This year the Summer Olympics takes place in Paris, France. As you may already know, this international competition includes three equestrian events; dressage, jumping, and eventing. Olympic eventing first made its appearance in the 1912 Summer Games. At that time it was called “Military” and was open only to servicemen and army horses. Twenty-seven riders…
The Quarter Horse is an American breed that excels at quick turns and stops and at sprinting short distances. Its name came from its ability to outdistance other horse breeds in short races of a quarter mile or less. Thoroughbred racing has the Kentucky Derby. Quarter Horse racing has the All American Futurity, the richest…
Have you participated in halter or showmanship classes? These classes require you to memorize and perform a showmanship pattern, a series of movements and paces that you and your horse or pony are judged on. In a showmanship class the horse is handled from the ground, using either a halter or bridle. The exhibitor is…
Unlike Keeneland’s September sale which offers only yearlings, Keeneland’s January sale is an all ages sale. This year’s catalog included six hundred seventy-seven broodmares and broodmare prospects, six hundred twenty-eight short yearlings, two hundred sixty-four horses of racing age, and thirteen stallions. Horse Talk – short yearling: a yearling horse that has just turned a year…
Dressage is a popular international equestrian sport. It is one of the Olympic equestrian events and is considered to be the highest expression of horse training. Sometimes it’s been called dancing on horseback. One of the top international dressage shows in the U.S. is Dressage at Devon. It is held each year in September at the Devon Horse Show…
Have you played equestrian games called “Tool box scramble”, “Socks and bucket”, or “Hug a mug”? If not, let me introduce you to the growing sport of equestrian Mounted Games. Mounted games is a sport in which very fast games are played by people of all ages on ponies up to a height of 60…
The World Equestrian Games have been held every four years since 1990. One of the many equestrian events included in the games is reining. Reining is a western riding competition where a rider guides their horse through a precise pattern of circles, spins and stops. It is similar to dressage in that each competitor rides the…
One of the top show jumping events in the world, the Longines King George V Gold Cup is held every year at Hickstead in England. In over a century of competition, no woman has ever won—until 2014, when American Beezie Madden, riding Cortes ‘C’, made history by becoming the first woman to win this prestigious Grand Prix event.…
In February of this year, Spruce Meadows was named the best show jumping facility in North America for the fourth straight year. Not bad for an event facility that hosted its first show jumping tournament in 1976. 1. How many years has Spruce Meadows been in operation? Show jumping events run from February to October…
Thoroughbred racing is popular in many different countries in the world and each nation has their own Triple Crown series. England has the 2,000 Guineas Stakes, the Epsom Derby and the St. Leger Stakes. Australia has the Randwick Guineas, The Rosehill Guineas and the AJC Australian Derby. Canada has a Triple Crown series, as does…