Heading into the show ring is stressful enough—the last thing you need is a wild ride in the warm-up ring beforehand. At hunter/jumper shows, the warm-up can be a crowded, chaotic place with horses and riders everywhere, going in...
Q: I’ve been jumping my gelding for around three years now, and we still aren’t in sync. I find myself frustrated and confused when he takes an extra stride right before the jump when I’m not expecting it. On...
Even if you can nail the distance to every fence, your hunter is sure to stay out of the ribbons if he can’t easily perform a flying lead change. The following tips will help you learn how to ask...
Baby pads aren’t for baby horses. They’re thin rectangles of
cotton (about 32” x 28”) that fit between your horse’s back and whichever other
saddle pad you’d like to keep clean and neat. Not to be confused with traditional
square saddle pads,...
As the sport of show jumping has grown, certain items of
tack that once looked peculiar have become more familiar to the average
equestrian. Such is the case with the belly guard. At first glance the belly
guard looks like a shield...
Crocheted ear bonnets (also called “ear hoods”) first became
popular in the world of show jumping. Grand prix riders, competing on grass
fields during spring and summer, realized their horses were often distracted by
flies and gnats. It was disconcerting to gallop...
Want to keep that effortless, balanced rhythm throughout your hunter rounds? Start by learning to adjust your horse’s canter stride on the flat.
Here’s an advanced training maneuver from hunter/jumper trainer Greg Prince that will help you lengthen and shorten...
One of the biggest questions concerning young performance horses is when to start their serious training. Being too hasty can risk both physical injury and behavioral problems. Horses mature at various rates, and their readiness to work needs to...
If you’ve competed much, you’ve surely seen the evergreen horse. At the start of each show season the same horse is trotted out at the same circuit of shows and pretty much produces the same sort of mediocre results....
Setting up some ground pole exercises in your arena or schooling field is a great way to make flatwork more interesting to the older horse, and it’s a stress-free method of introducing a green bean to jumping. Walking, trotting...
