My green Warmblood True is doing well with his early hopping lessons, except for one little thing. I call it “crosspole roulette.” Crosspole roulette is evidently some kind of equine...
There are many things in this world with the word horse attached to them. Most we understand such as a sawhorse or horseradish, which I've written about. But then we...
Dana Hart Callanan is a successful hunter, jumper and equitation coach, an ‘R’ judge, and a sales broker. Here she answers common questions about A level sport. A: As a...
My green Warmblood True, like most youngsters, has these beautiful lower legs with clear definition between his strong tendons that brings a smile to any jumping rider’s face. We protect...
This is the second installment of "UK versus North America," which I’ve just deemed a mini-series. Last time, I started the post discussing whether you keep your horse at livery...
Forget no-stirrup-November. For many riders (**raises hand**) there is literally nothing scarier than trot jumps. Unfortunately for us, according to 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games Team gold medalist and 2018...
I’ve been avoiding the phrases "horse sense," "horse play" and "horse around" for a long time for a number of reasons. Mostly because they aren’t in common use anymore and,...
True, my young Warmblood, is trotting individual ground poles and sequences of up to four poles in a row, in both directions at various locations around the arena by now....
Writing a column like this, where one article follows another in perfect lockstep, suggests that horse training is a serial process. It’s as if my green Warmblood True learns one...
I made an observation while writing my last two articles and I admit, what you’re about to read is from the point of view of a slightly bitter woman. Just...
Q: Why do riders who are competing in the U25 division continue to compete in the equitation? Isn’t the whole point of the equitation division to prepare them the skills...
Don’t worry, we won’t be on poles forever. Last week, my four-year-old Warmblood True was clearing a three-inch raised pole by three feet. I redirected him to a different task...
Last week, I wrote about the Duke of Wellington and his horse, Copenhagen. This week, it seems only fitting to write about Napoleon and his horse, Marengo. But first a...
Following the exercise described last week, my four-year-old warmblood True is walking and trotting smoothly from each direction over single poles scattered around the arena. With such practice, he's learned...
At 28 years old, there aren’t many jobs that Gunner, a former cow horse, is still qualified to do. His feet are sore, so he requires special padded shoeing to...
I’ve written about the Duke of Wellington’s influence on footwear, aptly named Wellingtons or Wellies. Now, I thought I might look into Wellington’s horse, an off-the-track-Thoroughbred by the name of...
You know how show jumpers sail over gigantic obstacles, like oh say…CARS? Or set records for height, like oh say… EIGHT FEET high? Or breadth… um, that would be 28...
When I was in university I took a biological anthropology class, and while in that stuffy classroom learning about monkeys and prehensile tails, I also learned something interesting about horse...
It’s time to start teaching my green warmblood True to jump. As usual, we have to begin with some preliminary checks. First, be sure your horse’s bones and body are...
I’ve always regarded the UK as the birthplace of horse sports. I’m sure that is entirely correct, but it’s how I feel. I love British TV and all things horsey...
