Horse Illustrated February 2018

My longtime writers all know that my No. 1 banned line is “no hoof, no horse.” Not because I don’t believe it’s true. Quite the opposite! Been there, done that, have the vet bills to prove it. It’s just that there might be more original ways to express that particular truism. I’ve heard a few of them from my farrier. It’s all fun and games until you have the horse with the hoof problems. You know it’s bad when you text your farrier a photo and he says: A.) I’ve never seen anything like that before; B.) What did the vet say?; C.) Oh crap; D.) Nothing—he’s speechless. The correct answer is “all of the above.” Bonus points if your vet pulls out the camera when he gets there. The…

It’s EXPO Season Equine expos across the country give us something to look forward to during these icy midwinter days. Most offer clinics and demos to inspire your horsemanship goals, and there will be plenty of shopping to facilitate that necessary retail therapy. Here are some of the expos coming up soon: Feb. 23-25 | Southern Equine Expo | Murfreesboro, Tenn. www.southernequineexpo.com Feb. 23-25 | EquiFest of Kansas | Topeka, Kan. equifestofks.com March 1-4 | Pennsylvania Horse World Expo | Harrisburg, Penn. www.horseworldexpo.com March 2-4 | Illinois Horse Fair | Springfield, Ill. www.illinoishorsefair.com March 2-4 | Washington State Horse Expo | Ridgefield, Wash. www.wastatehorseexpo.com March 9-11 | Western States Horse Expo | Pomona, Calif. horseexpoevents.com March 9-11 | Rocky Mountain Horse Expo | Denver, Colo. www.coloradohorsecouncil.com EQUESTRIAN AID FOUNDATION Working…

Imagine a place where the stark beauty of the desert provides a backdrop for the most stunning Arabian horses in the world. You don’t have to fly to the Middle East to see it, though. A trip to Scottsdale, Ariz., will do the trick. The Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show is the largest Arabian show in the world. Held every year in the quintessentially western town of Scottsdale, just east of Phoenix, the show features thousands of Arabians being shown in everything from halter to native costume and driving. Known as the Super Bowl of the Arabian World, horses and handlers travel from around the country to participate in the 10-day competition, which is held every February. The WestWorld events venue hosts the show, and sits on 386 acres of pristine…

When equestrians grow up and move on to adult life, they might find that it doesn’t necessarily include the horses they grew up loving. And that can be a harsh reality. For Barbara Jenkins, while she was moving to still work in the horse industry, she was leaving her horses behind in Arkansas. “For the first time in my life, I couldn’t just walk outside and pet a horse,” she recalls. “When I up and moved to Ohio as a 24-year-old after having access to horses basically my whole life, it was a shocker. My job was horses, my passion was horses, my interest was horses, my hobby was horses, and I had nothing.” The homesickness was hard to take, until she started to make connections that allowed her to…

Riding through a lush meadow in Virginia’s glorious Shenandoah Valley, butterflies swarm. Orange monarchs and black-tipped blues flicker and flutter and sweep around the stalks of powdery goldenrod that stand as tall as the eyelashes on my horse. I’m riding a 16.2 Percheron-cross named Corey, but he’s not mine. He belongs to my friend Staci. My horse, Taff, is 70 miles away at the farm where he boards on the other side of the Potomac River in suburban Maryland. With Staci on her horse Titan (her other, even larger Percheron-cross hunt horse), we ride through an endless field littered with an outcropping of ancient rocks. In the hollow below, cows stand in the shade, happily knee-deep in a mud puddle. More butterflies rest on soft white beds of Queen Anne’s…

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the role I play in my horse’s life. I’ve been his only rider for more than a decade and his sole caretaker since I switched to self-care board seven years ago. He’s 29 now, and removed from any of my personal equestrian goals. That means I can devote every minute I spend with him to making sure his later years are truly golden. Recently, after an evening hack around the farm, I declared my intention to ride Snoopy lightly but frequently through the winter. A bit of exercise would do both of us good this time of year. He felt energetic on that ride. I felt good about my intentions. The following day, a co-boarder called me to say that Snoopy was showing…