365 Days in Horse Country – Marengo  I’ve said it before and I will say it again; behind, or rather beneath, every great war hero is a good horse.  This too is true of Napoleon.  The horse that carried him through many battles was a gray Arabian stallion named Marengo. According to legend, Napoleon rode Marengo in all of his major battles, from Moscow to Waterloo.  The horse was su ...

365 Days in Horse Country – Pre-Ride Stretch     Horses aren’t the only athletes in the human-horse team.  Riding takes athetic skill in humans, tii.  Just ask any first-time rider how they feel the day after they ride.  Muscles they didn’t even know they had hurt. The demands of riding on the muscles and ligaments are why it’s always a good idea to warm up with stretches before you ...

365 Days in Horse Country – Balius and Xanthas    The Greek hero Achilles did not conquer Troy by himself.  He had the help of two divine horses, named Balius and Xanthas, who pulled his chariot. Balius and Xanthas were brothers and were sired by none other than Zeus himself.  Their mother was a harpie (a death spirit with a bird’s body and a woman’s head).  They were given to Achille ...

365 Days in Horse Country – Saddle Pads     There was a time when nothing came between a horse’s back and his saddle.  Things have changed, however, and nowadays horses wear saddle pads when being ridden. Saddle pads come in a vast assortment of sizes, shapes, colours, and materials.  Western saddle pads tend to be thick to help evenly distribute the rider’s weight across the horse’ ...

365 Days in Horse Country – Idaho Gem  The very first member of the equine family to ever be cloned was a mule named Idaho Gem.  Produced as part of a joint effort between the University of Idaho and Utah State University, the mule was born to a horse mother and was the clone of the full brother to a successful racing mule named Taz.  It took many attempts before a successful cloned ...

365 Days in Horse Country – National Show Horse  Originally a cross between the Arabian and the Saddlebred, the National Show Horse is now its own registered breed.  With the grace of the Arabian and the showiness of the Saddlebred, the National Show Horse is the quintessential exhibition horse. The breed was considered a crossbred until the early 1980s, when a group of fanciers esta ...

365 Days in Horse Country – Poisonous Plants    It’s a myth that horses won’t eat plants that aren’t good for them.  In most cases, horses can’t tell the difference between a toxic plant and a safe one.  And a horse that is very hungry will eat any plant he comes across, regardless of its smell or taste. It’s your job as a horse owner to protect your horse from toxic plants by keeping ...

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365 Days in Horse Country – Cleaning Brushes    It’s one of those tasks you never get around to doing; cleaning your grooming brushes.  But it’s important to do this at least once a month.  After all, if you don’t clean your brushes, all you are doingis putting dirt back on your horses when you groom them. The best way to clean brushes is to soak them in warm water.  If your brushes ...

365 Days in Horse Country – Horsemanship  Many western shows these days feature a horsemanship class, where horse and rider are expected to execute a specific pattern in the arena.  The pattern is done at the lope, and illustrates the rider’s skills at controlling the horse. Horsemanship patterns vary according to the particular show, but most require the horse to back up, pivot, and c ...