Indholdsfortegnelse for Spring 2023 i Horse & Rider

THE SNOW IS BEGINNING TO MELT, and the excitement of spring is on its way. As the ground thaws, you can’t help but get excited with what’s to come this year. It’s been a little over a year since I started riding my horse, and when I look back at how far we’ve come, it makes me excited for what the future holds for us. A year ago, I was teaching her how to take the correct lead and follow her nose; now we’re focusing on flying lead changes and turnarounds. While I’d love to get to a horse show in the next year or two, I’m making sure my goals for the year are focused more on what my horse is mentally and physically ready to do, and not…

TRAVEL Scottsdale, Arizona WHAT Cactus Reining Classic WHEN March 17–25, 2023 The Million Starts Here Who doesn’t want to hit up sunny Arizona in mid-March to escape the winter doldrums? Plan your trip around the Cactus Reining Classic (cactusclassic.com) and you’ll get to add the excitement of one of reining’s hottest events to your itinerary, including the one and only The Run For A Million Qualifier. TRAVEL Arizona Since 2005, reiners and reining fans have traveled from around the country—and now, around the world—for the Cactus Reining. In 2023, the event will once again be the hub for the single qualifier for The Run For A Million, reining’s richest event and one of the highest-profile shows in history. This event offers something for every level of reining with an entire…

One of the first things I like to do with a horse I’m working with is introduce him to leg pressure. It’s an essential tool that I use daily when I’m riding, and before I can go on to more exciting maneuvers like spins or flying lead changes, my horse needs to have a good understanding of what it is. It’s easy to get into a hurry when teaching your horse fundamental skills like this, and it can often feel repetitive. But when I first introduce my horse to leg pressure and show him to how to move off my leg, I’m not looking for any large movements right away. A step here and a step there is all I need. In fact, if I ask for too much in…

The confidence you feel with your horse can be tied directly to how well you know your horse. So what can you do to get to know your horse and strengthen that bond? In general, spending time with your horse, even if all you have is 20 minutes per day, is a start. Without that time, you’re not going to know him—whether he’s goofy when the wind blows, or if a thunderstorm bothers him. You need to know what disturbs him, what comforts him, and how much pressure he’ll allow you to put on him. You’ve got to know your horse. Getting to Know Him If you don’t really know your horse, start by asking questions with your cues. For example, when you sit down and say “whoa,” does he…

Romal reins might seem like a trendy fad of the moment, because you see them in so many of the ranch classes, as well as working cow horse and reining. They give a distinctly traditional Western look. But they trace back to the West Coast vaqueros who spent up to seven years training their horses to be “straight up in the bridle,” guided with romal reins. To this day, romal reins signify an extremely well-trained horse, because there’s no cheating with them. Professionals reach for them for the straightness they can achieve with their horses when keeping the horse between the reins is of utmost importance. For fast-paced riding, as with working cow horse and when working cattle on a ranch, romal reins offer an added safety element, because you…

HERE’S THE THING ABOUT GOALS—they mean whatever you tell them to mean. Even the steeliest competitor is going to experience emotions when they miss the mark. It’s human nature. Sometimes the pain is necessary, but often it’s avoidable. I’m going to share the goal-setting tips that helped me win a barrel racing world championship one year, then the mistakes I made the next year. Small Goals, Big Results One of the best tricks I’ve found when reaching for big goals is to set smaller goals along the way. Think of it like a set of stairs. The easiest way to get up a staircase is by taking one step at a time. I didn’t just leap from the bottom of the staircase to the top to win my gold buckle.…

While fires are devasting, they are oftentimes preventable. A spark from a cigarette, hay baled too soon that overheats, a space heater that’s fallen over are all common causes of accidental fires. The best prevention is thorough preparedness. Avoid a tragedy by learning and putting these five fire-safety steps to practice within your barn or facility. Fire-Safety Step One: Clean the Space Fire needs fuel to flourish. Along with hay, barn debris such as cobwebs, stray bedding and feed, stacked wood, or even horse blankets can act as tinder. Make a habit of dusting, sweeping, and generally keeping your barn and tack rooms tidy to reduce available fuel. Fire-Safety Step Two: Keep Track of Chemicals With all the equipment maintenance, fueling, and cleaning that goes on around a horse property,…

Nobody wants their child to be the barn brat—the kid who the trainer and other boarders dread having around due to a negative attitude, laziness, or disrespectful demeanor. With a barn full of youth riders of all disciplines, my husband, Melvin, and I don’t let bratty behavior persist. Our barn’s culture encourages positivity, support, and a strong work ethic. It makes for a positive experience for everyone, and we can all enjoy being together doing something we love—riding horses! Here are the four main traits we’ve seen in youth riders that we don’t tolerate and how you as a parent can help ensure that your young rider doesn’t get the barn brat label. Trait 1: Laziness Having horses involves work, even if you’re a child. Of course, the work involved…

Your new horse swishes his tail, pins his ears, and swings his butt to the side every time you pick up the left lead. When you bought him, his previous owner told you, “Oh don’t worry about it, he’s always done that. It’s just normal for him,” but now you’re not so sure. Is it really normal? Great question! In fact, it’s just this type of scenario that caused researchers to start asking what behaviors horses exhibit under saddle that might mean there’s something wrong. After all, would you really want to force your horse to perform a straight transition if he’s simply saying that he hurts? Most horse owners would say no. And you might be surprised to learn that studies indicate as many as 50% or more of…

I’LL BE JUDGING THESE STOCK BREED MARES on their overall conformation and usefulness as performance prospects. I evaluate conformation using the four categories of balance, structural correctness, breed and sex characteristics, and muscling as laid out in the rulebooks of stock breed associations. I follow their rules as closely as I can. Once a judge understands the rulebook’s criteria for an “ideal horse,” it’s important to develop an eye to be able to evaluate horses relative to those criteria. When judging, I first look for a horse’s positive traits in the four categories. I evaluate and compare each horse in a class to the rulebook’s ideal. One with the most positive characteristics places first, whether there are three in the class, as here, or 30 and more. As these are…

Today’s horse-buying marketplace is filled with imagery to delight horse lovers of all kinds: shining, fat horses in good light standing in conformation shots and snazzy music accompany perfected performances on video. It’s enough to blind a buyer from any flaw a horse may or may not have before buying. When riders consider buying a new horse, most people look at color, pedigree, sex, previous training, and health as top priorities but rarely does the buyer investigate the general trainability or mental aptitude of their perspective partner. That’s a risky practice which can lead to mismatched people and horses, and frustration for them both. Nothing beats putting hands on a horse before buying and giving him a quick three-step test to gauge how responsive he is to you before deciding…

On average, AHFEH member organizations find forever homes for over 1,000 horses on an annual basis. In 2022, there was an estimated 7,829 horses being cared for at AHFEH rescue organizations. 1,241 of those horses found their forever home. Celebrate with us by recognizing 4 of those 1,241. Bonanza Bonanza showed up malnourished and underweight, with a horrible abscess in her frog that caused a lot of pain and swelling in her leg. On top of that, she had elevated liver enzyme levels. We were unsure if she would make it. Our dedicated staff spent days carefully soaking and wrapping the foot until the abscess finally started to heal. With her abscess healed, Bonanza wasn’t out of the storm yet - her liver enzyme levels were still elevated, and she…