If you are an equestrian athlete, you know that confidence is your secret weapon. There is no sweeter feeling than knowing that, no matter what the situation or degree of...
I get that some horses cost more to buy than others. In fact, I wrote about it. (Read “On the Value of Horses.”) Over my career, I’ve been fortunate enough...
One evening, I was cleaning stalls when a friend, who is a nurse, stopped by the barn. She walked to the stall where I was stuffing a haynet and, without...
There’s a problem that crops up pretty regularly when it’s wet outside. I hope that you horse hasn’t had it. It’s called “scratches.” Or mud fever. Or greasy heel. Or...
You have a horse. You take him to shows (doesn’t really matter much what kind). Congratulations, you horse is now a “performance” horse. Look out. You are undoubtedly subjected to—or going to...
I’ve written a few articles about colic—myths, when to go to surgery, and such—and, with all that's been said, by me, and by many other folks, I think that there’s...
If you have your horses where they can hang out with their buddies in big grass pastures, good for you. Good for them, too. Horses are social creatures. They are very curious...
A major piece of the puzzle of equine airway diseases has been discovered: the role of fungi. A three-year study published by The Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine (JVIM) involving over 700...
For every yin, there is a yang. I wrote an article on fat horses—here’s one on skinny horses. Skinny horses are the flip side of the coin from fat horses....
Have you ever noticed in training that it is often easier to do lateral work, bending, turning, and lead changes, in one direction than in the other? This may be...
Sometimes, you may need to deworm your horse. Happily, if you do—and you should find out if you do with a fecal egg count rather than just blindly deworming on...
Last Wednesday, two-time Olympic team gold medalist McLain Ward (USA) opted out of his first championship in over a decade when he withdrew his mount Contagious from the Pan American...
OK. You’re convinced that your mare has behavioral problems because of her heat cycle. (Not sure? Read Part 1 of this series to brush up on that.) You want to do...
It was over six-years-ago when the rickety trailer, jostling with rusty bolts, pulled through the driveway of the New Hampshire farm I rode at. Our stable relied on an aging...
Q: I just received notice that someone filed a U.S. Equestrian protest questioning my amateur status after they learned that I regularly hack horses for my trainer and help out...
I don’t know if you pay any attention to sports like swimming, or track and field, but if you haven’t, the fact is that people keep getting faster. Records made...
They’re the fluffy speed demons eliciting "Awwwws" and squeals in equal measure on pony steeplechase courses around the country. They’re backyard pets, cart-pulling machines and the preferred mount of pony...
There’s something that you need to be aware of in the horse world. It’s called “false precision.” Precision (true precision) requires that a specific action produces pre-defined and specific results....
Horses have evolved as grazing animals, eating a wide variety of forages and living in herds. They graze at ground level and can cover distances up to nine miles in...
