365 Days in Horse Country –  Mares of Diomedes    Most horses in mythology are benevolent creatures, mystifying humankind with their beauty and magical powers.  In the case of the Mares of Diomedes however, horses take the form of monsters. In Greek mythology, the Mares of Diomedes were wild and spectacular, but they were also man-eaters.  The four fire-breathing horses belong to D ...

365 Days in Horse Country –  Stretching  Most athletes stretch before the work out, so why should your horses be any different?  Stretching helps prevent injury and mitigates soreness after a workout – your horse would benefit from a good stretch before he is asked to exercise.  However, since you can’t expect your horse to do his own stretches, you’ll have to give him a hand. Here ...

365 Days in Horse Country –  From Humble Beginnings  It’s difficult to believe that the modern day horse was once only the size of a fox.  That, at least, is the general consensus among the scientific community who have studied the evolution of the horse. The horse has undergone incredible physical change over the past sixty million years.  The very first horse was a creature calle ...

365 Days in Horse Country –  Man O’ War Probably the most famous racehorse of all time, the legend of Man O’ War, nicknamed Big Red, still lives on today, almost 100 years after his birth. The chestnut coaly, foaled in 1917 to a mare named Mahubah out of stallion named Fair Play, won twenty out of twenty-one races by the time he was three years old.  He went on to sire sixty-four stak ...

365 Days in Horse Country –  Rain Rot Also called rain scald or more formally, equine dermatophilosis (after Dermatophilus Congolensis, the cause of the problem), this condition is a bacterial infection on the surface of the skin.  It is a common problem for horses during wet winter or spring months, but it can occur in horses turned out during any extended period of rain or wetness. ...

365 Days in Horse Country –  Narragansett Pacer    Wild animal species aren’t the only living things to become extinct.  Horse breeds can also go the way of the dinosaur.  That is what happened to a horse called the Narragansett Pacer. The Narragansett Pacer was a U.S. breed that developed in the 1600s, reportedly in Rhode Island.  No one knows for sure how the breed was created, al ...

365 Days in Horse Country –  Bran Mash   On days when the weather is crisp, doting horse owners like to give their horses hot mash to eat.  The theory is that it helps keep the horse warm while giving him a nice treat. Whether a hot mash really does anything to help keep a horse warm is up for debate, we do know two things about hot mashes; they make horse owners feel good, and horse ...

365 Days in Horse Country –  Charisma    One of the greatest champions in the world of three-day eventing was a 15.3 hand, dark bay gelding named Charisma.  Born in 1972 in New Zealand to a Thoroughbred stallion carrying some Percheron blood and a Thoroughbred mare, Charisma was known for being easy to train from a young age.  He demonstrated his jumping prowess early on when, as a ye ...

365 Days in Horse Country –  Practice Your  Mounting   Mounting is the first thing you tackle when you learn to ride.  After all, you can’t ride until you’ve mounted. Some riders are very adept at mounting, swinging gracefully into the saddle with hardly an effort.  Others struggle to hoist their weight up.  Some can only mount with the aid of a mounting block.  Most can only m ...

365 Days in Horse Country –  Transitions   Everyone wants an obedient, attentive horse.  One way to get this is to practice transitions. Transitions take place when you ask your horse to go from one gait to another.  By asking your horse for transitions, you encourage him to pay attention to you.  If you ask for frequent transitions, your horse learns to focus on you as he awaits ...