I want to preface this blog by saying that trainers are often the biggest assets in this industry. In my opinion there are two types of trainers: one type works very hard to enhance their education and is dedicated to the well-being and successes of their students and horses; while this may also be part […]

Well it’s late spring in Wellington, but it might as well be mid-summer given the heat. Despite the Wellington season being over and lots of horses, trainers, riders etc. having left for other venues far and wide, all is not quite quiet. This past weekend, the Palm Beach Equine Sports Complex held a national show […]

I recently came across a client who had an issue that seems not uncommon. Rider balance is a hot topic nowadays, and often when you look at pictures of riders from behind, they are not sitting quite straight (not even top riders!) When I had the saddle on the horse, the tree fit, the panels […]

I don’t share my compatriots’ obsession with soccer, but have been wedded all day to the BBC’s 24-hour news channel to follow the gripping developments in the FBI arrests of FIFA officials, dragged from their beds in a luxury Zurich hotel at dawn on charges of corruption. The US attorney general gave a press conference […]

Find out how to prevent girth itch and girth galls in horses caused by ill-fitting saddles, with tips from master saddler Jochen Schleese.

Anatomy in general is a crucial factor in saddle fit, as is gender. Men generally have it much easier when trying to find a saddle that fits, because saddles have been traditionally built by men, for men. While women may have an inherent conformational disadvantage, with exercises and muscular development (and a saddle which takes […]

The Spring flies by. With Woody having had a stop at Rolex and subsequently retiring on course, Selena is now getting ready for Bromont. Rolex was a huge disappointment, but the going was slicker than Selena had anticipated and she felt she had not put enough studs in front. Woody slid into the ‘in’ to […]

Over 50 million years of equine evolution have seen the stallion biting its opponents in the wither area to determine dominance and literally bring rivals ‘to their knees’. Stallions will also bite mares in the exact same area in preparation for mating – to stop them from moving forward and to be able to mount […]

It’s been interesting to read reaction on social media to the FEI’s suspension of the UAE, posted by disparate (and maybe desperate) parties around the world who make their living selling endurance horses to Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It is strongly rumoured that if the suspension drags on, the UAE will simply set up an […]

It has been my experience that horses do not consciously ‘misbehave’ (an anthropomorphism that is often incorrectly attributed to horses who are simply reacting to outside stimuli resulting in unwanted conduct). As such, the following situation could be clearly attributed to a fairly straightforward cause-and-effect situation that became very obvious very quickly. At the height […]