Foundational Lesson Part I: Soft Nose and Collection

Softness in a horse is responsiveness to the bridle and leg cues; softness helps you create a frame of mind in your horse to accept a request, whether that request be to slow, stop, turn, back, change leads or anything else. Having a horse with a soft nose is necessary for riders who want a light, responsive, willing, happy, under-control horse who is well on his way to being a collected horse.

Softness in a horse is crucial and takes a lot of work. You need to work on softness for the horse’s entire life. Softness comes from your hands not from the head position of your horse. If you release pressure on the reins while a horse is leaning on the bit, he will lean harder. However, if you lighten your hold on the reins, no matter how little, and release when he softens, he will continue to soften. It’s important to move your hands slowly when establishing softness and to give your horse a chance to respond to subtle cues.

A collected horse carries more weight on his hind legs than on his front legs. When collected, a horse draws his body in upon itself so that it becomes like a giant spring whose stored energy can be used to meet immediate needs. Collection allows a horse to move more easily and athletically, and helps prevent wear and tear on the front legs.

To visualize collection, lay a piece of paper flat on a table and push one end. The paper slides forward. Now place one hand at the far end as you push. The paper will arch up in the middle. This is what collection looks like. In collection, you control the front end of the horse while asking the hind end to move forward and the back to round. Pushing from the hind end without control of the front end does nothing except move you forward.

A collected horse will lower his hindquarters and elevate his withers. Collection may be achieved at any gait.

Company – LL Inc and the Lyons Legacy School of Horsemanship offer a wide variety of equine educational materials, including a series of horse training and riding courses, manuals, and videos for online and on-the-ground learning.

Contact – Ian Kirkham, LL Inc., [email protected]. A biologist with a PhD in animal behaviour, and a writer for much of his career, Ian now focuses on one of his lifelong passions – horses. He’s owned and trained horses in Canada, US, Zimbabwe and Costa Rica. Ian divides his time between training horses and creating educational products for horse lovers.

Author Bio:

A biologist with a PhD in animal behavior, and a writer for much of his career, Ian now focuses on one of his lifelong passions – horses & Horsemanship. He’s owned and trained horses in Canada, US, Zimbabwe and Costa Rica. Ian divides his time between horse training, horse professional trainer and creating educational products for horse lovers.

Why You Should Opt For Zero Depreciation Cover?

Cars are a depreciating asset. Over time, wear and tear leads to the reduction in the value of the car. This can have a significant effect on your insurance. In case of an accident, you may have to pay some amount of repair expenses out of your own pocket as your insurance company will take into consideration the depreciation on the value of the parts replaced. Many car owners who opt for standard car insurance cover are often unaware of this fact. This can cause a lot of heartburn as the owner may end up shelling out a lot of money on car repairs. However, such a situation can be avoided by opting for a zero depreciation cover.

What is a zero depreciation cover?

A zero depreciation cover is a car insurance plan that offers full claim without any deduction for depreciation. This means, in case of an accident, the car owner will get the full claim without any deduction on the value of the car parts replaced. In other words, the entire repair expenses will be borne by the insurance company and the car owner won’t have to pay anything out of his own pocket.

How is a zero deprecation cover different from a normal car insurance cover?

The most important difference lies in the claim settlement. In a zero depreciation cover, the depreciation of your car won’t have any effect on the claim you receive (you’ll get full claim). In a normal cover, the car insurance company will consider the current value of the car and settle the claim accordingly (you’ll not get the full claim).

The amount of premium you pay differs in case of zero depreciation cover and standard car insurance cover. The premiums for zero depreciation cover are higher. The age of the car is another important point on which the two types of car insurance cover differ from each other. Zero depreciation covers are usually offered only on new cars. A standard insurance cover can be taken on an older car as well.

What are the benefits of zero depreciation cover?

Apart from the obvious advantage of offering full claim in case of an accident, a zero depreciation cover offers a number of other advantages as well. These include:

A zero depreciation car cover pays for any damage incurred upon the glass, plastic, nylon, fiber, etc. of the vehicle. A normal insurance cover doesn’t account for these damages.

The premiums may be high in case of a zero depreciation cover, but it is usually made up when you raise a claim after an accident.

A zero depreciation cover provides complete mental peace as you know that you’ll get full claim in case of car accident.

Many car owners understand the significance of zero depreciation car insurance cover. This type of insurance cover is hugely popular among people who own expensive cars as the repair costs of these cars can be quite high. Zero depreciation cover is also preferred by those who travel long distances and in accident prone areas. In general, opting for a zero depreciation cover is an excellent way to gain complete peace of mind.

Test Cricket Achiever Andrew Flintoff

Andrew Flintoff is a former English cricketer who played for Lancashire County Cricket Club, Chennai Super Kings and England. His nick name is nicknamed Freddie Flintoff. During 2009 Ashes series he made available for future commitments in One Day International and Twenty20 International series matches. He made his professional boxing debut on 30 November 2012. He got ICC Award for one-day player of the year. In 2009 he announced his retirement at the end of Ashes series. From the year 2012 he made his profession as a boxer. His major teams are England, ICC World XI Chennai Super Kings and Lancashire. He played totally 79 test matches made 3845 runs including 5 centuries and 26 half century, 282 List A, 29 Twenty 20, 183 First class and 141 ODI matches. In 2000 he hit 135 not out in the Quarter-finals of the Natwest Trophy against Surrey team. In the year 2004 he was named as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year. During 2004 Nat West One Day International (ODI) Series he scored two consecutive centuries in the series and hitting seven sixes in one innings.

In 2005 he shared the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for the ICC player of the year award with Jacques Kallis of South Africa. In 2006 Flintoff was gifted with Freedom of the City award for Preston. During 2006-07 Commonwealth Bank Series One Day International matches Flintoff also captained England. In 2009 IPL Chennai Super kings bought Flintoff for USD 1,550,000 – $600,000 above his base price of USD 950,000. Andrew Flintoff profile is good and inspiration achievement gives boost to the youngster cricket players. His one of the wonderful achievement was Flintoff is only the 7th player to have batted on all 5 days of a Test match, achieving this feat at Mohali, in the same match in which he broke the sixes record. He currently holds 14 Guinness World Records in aid of Sport Relief. He is also the 9th highest English run-scorer in ODI matches, with a total of 2975 runs.

During Twenty 20 Cup 2009 the match was played between Lancashire and Derbyshire, Lancashire won the match by 56 runs, he scored 93. In 5th ODI series England cricket team won the match by 26 he scored just 3 runs. In 1998 SA in England test series, England team won by 8 wickets against South Africa he scored 17. During 1999 Cola Coal cup Pakistan won by 90 runs against England – Flintoff scored half century in this season.