How to Choose the Right Stallion for Your Mare

Fall may have just arrived, but for those in the horse breeding business, it’s already time to think about spring.

Today’s foals are tomorrow’s yearlings, and horse magazines are printing up their stallion issues. The breeding season will be upon us before we know it. Have you decided on the right stallion for your mare yet?

Chances are, unless you’ve fallen head over heels for one particular horse, there are still a few players on the market. What criteria will you use to […]

Exploring the History of Horse Breeds

There are more than three hundred breeds of horse and pony in the world – we’ll bet you have a favorite one out of all those breeds! Where did such diversity come from? If every breed descended from one little dog-sized creature, Eohippus, how did we end up with everything from the Shetland to the Shire?

Well, the answer is humans, of course — we know what we want, and we aren’t afraid to mix and match horses until we get it. But in the case of horses, different groups of […]

Breed standards and approvals are in place for many breeds around the world.

It’s perhaps best-known in European warmblood circles, but many less common and rare breeds are also the subject of strict stud book approval. Equine breeding societies around the world are making careful decisions about the futures of their breeds, choosing the horses that will continue and enrich the bloodline of the horses that they love.

Registration is one thing for these breeds, but entry into the breeding program is entirely another. An “open stud book” sounds inviting, but horses are inspected fiercely before […]

As equestrians, we all have our favorite style of riding. And do we ever have choices!

Eventing, reining, show jumping, team penning, sidesaddle, equitation… those are just the obvious ones. Each year, more and more riding organizations are offering specialized training and competitions for unique styles of riding.

Different breeds come with their own riding styles: Icelandic horses, for example, have two unique gaits: the Tölt and the Pace (or Flying Pace). Although Icelandics are shown in more common, all-breed disciplines, learning to ride these gaits and show them competitively is a discipline all its own […]

Could your favorite breed of horse go extinct?

When we think of extinction, we typically picture wild animals who are suffering from loss of habitat. But it’s not just exotic or wild creatures that are in danger of disappearing forever. There are horse breeds who are on the brink. You could argue that they’re suffering from loss of habitat, too–lost jobs, barns, and pastures when the Industrial Age replaced horses with machines.

Many of the threatened or endangered horse breeds of the world were once working horses. The Cleveland Bay, the Hackney horse, the Suffolk […]

Barn Essentials: Household Items You Need for Your Stable

Not everything in your barn needs to be an expensive speciality item from the tack shop — it just seems that way sometimes!

In reality, there are plenty of everyday items available at the people store (that’s where you buy that regular stuff like cereal and toothbrushes, different than the tack shop) that are great around the barn. Here are five barn essentials (and a few bonus items) to put in your cart the next time you’re at the discount store.

Duct Tape: I […]

Do you wear a riding helmet?

There’s a growing faction of pro-helmet activists in the equestrian community. One of the most visible, Riders4Helmets, includes some alarming statistics on their website. Horse riding, the organization states, is a dangerous sport on level with motorcycle riding, and head injuries are the leading cause of equestrian-related hospital admissions and deaths. http://www.riders4helmets.com/2011/02/equestrian-sport-statistics-facts-what-you-should-know/

And in a Canadian study of patients admitted with equestrian industries, 60% of related deaths were caused by head injuries to riders who were […]