When I think of equestrian events at the Olympic Games I think of dressage and show jumping – you know – the Summer Olympics. Did you know there used to be a winter equestrian sporting event? It’s called skijoring and in 1928 it was a demonstration sport in the 2nd modern Winter Olympics! 1. In…
Did you know that mules can jump in a different way than horses? A mule is a cross between a female horse and a male donkey or “jack.” The donkey part of their bloodline gives them unique muscular characteristics that enable them to do a standing high jump. Competitions are held to see which mule can jump the highest from…
Ten-year-old Alice Rozga, dreamed of owning a pony for as long as she can remember. The possibility that she might actually get one became more real when her family moved to New Zealand from Wales, and Alice became surrounded by other children with their ponies. Alice’s mother suggested she could earn money to buy a…
Horse Lover’s Math went behind the scenes at the Odysseo Cavalia show in Vancouver. Along with getting up close to the stars of the show – we went looking for the math behind the magic. In many parts of the performance, multiple horse and rider teams are on the stage at the same time, riding…
East Asian nations, including Korea, China, Japan and Vietnam, have a long tradition of associating each lunar year with one of the 12 animals under the Chinese zodiac – rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. Guess what? We are about to enter the Year of the Horse! …
When Georgia Calder first rode Pixie, the horse didn’t even know how to step over a pole on the ground. She could not canter more than three strides. Why? Pixie had just finished her career as a pacing Standardbred racehorse. It had only been days before that she’d raced her last race. Pixie was too…