Innehållsförteckning för Spring 2023 från Practical Horseman

This picture shows Sara Gray on her 9-year-old mare Josie Sandra TF. Josie has had two foals and was started late into riding. She was only about a month under saddle when Sara got her. They are currently showing First Level. When I went as a “Bereiter” into a German dressage stable, the main trainer there told me: When you can ride your horse properly over the back into stretching, you are ready to ride serial changes (higher level fun movements). So, I am happy to write about this picture! A good stretch is a check of how the work before it is done and requires rhythm, balance, suppleness and the seeking of contact from the horse. It is proof that the training is following the classical rules and the…

Stirrups are the ground for the rider. You must keep a vertical stirrup leather for your stirrups to be able to correctly support your weight. Once you can do this, you will be able to maintain your balance, even in unusual circumstances. First, I want you to look at the bottom photo to the right, showing the proper lower-leg position at the halt: The ball of the rider’s foot is on the tread of the stirrup with the heels depressed, little toe against the outside branch and a 90-degree angle behind the knee while seated. Now, follow the white line up from that photo to the next. This photo of Beezie Madden riding Prima brilliantly illustrates my theme that a strong lower-leg position enables a rider to stay balanced above…

I don’t have a magic recipe for finding a distance and making a good jump. But I do have an exercise that will help you achieve the most important aspects of getting that good distance and good jump: straightness and rhythm. These are the most important qualities when you show jump because they are the two that our horses are most concerned about when jumping on their own. In a jump chute without a rider and with set fences, horses want to know: “Can I move up to the jump?” and “Is it straight in front of me?” They want to know the same things when we’re riding them. Knowing this is the begining of riding in a way that is most natural and complementary to the horse. No matter…

On average, AHFEH member organizations find forever homes for more than 1,000 horses each year. In 2022, an estimated 7,829 horses were being cared for at AHFEH rescue facilities, and 1,241 of those horses found their forever homes. Celebrate with us by recognizing four of those 1,241 special horses. AMAZING RECOVERY Bonanza showed up malnourished and underweight, with an 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 weren't sure if she would make it. Our dedicated staff spent days carefully soaking and wrapping the foot until the abscess finally started to heal. Even after her abscess healed, Bonanza wasn't out of the storm-her liver enzyme levels were still elevated, and she wasn't putting…

“By horse crazy, I mean I am obsessed with horses, and always have been—obsessed with how to ride them, how to train them, how to care for them, how they think, and how we should think about them.”—Jim Wofford, in the introduction to his memoir, Still Horse Crazy After All These Years. James C. Wofford, known to many as “Jimmy,” “Jim” and “Woff,” spent his life with horses and was one of the best-known eventing trainers in the world. After Wofford died at age 78 on February 2, 2023, at his Fox Covert Farm in Upperville, Virginia, the accolades of his many students over the years, swept through the horse community. A Coach “I know we have lost the physical form of Jimmy, but we have not lost the things…

“Dressage is the systematic development of the natural abilities of the horse,” stated Henk van Bergen during the first ride of the Adequan®/U.S. Dressage Federation FEI-Level Trainers Conference. After a two-year absence due to the pandemic, more than 300 enthusiastic individuals descended upon Mary Anne McPhail’s High Meadow Farm in Loxahatchee, Florida, in January to gain wisdom and perspective from van Bergen, David Hunt, Linda Zang and Lilo Fore. They were not disappointed. The rider and horse combinations were all upper level as the intended purpose of the two-day conference was designed to educate FEI-level trainers and instructors in the classical system of dressage. Throughout the two days, the experts offered numerous training exercises and tips that, while advanced for those in attendance, will offer insights for other levels. TIP…

Q My 14-year-old hunter experiences mild lameness before he’s warmed up, and our veterinarian has diagnosed minor arthritis in the left foreleg. He prescribed phenylbutazone (bute) and says that’s all my horse needs to manage his pain for now. What else can I do to keep him in good condition so he’s able to compete? A Unfortunately, there is no cure for arthritis. Inflammation from injury or use has triggered a destructive cascade of events, breaking down the lubricating synovial fluid, degrading the cartilage and remodeling the bone in and around a joint. But medication and management can slow the progression of the degenerative condition and help maintain your horse’s comfort so he’s able to perform. The treatments for arthritis are many and varied. A number are proven; others have yet…

1 Overall: My first impression is that this rider is behind her horse’s motion, getting a little left and using his mouth for balance. You can see that because the bit is making him “smile,” and he looks a little unhappy. Leg: The stirrup is behind the ball of her foot—it needs to move closer to her toe so it’s right under the ball of her foot. Then she can press her heel down more. I think her stirrup length is too short for this fence height. She could lengthen it so there’s not so much angle in her knee. This is causing her to push her seat too far to the back of the saddle. She’s compensating being behind the horse’s motion by pinching with her knee instead of having…

Q What is your FEI Eventing World Championship and CCIO4*-S Aachen partner, Off The Record, like to ride and train? WC I got him as a 4-year-old. He was a very talented horse, but he was hard to make music with initially. He was opinionated and not in the nicest of ways. But as we grew up together and I got to know him more, we developed a better understanding of one another. Where he was presenting himself as being a little difficult, he was almost just trying too hard. It took a while for me to see that. Once I did, that’s when we started to really gel as a partnership. He’s not amongst the most talented horses in the world, but he just has an incredible drive and…

Before the 2023 winter show circuits started early this year, organizers at the Desert International Horse Park in Thermal, California, and the Wellington International in Florida implemented new biosecurity protocols for the season. This was in response to the nearly six-week outbreak of the equine herpesvirus in early 2022 at DIHP. “Horse Health. Balanced. Science-Based. Sensible. These words have framed the discussion we have had over the last six months about what biosecurity measures to implement at the DIHP this upcoming season. Like you, we never want to experience an outbreak of EHV-1 ever again!” wrote DIHP President and CEO Steve Hankin in the introduction of the competition’s biosecurity protocols announced in the fall of 2022. “However, the EHV virus is endemic in any equine population and, although unlikely, there…

Imagine your stirrups are like a trampoline. You cannot brace into a trampoline, but if you keep your ankles, knees and hips soft and able to bend, you can maintain your balance on the trampoline. Stephany Fish Crossman is a USDF bronze and silver medalist as well as one of only nine accredited coaches for Mary Wanless’ Ride With Your Mind Biomechanics System in the U.S. She is currently based in Brooksville, Florida, with her husband, Chris, who is a cattle rancher; her two horses that she’s taking up the levels; and her pet cows.…