Sport

How to Turn a Spooky Horse into a Thinking Horse; A Conversation with Josh Nichol
How to Turn a Spooky Horse into a Thinking Horse; A Conversation with Josh Nichol
Josh Nichol has helped countless riders develop healthy partnerships with their horses through his method of Relational Horsemanship™. He joins Caroline Culbertson on Equestrian Voices for a thought-provoking conversation about... Read more...
Boyd Martin: Build Your Own Bravery
Boyd Martin: Build Your Own Bravery
Our sport of three-day eventing requires a lot of skills to be successful and competitive, but there’s one that’s pretty easy to guess: you (and your horse) have to be... Read more...
Two Ways I Use Positive Reinforcement Training in My Competitive Event Horse
Two Ways I Use Positive Reinforcement Training in My Competitive Event Horse
In the past year or two, my eyes have been opened to positive reinforcement training and all of the ways that we can use the horse’s “happy hormones” in training... Read more...
Preparation, Application and Removal: How to Master Your Braiding Skills
Preparation, Application and Removal: How to Master Your Braiding Skills
We get it -- braiding can be tricky. Between the rubber bands, yarn, spray, scissors... the list goes on. There’s a lot to keep track of and trying to apply... Read more...
Set Your Horse Up For a Win: Ashlee Bond On Conquering the Open Water & Jump-Specific Training Issues
Set Your Horse Up For a Win: Ashlee Bond On Conquering the Open Water & Jump-Specific Training Issues
Multiple days of back-to-back Olympic competition, halfway around the world, and under the glare of the sport’s most prestigious and unforgiving spotlight would be enough to rattle any rider’s nerves.... Read more...
Sloane Coles: How Groundwork Teaches Patience, Understanding, and Horsemanship
Sloane Coles: How Groundwork Teaches Patience, Understanding, and Horsemanship
Independent of one another, horses and humans are magnificent creatures capable of great things. Together, however, they make magic; they jump, they fly, they dance, and they take each other... Read more...
Can You Make Progress With No Horse or Limited Ride Time?
Can You Make Progress With No Horse or Limited Ride Time?
How to you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice. But it’s not quite that simple. Because there are lots of people out there riding horses, every day, hours a... Read more...
How to Do No Stirrup November the Right Way (and Keep Your Horse’s Back Happy)
How to Do No Stirrup November the Right Way (and Keep Your Horse’s Back Happy)
Well, folks. It’s here. The photos of stirrup-less saddles and Instagram hashtags and general thigh-sore angst will start hitting your feeds in 5, 4, 3, 2… No Stirrup November started... Read more...
Get The Most Out of Your Weirdo: 3 Tips for Quirky Horses
Get The Most Out of Your Weirdo: 3 Tips for Quirky Horses
Show jumping rider and trainer Simone Starnes knows her way around a challenging, quirky horse -- she grew up riding them and now enjoys bringing along horses with big personalities... Read more...
Start Your Engines: 4 Tips for Working With Lazy Horses
Start Your Engines: 4 Tips for Working With Lazy Horses
If horses exist on a spectrum, hot horses live on one end and kick rides are on the other. Lazy horses require a surprising amount of strategy on the rider’s part... Read more...
I Left Corporate America to Create My Own Equestrian Product. Here's What I Learned.
I Left Corporate America to Create My Own Equestrian Product. Here's What I Learned.
Fourteen years ago, I was working as a litigator at an international law firm in Manhattan. These days, I spend my time managing my equine supplement company, Equine Elixirs. Every... Read more...
Three Truths About Riding that Caroline Martin Learned from Anne Kursinski
Three Truths About Riding that Caroline Martin Learned from Anne Kursinski
When Caroline Martin cantered into the imposing show jumping arena at Aachen in Germany last summer, she felt a sense of calm. A commensurate professional in every arena, the 25-year-old... Read more...
Simplify Your Riding with Isabell Werth
Simplify Your Riding with Isabell Werth
This article originally appeared in Issue 14 of NOELLE FLOYD Magazine. Isabell Werth enters the dressage manège with all the composure of a queen, floating down the centerline to greet the... Read more...
“Too Fat,” “Too Skinny,” or “Just Right?” Evaluating Your Horse's Weight for His Discipline
“Too Fat,” “Too Skinny,” or “Just Right?” Evaluating Your Horse's Weight for His Discipline
Do you know how much your horse weighs? Are they at the right weight for your riding discipline? Do they have enough muscle to perform at a maximum level?  Many... Read more...
Channel Marie Kondo and Find Joy in a Tidied Up Tack Room
Channel Marie Kondo and Find Joy in a Tidied Up Tack Room
Similar to the multitudes of Netflix viewers last year I, too, fell into the “Tidying Up With Marie Kondo” frenzy after watching the hit reality show with the Japanese tidying... Read more...
How to Determine "Is My Horse Relaxed?" - And Why It's Not a Yes or No Question
How to Determine "Is My Horse Relaxed?" - And Why It's Not a Yes or No Question
At any given point in your ride, is your horse relaxed? Or is he tense and anxious? If this isn't something you evaluate consistently throughout your training sessions, our latest... Read more...
Be a Good Friend: 5 Ways to Improve Your Relationship with Your Horse
Be a Good Friend: 5 Ways to Improve Your Relationship with Your Horse
A life with horses is a never-ending journey of education. No matter how many hours logged in the saddle or how many ribbons won, horses have a way of bringing... Read more...
The Art of Managing the Sensitive Horse with Laura Graves
The Art of Managing the Sensitive Horse with Laura Graves
Sports are inherently mental; the mind controls every movement and reaction of even the most well-prepared body. Horse sports are unique in many ways, but particularly when it comes to... Read more...
Ace Bandages and Driving Reins: Creative Training Tips That Are Actually Worth Trying
Ace Bandages and Driving Reins: Creative Training Tips That Are Actually Worth Trying
When polite suggestions, cajoling, and outright demands aren’t doing the trick, sometimes an instructor has no choice but to get creative. Some trainers will pull out all the stops to... Read more...
Santiago Varela Designs With The Horse In Mind
Santiago Varela Designs With The Horse In Mind
During a show as prestigious as the Longines FEI World Cup™ Final in Paris, much fuss is made over the horses and riders, their performance statistics, and the daily results.... Read more...
Anna Ross Is Creating Your Next Dream Horse (Really)
Anna Ross Is Creating Your Next Dream Horse (Really)
ince finishing in the top 10 and being the best-placed British rider at the 2007 European Championships on The Holsteiner gelding Liebling II (who was later ridden by Carl Hester... Read more...
Beach, Ride, Relax, Repeat: A Day at MET Oliva With Alexander Zetterman
Beach, Ride, Relax, Repeat: A Day at MET Oliva With Alexander Zetterman
I like to play this little game where I look at a young and successful person and think “what was I doing at that age?” It’s probably not very healthy... Read more...
‘I’ll Achieve Greater Things’: Fatherhood Advice from Andrew Hoy, Daniel Deusser, and Daniel Bluman
‘I’ll Achieve Greater Things’: Fatherhood Advice from Andrew Hoy, Daniel Deusser, and Daniel Bluman
The equestrian community — and the professional world at large — commonly applauds working moms for managing to balance a home and family life with a demanding career. People ask,... Read more...
Living Legend Leslie Law on 'Making It' as a Competitive Rider
Living Legend Leslie Law on 'Making It' as a Competitive Rider
Leslie Law is a legend in the eventing world. Riding for Great Britain, he amassed an incredible collection of medals, including individual gold and team silver at the 2004 Athens... Read more...
‘Be Available to Learn:’ Hunter Holloway’s Life Beyond the Equitation Ring
‘Be Available to Learn:’ Hunter Holloway’s Life Beyond the Equitation Ring
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Being Mom and Chasing Your Own Dreams, Too: A Day at GLEF With Alison Firestone Robitaille
Being Mom and Chasing Your Own Dreams, Too: A Day at GLEF With Alison Firestone Robitaille
There's a certain familiarity with the nerves and adrenaline of a grand prix ring that riders earn over time — riders like Alison Firestone Robitaille, who has competed in international... Read more...
Cool Your Jets: 4 Tips for Working With Hot Horses
Cool Your Jets: 4 Tips for Working With Hot Horses
Hot horses can make some of the best, most competitive show jumping mounts. Just ask Ireland’s Kevin McCarthy. In the six weeks of the 2019 Vermont Summer Festival in East... Read more...
Do You Speak Horse? 5 Ways to be a Better Communicator
Do You Speak Horse? 5 Ways to be a Better Communicator
If you strive to better yourself and your relationship with horses, it’s important to be open-minded and never close yourself off to learning something new. While we often wish horses... Read more...
Ask an Expert: How Do I Take My Young Horse to His First Show… and Survive?
Ask an Expert: How Do I Take My Young Horse to His First Show… and Survive?
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Slower Is Faster: Edwin Smits’ Rules for Developing Jumpers for the Long Game
Slower Is Faster: Edwin Smits’ Rules for Developing Jumpers for the Long Game
“I told you!” Edwin Smits spotted me standing near the in-gate at the Mediterranean Equestrian Tour (MET) in Oliva, Spain, and gestured to the tall, grey gelding he sat on.... Read more...
'Practice Being the Winner': How Todd Minikus Selects And Develops Competitive Horses
'Practice Being the Winner': How Todd Minikus Selects And Develops Competitive Horses
Todd Minikus is enjoying a winning week at the Tryon International Equestrian Center, where he and the Bit By Bit Group's 10-year-old Zangersheide mare Amex Z won Sunday’s $36,000 1.45m... Read more...
Building a Future: Piggy French's Secrets to Training the Five-Year-Old Horse
Building a Future: Piggy French's Secrets to Training the Five-Year-Old Horse
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Building Confidence for the Long Game: Piggy French's Guide to Training the Four-Year-Old
Building Confidence for the Long Game: Piggy French's Guide to Training the Four-Year-Old
Piggy French — one of Britain's well-respected producers of young event horses — is back and teaching us what it takes to prep four-year-olds for a long, successful career. ICYMI,... Read more...
What To Ask For and When: Piggy French's Guide to Breaking and Training Your Three-Year-Old
What To Ask For and When: Piggy French's Guide to Breaking and Training Your Three-Year-Old
2019 Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials champion, Piggy French, is one of Britain’s most respected producers of young event horses. It is a process she's deeply passionate about and takes... Read more...
Three Saddles, a Shoeing Kit, and Labels Galore: Karl Cook Does Not Take Show Packing Lightly
Three Saddles, a Shoeing Kit, and Labels Galore: Karl Cook Does Not Take Show Packing Lightly
Karl Cook’s spring is in full bloom — and I’m not just talking about the epic butterfly migration happening in southern Cali (although those painted ladies sure are pretty). After... Read more...
One Week 'Til Kentucky: What Oliver Townend, Will Coleman, and Others Are Doing to Prepare
One Week 'Til Kentucky: What Oliver Townend, Will Coleman, and Others Are Doing to Prepare
Over the next several days, nearly 50 of the world’s top horses and riders will arrive at the iconic Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington to compete in the Western Hemisphere’s... Read more...
Ian Millar: How to Think Like an Anchor Rider, Even If You Aren't One
Ian Millar: How to Think Like an Anchor Rider, Even If You Aren't One
Ten-time Olympian Ian Millar is well-known for anchoring the Canadian team in countless FEI Nations Cups™ and World Championships, where he knows exactly how to “turn it on” when his... Read more...
10 Minutes Out: How Liza Boyd Gets Tradition Ready to Win a Hunter Derby
10 Minutes Out: How Liza Boyd Gets Tradition Ready to Win a Hunter Derby
Any rider who has ever competed has felt it: the adrenaline buzz and rush of thoughts in the final minutes before entering the ring or leaving the startbox. In this... Read more...
Ten Things Adrienne Sternlicht Has Learned From McLain Ward
Ten Things Adrienne Sternlicht Has Learned From McLain Ward
Last fall, Adrienne Sternlicht served as the youngest member of the gold-medal winning squad at the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG) in Tryon, North Carolina. But years before her name... Read more...
What to Do When You Can't Catch Your Horse... and It's Not Funny Anymore
What to Do When You Can't Catch Your Horse... and It's Not Funny Anymore
At a horse trials last year a new student of mine turned her horse out into a small, rented paddock. “Great,” she thought, “he will be able to relax and... Read more...
Hot Take: Letting Your Green Horse Refuse Jumps Can Actually Pay Off Later
Hot Take: Letting Your Green Horse Refuse Jumps Can Actually Pay Off Later
Imagine you’re aboard a green horse who is cross-country schooling for the first time – a daunting experience to say the least. You trot towards the water jump, close your... Read more...
No Point Left Behind: 5 Changes to the National Dressage Tests (and How to Ride Them Right)
No Point Left Behind: 5 Changes to the National Dressage Tests (and How to Ride Them Right)
This New Year brings with it revamped national dressage tests, co-branded by U.S. Equestrian (USEF) and the U.S. Dressage Federation (USDF). The dressage tests are re-written every four years and... Read more...
Ireland's Sam Watson on Using Data and Tech to Improve Performance (And Paying for It All Themselves)
Ireland's Sam Watson on Using Data and Tech to Improve Performance (And Paying for It All Themselves)
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Zara Tindall On Four Key Figures That Helped Her Reach the Top of the Sport
Zara Tindall On Four Key Figures That Helped Her Reach the Top of the Sport
It’s a well-known fact that Olympic team silver medalist Zara Tindall is one of Britain’s top eventing athletes. How Tindall got to the pinnacle of the sport—and who most inspired... Read more...
Kate Leggat Is Bringing Dressage to the Training Programs of Top Show Jumpers
Kate Leggat Is Bringing Dressage to the Training Programs of Top Show Jumpers
Kate Leggat might be the show jumper’s secret weapon.   Kate, 27, is contributing to the clear rounds of some of show jumping’s brightest young and established stars. A reiner turned dressage rider that’s... Read more...
'It's in Our DNA': The WEG-Bound McCutcheons Are America’s Reining Royal Family
'It's in Our DNA': The WEG-Bound McCutcheons Are America’s Reining Royal Family
To be named to the World Equestrian Games team isn’t just an honor, it’s a major accomplishment for any rider, regardless of discipline. But for the McCutcheon family, competing for... Read more...
Just Add PAM – How to Hack Your Grooming Toolkit
Just Add PAM – How to Hack Your Grooming Toolkit
We are currently in the dog (horse) days of summer, shows are in full swing, and your bank account is likely shouting out to you, “help! feed me.” Chances are,... Read more...
The 411 on How to Crush It as a Top International Groom
The 411 on How to Crush It as a Top International Groom
It might be cliché to say that grooms are the ‘unsung heroes’ of the equestrian world – we all know that they are the backbone of the sport (if you... Read more...
Capt. Brian Cournane Is the Best Kind of Overachiever, and It's Paying off in Life, Love, & the Grand Prix Field
Capt. Brian Cournane Is the Best Kind of Overachiever, and It's Paying off in Life, Love, & the Grand Prix Field
If Capt. Brian Cournane has learned anything throughout his riding career, it’s how to seize opportunity. The 36-year-old has taken a - well - less than traditional route to five-star... Read more...
Power and Grace: An Insider’s Guide to Dressage in 2018
Power and Grace: An Insider’s Guide to Dressage in 2018
Looking for a pocket-sized snapshot of the 2018 international dressage season? Look no further. Whether you’re only just discovering the beauty and majesty of this ancient sport (which is based... Read more...