Our forefathers depended on the soundness of the horse in order to be able to continue to do their jobs, or even survive. Horses at the turn of the century (and up to the mid-1900s) were still used primarily as working animals in agriculture or in the military. Their owners and riders were true horsemen, […]
Feeling a bit uninspired about a title for today’s post, I looked up what meaning March 11th might have out there in the wider world. It’s one of the less distinguished dates on the calendar, unless of course it happens to be your birthday. Now, if you’re in the mood for a little Hump Day […]
Colleagues discussing the latest drama in Middle East endurance often use the phrase “you couldn’t make it up.” But making it up seems exactly what the UAE has been doing for years, with the “bogus” ride scandal eclipsing everything else about the unvarnished awfulness of desert racing. The FEI has launched (March 10th) an investigation, […]
Insomnia & Islamic Treasures I suppose ‘insomnia’ is not really the correct word. It implies one is unable to fall asleep or stay asleep for no particular reason. I think ‘sleep deprivation’ is more accurate. The cause of my exhaustion was the Qatari tradition of whooping it up on Thursday night prior to the Holy […]
Okay, I have seriously had it with people who consider themselves ‘experts’ in saddle fitting just because they are leaders in their various equine-related professions (and these are usually high-level riders or other trained experts who take it upon themselves to voice their opinions about saddle fit just because they can or maybe because they’re […]
You know that saying about there being no such thing as bad publicity? I’m not at all convinced of the verity of that claim, but I can tell you one thing that I know for absolute certain: that there IS such a thing as stupid publicity. A few weeks ago, the Huffington Post ran one […]
Are the winters getting worse or am I just getting old and crabby? I start out ok and then I get to a stage where I just look forward to getting through another cold day in the sure knowledge that Spring is coming…but when? I suppose I have to admit that last year was worse, […]
I am embarrassed to admit that although I have watched para-dressage online, I have never actually seen it in person. Here at the CHI Al Shaqab (where international para-dressage is making its Asian debut) I was struck by several things: The severity of some of the physical challenges these riders are living with, from neurological […]
My phone has been red hot this past week, with colleagues keen to discuss the politics behind the FEI’s unprecedented cancellation of two UAE CEI’s as the endurance crisis escalates. So it was a relief when one buddy called with this practical query: will disaffiliating these rides affect horse and rider FEI qualifications for anything […]
Susan Stafford-Pooley, Horse Sport magazine’s managing editor, reports from CHI Al Shaqab in Qatar, a unique six-day event of Jumping, Dressage, Para-Dressage, Endurance and Vaulting: And so begins the saga of my second trip to Qatar for the CHI Al Shaqab show… Thanks to a mammoth snow and ice storm in Dallas, my trip was delayed by a day when 700 […]
