Post by Sue Palmer on Jan 31, 2011 10:06:27 GMT 1
A trip to Dubai was my treat for this month! Teaching a Horse Massage for Horse Owners course, and physio-ing several horses belonging to friends of a friend. I was surprised and pleased at the excellent condition that the horses were in at the yard I was working at, and the good care they received from their grooms. It's a very different culture there, there are no DIY facilities (or at least, there weren't on the places I visited), everything is done by the grooms - to the point where you can ask your groom to have your horse tacked up for you so that you literally just turn up and ride!
Of course, there is very little grass, and any grass there is is carefully preserved, not for eating by the horses! Turnout is limited to small turnout paddocks, usually horses on their own in a paddock, and generally only for an hour or so a day. Horses tend to go on the walker once or twice a day, and most owners try to ride most days, or ask them groom to exercise the horse in hand, to relieve the stiffness of standing in a stable all day.
The American barn type stables housed a mixture of stallions, mares, and geldings - again very different from the general culture in the UK. I was particularly impressed at how well behaved the horses were, and put this down to the fact that the grooms are professionals at what they do, and therefore they expect the horses to behave and don't tolerate difficult behaviour. I'm sure there are some who are less good to the horses than others, but I spent plenty of time at one particular yard, and would happily have left my horse in the care of the grooms there.
Students on the massage course were keen to learn, again to enable them to help relieve the boredom and stiffness from standing in a stable all day. The one thing I didn't think I'd have to worry about teaching a massage course in Dubai was rain, and yet it rained and everyone was cold and wrapped up in their jackets! Still, I bet the horses were glad of it! The stables in some yards are air conditioned because the heat gets so unbearable in the Summer, and people ride at 4am then to avoid the heat of the day.
Overall I had a fantastic time, and hope to return next year.
Of course, there is very little grass, and any grass there is is carefully preserved, not for eating by the horses! Turnout is limited to small turnout paddocks, usually horses on their own in a paddock, and generally only for an hour or so a day. Horses tend to go on the walker once or twice a day, and most owners try to ride most days, or ask them groom to exercise the horse in hand, to relieve the stiffness of standing in a stable all day.
The American barn type stables housed a mixture of stallions, mares, and geldings - again very different from the general culture in the UK. I was particularly impressed at how well behaved the horses were, and put this down to the fact that the grooms are professionals at what they do, and therefore they expect the horses to behave and don't tolerate difficult behaviour. I'm sure there are some who are less good to the horses than others, but I spent plenty of time at one particular yard, and would happily have left my horse in the care of the grooms there.
Students on the massage course were keen to learn, again to enable them to help relieve the boredom and stiffness from standing in a stable all day. The one thing I didn't think I'd have to worry about teaching a massage course in Dubai was rain, and yet it rained and everyone was cold and wrapped up in their jackets! Still, I bet the horses were glad of it! The stables in some yards are air conditioned because the heat gets so unbearable in the Summer, and people ride at 4am then to avoid the heat of the day.
Overall I had a fantastic time, and hope to return next year.