Flying Fox Performance Horses

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Flying Fox Performance Horses Services include training, lessons, sales &
Equine Physio Therapy. Rehab to reconditioning, for your equine athletes. Plus farrier on site.

Making the horse industry an enjoyable experience for first-timers or old hands. Whether you want to "feed 'em and lead 'em or ride 'em and slide 'em", we are here to help people reach their equestrian goals. And now offering rehab for our equine athletes. Knowledgeable training for all disciplines and breeds.

22/06/2025
03/06/2025
15/05/2025

I’m not sure why in the western world it’s taboo to take a lesson.

I have taken lessons with futurity trainers, rodeo people, and even went and spent some time last summer with Matt Mills when I felt like I needed to work on some mechanics. It was great! I learned some new things, I remembered some things I haven’t worked on in a while, I bounced ideas and problems and just overall had a great time!

It takes a village. Literally one small adjustment can be the difference between the 1D and the 2D. Or first place and fifth place.

Never stop learning and never be afraid to ask for help. We need to be open minded at ALL levels.

Even Olympic riders have trainers. No matter how much you win, there is always more to learn. Matt Mills Reining

I for one have been saying this for years.
24/04/2025

I for one have been saying this for years.

At the 2024 Paris Olympics, none of the horses on the U.S. show jumping or eventing teams were American-bred. Not one.

Every mount representing red, white, and blue was born and brought up overseas, while our own breeding barns churn out thousands of foals a year. For a country as vast, wealthy, and horse-obsessed as the United States, that’s embarrassing.

It’s not a fluke. It’s a symptom of a broken system. We are not producing our own elite equine athletes because we’re not breeding for them.

In many U.S. breeding programs, the decision to breed a mare often isn’t based on her competition success. It’s based on injury. She bowed a tendon at four? Breed her. She fractured a sesamoid before she ever showed? Put her in foal so she “doesn’t just sit.” She was too unsound to make it through a futurity season? “She has a nice head.” This is breeding as damage control. Not selection. Not strategy.

We’re taking the horses who didn’t last, who couldn’t compete, and we’re passing those traits: genetic unsoundness, poor conformation, low resilience, on to the next generation. And we’re doing no better with the boys.

The U.S. barn landscape is simply not set up to support stallions. Most boarding facilities don’t allow them. Trainers often discourage keeping colts intact due to behavioral concerns and limited resale value. As a result, some of our most promising bloodlines are literally cut off before they even have a chance to contribute. Meanwhile, Europe is building stallion careers alongside competition careers, backing them with systems designed to assess, preserve, and promote excellence.

Across Europe, breeding is a science, not an afterthought. Registries require mares to pass performance tests. Stallions must prove themselves through the same performance tests as well as competition and through the quality of their offspring. Longevity, trainability, reproductive soundness, and rideability matter, just as much as flash. In the Netherlands, the KWPN registry ensures that horses with structural and genetic flaws are actively removed from the breeding pool. They are building better horses on purpose, while performance testing is virtually nonexistant in the USA. We’re gambling on foals from horses who quite literally could not even finish the race.

Why do we do this? Because our industry rewards early speed, early sales, and early burnout. We breed for yearling sales, futurities, and young horse classes. We reward breeders who produce a shiny prospect, not a durable horse.

We need a complete shift in breeding values. That means stopping the practice of breeding injured or completely unproven mares and instead selecting those who lasted, who stayed sound, performed consistently, and demonstrated resilience over time. It also means investing in infrastructure that allows promising colts to remain stallions, rather than gelding them for convenience or marketability. We must begin to track soundness, temperament, and fertility across generations, using that data to make informed decisions. And we need to embrace modern tools: genetic testing, performance records, and international benchmarks, instead of relying on nostalgia or sentiment. Because right now, we are selecting for the opposite of what we need. And it’s playing out in rehab barns, in short-lived careers, and yes, on the Olympic scoreboard.

This isn’t a crusade against breeders. It’s a call for accountability, ambition, and change. If we want to see American-bred horses wearing stars and stripes again, not just in name, but in origin, we need to start breeding for more than emotion and convenience. We need to breed horses that can stand the test of time, not just pass a vet check at a sale. Until we do, we’ll just keep buying our best from Europe, and wondering where our greatness went.

31/03/2025

ALL EQUINE DENTISTRY IS NOT EQUAL!!
Here is a fairly common case scenario. This horse "just had his teeth done", but was still spooky and refusing to go forward under saddle. I scanned his body, and he was reactive almost everywhere, but especially at the indicator points for TMJ-myofascial pain. A quick glance at his incisors showed a shift in the jaw to the right, so I discussed with his owner that better dentistry could help.
The hand floater had removed some sharp enamel points (not all), and basically done no other work, leaving giant hooks on the first upper cheek teeth. I also corrected excessive transverse ridging, reduced lower ramps, and worked on the table angles, ultimately restoring jaw motion forward-back and side-side (this was completely locked going the the L before work).

If you are using a hand floater because you think it saves you money, it is going to cost you more in the long run. More body issues/behavior problems/turnover of horses to compete in your chosen sport, more vet bills to treat compensatory lameness from TMJ pain, more feed to maintain your horse's condition, more senior feeding when your horse's teeth wear out prematurely!

Now to make it even more confusing, having your vet perform dentistry is also not a sure way of knowing that it was correct. However, there is an international equine dental group (International Association of Equine Dentistry) that holds practitioners to a higher standard. You can search for IAED members through their director

25/02/2025

I feel like I’m being naughty when I sneak out early and get the whole place to myself and can enjoy my favorite ride!

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BJVEC5PfH/?
04/02/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BJVEC5PfH/?

… why we do what we do.
I cannot express just how proud I am of all the “Wean” girls!
And how much they have improved over the last year!!
Just makes my heart feel so good❤️

03/02/2025

… why we do what we do.
I cannot express just how proud I am of all the “Wean” girls!
And how much they have improved over the last year!!
Just makes my heart feel so good❤️

Been sitting on tractor or mower for days!!! So when I came home to this sitting on the back of my truck ….  what can o...
21/06/2024

Been sitting on tractor or mower for days!!!
So when I came home to this sitting on the back of my truck ….  what can one say? yes I’m gonna go drink mimosas and fly kite!

08/05/2024

SpongeBob’s first time in fly boots. 😂

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