another great way to keep the training interesting is to change the environment! It also helps the horse to keep the focus on you, to go out once in a while! The more you expose your horse to & challenge them, the more your horse will learn that distractions are normal & that they need to keep their focus on you no matter the situation.

A horse that has learned to distract himself or 'fall asleep' during training, can be hard to get out of it as they have fallen into a rot...it takes time & a lot of variation in the training to pull the attention back, but it can be done with patience, hard work & an innovative mindset! 💭

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16/03/2022

We can anything...together!🎉

I love this photo of Lord Korpus & I from our show at last year, with the confetti flying in air & the danish flag waving in the wind behind us ❤
This reminds me of all my dreams as a little girl, & how lucky I am to have gotten this stallion to make them come true!

But I also think of all the hard work, all the sweat, sore muscles, tears & hours it has taken to get here! My God, it takes so much work to get to this point, & so much dedication...dedication & motivation that I too lost some times. But I always found my way back to my joy, & my love for working with this guy!

It just shows, that as long as you stay with your horse, keep working & keep your relationship strong & filled with trust...you can do anything together! 🥰

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13/03/2022

Not Me, but We! 💜

Working with horses is very rewarding & I absolutely love it. My horses are definitely the ones that make my day, every day!

But I also think it's important step back & put my own needs & selfishness aside, & make sure that my horses feel the same.
I've seen these videos on social media...
"Taking my stupid human on a stupid walk, for her stupid mental health"
You know that trend?

Well, it kinda got to me & made me think...I really hope that riders remember to think about their horses mental health, just as much as they think about their own. Horses can get sad, depressed, stressed, anxiety & PTSD just like humans can. We need to be aware of our horses, see them, feel them & do things to make sure their mental health is taken good care of! 🌸

We ask our horses for a lot, & we owe them to take good care of them...both on the outside & on the inside!

Photo of Prince Chato & I playing, a thing he loves & a good way to do something else & make sure he is seen & heard!
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Wearing Yogi Jacket, Black Beauty Yogings & purple saddlepad by

09/03/2022

A new routine⭐

Wulcan has developed a lot over the years, especially his mindset & his way of working has changed drastically the last few years. It's been amazing to follow him from foal, to a grown dressage & breeding stallion!

He is now at a point in his education where it's time to learn new routines, & get better at handling new places.
The whole work towards a competition or a show can be a lot, also the preparation the day before, the drive & the routine when you arrive can be a lot for an inexperienced horse.
Wulcan is actually great at handling new places, he always stays with me & he is very sweet. But he needs to learn not to burn all his energy on being curious, telling people he has arrived & being overly energetic in the first 10min of the warm up.

Teaching Wulcan these routines is my goal for 2022, & that means taking him out as much as I can & have the time for!
Competing him has nothing to do with winning, it has everything to do with strengthening our bond, teaching him to save his energy & get some new experiences together that we can learn & develop from! ⭐

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06/03/2022

Hard work & dedication!💪

Korpus is getting stronger after his break, & he's feeling great!
We're working on strength, power & stamina at the moment. We start our daily trainings with a long warm up where we do lots of transitions, followed by a little easy collection.

Today I warmed up, but my transitions wouldn't really work & I couldn't tell exactly why... I tried to get take my feet out of the stirrups & suddenly the transitions got way better. So there was no doubt..Off with the stirrups!
It was actually quite clear when I took the stirrups off completely, that my leg position was a bit off & therefore my seat was off too. It's been a long time since I took off my stirrups for a whole training, & therefore I wasn't aware of how much I've been relaying on my stirrup to keep me in place. As you can see in the video, I found my strong seat pretty quickly without the stirrups. I could now give Korpus the correct signals & we where able to dance again 🙌

It's extremely important to me that I'm sitting correctly, even though dressage will never be 100% perfect, I always want to do the very best I can for my boys!
Therefore it's important that I'm not sitting in the stirrup or balancing in the reins. Riders need to be able to sit still, keep the balance, move the weight in the seat & give clear aids with the leg...with no stirrups & no contact in the reins.
It's just so important to take those stirrups off one in a while & make sure you can sit firmly & still by yourself.
You will never be too good to check yourself, & there will always be flaws to correct!

Riding is a sport & there're no short cuts if you want to do it right. It takes hard work, dedication, sweat & a whole lot of patience!

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Korpus is happy & very comfortable with his new Myler MB04 bit!
He is also wearing his new T3 Flexform Coolback Girth, which has made a huge difference for him!
Both gifted by Riding Equipment

I'm wearing the beautiful 'into the forest' Yogings by The Bohemian Horse

05/03/2022

An Honest Horse 💘

Riders are different, which also means that we prefer different types of horses...Some like a tall, slim, hot & nervous type, while others would rather have a bombproof, small & wide type. I love when people choose their horse with the heart, & go for a horse that fits their personality!

So here is the reason I choose drumhorses 💗

If I were to describe myself with a few words I would say that I'm determined, I like to plan things, I dream big & I'm very honest...
I like the type of horse that loves routines, that doesn't need to have things changed up in order to feel safe. I like a horse that has the potential to go a long way in the education & then my horse needs to be honest.

You see, the honesty is a huge factor for me. I like my horses to guide me just as much as I guide them. They can't do that if they're not honest, & give me a reaction I can use to correct myself.
The drumhorse breed is in general a horse with a big personality, lots of opinions & a very honest mind. If you listen & learn from them, they will give you the world, but if you don't...you will never be able to train them.

I'm an honest person & I live by the fact, that what you see is what you get with me...I've found a breed, & three specific horses that are just like me...Honest & determined! 💞

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Photo of Prince Chato in collected canter wearing his gorgeous bridle!
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02/03/2022

We miss summer ☀️

We can definitely begin to see a bit if spring around here, but I do miss summer. Especially the long warm evenings are truly missed at the moment.
I try to work both stallions as much as possible, but it can be hard with the cold, windy, rainy weather. The summer will really make it so much easier for me, & give me that last bit of motivation back that I feel I've been missing the last few months.

Keeping the motivation as an equestrian can be hard, & the winter months doesn't make it easier. I try to remember at nothing bad will happen if I don't train the horses, it's okay to take a day off & give yourself a bit of space to get the motivation back. Sometimes I can feel so guilty that I didn't ride, it can even give me stomachaches. It's completely ridiculous to be that hard on yourself, the horses are okay with having an extra day off, as long as they're taken care of.
I never feel like this during the summer, cause my motivation is so high & the longer days makes it more fun to be out until late.

I guess that's really what I miss about summer, not feeling so guilty & beating myself up. ☀️🧡

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A lovely summer photo of Lord Korpus & I on the beach last summer 🌊 My gorgeous green Yogings are gifted by

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24/02/2022

The noseband talk..

As many of you know, I'm always up for debating & seeing different sides to a topic. The noseband talk has been going on for years, but I think it has been up a lot lately.

First let me just say that I use nosebands on all my horses, not because I think you NEED to use a noseband, but because my horses are happy & comfortable with it.
Non of them use the same type of noseband, it's in my opinion important to find the solution that fits the individual horse the best.

Prince Chato works on a classical bridle where the noseband is connected to the bitstraps, this gives great stability for the bit, which fits Chato great as he is quite sensitive.

Lord Korpus works on a noseband with a flash on his snaffle bridle & a wide English noseband on his double bridle. The flash gives great stability for the bit, & Korpus finds a wider noseband comfortable so I prefer min. 3,5cm width.

King Wulcan, here in collected trot on the photo, works on a dropped noseband. When I started him 6years ago we tried out different nosebands, to find what worked for him. He has always been very sensitive & easily annoyed if the contact got the tiniest bit to vivid.
The dropped noseband gave the bit stability & also fitted his face structure way better. Last year we also switched bit to a Myler Bit, which in combination with the dropped noseband gives Wulcan a lot of stability & a very still & calm contact.
⭐In the photo Wulcans noseband is about 2 holes too low, a new noseband can take a few rides to fit perfectly.

I think nosebands can give a lot of support, if the horse likes having it on. It's important to try out different types in order to find out what the horse feels comfortable with, or if they might be more comfortable without a noseband.
⭐ It's of course incredibly important that the noseband is fitted right & not fastened too tight! I myself, prefer the noseband to be very loose, so I ensure that my horses can swallow during training!
In my opinion...better too loose, than the tiniest bit too tight! When in doubt, loosen it 2 holes! 👌

Photo by MEP-Photo

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Irideon Riding Wear Bandit Tights & Radiant pullover

Myler Bits® bit

Heritage Gloves Premier Show gloves

20/02/2022

Sometimes you need to be on your own...

I love reading about training methods, different people's philosophys & views on training. I love receiving lessons & getting a new view on my own riding...but sometimes you just need to be on your own!

With this I mean that, not everything can be explained or taught. When it comes to improving your relationship with your horse, you just need to be on your own & figure things out for yourself. You don't need people, books, explanations, ideas or anything to feel when it's right.
Trust your gut, trust your horse & work on improving the trust between you.

Prince Chato was a very nervous horse when I first got him, he was very hard to work with as he had extreme reactions to almost everything. But in my gut I felt that this guy would be great in the future, I just needed him to trust me & in order for him to do that...I needed to show him that I could trust him too. Lots of liberty work, lots of sitting in the arena waiting for him to come to me & a whole lot of talking to him when he was afraid made a breakthrough for us...No one could have taught us this, it had to be genuine & take the time it did. Chato slowly became my shadow, everywhere I went he was right there behind me. Today we can do anything together, & only because we build our relationship on our own, & trusted each other trough it all.

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Training halter & leadrope gifted by 💜

19/02/2022

Worth every second! ⭐

As I follow along in the world of dressage, I see many horses younger than Wulcan, & way higher educated.
So is Wulcan behind?

I love this question, cause it gives me an opportunity to point out some facts!

Horses are big animals, & big animals are often growing for a long time. Horses actually grow beyond the age of 6!
And this is for horses that are turned out in big fields where they can run & play for more than 8hours a day. If a horse is stabled it can cause the growth to be slower & for the bones to be weaker...
These are the facts, it simply can't be argued.

So let's look at Wulcan...
Wulcan is 9, he has been turned out for 8-12 hours in big grass fields with friends, every day his whole life. He started collected work last year, the year he turned 9. Why?
Because he was ready, his body became stronger, his mind became more focused & willing. Everything came together, so we began to play with more collection.
If Wulcan felt ready at a younger age, I probably would have played a bit with some easy collection. But I would never collect him for more than a few steps at a time, if he was younger than 8yo.
So no...Wulcan is not behind, he is right where he should be.

I want my horses to last, & that means listening to them individually & feel when they're ready for more. Nothing good comes from rushing, & in my opinion many young horses are pushed beyond their bodies abilities.
I'm very happy about Wulcans journey, it has been long & sometimes a bit hard. But when I look at him now, how he is progressing & enjoying himself, it has definitely been worth every second! ❤

Video by MEP-Photo

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Bandit Tights & Air Tech Hoodie by Irideon Riding Wear
Premier show glove by Heritage Gloves
Bit by Myler Bits®
All sponsored by Riding Equipment
Toklat Originals

18/02/2022

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