| The thing that I miss the most after moving about eight years ago
was our round ring. I like one which is small enough to work in
for most activities. About 35 to 40 feet in diameter. Ours was
filled with sand which was great for working up muscles, but you
need to be careful that you didn't work too hard since the sand
can really do a job on tendons (here's a good spot for track bandages
which I normally always use for training anyway). These types of
rings are greatly favored by western trainers who sometimes use
a solid wall instead of the fence. Its then called a bullpen.
Regards,
Bob
|
| 20 meters is the minimum recomended for lunging young horses. Any
smaller is not only hard on their legs, but hard on their balance.
You tend to end up with training problems later.
For free lunging, I've used a smaller area (about 45 feet) with
problems. It's relatively easy to tell how hard you are pushing
a horse when it's not on a lunge line.
As far as bandages/boots go - unless I have a horse that hits
itself, I don't use them. Horses can become dependent on the
support a bandage offers and I prefer to let them develop the
necessary muscle/tendons without that support. As they get older,
if a horse needs the support to work comfortably, I can use them.
I rarely bandage a horse working under third level dressage for
flat work.
If I do have to bandage, I use the thick polo wraps. Since I'm
bandaging primarily for protection, and not support, these seem
to work better.
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