Innehållsförteckning för Summer 2024 från Practical Horseman

Paris seems poised to host an amazing Olympic Games. For equestrians, the Palace of Versailles venue has historic connections to horses and their place in European culture. It’s relatively easy to get to for most of eventing, dressage, show jumping and para-dressage’s power-player countries. The City of Light stages look ready to showcase equestrian sports at their finest. The appeal of Paris, however, has nothing to do with why the United States’ 16 horses and riders will be there. They’re there to fulfill dreams drafted in childhood and realized through years of hard work, patience, persistence, broken bones, broken hearts, big bills, bad days and a million other things about which the rest of us have only a small inkling. And they’re there because they had the right horse, the…

The sacroiliac joint is one of the most important parts of the horse’s body—and perhaps one of the least understood. This joint, and its related structures, is the connection between the horse’s pelvis and the spine. It functions to allow the transfer of energy from the horse’s powerful hind legs to the pelvis and then to the spinal column. This results in the horse’s all-important forward motion. on. However, the SI joint is different from other joints, such as the fetlocks or the hocks, in that it has relatively little actual motion itself, has no specific joint capsule, has very little associated joint fluid and is composed of two different types of cartilage. Stability of the SI joint is achieved by a complex ligamentous structure and associated muscles. Unfortunately, tely,…

Patrick Metzger showed up for his first volunteer shift at This Old Horse looking for two things: an opportunity to volunteer for a cause he supported and a hope to become part of a welcoming community that shared his interests. What he was not seeking—or expecting—was love. By his own admission, Patrick was struggling with feelings of depression and felt doing something physical and useful might help. On the first day he joined the crew for morning chores at This Old Horse’s flagship barn, Wishbone Ranch in Hastings, Minnesota, he received a warm welcome, and he was made to feel his help was highly valued and appreciated by the other volunteers. After chores and a post-chore social gathering for snacks and beverages, he was introduced to an old mare named…

Skin is the largest organ of a horse’s body and one of the most vulnerable as it protects against an array of external threats such as bacteria, environmental allergens, chemicals and extreme temperatures. Good grooming and management practices can help to keep skin healthy. But problems still may arise. Here’s a look at a variety of common equine skin conditions (arranged alphabetically) along with suggestions for care. Your veterinarian will also be a valuable resource in confirming the identity of any skin ailment and recommending treatment. • Aural plaques: flaky white patches on the inner surface of the ear; occur when chronic fly irritation causes inflammation. Topical application of an antiviral or steroid cream can clear the plaques and soothe skin, but any pigment loss under the skin is permanent.…

What’s the best training advice you’ve been given? If you’re anything like the 13 competitors we posed this question to at the 2024 Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event, you may need to think about it for moment. Whether an amateur or Olympian, we’ve all learned lessons and had help from other horsepeople along the way. For many, riding is a lifelong pursuit, which means you’re bound to accumulate a lot of great advice over the years. So what’s helped these riders make it to the top? Here are their responses. DOUG PAYNE “In life and sport, you’re going to miss more than you’re going to make it, so learn from every mistake you make and hopefully don’t repeat the same ones.” 2019 Pan American Games team gold, 2021 Olympic Games HORSE:…

Up-and-coming international rider Anna Marek began showing and training dressage horses in 2001. With her Grand Prix horse Unico, Marek rose to 12th in the nation in 2016. Just last year she claimed a team gold and an individual bronze with Fire Fly at the Pan American Games in Chile. In April 2024, she finished ninth—the highest-placed U.S. rider—with Fayvel at the FEI Dressage World Cup Final in Saudi Arabia. And most recently, she and Fire Fly were named to the dressage short list for the horse-and-rider combinations traveling to Europe in hopes of making the Olympic team. She lives with her husband and two young children in Dunnellon, Florida. Q Tell us about Fire Fly. What kind of a horse is he? ANNA MAREK: He’s a 14-year-old Dutch Warmblood.…

When you sit on your horse, imagine that you are the center tower of a suspension bridge. You have cables that stretch both forward and backward to various points on your horse’s topline that allow for movement between you and the cables. This helps to create balance, self-carriage and collection in your horse.—Stephany Fish Crossman Stephany Fish Crossman is a U.S. Dressage Federation 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 currently is based in Okeechobee, Florida.…