Graduate student, Population Medicine at Ontario Veterinary College looks at how infectious disease can spread quickly in a horse show environment.

Jec Ballou and co-host Maddy Butcher discuss learning as an adult, as it relates to horse riding.

After several years of traveling around giving clinics in which I teach riders to use ground poles in their regular schooling, I have arrived at a fact: most riders quickly understand the gymnastic benefits of group poles, but they will not incorporate them on a consistent basis. It’s not because they are rebelling against my advice but because poles can be a hassle to drag out and set up every day.

The image of dressage horses prancing sideways might just seem like fancy footwork, but in reality these lateral movements are akin to physical therapy for the horse. From a conditioning standpoint the dressage exercises of shoulder-in, haunches-in, and half-pass prove highly advantageous for improving neuromuscular coordination and proprioception.

Believe me when I tell you that I love freedom as much as anyone. I love trimming away boundaries, living widely in each moment. And yes, I love to watch a beautiful horse running free across a meadow with his legs surging and his expression content. That, to me, is a wonderful sight. On the other hand, a horse careening around a round pen with his neck twisted sideways and his body misaligned disgruntles me.

Optimizing how a horse uses his body often relies on making the most of every chance you can to observe him. For me, training plans benefit enormously from noting how horses stand at the grooming area and while roaming around the pasture. This can be the purest time to evaluate how they are using their bodies during a given phase of training or life. It allows me to maintain an ongoing report for how they seem to be doing or where I might need to shift the emphasis of their training.

This milestone episode is a Coaches' Corner with Jec Ballou (host), Amy Skinner, and Katrin Silva. They have a lot to say about the state of horse shows.

Karen Rohlf has been her own journey of self-discovery. The former Grand Prix rider has done a fair amount of deconstruction and reconstruction to her thinking around what makes for great riding. She has a vast reach for helping riders online and in person. More recently, she’s addressed the struggle of many horse professionals to find balance and boundaries, to make money while being happy as a trainer.

When I first heard I could write an article for Horse Community Journals about my time at a gold-level show, I immediately started writing about the incredible experience it was for me. But then I stopped for a moment and thought it would be more important to write about how it was for my horse, Petey.

It took me longer than it should to respect the necessity of lightness when giving my horse a cue from the saddle. “If I can see your aids, you’re doing too much,” my mother barked at me, to which I usually replied by rolling my eyes. Granted, devotion to invisible, gentle aids ran deep in the company of classical dressage students and teachers we kept. My mother was not the only one pushing for more refinement. Still, though, I assumed it had to do with keeping a certain aesthetic ideal.