The PAST Act has been endorsed by virtually every animal health and equine group in the United States but is opposed 100-percent by the Republican representatives from Tennessee. Roy Exum, Columnist for The Chattanoogan Despite wide-spread support for the bill, Republican representatives have effectively blocked it. The sole supporter from Tennessee was Steve Cohen, a…
Objectification Is Why Horses Are So Easily Abused
How often is it argued, that a human cannot force a thousand pound animal to do something it doesn’t want to do? An argument to defend against an accusation of abuse. But the physical comparison between horse and rider is only one small aspect of our complex relationship. Systematic oppression and objectification of the horse…
Dressage is Dead (can we please move on?)
Dressage is dead. There, I said it. Somebody had to. Okay, not dead in the literal sense. Dressage is still alive and kicking. But, the idea of Dressage as some kind of harmonious, artistic venture is dead in the competitive scene. We’ve spent years trying to keep a diseased version of Dressage alive but it’s…
Science Proves Round Pen Methods a Joke
Round Penning techniques are used widely by Natural Horsemanship trainers and clinicians. Often to gain fast results such as starting wild horses under saddle in a matter of days. Perhaps you’ve already come to the conclusion that round penning is a great guessing game for the horse. Unless you prefer robotic responses from your horse,…
FBI Makes Horse Abuse a Felony
Not just a felony, but a Class-A Felony. That puts horse abuse on par with assault, homicide and arson. That’s the exciting part. The motivation behind this change is to gather data on animal abuse nation-wide. The FBI hopes this will improve their ability to track crime; animal abuse is frequently an indicator of later violent…
Bad Horse Ads: Episode 2
In this Episode of Bad Horse Ads we have the pleasure of two horses acting as the model of their breed and station, and one special old girl who’s looking for a good home. Mr. Dangles Not his official name, but I feel like “Dangles” alone is rather uncouth. For just $10k you can own…
WEG Warmup: FEI Announces New WEG 2014 Slogan
The FEI begins distribution of their new slogan for the 2014 World Equestrian Rollkur Cup, to be held in Normandy, France. “See Something? Say Nothing!” In response to failed efforts leading up to the 2010 World Equestrian Games to silence critics, the FEI hired German PR Firm Ruhe! Their attempts to ban video and photography equipment from the…
Symptoms of Strong Rein Aids
In an ideal world we’d all ride with minimal physical aids, perhaps even controlling the horse only with our mental intentions. But since we’re still living in the real world there is a compromise to be made, and using physical aids is one such compromise. After watching this video let’s run down a little mini-list of…
Virtual Lesson: Using Fear to Your Advantage
I could go on and on about how fear is perfectly normal and natural, but if you’re caught up in it you might be rolling your eyes and expecting this post to be all about embracing your fear. I’m going to disappoint you now and tell you it’s not about embracing, but dissecting that fear.…
Visual Lesson: Eitan Beth-Halachmy on Training Your Horse to Dump You
Clinicians are a dime a dozen in today’s horse world, and often they give out really useless information to help wheedle you into paying for a clinic or training or to hock some new gadget they made. And other times they give out advice that is downright dangerous for the average equestrian. Our clinician today…
Bad Horse Ads: Episode 1
Horse ads are everywhere online from dedicated horse classified websites to horse forums and social groups, and it’s hard not to notice the large number of downright bad horse ads. These aren’t just Craigslist ads anymore kids .. “Natural Born Killer” Though he might have an unassuming barn name (Scotty) .. don’t let that fool…
Bettina Drummond: Classical vs Competitive Dressage is a Moral Issue
The incomparable Bettina Drummond continues to speak up and add useful bits of insight to the horse world. This time she’s talking about riding horses as an artistic pursuit vs riding for competition. Intro: “Today’s dressage competitors do not perform the airs above the ground. The Grand Prix is the highest level of competition a…
Classical Dressage Inspiration: Visuals for the Week #2
This week, inspired by the video of Wonderful I included yesterday in “The Longevity of Dressage Horses,” I’m sharing with you sampling of older videos from various State Studs. These are really wonderful visuals demonstrating forward horses, using outdoor schooling Falkenstern II 1994 Quadrille Stallion at Celle State Stud. Dauphin 1999 Hanoverian Stallion. Look at the walk, it’s…
WEG Warmup: FEI Calls For Blood
Surprising competitors and fans alike, the FEI released a statement earlier today calling for more blood. Attention Coaches and Athletes: Gaining mainstream publicity for Equestrian Sport is a task we work at tirelessly, and it is a necessity if we wish to continue our sport in the fashion we’ve grown accustomed to. As you know,…
Why You Should Buy A Helmet Today
If you haven’t done a check-up on your current riding helmet now is the time to do it and decide if you need to replace it. Why? Because today (July 12) is Riders4Helmets International Helmet Awareness Day .. and leading helmet manufacturers around the world are offering special discounts. If you don’t ride with a helmet,…
The Longevity of the Dressage Horse
In the beginning of my journey into Dressage, there was confident talk about the longevity of the Dressage horse. It was generally accepted that the Dressage horse wasn’t expected to reach Grand Prix until they were nearly in their teens, and perfectly acceptable to be working towards it even after they’d hit teenage years. The…