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lori k. warren, fit horse, horse fitness, horse conditioning, horse schooling, equine conditioning, equine schooling, equine fitness, fit equine, equine interval, equine gymnastics, horse gymnastics, horse strength, equine strength

If you’ve ever been to a gym after a long absence or started up a new exercise routine as part of your New Year’s resolution, you have a good appreciation for the importance of gaining and maintaining fitness. The same concept applies to your horse when you put him back into training after giving him the winter off, after a layoff from an injury, or when starting a young horse under saddle. Unfortunately, many horse owners and trainers are concerned only with working their horses over obstacles or schooling maneuvers specific to their sport, rather than ensuring their horses are fit enough to perform such tasks.

Love Your Horse, but Riding Scared?, April Clay, M.Ed., afraid of horse, fearful of your horse, anxious horse riding, overcoming horse riding stress, breaking up with your horse, make up or break up with your horse

If you have been riding for some time, chances are you have come across a mount that challenged you. Or maybe he scared you. Perhaps the horse forced you to face that very difficult question: Is this the wrong horse for me… or is it just me? What can you do when fear cripples your riding experience?

horse arena routines, jec ballou, arena diamond, balanced horse, horse flexion, equine sacroiliac joint, horse riding ground poles, dressage exercises, equine fitness

At some point, most riders have wished for something like a magic pill, a solution that will instantly alleviate nagging training issues. Since that is impossible, the next best thing is an arsenal of arena routines whose execution will improve your horse. The exercises in this article will give you a looser, more balanced horse, and will create engagement without excessive effort.

Lindsay Grice, prepare for horse show, prepare for equine show, showing a horse, how to show a horse, prepare for a dressage test, prepare for a horse jumper class, prepare for a Western horse class

Seated at the head of the quiet classroom, I watched the students in the classes I teach write their Equine Behaviour and Equine Business final exams, noting the happy faces of smug recognition (“Yes, I studied that!”) and the winces (“Rats, I’d hoped that material wouldn’t be on the test”). I empathize with them. I know what it’s like to sit in the “test seat” – as a student in university and, more recently, writing judging exams. And as a competitive rider, every horse show is a test.

Western Dressage, Elaine Ward, Margaret Evans, Western Style Dressage Association of Canada, WSDAC, Jec A. Ballou, Elaine Ward, Trish Hyatt, dressage

The launch of any new discipline in equestrian sport is always greeted with huge anticipation and curiosity. Among emerging sports, Western Dressage has taken off in a big and exciting way, promising a refreshing change, many challenges and, no matter what the end game, a better balanced, supple, and responsive Western horse.