Training

“How long can a horse live on three legs before he founders, or his body gives out?” Commitment pays off as dressage horse makes amazing comeback.

In the face of the horse’s size and power, we have resorted to domination. We have developed riding techniques and training psychologies based on obedience and submission.

Noseband tightness on 50 dressage horses and 50 showjumpers were assessed last May, across four different competitions. 

Researchers set out to see how steel shoes whose ground surface is covered with soft polyurethane compared with traditional steel shoes.

Causes of issues also included orthopaedic problems, saddle fit and reproductive tract neoplasia, liver abscess and urinary tract infection.

Do lunging aids provide any benefits? Researchers look at their effects on muscles, using thermographic imaging.

Optimizing husbandry conditions revealed as a key factor in managing effects of stress on horses.

Data-logging systems will be used to monitor horse health during air transport, including heart rate, respiration, and temperature.

Researchers compare properly fitting saddles with those that are too wide and too narrow. Here are the results.

Nearly all those who responded to a survey reported they had been confronted at least once by a rider or associate over the decision to declare a horse lame.

More than three-quarters of survey respondents aired concerns around dust, moisture levels and/or the lack of air movement.

How does your horse compare to others? A University of Sydney study will provide owners with invaluable feedback once they complete the questionnaire.

A British survey revealed 72% of respondents rode regularly with a whip when doing roadwork, hacking, schooling and or lessons.

Not only did levels of a particular enzyme rise with acute stress, but the biggest increases were seen in the most stressed horses.

Horses in the study learned how to open a feed box containing apple and carrot by watching a human do it.

Researchers find that flies may be an indirect transmission source of the contagious disease strangles; and do sticky fly traps help horses?

They should be subject to regulation and standardized monitoring during competition, according to the International Society for Equitation Science.

Survey indicates that equine calming products are often used by owners to calm challenging or “unruly” horses, often with little scientific basis for their action and with little understanding of how, why or, indeed, whether they actually work.