Table of contents for Winter 2024 in Practical Horseman

In addition to helping the U.S. secure victory in the team event at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games, Paralympic equestrian Fiona Howard won two individual gold medals with her mount Diamond Dunes and had a personal-best score of 80% in the team competition. This was no small feat, considering the 25-year-old has almost no control of her legs. Howard was an accomplished equestrian in her youth, but a series of complicated heart and digestive problems as well as a degenerative muscle disease kept her out of the saddle and in the hospital for most of her teens. During the four years she spent completing her psychology degree at Northeastern University, Howard spent 800 days in the hospital, and on more than one occasion, her doctors told her she might not…

Nickname: Timmy Occupation: Olympic/CCI5* Eventer Hometown: Charlottesville, Virginia Basic Stats: 15-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Sire: Arkansas VDL Dam: Drumagoland Bay OFF THE RECORD’S PEOPLE: Owner: Off The Record Syndicate Rider: Will Coleman Groom: Hailey Burlock Support Team: Katie Coleman, Erin Jarboe Background Sourced out of Ireland by Cooley Farm, Off The Record came to Will Coleman as a 4-year-old and has done his entire eventing career with the 41-year-old eventer. “Timmy” was reputed as a tough horse to ride as a youngster, but from his 8-year-old year forward, he began to blossom. Coleman often describes Timmy as a “refrigerator with a Ferrari engine,” referring to the gelding’s heart for eventing, which helps him overcome the fact that he’s not naturally built for the sport, particularly dressage. “In the beginning,…

This story begins, as far as we know, in the winter of 2022, when a horse we now know as Hoorah (mid-20’s) was rescued from the New Holland auction in New Jersey by a sanctuary. Like many of the horses at the auction, Hoorah was hungry and sick. While we don’t know what Hoorah was thinking at the time, one certainly would believe that the sanctuary would be a kind and loving home. Unfortunately, for Hoorah and hundreds of other animals, it was not. When the condition of the animals of the sanctuary was revealed, Rising Starr was called in to help save two of the 30 horses that needed help. Hoorah is just one of 11 that we rescued. We didn’t meet Hoorah until our second trip to New…

What It Is Strangles is a highly contagious bacterial infection of the upper respiratory tract in horses. It is characterized by swelling of the lymph nodes under the jaw or in the throat area and the formation of abscesses that may become large enough to obstruct the airway and affect a horse’s breathing (thus the term “strangles”). A strangles-like disease was described long ago in Roman circus horses and later, in the mid-1200s, in Germany. It occurs worldwide, and in 2017 became a reportable disease in the United States because of its contagiousness and frequency. Horses of all ages—as well as donkeys and mules—may develop strangles. Youngsters from 1 to 5 years old generally experience the most severe infections. Foals younger than 4 months gain some protection through antibodies they…

Close your leg and give your reins forward, thinking of the reins as telephone lines where the messages can be sent and received only if the circuit is not broken or loopy. Karen Adams is s a retired U.S. Equestrian Federation “R” dressage judge, instructor and coach in Keedysville, Maryland. Previously, she was the head instructor at Linda Zang’s Idlewilde Farm and competed through Prix St. Georges.…

Hover over the code with a smartphone camera for video comments. 1 Overall: This is a nice photo of a good jumping horse with a very capable rider. My main criticism is that her stirrups are too short, causing her seat to go far back in the saddle. Then she has to throw her seat high out of the saddle to stay with the horse. Leg: I like the stirrup position on her foot. It’s on the ball of her foot, and the outside bar of the stirrup is farther forward than the inside bar. Her stirrups look a little too short because her knee is up high on the flap of the saddle. This is causing her seat to be too far back and out of the saddle. She’s slightly…

Many people overlook the sequence of a horse’s gaits and their importance. When I teach clinics, riders almost always want to work on more advanced movements like pirouettes, half-passes and changes. But problems with more complicated movements are often due to a lack of understanding of the basics. Most likely the rider and horse haven’t been in unison, but it didn’t become apparent until the rider asked for a more refined response from the horse. If your horse doesn’t respond to your aids, it’s usually not because he doesn’t feel like it; it’s because you asked him to make an adjustment during the phase of the stride when he cannot do so. This is why the timing of the aids is so crucial. You must know at what point during…

Nickname: Azure Occupation: CCI5* Eventer Hometown: West Grove, Pennsylvania Basic Stats: 12-year-old Irish Sport Horse mare Sire: Omar Dam: Cavalier Roselier AZURE’S PEOPLE: Owners: Anne, Caroline and Michael Moran Rider: Phillip Dutton Groom: Hannah Black Background After competing through the CCI4* level with Irish eventer Esib Power, Azure was acquired by Phillip Dutton in time for the 2022 season. The pair came out swinging in their first FEI event together, finishing fourth in the CCI4*-S at Red Hills Horse Trials in Talla-hassee, Florida, and going on to finish third in the CCI4*-L at the Tryon International Three-Day Event later that season. Dutton emphasized that he does not necessarily look for a certain type of horse in prospective eventing mounts. Instead, he relies on his decades of experience selecting horses for…

“No foot, no horse” is true for any horse in an athletic career. Owners and riders often wonder if their horse is shod properly or how to tell whether he is or isn’t. Stephen O’Grady, DVM, MRCVS, of Virginia Therapeutic Farriery, says that knowing the basic principles of farriery can be helpful. “If you consider the anatomy of the foot, biomechanics and the principles of farriery, you can come up with a good concept of how a certain horse is or should be shod,” he says. “Textbooks for veterinarians and farriers describe the normal foot, but we don’t really know what a normal foot is,” says O’Grady. What’s normal for one horse may not be normal for another. Guideline 1: Hoof–Pastern Axis “We must take breed into consideration, the ground…

This is Alice Sweeting and her horse Billy. Here is what Alice had to say: “Billy and I have been a partnership for nearly two years. I purchased him as a green 5-year-old, who was gelded and started late. Billy had a suspensory injury in 2023, so my focus lately has been trying to get more throughness and hind-limb engagement during our rides.” This photo showcases the partnership between Alice and Billy. Alice is sitting with a light, soft seat, and she is fully focused on her horse. Billy appears to go willingly forward and has one ear listening to his rider. Improving the Horse’s Roundness Looking closer, I can see some sand flying up between Billy’s hind legs. This can easily happen when the horse is not lifting the…

Like all top athletes, health and wellness must be prioritized with horses. To find a horse capable of competing at the top levels of eventing is like finding a needle in a haystack—and once you find one, you’d better take excellent care of that horse, as they don’t come around often. For the three horses we’re spotlighting in this issue, we talked to some of the top riders in the sport as well as a rising protégé about their wellness and care philosophies. One theme remained constant across the board: The horses must be happy and feel good physically to perform their jobs well. With advanced technology, supportive nutrition and comprehensive fitness regimens—as well as plenty of recovery time—these top event horses have more complete wellness programs than some human…

Cutting-Edge Safety 1. Designed in collaboration with FEI MIMclip creators, Le Mieux’s MIMsafe XC Boots, in both front and hind, have a V-cut front to reduce friction and drag if it contacts a fence. Contoured strike guards help protect tendons and cannon bones and are constructed to radiate shock away from impact. The high-density foam lining is soft, breathable and shock absorbent, and surface air vents release heat from inside the boot. lemieux.com/us/ Good Gut Health 2. Support your horse’s gut health with Poseidon Animal Health’s Digestive HP—a science-backed blend of prebiotics and postbiotics to promote good gut bacteria and normal digestion. Available in daily supplements and a paste, the formula includes digestive enzymes and five amino acids for efficient fiber digestion and healthy hindgut bacteria as well as…