This week Debbie was gone to some big show, so I had to ride by myself Wednesday. Waking up vaguely nauseous I got to the barn, groomed and tacked Mia, and with my husband's help got to the arena. Remembering my thoughts about last week's ride, we started off at a gentle walk, with SOFT contact, following every move of Mia's head. Mia rewarded me with a good walk, moving right on out with minimal use of my legs. Then two flocks of ducks started sparing in the…

Aug. 8 th 2010

FYI

Humane Society International has a petition requesting support for the ending of horse slaughter houses in Canada.

Dublin show at the Royal Dublin Society in Ballsbridge is the centrepiece and driving force for many in the Irish Equestrian community. It is so dominant in our culture that people just talk about it as ‘the horse show’, despite the fact that there are…

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Dressage Canada is pleased to announce the following rider/horse combinations have been named to the Canadian Dressage Team for the World Equestrian Games.

Ashley Holzer of Toronto, ON and Pop Art, a 13-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding owned by Rusty Holzer and Moreen Nicoll, earned an average qualifying score of 72.329%.

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It's completely reasonable that you might have some fear when horseback riding. After all, you’re dealing with a reactive (reactive means bolt, spin, buck, shy, or rear!) animal that outweighs you by a lot! But you can solve those horseback riding fears by adopting an attitude of gratitude.

The first thing you need to remember is that 99% of the things you fear never come to pass. So why waste all that energy worrying about things that will probably never happen. Mark…

We are all aware of the latest development surrounding Gerd Hershman, one of the driving forces in the anti-rolkur/hyperflexion/LDR methods of riding. For those who are not aware I will attempt to sum it up in an unbiased manner for as long as I can. But I must admit at…

Well, my little Havoc is adorable and home. He's scraped a bunch of hair off of his face, lord only knows how. He's happily ensconced in his paddock with his momma, and he goes out in the field with momma and Auntie Cass. He now gets just the tiniest bit of pellets because he can't share his Mom's food, and thinks he's hot stuff with his very own bucket of goodies. And he munches hay with Mom, looking very serious about the whole thing.

He's such a saucy thing. He does NOT…

This Week in Horse History - August 2nd Through August 8th

August 3rd, 1863 - Saratoga Racecourse opened in Saratoga Springs, New York. The opening meet was organized by John Morrisey, John Hunter, William Travers, and Leonard Jerome. Because it was so successful, it was repeated the following year, and was moved across a street so that the track could be…

Lulled by previous successes, I started to make a serious mistake last week when riding Mia at Debbie's last week.

As you know, I have been doing an experiment this summer, seeing how long it will take for the two ladies I ride with to tell me that my hands have gotten too bad for a bit. Part of the reason is that I wanted to see for myself if the Wellep bit is truly an advance in bit technology or just another gimmick.…

Trailer Loading – It doesn’t have to be hell on wheels

My method of trailer loading is simple – if the horse is thinking about going inside the trailer then I leave the horse alone, but as soon as the horse stops thinking about going in the trailer then I start to bug

them.

Remember to…

Hi Julie

I have been riding for eight months at a stable and am taking classes once-twice a week as well as clinics. I bought a horse from the stables I go to; he is a twelve year old Arab and a very forgiving horse but in the last two months he has started to pull on the bit. I am finding this very, very frustrating. My teacher is a very good trainer as well as a teacher. Just this…

Herd Bound Problems – your buddies will live without you

Horses can become herd bound for a variety of reasons. Sometimes horses don’t feel safe when they are not with other horses, and sometimes horses feel they have to get back to the herd to protect them. Either

way, we need to teach horses that it is okay to leave the herd and that the

horse can be safe with you.…

As I have grown up in horses I have noticed something which I think gets by many riders. It combines functionality with human nature and it’s something I have grown to take as gospel but few others speak about.

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