Ready For Rio? Where to Watch the 2016 Olympic Games Equestrian Coverage

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With just a few weeks to go before Rio 2016, do you know where your Olympics coverage will be? Unless you’re heading to Brazil to catch the equestrian action first-hand, you’re probably going to want to figure out your television and internet options now — so you can plan to put the rest of the world on hold accordingly! Here’s the details we have on equestrian coverage for the 2016 Olympic games.

NBCUniversal’s combined networks and digital platforms plan on presenting nearly 7,000 hours of Olympics coverage — that’s more than ever before. They’ll […]

Celebrating National Farrier’s Week

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Next week is a national celebration of some of the most important people in your horses’ lives: their farriers.

Didn’t get the memo about National Farrier’s Week? Don’t worry, most people don’t, as it tends to fall onto those calendars of “weird holidays” like National Pumpkin Muffin with Icing Day. And that’s too bad, because we really couldn’t manage without our farriers. They deserve to be celebrated! In that spirit, we have five easy ways to thank your farrier for being awesome, not just on National Farrier’s Week, but every week.

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Prepare Your Farm for Floods

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A while ago I wrote about the need to have a disaster plan, https://equinefacilitydesign.com/equine-care/equine-disaster-plans.htm, recent historic flooding has reached the equestrian community, threatening the lives of hundreds of horses. Do your horses live in a flood plain? Even if the farm isn’t in an area commonly threatened by floodwaters, you might be surprised by the answer.

And even if the flood threat seems distant, consider this: extreme weather events in North America are on the rise, and urban construction only increases the risk of flooding. Rainwater which would have been absorbed […]

The Stabled Horse: Keeping Your Indoor Horse Healthy and Happy

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Mention the word “stable” and most people will conjure up images of green pastures surrounding a serene barn where horses lean over their dutch doors, taking in the fresh air and peaceful surroundings. And while that’s certainly a lovely goal, the truth is, plenty of our horses will live much of their lives lives in more suburban, if not completely urban, environments. Does your horse live in a barn where turn-out time is limited, or non-existent? Or does your horse stay inside for health and safety reasons? If so, it’s important to take special measures to […]

Cascadia Earthquake and The New Yorker Article

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The following post has been provided by one of our guest authors and colleague, Travis McFeron.

The recent article in The New Yorker, “The Really Big One,” by Kathryn Schulz has caused a considerable amount of discussion and worry in the media and among some people in the region who have read it and were not previously not familiar with the Cascadia fault system. My initial impression of the article was that while it was fairly accurate in many respects, some of the wording seemed a bit sensational in nature.  Overall the article does a very good job of spotlighting […]

Western Dressage

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Those two words might sound like polar opposites, but the proponents of Western Dressage would like you to know that they’re very complimentary. It’s one of the equestrian world’s newest sports, and it’s growing across the country.

Perhaps it’s a natural offshoot of recent “natural horsemanship” and new Western horsemanship that has been evolving in recent years. Perhaps it comes from the traditional riding of Spanish vaqueros in centuries past. Either way, Western Dressage values many of the same tenets as traditional dressage, such as lightness, acceptance of the bridle, and response to subtle cues […]

Washington International Horse Show

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Fall horse shows can be trying, what with mud and rain and cold winds and all, so it shouldn’t come as any surprise that in fall, an equestrian competitor’s thoughts turn to indoor events.

And the largest indoor show of them all, the Washington International Horse Show, is about to kick off its 56th installment in the nation’s capitol.

The Washington International Horse Show (WIHS) has changed venues throughout the years, beginning in the Old Armory downtown. Stabling was in the basement, the schooling area was only available in the mornings, before competition began. Later […]

Para Dressage at the 2014 WEG

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Ready for some equestrian inspiration?

During the 2014 World Equestrian Games, keep an eye out for the Para-Dressage competition. You’ll see horse-and-rider teams competing at the highest level of international dressage, just like in the standard dressage competition. But you’ll also see riders who are overcoming physical difficulties and impairments that might keep many people off any horse, let alone ride down the center line in Normandy during the most prestigious equestrian competition in the world.

Competitions in para-dressage began in Great Britain in the 1970s, as a response to the growing […]