Tabla de contenidos para Spring 2024 en Practical Horseman

“At the end of the day, I love my horses, I love winning, and you can do both,” says Caroline Pamukcu. The 30-year-old American eventing star spent the majority of 2022 studying under Olympian Pippa Funnell in England. But Pamukcu brought back much more than training advice from Funnell. One of her biggest takeaways was an ability to embrace her emotional nature while maintaining her competitive attitude—to prioritize her love of horses while also striving for greatness in the sport. Pamukcu has proven that since her time overseas, by claiming individual gold at the 2023 Pan American Games aboard HSH Blake, a 9-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding owned by Mollie Hoff and Sherrie Martin. But long before that, Pamukcu née Martin was recognized as a promising talent in U.S. Eventing.…

Nestled amongst 165 acres of woodland near Union, Missouri, the Humane Society of Missouri’s (HSMO) Longmeadow Rescue Ranch is a haven for hundreds of abused and neglected horses, cows, goats, pigs, ducks and other farm animals. The ranch is one of the most comprehensive horse and farm animal care and rehabilitation centers in the country. In addition to animal care, ranch staff provide hands-on humane education experiences for both children and adults. In May 2023, HSMO’s Animal Cruelty Task Force (ACT) conducted a rescue of four starving horses from the rural property of a neglectful owner. All four mares were in similar condition: severely emaciated with overgrown hooves and external parasites. Thistle, the youngest of the four, was in the worst condition. She was extremely thin, weighing only 727 pounds.…

1. The 25th Anniversary Chore Classic Mid Boot commemorates the Muck Boot Company’s 25th anniversary with a new logo and green color with reflective silver details. The boots feature a rubber overlay, are reinforced in the toe and heel, and have arch support. The boots are lightweight and flexible, and a breathable mesh lining wicks away moisture. The boots come in men’s sizing, so women should size down about one-and-a-half sizes. muckbootcompany.com 2. The Shed Express from Epona removes excessive shedding hair not only from your horse but also your dog or cat. Lightweight and pocket-sized, the shedder is made from high-quality beechwood and copper, ensuring that it will never rust. In addition, the Shed Express is designed to clean out Velcro® and revitalize saddle pads by gathering hair. eponaproducts.com…

Amanda Peer submitted Photo A, which I critiqued in the August 2017 issue of Dressage Today. At the time, she and her horse, Caliente, A were preparing to move up to Second Level. Since then, they have successfully competed through Second Level and Amanda has submitted a more recent photo in Dressage Today’s September 2018 issue to evaluate her progress. Studying the two pictures, I congratulate Amanda and Caliente on their development. Caliente appears to have grown! His neck and chest have developed and even though the angle does not allow full view of his back, the croup appears well muscled and round. The movement has changed, too. I can see that his hind legs move more purposefully—with less dust and more lift—and the shoulders are carried better. In my…

We have a favorite exercise that helps riders improve their skills to ride the correct track from jump to jump. The exercise is called the S-curve, and as the name suggests, it’s made up of three jumps that create an S-shaped pattern. As you work through the exercise, you’ll practice adjusting your track and pace in different ways to change the number of strides between fences. By changing the track and pace, your horse’s adjustability will improve, and the frequent lead changes over the jumps will require him to use both leads equally, which will help him be more ambidextrous and supple. Plus, it’s a good exercise to practice and be comfortable with if you compete because you’ll see variations in many handy hunter and equitation classes. This exercise is…

Joey Emmert Evans rode her two 8-year-olds—a KWPN mare Khaleesi on Saturday and Fiderherz RTH, a Westphalian stallion, on Sunday. The Northern California professional dressage rider developed both horses herself. She knew it would be good for them and herself to ride in that “big” atmosphere of the Ingrid Klimke’s Masterclass. “There is some pressure to perform, and I generally love riding under pressure. I also realized it’s OK to have mistakes—to look like a bit of a hot mess in this moment. It’s valuable because even though it’s a little bit of an ego hit to me, hopefully I helped the audience with their own riding. I know we all have moments where we’re in this same boat.” Klimke complimented Evans’ quiet position and aids, and she dubbed Khaleesi…

One of the greatest lessons I have learned is to let a sense of curiosity and wonder drive me forward. It’s that curiosity and wonder that causes us to become horsemen—the fascination in all things. We’re eager to learn infinitely more about the horse, the horse’s brain and psychology, and the horse’s connection to ourselves. Horses will tell you everything you need to know about yourself if you let them. Curiosity keeps us learning—because you can never know everything there is to know—and it keeps us in pursuit of more knowledge. I learned many lessons from Jimmy Wofford, and this one stands at the foundation of all I know and love about horses and understanding them. “Even white rats learn from repetition,” he would say in his good-natured way. It…

Do you find yourself needing to use one leg more than the other to help keep your horse straight? Or maybe he’s reluctant to move one or both legs forward or has started knocking down rails. What’s going on? While there are many factors that could explain these symptoms, a very common issue that affects horses across all disciplines is a tight external oblique muscle. A horse’s external oblique is a broad, triangular-shaped muscle located over the lower abdominal area of the horse that connects from behind the fourth rib to the point of the hip. There are two external obliques, one on each side of the horse. Its functions are to bend or flex the trunk laterally and compress the abdomen. But when this muscle is tight, it can…

Load a wheelbarrow heavily to one side as in the center illustration. Now push the wheelbarrow, and feel how it pulls to the weighted side and how you are forced to lean in that direction to compensate. That’s how your horse feels when you sit unevenly in the saddle, as shown in the left image. When you sit evenly, the horse will be centered and balanced as shown in the illustration on the right. Sharon Sweet is a retired elementary school teacher. She lives in Vermont, where she trains with USDF bronze, silver and gold medalist Katherine Bruce at Kaleidoscope Farm. Reprinted from Summer 2019 issue.…