Jumping can be fun and exhilarating—especially if you have a talented, willing horse to ride. Crossing the finish flags after jumping a clear round or popping perfectly down a tricky grid is guaranteed to make you feel great!But,...
Going to a horse show can be an overwhelming experience for a young or green horse. There’s lots of hustle and bustle at a show. Your horse will be exposed to things like noisy loudspeakers, clattering trailers and unfamiliar...
Riding your horse over poles on the ground is a great way to improve his balance and to teach him to pick up his feet. It’s also a great introduction to jumping and it improves a horse’s gymnastic ability....
If you love jumping at shows, but you’re not a big fan of braiding or getting dressed up in your show jacket for hunter classes, jumper classes just might be for you. In a jumper class, the only thing...
Your circles are fairly round, your halts are sometimes square and your horse usually picks up the correct lead when you ask him to canter--could it be time to send in an entry for your first dressage show? We...
A lot of work goes on behind the scenes before you gallop toward your first barrel. If you haven’t done the proper preparation before the rodeo, you’re not going to get fast barrel times. Kelly Murphy, a barrel racing...
If you’re in the market for a horse, there’s one breed you’ll see frequently on sale websites—Thoroughbreds. Why? Because thousands of them are bred each year for the racing industry, but very few of them are successful on the...
It’s frustrating when your horse won’t pick up the correct canter lead consistently.Cantering on the wrong lead will lose you points during a dressage test and it can knock you out of the ribbons in a hunter class.When you...
Do you cringe when your trainer yells, "Drop your stirrups!”?Riding without stirrups can seem like torture sometimes—especially if you ride a bouncy horse. But dropping and crossing your stirrups is actually a great way to improve your position and...
If you’re going to enter hunt seat equitation classes this show season, you should know how to impress the judge if you want to win a ribbon or two. In an equitation class, the judge looks at you and...
