Somewhere in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland, lies the Isle of Man. Douglas is the capital and largest town on the island. A busy working harbour and business centre, it’s also a popular tourist destination where visitors enjoy horse-drawn tram rides along the town’s waterfront. The famous, Douglas Bay Horse Tramway has been operating since 1876…
For hundreds of years, the Suffolk Punch draft horse has been used by farmers to till fields across Great Britain. Now, Britain’s oldest native breed is on the brink of extinction. The breed was developed in the early 16th century, and still looks similar to its foundation stock. The Suffolk Punch was developed for farm work,…
Have you heard the expression, “No feet, no horse.”? It means no matter how beautiful or how perfect the rest of a horse may be, without good feet they can’t perform and they can’t exercise. In fact, they can’t really do much of anything. Hooves that are allowed to grow too long not only look bad, they affect the internal…
Have you ever been on a trail ride? How about a week-long trail ride where you camp overnight? The Salt Grass Trail Ride, the largest and oldest trail ride in the US, started in 1952 and takes place each year in the week leading up to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. The 2025 trail…
Did you know there is a museum that is totally about cowgirls? The Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, Texas holds over 5,000 objects in their collection, over 6,000 historic and modern images of women honoured by the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame and other historic cowgirls, and a library containing over 2,000 books and serial…
One new foal was born this year to the Assateague Island ponies—and she needs a name! Right now the filly is known as N2BHS-M. She was foaled in the area of the Assateague Island State Park campground on Memorial Day. Why is she referred to as N2BHS-M? Well, back in the 1970s, the National Park…
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…
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…
Have you ever thought about what it would be like to ride long distances on horseback, camping and sleeping under the stars like people did long ago? Well, some people are still making these long rides today. They call themselves Long Riders and Bernice Ende is one of them. Bernice’s first long ride was in 2005. On May…
Have you ever looked at a life-sized horse sculpture and imagined what it would be like to make one? Artist Kevin Hockley shared with us the steps he took in making the horse model shown above for a display at the Western Development Museum, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. And guess what—math played a huge role! What was…