SECTION G Health and Condition, Care of the Competition Horse, Grooming

Question 1

Explain whether you prefer to groom or bath your horse?

Answer 1

Grooming is better as it does not remove the horses natural oils from the coat and it is more comfortable for the horse to be groomed rather than getting cold whilst being bathed

Question 2

Discuss the dis/advantages of grooming over bathing.

Question 3

There are many products on the market that you might put on a horse’s coat, which do you prefer and why?

Question 4

Describe how to take the temperature and or the pulse and respiration rate.

Question 5

How can the TPR indicate that a horse is not well?

Question 6

What resting heart rate would you consider serious enough to call the vet?

Question 7

What variations in the heart rate and respiration would you expect as a horse gets fitter?

Question 8

When feeling muscles to assess fitness what are you feeling for?

Question 9

What is the difference in shape of the belly of a fit and an unfit horse?

Question 10

When do you notice a change in the respiration rate as the horse gets fitter?

Question 11

How is the respiration rate linked to locomotion?

Question 12

What do we mean when we talk about recovery rates?

Question 13

Why is it important to take notice of recovery rates?

Question 14

What would you like the recovery rate to be for exercise on a normal day?

Question 15

If your horse is fit enough, how fast should the respiration rate return to normal following a cross country course.

Question 16

What simple problems might affect the respiratory system whilst getting a horse fit?

Question 17

How might a dust allergy affect the respiratory system when getting a horse fit?
What is the name of this type of allergy?

Question 18

How do you identify whistling or roaring?

Question 19

What is EIPH? Can you describe it?

Question 20

Please describe some exercise that you can do to improve the muscular system for ridden work

Question 21

What value does unmounted work have to improve the muscular system?

Question 22

Have you ever used any remedial exercises to improve muscling, please explain if they were successful?

Question 23

Apart from the vet, what other professionals can be used to help a horse improve its alignment and uneven muscles?

Question 24

What are the dis/advantages of using a horse walker?

Question 25

How do you decide if a horse walker has a place in a fittening routine?

Question 26

Please describe alternative methods of getting horses fit other than riding?

Question 27

Where might swimming fit into a fitness programme?

Question 28

What different types of horses have you got fit? Tell me about the different techniques the individuals needed.

Question 29

How does the fitness of a show jumper and event horse/hunter differ?

Question 30

What is and why should we use seasonal planning when planning a fitness program?

Question 31

If you use a training programme without using interval training what distance, how fast and how often, will you do fast work for the week before a PC 110.

Question 32

What is interval training?

Question 33

Please outline the timings and speed of an interval training programme, for the week before a PC 110.

Question 34

What is the veterinary name for azoturia?

Question 35

What symptoms lead to a diagnosis of azoturia?

Question 36

What are the potential causes of azoturia?

Question 37

Outline some of the modern methods of treatment of azoturia.

Question 38

What differences in the colour of urine have you seen?

Question 39

Is the colour of urine alone a problem, or can it be symptomatic of further problems, can you describe some of these problems?

Question 40

What action did you take on observing an unusual colour?

Question 41

Why is warm down from exercise so important?

Question 42

How do you warm down your horse after exercise?

Question 43

How long does a warm down from exercise take?

Question 44

What effect might the weather have on warming down?

Question 45

Briefly describe some of the research that has been done on the effect of heat on tendons.

Question 46

Outline two ways of cooling legs after hard work.

Question 47

How do you cool your horse’s legs after hard work?

Question 48

Why do you cool down your horse’s legs as you do?

Question 49

What do you consider a long distance for a horse to travel and then work/compete?

Question 50

Please discuss the challenges when travelling horses long distances?

Question 51

What preparations would you put in place when travelling horses a long way in hot weather?

Question 52

Please explain what points might you consider when deciding to off load the horses during a long journey?

Question 53

Not all horses travel well. Please describe those that might be challenged by a long journey.

Question 54

What do you do about watering horses on over a long distance?

Question 55

Have you cared for a horse that becomes tense at competitions? What did you do to diminish the problem as much as possible?

Question 56

Which horses are likely to be less relaxed at a competition?

Question 57

Explain the preparations that you will put in place to ensure horses are calm at competitions.

Question 58

Hot days produce their own challenges. How can you ensure your horse remains fit to compete on a very hot day?

Question 59

A horse appears always to tire towards the end of a competition day. What points will you consider to diminish this problem?

Question 60

How do you recognise stress/dehydration/exhaustion?

Question 61

What can you do to reduce stress, consider young horses or seasoned competition horses?

Question 62

Describe how dehydration can be avoided.

Question 63

Outline what might cause a horse to be exhausted, sheer over work would not occur in a good yard?

Question 64

How can exhaustion be avoided?