This Week in Horse History - June 14th Through June 20th

June 16th, 2009 - Thoroughbred racehorse Strike The Tiger became the first American-trained and bred horse to ever win the Windsor Castle Stakes held at Royal Ascot. The horse won the five-furlong race with jockey John Velazquez aboard. Wesley Ward, Strike The Tiger's trainer, hoped that the win would prove that it is possible to train a horse in…

Well, we've wrapped up the qualifying season and I couldn't be happier! I've been trying to make it to both the North American Junior Championships held in Kentucky at the end of July where both team and individual medals are awarded and also the National Junior Dressage Championships in Gladstone at the beginning of August where the National Champion is crowned. Our last show was…

Today Shannon asked me to come out early, 8:00 AM because today it is HOT and HUMID. I am so glad she did as it was in the upper 70's F when I got to the farm. Later on today it will be in the mid 90's F, and the humidity is about 90%. A real North Carolina summer. At least we are getting rain this year, lovely thunderstorms that have driven away the danger of going back into our years long drought.

I had gotten the Wellep…

The Running Horse

A Bi-monthly Newsletter from Horse Play

Issue June-July 2010

Horse Play

EIN: 05-0506340

Website: www.hptrc.org

Email:…

Hi Guys,



Regardless of which discipline you ride, it's very important to sit straight and square in the saddle. Can you tell if you're collapsing at your waist and sitting crookedly?



Ask a ground person to stand behind you.

1. Are your shoulders level (i.e. the same height)?

2. Is your seat in the center of the saddle so that each seatbone is the same distance from the middle of the saddle?



If your shoulders aren't level which means that one…

Should you jump young horses? How young can they be to jump? Here is my home bred High Kingdom jumping a 1.30m oxer as a 3 yo. It is a glorious sight:…

This Week in Horse History - June 7th Through June 13th

June 9th, 1973 – Thoroughbred racehorse Secretariat became the Triple Crown winner in twenty five years when he won the Belmont Stakes. He only faced four horses for the race - Sham, Twice a Prince, Private Smiles, and My Gallant. Secretariat crossed the wire thirty one lengths ahead of the next horse and…

This week I got to try the Wellep single jointed snaffle bit on Mia. I brought both Mia's bridle with the JP Dr. Bristol and the bridle I used on Cider last week with the Wellep bit so that Debbie could make a choice. After listening to how Cider reacted to the bit Debbie decided it would be worthwhile to try the Wellep bit on Mia. Debbie had a little trouble getting the bit into her mouth, Mia saw it and did not know what to think of it, just that it was a…

Little Muffin had a chiropractor visit yesterday, so today was a day off. But, who can resist going to the barn on a weekend anyway?! So, I mucked her paddock, cleaned up stray hay, picked her feet and gave her a grooming. Then we went and ate grass, well, she did, I watched. Nothing like a horse munching her way through the grass. She's very people oriented and loves the attention.

Her little sister who is due in 5 weeks is very snuggable these days. We're not really sure…

There is no doubt that early intervention is the efficient way to tackle learning difficulties and weaknesses. To nip a problem in the bud leads to both accelerated progress and happier students. This applies to both mental and physical challenges and to both humans and horses. Any behaviour or way of going that is undesirable is much more difficult and time consuming to change if it has become habitual.…