Now that we have thought about rider position, flexion, and getting the horse to move away from your leg, it's time to move on to your horse's canter.



Canter, rhythm and balance is very important for a show jumper and he should be able to maintain it without too much interference from the rider. For our sport you need a horse whose strongest pace, his favourite pace if you like, is canter as most of the work is done in canter.



Many of us over-ride our horses in canter…

Before you even begin to jump, you need to make sure you have done the groundwork to establish the foundation for success. I'm not talking about pure dressage; I'm talking about the basic skills that are vitally important to a show jumper.



There are 5 basics that will provide an excellent foundation for show jumping. Build them into your schooling program and you will see the results.



Today I will talk about the first three basics.





1. Rider…

We had a decent year in 2008 - not a banner year but not a bad year.



We qualified 4 animals for the 2008 SportPony Star Search at the Royal Winter Fair:

Private Benjamin (yearling Half-Welsh/First Premium Premier ASPR filly - *Stockham Commander M X Shades of Spring) first as a 2nd place winner behind an already qualified pony and then in her own right. She was also Reserve Junior Champion at Twinholm Open Sport Pony Show and Champion 2 & Under Half-Welsh at Erin…

News for yesterday's results:



Toronto, ON – Olympic Champion Eric Lamaze brought his Gold-medal horse Hickstead across the ocean to compete in just one class at The Royal Horse Show this week, and it couldn’t have gone any better than it did tonight. Hickstead once again demonstrated he is in a class all to himself, exploding over the jumps with power and stamina unmatched in the arena this evening, if at all.



Of the 23 competitors to begin the $100,000 CN FEITM World…

We were privileged to see the US Olympic Gold Team medalists when they appeared together for the first and only time at the Syracuse Invitational Show on Oct.31.

They discussed their passion for horses, early riding experiences and answered questions from their fans. McLain Ward mentioned his mental preparation for the Games, working with a golf sports coach to improve his ability to deal with pressure.

Laura Kraut talked about the bond…

(Excerpt from Horse Sport)



Forty years after Canada earned its only Olympic Team show jumping medal, the Canadian team stood on the medal podium today.



Canada’s team captain, Ian Millar, was daring last night in predicting a medal today. After the loss of Mac Cone’s mount, Ole, Canada lost the luxury of a drop score, in a contest where the best three scores count. But, the remaining three team members met the pressure head-on. Jill Henselwood on Special Ed produced the…

Olympic Short Lists Now Available 31/07/2008

The short lists for the three Olympic disciplines have been unveiled and are now available on the FEI Olympic website.



JUMPING: 79 horses and riders + 14 reserve horses and riders

DRESSAGE: 50 riders and horses + 6 reserve riders and horses

EVENTING: 73 riders and horses



The full lists are available on this page (complete address:…

News for all following Olympic jumping



July 9, 2008



Just days after winning the prestigious Grand Prix of Aachen, Dutch showjumper Albert Zoer has broken his leg and put his Olympic chances in jeopardy.



Zoer, 32, was schooling a young horse on Tuesday when he fell and broke his left leg. He was operated on later that day. His sister, Gina Zoer, said the operation went well with no complications. She said he was in pain and would be for a few days. He was…