Tea break with ... Camilla Kruger

Camilla Kruger (left) uses an ArcEquine unit regularly on all the horses in her yard and as one of ArcEquine's stable of rider ambassadors, she enjoyed a phenomenal season in 2016, which culminated in selection for the Rio Olympic Games! Share your tea break and find out more about Camilla's success.

Introduce yourself

I am Camilla Kruger, the first Zimbabwean Event rider to represent my country of birth at the

Olympic Games for Eventing. I am also Zimbabwe's Sportswoman of the year 2016!

Where are you based? Tell us a little about your yard

Angley Stud in near Cranbrook in Kent is where I’m based. It has a lovely relaxed atmosphere with excellent indoor and outdoor arenas, plus an equine water-treadmill!

What is your main competition discipline and at which level(s) are you involved?

I am an Event rider and my favourite part is the cross-country. I have competed at Olympic Level/ 4*.

Tell us a little about your top horse

Biarritz (known as Sam the Man) is my Olympic ride! He is owned by the Shamwari Synicate. Sam is

a KWPN bred horse, sired by Vancouver. He is 11 years old and I've had him since he was 4 years old.

Sam has the biggest heart and loads of talent; he just keeps getting better and better, and there’s a lot more

still to come! Other than going to Rio last year, he was also 3rd in the CIC3* at Hopetoun

International.

What were highlights of 2016?

The highlight last year has got to be being the first Zimbabwean to compete at the Olympics for an

equestrian sport! Plus it was a life-long dream come true for me. There was also winning Zimbabwe's International Sportswoman of the year award, which was a people's vote! All this was done on a horse that I have produced myself from a four year old to four star!

What other major successes have you enjoyed in your equine career to date?

3rd CIC3* Hopetoun, 6th CIC3* Le Pouget. 1st OI Burnham Market

With whom do you train regularly?

Darrell Scaife

Which three tasks do you carry out EVERY day on the yard?

Mucking out, tack cleaning and  grooming

How do your horses benefit from the use of ArcEquine’s microcurrent technology and why do you feel it is an important element in your success?

ArcEquine is a very important piece of equipment on our yard for general well-being and

maintenance of all our horses. Sam always feels fantastic and ‘touch wood’, 2016 was a

consistent season with no medical hold-ups. It not only gives us reassurance that the horses

are in good condition physically, I know it helps them mentally. It is very important to

have an ArcEquine unit on the yard for any eventuality; it would be out and straight on the horse to minimise healing time for the horse! It's been key to our successes, due to the horses not needing any

time off for injuries and the fact that the horses feel fantastic!

What happens next?

I have Luhmuhlen 4* planned this year with Sam and some nice young horses coming through

to focus on and start well, as they could be future Olympic horses! I am also planning

to go to the World Equestrian Games in 2018 and ultimately be at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics!

What is your favourite meal?

I love so many! But the best has got to be having a braai! (a BBQ!)

What are your most worn items of clothing

Got to be my jodphurs!

Snow or beach holiday?

Beach! Love the sun!

Dogs or cats?

Dogs

And finally – Tea or Coffee?

Tea, don't ever drink coffee!

77% of equines demonstrate stereotypical behaviours

Over 77% of equines were reported as demonstrating one or more stereotypical behaviours in a recent survey by healthcare brand ArcEquine, which collated over 3000 individual responses assessing the prevalence and perceptions of a number of different behaviours.

Most serious was widely considered to be self-mutilation, followed by wind sucking, headshaking, cribbing, weaving and box walking. At the other end of the spectrum, owners considered pawing or digging, tongue playing and licking behaviours to be less of a problem, although still recognised them as potentially indicative of issues with health or management.

The responses related to equines of all ages and sexes and from competition horses and ponies to those used for hacking, breeding and either retired or living as companions.

The stereotypical behaviour reported most frequently was pawing or digging (30%), followed by tail rubbing (29%), box walking (21%) and wood chewing (21%).

Analysis of the time spent stabled, hours of exercise and turnout periods found that 23% of affected equines were living out, most (68%) were exercised for one hour a day and that less than 2% were never turned out. However over 19% had no unrestricted physical contact with horses or ponies on average day, whilst almost 17% had unrestricted 24-hour opportunities to socialise.

Over 83% of people are undecided about purchasing a horse or pony known to exhibit stereotypic behaviours, with the remainder split evenly between the ‘yes’ and ‘no’ viewpoint.

Asked about the extent to which stereotypic behaviours negatively affect competition performance, 32% said not at all and only 15% said yes, absolutely! In the context of health and welfare, fewer people – just over 24%, considered these behaviours to have no effect, with almost 22% at the other end of the spectrum.

When it comes to available information about causes, treatments or management and long term prognosis for horses and ponies exhibiting stereotypic behaviours, most respondents 39% considered it satisfactory and almost 32% as poor.

The survey confirmed that the majority of owners are well aware that these behaviours are strongly linked to physical and/or psychological (stress) issues that relate to feeding, management and workload and most demonstrated a practical understanding of how these causative factors can be changed and – from the horse’s viewpoint – improved, in order to maximise the potential for resolution.

However it was interesting to note that of all the equines reported as demonstrating stereotypies, over 46% had not suffered any disease, injury or other physical disorder in the previous 12 months. Following on from this, responses revealed that almost 37% of owners believed the behaviours resulted from boredom or frustration and almost 28%, from stress or a traumatic experience. There was also a strong belief (almost 27%) that stereotypies can be learned behaviours and 23% considered them to be attention seeking.

It is clear that this issue is a complex one, affecting a large percentage of equines and manifesting in a variety of unnatural behaviours to a greater or lesser extent. Perceptions vary from compassionate understanding and a desire to change circumstances for the better, to ignorance and irritation, but what no-one can doubt is the obvious need for greater availability of evidence-based information and advice to help owners adopt the most natural of management routines in order to improve the lives of affected individual horses and ponies in their care