Table of contents for Winter 2021 in Practical Horseman

Have you met your soulmate? I have. Twice. I can't take credit for the first time. When I was 6, my dad heard about a 3-year-old Morgan/Arabian cross that everyone thought was something special. North Star’s Pride and I grew up together, developing an amazing learning/teaching relationship. We eventually trained through the upper levels of equestrian sports. Since then, I have ridden, trained and schooled more horses than I can count, and Pride taught me more than all of them combined. He also protected me and became my shoulder to cry on—my partner and best friend for nearly 20 years. Losing him was so devastating that I wanted out. I sold my other horses and most of my tack, because without Pride, my heart just wasn’t in it. Fast forward…

If there is one thing horses will teach us, it is humility. Those of us who care deeply for horses are careful in our interactions with them—but we are human, and we make mistakes. Anyone who rides or trains horses has made mistakes—for example, asking our horse to maintain a higher frame than he is ready for, thus setting his training back. Even worse is a mistake that compromises our horse’s soundness, such as jumping on unsuitable footing. Such mistakes haunt devoted horsemen, and the more experienced we become, the worse we feel about our blunders. After all, we are supposed to be experts now. By definition, don’t experts avoid mistakes? The answer is that of course experts make mistakes, and I can tell you from personal experience that making…

When I’m at a horse show where I see a few hundred riders, whether I’m judging or training, I often think that out of all of them, only a few make it look easy. Only a few! What is the problem that so many of the remaining riders have? What is the difficulty they are struggling with? Why are their rounds uneven in pace as well as jumps? Lack of control is something I jot down often on my judge’s card for adult and young rider classes, but why? I believe it is because these riders are obsessed with trying to find or create a good distance. In doing so, they misjudge and make the horse nervous. Abrupt, late decisions can make any horse nervous and strong. When the person…

Five-time Olympian Anne Kursinski told riders at her Market Street stable in Frenchtown, New Jersey, that she believed in them. But, she said, they needed to believe in themselves, too. “I push you in these clinics because I believe you can do more. I believe the horses can do more. … I push you to get you out of your comfort zone so you can experience something different.” Throughout the three-day November clinic, Kursinski gave the riders a variety of exercises to help them become aware of what they and their horses were doing. She was also a stickler for details, like halting exactly where she said, because then those skills become automatic. “I don’t have to think where my eyes are. I don’t have to think where my heels…

1 Overall: This rider has nice angles, but he needs to work on a crest release and a two-point position. Leg/Hip angle: His toe is turned out a little too far, but the stirrup is well-placed on his foot. He has nice angles in his leg, starting with his ankle and to his knee and all the way to his hip. His hip angle is closed the right amount for this size fence. Release: He’s demonstrating an almost automatic release, where there is a straight line from the bit to his elbow. But I get the feeling that he’s using the horse’s mouth for balance or that the horse is pulling him forward in the air. For this level rider, I’d like to see him use a crest release. In…

The most important part of the aid is the release of the aid.” I’ve seen that quote attributed to Germany’s Olympic gold medalist Klaus Balkenhol, but I know he isn’t the only dressage great to speak those words. In fact, most of the top riders and trainers I’ve listened to echo some variation on that idea: The most important part of taking is letting go. And you know what? It’s not a coincidence that this is a common theme among the best in the world. Intellectually speaking, I understand the concept: When you apply an aid, such as your leg, seat, rein, spur or whip, the part that is most educational to horses is when you release the pressure upon their correct response. That’s the reward, and that’s what horses…

A fantastic flying change in dressage is a lot like a fabulous jumping effort in the hunter ring. All of the following characteristics stay the same before, during and after the change, just like they do in a hunter jump: • the quality and rhythm of the canter• the horse’s balance• the straightness through his body and the straightness of the track• the “throughness” over his back (supple connection from his hindquarters, over his top-line to the bit)• the confidence and relaxation In a great flying change, the timing is impeccable with the horse executing promptly in response to the rider’s subtle yet clear aids. In the air, the horse’s shape is round, and the rider sits quietly in the middle of the saddle, making no dramatic moves to detract…

The longer you’ve managed horses, the more likely you are to have encountered cases of insulin resistance, now frequently classified as “insulin dysregulation”—not to mention every horseman’s perennial worry, laminitis. Either condition is challenging enough on its own, but studies have confirmed that ID is a key risk factor for horses developing laminitis in a devastating progression of events. Researchers have shown that it’s high insulin concentrations in the blood (hyperinsulinemia, or HI) that occur with ID that are the primary driver in the development of endocrinopathic laminitis (also called “hyperinsulinemia-associated laminitis,” or HAL). Exactly how HI causes HAL is still under investigation, but HAL is reportedly the most common form of this crippling condition. Indeed, it is said that endocrine (hormone) disorders have been identified in nearly 90% of…

Para-rider Katie Jackson is missing her right leg below the knee. Her right thigh is strapped to the saddle, and she carries a whip in her right hand. “She is a beautiful rider,” says trainer Chrissa Hoffmann, “but she’s had to work very hard in her seat and her body alignment to keep [her horse] straight. Where we take for granted that we keep the horse straight between two legs, she has to work a little bit harder, but she does an excellent job at it.” Jackson purchased her Grand Prix horse Scrabble from Hoffmann in November 2020, and they’ve been working together ever since. “The piece that we’re trying to put together right now is that any good, well-trained Grand Prix horse has many different gears and buttons, and…

This photograph shows Anice Nascimento from Brazil riding her horse Juta das Cataratas. Anice has been with Juta for more than 11 years. In the photo, the mare was 18 years old. Now she is 21 and still working but not competing anymore. I always have a lot of respect for these older schoolmasters, and Juta seems to be a good example that dressage is a sport that keeps horses healthy and fit for many years. I would not have guessed that she was 18. This is an interesting photo with the mirror allowing me to see both sides of the rider at the same time. The photographer caught a moment in canter where we normally push the delete button because in this phase, the horse is landing and naturally…

Along with earning a spot on the 2020 Olympic eventing team, Liz Halliday-Sharp has a resume that includes high-level car racing. During an informal mid-summer clinic in California, that part of her life emerged with her emphasis on developing, maintaining and shifting between the right gears for the horse in all three eventing phases. Speed is never the ultimate goal in any gear, she emphasized. For eventing, it’s all about power. “Speed does not equal power,” she counseled professional and amateur riders on horses that ranged from green youngsters to more seasoned campaigners. Halliday-Sharp’s partner in earning a Tokyo berth, Deniro Z, sustained a mild injury just before Team USA left for final Olympic preparation in late June. Instead, Halliday-Sharp, based in Kentucky and Ocala, visited family in Southern California…

Forecasts from The Old Farmer’s Almanac indicate that the months ahead could be some of the coldest and snowiest in years as most of the United States experiences bone-chilling, below-average temperatures and a wintry mix of precipitation. Are you prepared for what the almanac calls an upcoming season of shivers? Here’s how to keep your horses safe, sound and thriving until spring. Boost Their Hay Ration As the weather turns colder, your horses are likely to need additional dietary energy to maintain their body temperature and condition. The simplest way to supply it? Feed high-quality forage free-choice. Most horses will eat an additional 2 to 2½ percent of their body weight in hay per day during the winter (20 to 25 pounds for a 1,000-pound horse). The action of beneficial…

Imagine your circle as an octagonal stop sign. Do many little “half stops” and turns to move your horse’s shoulders around the circle.…