Feel your horse’s rib cage to locate his last rib. Follow that last rib up to his spine, and you’ll see the approximate location of the 18th vertebra and end of the thoracic area. Ideally, your saddle should not extend past this point. How far back should a saddle sit Read more…
Fixing a Ewe Neck on your Horse Unlike most conformation flaws, ewe neck can be fixed with conditioning and muscle building. Like a bodybuilder skipping “leg day,” horses with ewe neck just need regular opportunities to work out the muscles of the top of the neck. What is the opposite Read more…
To determine back length we measure the horse’s body length and divide that number into the back length number to arrive at a percentage. Body length is measured from point of shoulder to point of buttock. Back length is measured from highest point of wither to lumbo-sacral joint. What size Read more…
Neck. Neck length should be one third of the horse’s total body length and equal the length of the horse’s front leg. The head should meet the neck at an angle so the horse can flex at the pole and move in balance. The neck should tie into the horse’s Read more…
A short neck is often a thick neck, with greater muscle development, making it heavy and less supple. A short, heavy neck that cannot flex adequately to bring the head back closer to the body also adds more weight to the front end of the horse, which reduces his agility. Read more…
Short or long neck The ideal length for a horse’s neck is one third of its overall body. Vet and dressage rider Rachel Murray says: “A horse with a short neck may find it easier to ‘sit’ behind for dressage, but, for jumping, a longer length of neck is preferable Read more…
A horse is considered short-backed if his back length is less than one-third of his body length (measured from the point of shoulder to the point of buttock when the horse is standing square). What should a horses back look like? A horse should have well-formed withers where the shoulder Read more…
The beginning of the age of cavalry in Europe is traditionally dated to the destruction of the legions of the Roman emperor Valens by Gothic horsemen at the Battle of Adrianople in 378 ce. When was heavy cavalry invented? In China, heavy cavalry was developed during the Han dynasty (202 Read more…
Horse racing in the United States dates back to 1665, which saw the establishment of the Newmarket course in Salisbury, New York, a section of what is now known as the Hempstead Plains of Long Island, New York. This first racing meet in North America was supervised by New York’s Read more…
Get your horse to walk forward into your trailer, stand still in the trailer and then back out of your trailer on command. It may take multiple attempts before you can get him to stand successfully without trying to bolt backward out of the trailer, but when he does you Read more…