Health & Education
We all want the best care possible for our horses. The Heath & Education section covers both Learning Institutions, Organizations as well as many sources for equine assistance including Veterinarians and Farriers.
For those who want a to formally study horses, the Education section includes College Riding, Equine Studies, and Veterinary Schools. Learn about the wide variety of horses in the Horse Breeds section. Supplements and Treatments Therapy are also included in the section.
Everyone can learn from Fine Art and there are some specialty Museums that might surprise you.
Horses as a therapy partner enrich the lives of the disabled. These facilities are listed in our Therapeutic Riding section. To help children and young adults build confidence and grow emotionally, please see the resources available on the Youth Outreach page.
Looking for a place to keep your horse? You can find it in the Horse Boarding section. Traveling? Find a Shipping company or Horse Sitting service if your horse is staying home!
Want to stay up to date with the latest training clinics or professional conferences? Take a look at our Calendar of Events for Health & Education for the dates and locations of upcoming events.
Do we need to add more? Please use the useful feedback link and let us know!
by Jonathan Field
Jonathan Field is known through the world for his liberty training and horsemanship skills. The subject of a documentary called “In Harmony with Horses” on Red Bull TV, his thoughtful approach helps people connect with and train horses of all breeds and disciplines.
Whether we want to play with a horse at liberty or develop a great riding horse, teaching him to be super confident and friendly with all kinds of objects, actions, and activities helps the relationship develop trust. A tame and trusting horse is one that has an open mind for you to teach. By nature, horses are skeptical. Knowing this, take time getting yours used to many different objects to build trust. Each object I train with has different texture, noise, and size. This builds confidence in my horse—he learns that there’s no need to worry about scary things when I’m there.
There are several keys to helping your horse be confident:
1. Let him move his feet. If he feels trapped when tied or confined, he may instinctively fight for freedom. Make sure while he moves it’s not moving his feet over you, though. Remember personal space! Even when he’s scared, that is still not up for a vote.
2. Don’t walk straight up to your horse. It’s predatory. Instead, approach him, then retreat, and repeat, getting incrementally closer each time.
Read more: The Keys to Building Confidence in Your Horse from a Master Liberty Trainer
Today’s Shagya, also called a Shagya-Arabian because of the heavy influence of Arabians on the breed, is a rare, but versatile sport horse equally at home at dressage, eventing, show jumping, hunting, endurance riding, harness, or pleasure riding.
The breed was started in 1789 when the Hungarian military set out to develop a new breed of horse that combined the very best of Bedouin Arabians: elegance, endurance, hardiness, athleticism, temperament, and devotion to their rider, but with larger size, jumping ability, and riding ease to master the rigors and versatility of a cavalry horse. The intent of the program was to develop a superior cavalry horse that was equally at home under saddle and in harness and that could be used to improve other breeds as well.
The breeding program started at the Imperial Stud at Babolna, Hungary. Desertbred Arabian stallions of the correct size and type were bred to carefully selected native southeastern European mares which in turn were largely descended from Arabian stock. Careful records were kept from the very outset, not just of the pedigree and size and performance of the individual horses, but of the breeding quality and performance of their offspring.
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