Innehållsförteckning för Winter 2022 från Practical Horseman

“Delaware Valley University’s (DelVal) outstanding equine science program and Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) team provides various opportunities for students to become well-rounded individuals. With an equestrian center and breeding center on campus, students gain hands-on experience with horses at both facilities. Throughout my time at DelVal, these barns became my home, and the staff, faculty and other students became my family. I was also honored to serve as our IHSA Hunt Seat Team Captain for two years. This gave me the opportunity to lead my team to success both on and off of the horse. Whether it is cheering each other on at horse shows, having boot cleaning parties or bonding during workouts, the members of this team continuously support one another. I am so thankful for the life-long…

Top hunter trainer and rider Hunt Tosh has racked up accolades at the most prestigious hunter competitions in the country aboard two of his elite mounts, Cannon Creek and Autograph. The 2021 USEF National Equestrian of the Year is based in Milton, Georgia, where he owns and runs his business, Hunt Tosh Inc. He grew up riding and showing in Atlanta, Georgia, under the tutelage of Roger and Judy Young. Later, he became a working student for Dennis Mitchell and Dennis Murphy, then started riding hunters with Jack Towell. Tosh kick-started his business when he was 19 years old and focused on buying and selling horses while he continued to catch ride. About 15 years later, Dr. Betsee Parker and the Wheeler Family began their partnership with Tosh, and he…

When I was competing, one of my favorite times of year was late fall/early winter after the competiton season ended. My horse had a well-deserved rest, and then we started working to improve areas in which we (mainly me) had struggled. I remember spending one entire off-season riding in the quiet indoor arena over small crossrails. My goal was learning to be quieter with my position and stop trying to do so much to find a distance. Another time, I practiced making tighter jumper turns in a serpentine over three low jumps, working on my recovery as we landed from each jump. With that in mind, and also knowing that the upcoming holiday season is a busy time for all of us, we filled this issue with exercises and strategies…

Prepare Your Barn for Winter Getting your farm ready for winter can be time-consuming. Check out Practical Horseman’s checklist for everything you need to do to plan ahead for the coming months. From stocking up on supplies to checking your horse’s blankets to snow removal equipment, this checklist will have you ready for the season. practicalhorsemanmag.com Grounded Expectations Grand Prix dressage rider Nicholas Fyffe explains how a better relationship with your horse on the ground translates into success in the saddle. He shares three skills that are great for testing your consistency on the ground and improving your relationship with your horse. practicalhorsemanmag.com Cavalletti Training for Every Horse and Discipline Germany’s two-time Olympic gold medalist Ingrid Klimke shares cavalletti exercises on the ground and under-saddle to help build your horse’s…

Brought to you by After Oak Grove’s Carlyle jumped the 6-foot-10 puissance wall, Daniel Coyle raised his fist in the air with a smile. It was the second class he had won at the Washington International Horse Show, held Oct. 24-30, in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. The night before, he and Ariel Grange’s Legacy captured the $75,000 Welcome Stake. That pair then placed eighth in the $406,000 Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Washington North American League qualifier on Saturday. Coyle has been riding Legacy, a 12-year-old Zangersheide mare (Chippendale Z x Bon Ami), for four years. The pair represented Ireland in the ECCO FEI World Championships this summer, where the team placed fourth, and won the $500,000 Great American Grand Prix earlier this year in Ocala, Florida. They also finished in…

The 2022 MARS Maryland 5 Star at Fair Hill led the way in collecting and keeping horses’ medical records secure and organized this year. The competition’s veterinary team used Equine MediRecord (EMR) to collect required health information for horses competing in the U.S. Eventing Association’s Young Event Horse East Coast Championship (YEH). The event was held in Cecil County, Maryland, in conjunction with the CCI5*-L and CCI3*-L, Oct. 13-16. As YEH horses arrived at the event, onsite competition staff and EMR representatives helped competitors log their horses’ health information into the EMR system. This information included proof of vaccinations and veterinary certificates. “We could not be more happy with the entire team at Equine MediRecord,” said competitor Alexander O’Neal. “It was a very systematic and easy way to get all…

Let’s start by defining what I mean by good ground manners. The No. 1 thing is that your horse respects your space and learns to react to your body language. That comes from establishing that you are the leader and your horse is the follower. If your horse respects your space, he’s not going to knock into you, rub on you, nip you, etc. Way too often, horse owners ascribe human emotions to these behaviors and consider them fun, playful signs of affection from their horses. Although there may be affection involved, a horse that does any of those behaviors actually considers himself the boss and the leader, or at least an equal, to his human. With that hierarchy in the relationship, the stage is set for physical danger to…

SUBMITTED BY HOPE IN THE SADDLE READERS Our mission at Hope in the Saddle is to share the most meaningful and inspiring stories that emerge from the horse world—stories of how our relationships with horses can help us overcome life’s toughest challenges. We collect stories from all corners of the horse community, from hunter horses to dressage riders and competitive equestrians to backyard owners. The following stories are a few reader favorites from 2022. JT “We first met JT, a registered Quarter Horse, more than 10 years ago when my son was only 7, on the autism spectrum, nonverbal, and needing occupational, physical, and speech therapy. JT was a cutting horse who earned over $80,000 in his career before retiring to the most important job of his life: therapeutic riding.…

One of my favorite tools for training horses and riders of all levels is the four-stride line. It’s easy to incorporate into gymnastic exercises and courses in small arenas where fiveand six-stride lines don’t fit well. The four-stride line also demands more straightness and accuracy than longer lines, as there’s less room for error. You can practice it in either bending lines or straight lines—or both, as you’ll see in the course on page 44. The gymnastic exercise and course I share here are just some of the many ways you can incorporate four-stride lines into your training at home. They will help you improve both your horse’s rideability and your own ability to ride any lines successfully. Additionally, they will test the quality of your flatwork. Before trying these…

Brought to you by Top U.S. horses and riders made their way to the U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions for a chance to earn national championship titles. While there, Katie Duerrhammer, Alice Tarjan and Adrienne Lyle shared insights about a few of the horses they competed at the event, held August 22–28, 2022 at HITS Chicago at Lamplight Equestrian Center in Wayne, Illinois. Paxton Paxton is an 11-year-old bay Westfalen gelding owned by Kylee Lourie of Colorado. He is by Dante Weltino OLD, out of Desiree, by Don Marco. Along with rider Katie Duerrhammer, Paxton competed in Rotterdam, where they were part of the Dutta Corp. U.S. Dressage Team that finished second at the FEI Dressage Nations Cup™ of the Netherlands. At the festival, he was USEF Grand Prix Dressage…