My Soapbox for Equestrian Writings
One of the secrets to maintaining an elastic connection with your horse’s mouth is to ride with a soft, bent elbow. When you straighten your arms and brace you are unable to follow the movement of the horse’s mouth so you are holding rather than supporting. You also lose the benefit of your body’s core. […]
Read MoreIf you’ve ever read George Morris’ Jumping Clinic column in Practical Horseman, you must check out this site. It has the best spoof of the column that I’ve ever read. The rest of the site is pretty darn funny too. Nice to see some horse people with a sense of humor! For those readers not […]
Read MoreLast week I posted a Pas de Deux dressage performance that included an English and Western horse whose riders switched mid-way. Thanks to a reader who contacted me, the link now goes to the right video! Here’s another Pas de Deux . . . with a whole new twist! It puts the Schweppes bull to […]
Read MoreI am a dirt magnet. I don’t understand how all those hunter princesses stay so immaculate when the go into the show ring. When I go to a hunt, I wear a sweat pants over my breeches and a sweater over my shirt. I don’t remove my outer garments until I’m ready to get on […]
Read MoreOf all the bitless solutions out there, this bridle is probably the best known. The Dr. Cook’s bridle is a cross under solutions: in addition to the normal cavesson, there are two straps that cross under the horse’s jaw and are then run through two rings on the noseband. The reins attach to these straps. […]
Read MoreThe Micklem Multibridle offers three bitless configurations that offer increasing levels of control. To accomplish this, the bridle uses different pressure points on the horse’s head, rather than simply increasing the pressure on a single area (for example, a hackamore is more or less harsh depending on the length of the shanks). As I wrote […]
Read MoreI’ve been looking at a lot of bit/noseband combinations lately, trying to find the right one for my OTTB. Out in the hunt field, I wanted to make sure that he couldn’t evade the bit by opening his mouth. Looking at tack store catalogs, photos from shows and horses of friends, I realized how much […]
Read MoreFor the first time in the event’s history, the Blenheim Horse Trials have been cancelled due to weather after the completion of the dressage phase and on the eve of cross country. According to an announcement on their Web site, heavy rain falling on already muddy ground made the conditions unsafe. Blenheim has been run […]
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