This Week in Horse History - May 31st Through June 6th

June 1st, 1946 - The Thoroughbred racehorse Assault won the Belmont Stakes, completing his sweep of the Triple Crown and making him the seventh horse in history to do so. Assault had been born on a Texas ranch known for its Quarter Horses, where he pierced his right front hoof with a…

7 Steps to a Better Ride

STEP 7 – COLLECTION – THE SWEET REWARD

By Deborah…

I came out of the womb with an innate love for animals - all animals. As a small child vacationing in Florida, my folks took me to a dolphin show. We went each night. The owner felt sorry for my folks and stopped charging admittance. It is…

The first part of this month I read Elwyn Hartley Edwards "Complete Book of Bits and Bitting". On page 50 I read about a bit I had never seen or read about before, the Wellep bit. Mr. Edwards called it the first new method of making bits since 400 BC. I was intrigued, I am always looking for stuff that makes the horses I ride more comfortable and for bits that help make up for the limitations of my hands. Going to the web I found the site…

Well, I think we have found the answer to the squealing and bucking in the show ring... as it was described by my trainer... you're squeezing her eyeballs out! I hate it when I find out that it's me causing the problems. I have a very patient horse, thank goodness, who manages to forgive my foibles, as I forgive her when she's a boob occassionally. And a good trainer who is guiding us back to fill the holes in our training so we can progress. Today she said that the hardest step is getting…

Last weekend, our May long weekend here in Canada, some friends and I drove 6 hours up into the interior of BC. We rented a cabin for 6 and we took 3 horses. It was a place called The Hills in 108th Mile House. The altitude is 12,000 feet, the air is clear and the trees are not as big and lush as our famous "wet coast". I loved the serenity, no people, traffic noise or cell phone towers! I took my new horse Bandit, who has spent years on the Hunter/Jumper circuit, and he has never done much…

When I was studying under legendary Australian reining and cow horse trainer, Ian Francis, he used to remind me that there are a lot of heroes in the graveyard. What he meant by that was that too many people get on horses that aren't ready to be ridden…

7 Steps to a Better Ride

STEP 6 – SHIFT TO THE REAR

By Deborah Hopkins…

Hi Guys,



Lots of riders are confused about how to smoothly switch their long dressage whip from one hand to the other. Many of you tell me you feel awkward while doing this, and you're concerned about making your horse uncomfortable and disturbing the contact because you're twisting the bit in your his mouth.



Here's a step-by-step method to switch your dressage whip without disturbing the contact with your horse's mouth. I recommend practicing this technique at first…

Jack le…

10 yr gelding has…