The Guinness Book of World Records is always fun to page through. It’s always interesting to read about the tallest, biggest, fastest anything. But when those records are about horses, it gets even more interesting. Record for the Most Runners in a Horse Race A maximum of twenty horses are allowed to compete in the Kentucky Derby.…
There is a growing awareness among horse owners about the importance of horses being turned out together. Horses are herd animals. They need social contact. So what is the reality for today’s domesticated horses? What are people’s horse husbandry practices around turnout? Horse Talk – horse husbandry: the science of breeding, rearing, and caring for horses. Although…
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 ever watched horses together in a field or paddock? How do they interact when confined in a small space? Is their behaviour different when they’re out in a big field together? Let’s look at different horse paddock sizes to get an idea of how much space horses need. For paddocks used only for…
Is it possible to estimate how big a foal will be when they reach mature size? While there is no one exact mathematical formula for estimating a foals’ mature size, several methods have been developed for estimating mature horse height in foals and yearlings. One method of measurement is to measure a straight line in inches…
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…
Have you started thinking about Halloween yet? Do you have a costume? What about a design for your jack ‘o lantern? Have you ever carved a horse jack ‘o lantern before? Maybe this is the year to give it a try! If you know how to use a grid to change the size of an image,…
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…
The story behind Cavalia In 1998, one of the co-founders of Cirque du Soleil, Normand Latourelle, created a live event called Les Légendes Fantastiques. “I needed one horse as an extra,” he recalls. “I wanted a hundred-year-old village to come alive, and it was a big performance, with more than 100 people, a few sheep,…
Icelandic horses have two extra gaits. In addition to the gaits which all horses show (walk, trot, canter), Icelandic horses also have tölt and pace. In Iceland, the tölt is highly-valued because it is so comfortable to ride over long distances. Tölt is referred to as the fourth gait. It has four beats with phases in which the horse…