HORSEFAIR

12/07/2022

12/06/2022

04/05/2022

This does not seem unreasonable to me.

"Wait for his feet. No matter if you miss your lunch, just hang in there. He is trying to push and get you to yield. He is on his own pressure, you are just fixing it. Don't try to move his feet. Leave that to him." - Tom Dorrance Books & DVD's

Check out www.tomdorrance.com for more insights from Tom! The website is overseen by Margaret.

02/05/2022

Thank you, Bob

21/04/2022

Plenty of paddock time can actually reduce soft-tissue injury risk, say NJ researchers studying six years of data.

19/04/2022

27/03/2022

There are 3 pillars to improving your horsemanship and becoming a better trainer and partner to your horse.

• Pillar 1 is understanding the horse - the physical, mental and spiritual aspects,

• Pillar 2 is having the relevant skills to work with your horse, and

• Pillar 3 is understanding YOURSELF.

Horsemanship can be an illuminating path for personal transformation. IF you’re willing to ‘do the work’ and look inside yourself.

We take our personal transformation and growth seriously and are always looking for ways to reflect, learn and grow our inner wisdom.

We’ve recently connected with Veronika Andersson who is a HNLP (that’s Humanistic Neuro-Linguistic Psychology) Practitioner and Coach for the Deeper Self.

We’re keen to explore what Veronika has to offer in the space of personal development, especially as she has been combining her skills working with horses.

So we’re thinking of hosting a One Day Workshop with Veronika titled ‘Diving Deeper into your Equine Relationship’. Here’s a description of what we have in mind:

“Guidance and tools on how to show up more effectively with and for your horse.
The communication is the relationship, so here you can develop more tools and deeper understanding of yourself and what you are communicating to your horse, and beyond.
What you learn from this workshop will amplify any and all relationships, including self-awareness and incorporating your unconscious values to assist in more effective goal and intention setting in any aspect of your life.”

If there’s enough interest we’ll be hosting this on Saturday 2 April.

Leave a comment or send us a message if you’re keen to be involved and we’ll send you the details.

27/03/2022

Truth

14/03/2022

WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF HORSE SPORT?

In the last few years there has been widespread concern that the equestrian industry is losing it's 'social licence to operate'. This refers to the acceptance of standards within the industry by both stakeholders and the general public.

The public has clearly become more aware of poor welfare and the abuse of horses in many equestrian disciplines. The media storm surrounding recent events like the Olympic pentathlon and Mark Todd beating a reluctant horse have really highlighted how the perception of horse sport has changed and how once 'traditional' and accepted practices are now seen as completely unacceptable.

During the 2020 lockdown, Julie Taylor, the brilliant journalist from EPONA.tv wrote the book 'I Can't Watch Anymore, the Case for Dropping Equestrian from the Olympic Games'. She sent a copy to every member of the International Olympic Committee.

Julie says that she presents all the arguments needed 'to finally discontinue dressage, jumping, and eventing.' She goes on to say 'Aside from being unfair to horses, the way horse sport is run at the Olympic Games is also unfair to humans. It's inaccessible to the vast majority of people in the world. There is no transparency about how drugs are used to keep horses performing who lead lifestyles very far from ideal. And 20 years after the introduction of the "happy athlete", rollkur is still a thing.'

I will be buying a copy and reading it with interest. I have no doubt Julie will keep us all informed with any news or replies she receives from the IOC.

The clock is ticking. National and international equestrian organisations need to implement radical changes to improve sport horse welfare fast, before it's too late. I do wonder where horse sport will be in 10 years time...

If you would like a copy of the book there are some links to vendors here (or you can just google the title) https://www.epona.tv/buy-the-book

02/03/2022

March is and Suffolk Downs was one of the first tracks to welcome female riders. In the Fall of 1974, Denise Boudrot became the first woman to win a riding title at a major Thoroughbred track while still an apprentice

24/02/2022

dkamillo

20/02/2022

From West Philadelphia to some of the most prestigious polo fields in the world, Kareem Rosser didn't just document his journey in a book, that very memoir is now winning awards.

08/02/2022

Meet Larry! He’s going to help guard our herd of seniors at Wallkill Correctional - big thanks to Equine Rescue Network for donating him and Rich Blazeski for shipping him.

02/02/2022

02/02/2022

Thank you to a great horseman.

02/02/2022

Ta da!

Water hazard

27/01/2022

Done correctly, I believe this fits the Vaquerro tradition.

Yep!

26/01/2022

Find Fergus books and see book trailers here: https://www.fergusthehorse.com/
All titles are also available on Amazon

26/01/2022

22/01/2022

Knowing and feeling are two different things.

I don’t know who needs to hear this, but you are doing just fine.

Stop beating yourself up for not riding when it’s freezing cold, pitch black and raining. It’s ok (and normal) to have no motivation at this time of year. It doesn’t make you a bad rider (or a bad owner).

Stop feeling guilty that your horse isn’t even nearly competition fit yet. Take your time and make your plan, who cares if you’re not ready for the first event? There’s a whole calendar to chose from.

Stop agonising over the fact you haven’t spent the whole winter training. Riders need a break and horses do to, you’ll probably find your horse comes back better than if they’d spent the whole winter being hammered in clinics and lessons anyway.

Stop comparing yourself to riders who have more facilities, more time or a totally different set of circumstances to you. Everyone is on their own track and has their own goals, so eyes ahead and focus on yours.

Stop telling yourself that your horse “deserves better” or is “wasted” with you. As long as your horse is fed and warm, they are quite happy, riding does not complete their life.

Winter is hard. It’s cold, it’s wet, it’s dark and it feels never ending and berating yourself for everything you aren’t doing or feel you should be doing won’t make it any easier, so cut yourself some slack and just take a breath.

You are doing just fine.

18/01/2022

This is a good and well researched article.

After seeing multiple videos posted by various breeders bragging about their 2 ½ year olds/recently turned 3 year olds and sharing videos of them cantering around in the arena, I have decided to once again circulate the below article.

First of all, breeders *should* have the knowledge to understand a horse’s fragile and slow maturing musculoskeletal system. Breeders should not condone their own horses let along anyone’s horses being cantered around under saddle at an incredibly young age. Period. This sets a terrible example and is quite honestly animal abuse. Just because a horse does not object does not mean it is right. And quite frankly, most of the videos posted show animals that are already in pain or developing pain…

As breeders, we should strive to produce healthy and sound animals. We should promote horsemanship that produces long term soundness. No, starting a horse later does not guarantee soundness. But it certainly helps.

I am a firm believer in scientifically backed approaches to horsemanship. You can’t argue with science that has been proven time and time again. Let’s dispel some stupid rumors:

1. There is no such thing as a (skeletally) slow maturing horse or one that is fast maturing. No horse is skeletally mature before the age of 6. And that is on the low estimate for age.

2. Growth plates are not just in the knee. Every bone behind the skull has a growth plate. Not every single one needs to be converted to bone before starting. There is a schedule of when bone fuses…this is the information needed to know when to start a horse. Not their outward appearance. It is a known fact that during growth, proprioceptive awareness can regress, greatly increasing the risk of injury.

3. Starting a horse is not the same thing as riding a horse. Starting a horse does not mean cantering it 3-4 days a week in an arena.

4. Injecting a horse that is in pain does not mean you fixed a problem. You masked it.

5. You can build correct muscle and teach a horse how to move their body from the ground. This creates a solid foundation to work from once your horse is ready to actually be backed. Teach a horse to use its body correctly before backing and you’ll save yourself a lot of vet bills down the line.

Hocks are “late” for maturity. The growth plates on the tibial and fibular tarsals do not fuse until a horse is 3-3 ½. Ever wonder why so many horses seem to have hocks issues?? Horses need to learn to carry themselves and their own weight well before adding a rider.

The growth plates that are LAST to close are at the base of the neck. This area is where we ask a horse to raise the base of their neck and come round. If under too much stress, the growth plates can fracture or be permanently damaged.

There are DOZENS of activities you can do with a young horse to build healthy muscular development. None of them involve a saddle or your weight on their back. Teaching a horse to carry themselves correctly BEFORE adding a rider is essential and cannot be done in a week. A 2 ½ year old horse is a baby. Mentally and physically. We see far too many injured performance horses at VERY young ages - broken down and/or sour from work. It’s wrong. Period. They need slow and steady work and need time to recover from even the slightest of injuries.

PLEASE, if you are considering when you should start your horse and what that work load should look like, please read the below. There are some wonderful things you can do with your young developing horse. Please don’t rush a year out of greed.

http://www.equinestudies.org/ranger_2008/ranger_piece_2008_pdf1.pdf

13/01/2022

There's a lot of truth to this :)

🤣🤣🤣

18/06/2021

Respect for the "viejos" is one of the primary reasons Pat Puckett carries on the traditions of the Californios. He discusses this in our film, "The Gathering", directed and produced by Susan Sember, and demonstrates the same in his choice of gear and style of horsemanship. For DVDs and Blu Rays, purchase at www.vaquerocollection.com (Photograph by Ron Dalzell/Copyright EISF)

11/06/2021

An untidy rider is an insult to a horse.

09/06/2021

I read this the first time and it's good.

“We have known for a long time that horses are a socially sophisticated species, but this is the first time we have seen that they can distinguish between positive and negative human facial expressions.”

09/06/2021

Good article.

Veterinarians at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital answer your questions about sales and healthcare of Thoroughbred auction yearlings, weanlings, 2-year-olds and breeding stock. Question: Could you describe the process you go through to conduct a lameness exam? Dr. Scott Hopper: Lameness exams are a s...

01/06/2021

Interesting

For decades, horse owners have been regularly deworming horses—with an almost messianic zeal—under the general rationale that all parasites are terrible and horse owners must do everything that they can to make sure that horses are completely parasite free at all times. Interestingly (to me, any...

06/05/2021

Man o' War (March 29, 1917 – November 1, 1947) was an American Thoroughbred who is widely considered one of the greatest racehorses of all time. Several sports publications, including The Blood-Horse, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, and the Associated Press, voted Man o' War as the outstanding horse of the 20th century. During his racing career just after World War I, Man o' War won 20 of 21 races and $249,465 (equivalent to $3,120,000 in 2018) in purses. He was the unofficial 1920 American horse of the year and was honored with Babe Ruth as the outstanding athlete of the year by The New York Times. He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1957. On March 29, 2017, the museum opened a special exhibit in his honor, "Man o' War at 100".

📷: Man o' War, 1920

06/05/2021

This is a well written description of the basics of presenting you and your horse well. However, I would make an addition to #9. You don't want to change things up the day of your show, but you and your horse can have at least have a trial run. I would say the same holds true for almost all disciplines .

Cesar Torrente gives you easy fixes to increase your scores and improve your ride at every level

21/04/2021

I wonder if he had the same personality as Bold Ruler.

Round Table (April 6, 1954 – June 13, 1987) was an American Thoroughbred Hall of Fame racehorse. He is considered the greatest turf horse in American racing history. Round Table was foaled at Claiborne Farm in Kentucky, on the night of April 6, 1954. Bold Ruler was foaled at the same farm, on the same night, and both stallions won American Horse of the Year honors in their respective careers, returning to Claiborne to stand at stud. He was trained by Moody Jolley.

Round Table died at the age of 33 on June 13, 1987. He is buried in the equine cemetery at Claiborne Farm.

30/03/2021

30/03/2021

Proud Papa....

Today, I thought I'd share a photo with you from way back in 2017. In this image, the black tobiano band stallion, Las Vegas, leads his first offspring, a c**t that I call "Sorcerer" to the family's favorite watering hole. Behind the pair are Las Vegas' mares, including mama, Smoke, in the middle.

It's hard to believe Sorcerer was ever this small, but there he is, cute as a button. Now 4-years-old, Sorcerer is one of the most beautiful stallions on the range. Sorcerer was chased from his natal band by Las Vegas last year and since that time he has become part of a bachelor herd comprised of some other young studs of the same age, including Muskogee and Dale. I'm pretty certain that new bachelor Tishamingo will join this bachelor group soon, especially since these youngsters have been his sparring partners for the last few years. I'll be sure to keep you posted.

To see more of my work, please visit www.wildatheartimages.com