Riding Disciplines
Welcome to Riding Disciplines which covers every English and Western riding style! The English riding covers Dressage, a ballet on horseback, Driving which features both the beautiful horses and the carriages they pull, Foxhunting, Eventing, Jumping, Saddle Seat, and even the sport of Polo.
The Western riding category includes Pleasure, Reining and all Rodeo events involving a horse, so look for Barrel Racing, Bronc Riding, Chuck Wagon Racing, Cutting, Pole Bending and Roping.
Want to know the date of your favorite horse show or rodeo? Don’t miss it! Dates and locations are included in the in both the Calendar of Events for English Riding and the Calendar of Events for Western Riding. Are we missing a category or event? Please use the useful feedback link and let us know!
Minis – A Big Horse in a Little Package
The following is an excerpt from Mini School – Train Your Mini to Be All He Can Be, by Sabine Ellinger
Today’s stylish and perfectly proportioned Miniature Horses are the product of nearly 400 years of selective breeding. Classically elegant, gentle by nature, and appealing to people of all abilities, sizes, and ages, this small and unique equine stands no taller than 34 inches at the withers as measured from the last hairs of the mane. The American Miniature Horse Association (AMHA) has established an official “Standard of Perfection” in which the general impression of the Miniature Horse should be “A small, sound, well-balanced horse, possessing the correct conformation characteristics required of most breeds, [including] refinement and femininity in the mare [and] boldness and masculinity in the stallion. The general impression should be one of symmetry, strength, agility, and alertness. Since the breed objective is the smallest possible perfect horse, preference in judging shall be given to the smaller horse, other characteristics being approximately equal (www. amha.org).
The Importance of Conformation
Severe conformation flaws can still occur but not to the extent that was the case 20 years ago. The modern-day Mini has been bred with more emphasis placed on his suitability for driving and riding. Quality of the gaits, jumping ability, conformation, and temperament have all been enormously improved in the past two decades because in addition to the suitability for specific disciplines, breeders have put a strong emphasis on breeding and creating a cooperative and friendly a Mini as possible.
Conformation flaws usually won’t really affect a Mini’s ability to perform tricks, but they can pose difficulties when training him in dressage, driving, or jumping. Minis often do not have ideal conformation because many breeders select their breeding stock with a focus on small size rather than on other physical parameters. Poorly set necks, improperly angled or weak hindquarters, a lack of room in the throatlatch, and bad bone structure can make training and conditioning a Mini for an equestrian discipline much more difficult and in some cases nearly impossible.
The same criteria that apply to the conformation of full-size horses are relevant in Minis. Thick throatlatches limit the horse’s ability to flex at the poll, weak hindquarters hinder collection, and crooked legs make the horse less resilient over time. The Mini’s smaller size and the fact that he is not ridden—or at least not ridden to the same degree his full-size cousin is—makes the severity of the problems relative.
Evaluating Conformation
When selecting a Mini for training, the buyer should choose one that resembles a “scaled-down” version of a normal-size riding horse. With a critical eye, you’ll want to evaluate the following points:
Head
A Mini should have a kind face with big, expressive eyes. You can tell a lot about his character just by looking at his facial expression. The shape of the head is not so important but a “clean” throatlatch is crucial. A thick throatlatch makes it very difficult for a Mini to “give” at the poll, which should be as moveable as a ball bearing. Wide cheek bones combined with a thick throatlatch area are quite common and are unfortunately very limiting.
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Neck
A correctly shaped neck enables correct contact with the bit and the handler’s hands, and thus establishes a better connection with the Mini. Ewe-necks, “swan necks” (those that are unusually long and set on too high), and low-set necks are much more difficult to work with to achieve an optimal connection with the Mini’s mouth. The neck should be wide at the base, set relatively high, and should taper gradually and harmoniously up to the poll.
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Shoulders
An elastic, swinging stride can only come out of a well-angled, sloping shoulder. Minis with upright shoulders tend to hurry and “shuffle along.”
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Back
A well-shaped, gently curved back of an appropriate length facilitates dressage and driving training. The development of impulsion (forward thrust generated by the hindquarters) and carrying capacity (ability of the hindquarters to assume more of the Mini’s weight and reverse his natural heaviness on the forehand), and everything else that comes from the hind end relies on a “swinging” and supple back. Swaybacks and roach backs are stiff and inflexible, making it harder for the Mini to perform.
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Croup
If a croup-high Mini is asked to collect (an optimal state of balance with more weight over his lowered hindquarters and with a gently rounded topline), he must expend vastly more energy than one with better hind end conformation. Most collected movements, depending on the degree of collection required, may not be possible for a croup-high Mini.
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Hindquarters
The hindquarters are the Mini’s engine! It is hard for a Mini to compensate for conformational flaws in this area. Correctly angled hind legs make collection immensely easier. The hindquarters should be as broad as possible from the top down in order to allow enough room for optimal muscle development.
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Bone Structure
The Mini’s legs carry his body. For him to withstand work, he should have clean legs and feet. They should be straight and without serious conformational defects. The legs will have to withstand stress if the Mini is to jump, or perform collected movements or “airs above the ground”. More pronounced joints are usually more resilient. Otherwise the legs should be “clean” with no spongy spots or bumps.
Although you may not care to always be “looking for a problem,” you must be able to recognize and evaluate conformational faults in a prospective Mini purchase. There are some that do not hinder a Mini’s training and should not discourage a buyer. However, there are others that make any sort of work—in hand or in harness—a constant challenge, despite the Mini’s best efforts. Such a Mini must work many times harder to achieve the same results as one with good conformation. When you are informed about what good and poor conformation looks like in a Mini, you will be better able to create a training program that is suitable for the Mini with whom you are working.
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This excerpt from Mini School was published with permission from Trafalgar Square Books. You can also visit them at Horse & Rider Books.
There a more really interesting books on riding and all aspects of equestrian living in our section on Books.
If You Build It, They Will Jump…!
by Liz Houley-Glassman
In January 2023 our small barn of adult ammies unexpectedly found ourselves scrambling to find a new home for our 13 horses. We landed in a great little barn with great bones, but it had not been occupied in several years. After the epic move, we all caught our collective breath to assess and learned that there were very few existing jumps.
Since I am widely considered the “Ms. Fix It” at the barn, I took on the job of building jumps. It was and remains a true labor of love and a constant source of inspiration. My phone is filled with screenshots of ideas for jumps.
I started building truly basic jumps and have expanded since. I have a few rules and fun tips.
- Use pressure treated lumber for every project
- Sand/Stain or paint to keep in good condition. Use decent quality exterior paint and always check the “oops” section of Lowes for mistake outdoor paints and stains
- Store all of your projects off the ground when not in regular use
- Buy a mix of high and low end (Michael’s on sale and Dollar Tree) fake flowers in the same color scheme to decorate
- Look for wooden pallets getting tossed out. They are your best friend and make a great construction base
- Make sure that you keep all of the jumps secure and safe (no exposed nails or screws)
- Cut, sand, or round off any sharp corners on jump bases so you get less mashed if you fall into it
- Measure twice and cut once
- Always predrill into your wood with a smaller drill bit than the screw you are using. Screwing into raw wood can split it
- Make the most of found items. I would love to only use 10’ round wooden poles but they are very costly and almost impossible to source where I live so I used many old 10’ PVC pipes that were lying around. I sand them and paint them Landscaping timbers are a great option to use as poles too. They are only 8’ long but the bright side is that they force you to ride “straight”. They fit well in our smaller ring and are pretty darn solid so if your horse gets wise to the lightweight PVC poles add these poles into the mix
- Always add a small base or feet to the jump fillers so they blow over less
- A great “cheat” shortcut is to buy the easy up jump “pin-less” jump track and pins. The best price I have found by far is on Schnieders website. The track also enabled me to use 2” x 4” wood vs the 4” x 4” for standard bases Name your jumps with barn mates help. When I had some left over half round pieces from the stone wall I thought they would make cute fillers. We collectively decided between “fruit slice and planets”. Fruit slices won out. Some of our other creative jump names are “Lilly” (as in Pulitzer), Daisy, Red Door, Piano, Green Fuzzy and the self-evident “roll top, stone and wagon wheel”
- I personalize and add a stamp of our “Artemis” barn logo on every piece I make
- Each jump starts with a sketch and a general plan of attack
How to tips on some of the specific jumps
Plain skinny standard
The build description below sounds so much more complicated than it is but here goes.
I bought 2 – 4”x 4” x 10’ and cut them into two 5’ tall pieces. I created a “pinwheel” pattern for the base fanning it around the 4”x 4” standards with 4 – 16” sections of a 2” x 6”. I suggest using 9” long carriage bolts/nut to really secure the base long term.
While building you can “tack it” together with screws to hold it while drilling through the all the base layers for the permanent connectors, I suggest an electric drill for this part of the job because it’s work getting though 8 inches of pressure treated lumber to reinforce with the carriage bolts.
Drill 2 holes on opposite sides of the base to create a total of 4 holes. Space the 4 drilled bolt holes (2 on each side) to that they cross but don’t cut into each other’s bolt path. Cut the excess bolt length and tighten to secure with a ratchet.
I drilled jump cup holes every 3” starting about 18” high about the base. Make sure these are straight and test with an actual jump cup with pin to make sure they work.
Basic Pallet Jump/Filler
The “Green Fuzzy” jump is made of 2 back-to-back (double wide” pallets with cheapo amazon “boxwood panels” wrapped around it. I cut the pallets down to the height of the jump. There is a logical cutting pattern to each pallet. I think they are 2’3”). I tossed or reused the parts of the palettes I cut off.
The fuzzy poles are made of 8’ landscape timbers wrapped with cut sections of a cheapo 5’ x 8’ astroturf rug. The Astroturf is carefully secured with 1” long lathe screws.
The Piano jump combines two pallets lengthwise and extra pallet wood was added in a random pattern and painted black and white.
Rainbow uses two palettes for the base and new solid 1” x 3” sections. Primed and painted. We added glitter to the paint to the top of the jump because our trainer’s young daughter wanted us to.
Every pallet jump has evenly drilled holes at the top so we can easily insert our flowers.
Roll Top
I built two 4’ long sections so it was light enough to move without getting a hernia. I cut 4 half round cuts and used heavier 2”x 4” lumber at the top and the front and back of the base.
I filled the curve with 1” x 3” lumber. I cut out and sanded hand grips and stained it a hunter green inside and out. The back features a premade lattice. The heavier frame serves as a makeshift mounting block in a pinch.
Stone wall
I reused wood leftover from a barn construction job and drew a stone pattern. The remaining half round cut outs became the hand drawn and painted “Fruit slice fillers”
Wagon Wheel
I found thicker decent quality decorative wagon wheels on amazon and incorporated these into the jump. This jump has a nice flat area to place your phone on during lessons.
Daisy
I hand drew the free-form flowers on plywood and used a jigsaw and or rotosaw to cutout and paint. This jump features a section where we keep our water cups.
This article originally appeared on The Plaid Horse and is published here with permission.
The are more interesting and informative articles in our section on Recreation & Lifestyle.
In the early 1920s, one of the most important polo pony breeding operations in Argentina was Estación Chapadmalal. Established by Miguel Martinez de Hoz, his philosophy was to use small Thoroughbreds in the production of polo ponies. The farm included 110 broodmares, 22 of which were selected because of their bloodline’s smaller size.
“From these, I am trying to breed my future polo pony sires. A difficult job, I tell you; but with time and patience I hope to succeed,” wrote Martinez de Hoz, in a May 1922 article in “The Polo Monthly.” “Big horses have been bred from the Arab, so why should we not breed small ones? After all, the big 16.2-17 hands Thoroughbred was bred from an Arab, who is a pony!”
The Martínez de Hoz family were Spanish merchants, arriving in Argentina’s Río del Plata in the late 18th century. José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz had no children of his own so he sent for his nephew Narciso Alonso de Armiño to help with his business. Grateful for the opportunity, Narciso adopted his uncle’s last name. Narciso began purchasing farm land in the area. Later, his son José Toribio Martinez de Hoz followed suit, amassing so much land, they were one of the country’s most prominent landowning families.
Their estancia, Chapadmalal was located about 255 miles south of Buenos Aires, and just 15 miles away from the resort town of Mar del Plata. It encompassed over 63,000 acres.
José Toribio Martinez de Hoz co-founded the Rural Society to represent Argentine landowners, serving as its president until 1870. It is the same Rural Society that today holds annual livestock shows, which many of the polo players participate in with their prized polo prospects.
When José Toribio Martinez de Hoz died prematurely, his widow moved with their two sons, Miguel Alfredo and Eduardo Antonio Justo, to England.
After completing school there, Miguel Martinez de Hoz returned to Argentina. Without anyone looking after the land, sections of it were in poor shape when he arrived. He sold off some land and added other parcels. He built fencing and barns and purchased horses, cattle and sheep to breed. Influenced by his time in Europe, he hired an English architect to design a Scottish castle for his family, accompanied by beautiful landscaping, mirroring the finest English gardens.
As motor cars became more widely used, and the need for draft horses dwindled, Martinez de Hoz focused instead on breeding Thoroughbreds.
He continued to travel to England, and often competed there with some of his prized carriage horses. Gay Boy, a champion harness horse, was bred at Chapadmalal. For some time, Martinez de Hoz ran the London-Guildford coach with horses bred at his breeding farm in Argentina.
He also played polo in England and France, and served on the Editing Committee of The Polo and Riding Pony Society in London.
A report in the June 1918 “The Polo Monthly” noted that King Alfonso of Spain had recently purchased four Argentine polo ponies from Miguel Martinez de Hoz.
“We may be sure that any ponies of Mr. de Hoz’s breeding will be bred on good lines, for he does not go in for poor pedigrees. In fact, he has some of the finest examples of many breeds of stock at his stud farm, and the production of polo ponies is an interesting side line which he has recently taken up,” the report said.
“Mr. de Hoz, who before the war often drove his coach to Ranelagh and Hurlingham, will be remembered as the purchaser of Craganour for 30,000 guineas immediately after that horse’s sensational disqualification from the Derby. The purchase has proved a great financial success.
“Mr. de Hoz has recently bought Botafogo, the best racehorse of his time in the Argentine, the price being £40,000 down and the right on the part of the vendors to send two mares to the horse each season free of charge for five years. This establishes a new record price for Thoroughbred horses.”
Read more: Las Pampas Ponies - Argentine stud farm bred smaller polo Thoroughbreds
With a history dating back more than 200 years, it is fair to say that horse racing has established itself as one of the most popular sports in Australia.
The country stages some of the most famous events in the world including the Melbourne Cup – widely known as ‘the race that stops the nation’.
Given Australia’s passion for horse racing, it naturally follows that it is home to some of the finest jockeys on the planet. Read on as we look at four of the best.
James McDonald
Horse racing and betting are intrinsically linked – a factor which makes it imperative for every punter to understand which jockeys are worth following.
For anyone just learning how to bet on horses in Australian racing, a good start point is to wager on any fancied runners ridden by James McDonald.
The New Zealand born jockey is rated by many respected pundits as the best rider in the world and it is difficult to argue with that viewpoint.
McDonald has had Group 1 successes in several major racing jurisdictions including Australia, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom.
The Kiwi star famously won the Melbourne Cup aboard Verry Elleegant in 2021 and has become closely associated with winning machine Romantic Warrior in recent times.
Mark Zahra
Mark Zahra has developed into one of the most sought-after jockeys in Australia over the past few years, particularly whenever Group 1 races are staged.
He went under the radar a little during the early part of his career, but sprang to prominence when winning the Turnbull Stakes and Caulfield Cup aboard Verry Elleegant in 2020.
However, the Aussie jockey took things up a notch a couple of years later when steering Gold Trip to victory in the 2022 Melbourne Cup.
Zahra demonstrated his ability to make big calls when he rejected the ride on Gold Trip in favour of piloting Without A Fight in the 2023 edition of the race.
That decision was vindicated when Zahra guide Without A Fight to an easy victory. Gold Trip was unable to repeat his heroics from the previous year as he finished 17th.
Damian Lane
With numerous Group 1 successes on his CV, Damian Lane is undoubtedly one of the best jockeys produced by Australia in recent years.
The 29-year-old has won numerous top-class races in Australia, Japan and Hong Kong to highlight why many respected judges rate him as the man for the big occasion.
Lane famously won the Japanese Derby aboard Tastiera in 2023, making him the first jockey from the southern hemisphere to win one of the classics in Japan.
There have been rumours that he will eventually join the ranks in Japan permanently, although Australian racing will be eager to retain his services.
Although Lane is yet to win the Melbourne Cup, it would be a major surprise if he failed to achieve the feat at least once in his career.
Craig Williams
Having ridden more than 2,000 winners during his illustrious career, Craig Williams can rightly lay claim to being one of the finest jockeys Australia has ever produced.
Williams notably had a stint with trainer Mick Channon in the United Kingdom earlier in his career – a spell that including winning the 2000 Dewhurst Stakes aboard Tobougg.
He came close to recording an historic treble in 2011. After winning the Caufield Cup and Cox Plate, Williams was scheduled to ride Dunaden in the Melbourne Cup.
However, he picked up a suspension in the run-up to the race and had to watch from the sidelines as replacement Christophe Lemaire steered the horse to a memorable victory.
The Australian jockey rode 18 Group race winners last season to demonstrate why he is ranked so highly by his peers.
By: Sophia Wilbourn
Don’t go anywhere! The Tokyo Olympics might be over, but the Paralympics are just getting started, and Team USA is shining brightly.
After the first day of Para Dressage competition, the world’s number one ranked Para Dressage athlete, Roxanne Trunnell of Richland, Washington, won the grade I dressage individual test event at the Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020. She is the first American rider to win a Paralympic medal in Para Dressage since 2004 and also the first to win gold since Vicki Sweigart did so in 1996. Trunnell is the third woman to ever win a dressage gold medal for Team USA at either the Olympic or Paralympic Games.
This is not Trunnell’s first Paralympic Games. She first competed in 2016, and has only become more skilled since then. This time around, she and her 9-year-old partner Dolton scored an 81.464 percent at Tokyo’s Equestrian Park, dashing the dreams of number two in the world, Latvia’s Rihards Snikus, who scored an 80.179 percent.
To keep her head in the game, Trunnell said she didn't look at the other scores before riding so that she could just go out and do her best.
USA Show Jumping Switcheroo, Medals Decided In Thriller, Equestrians Etch History, Greatest Memories Of Tokyo
By: Natalie Mayrath
Welcome to Tokyo Takeaways on StreamHorseTV! In this series StreamHorseTV will be talking Tokyo Equestrian with the lovely and knowledgeable Catie Staszak, international Show Jumping commentator, multimedia sports journalist, and CEO of Catie Staszak Media. We will provide discussion, insight and commentary around all the action happening on the ground during the Tokyo Olympic Equestrian Competitions.
We’ve concluded equestrian competition at the Tokyo Olympics, and medals were awarded in the final element -- Team Show-Jumping. Staszak weighs in on the last-minute strategic switch by Team USA, the country who dazzled, format changes impacting the standings, and our favorite Tokyo Takeaway memories of these games.
Last-Minute Switcheroo for USA … Switcheroos Galore
Show Jumping saw a dizzying scramble of substitutions before the team competition began, notably McLain Ward going back in for the USA, after the five-time Olympian had been shockingly named as alternate during the first horse inspection. He and Contagious swapped in for Kent Farrington on Gazelle. U.S. Chef d’Equipe Robert Ridland claimed “that has always been the plan,” citing tremendous internal team spirit along the way.
Read more: StreamHorseTV’s Tokyo Takeaways, Presented by Haygain
By: Sophia Wilbourn
I began my dancing career at the age of five with music by great composers like Tchaikovsky and Claude Debussy. As the years flew by, I changed, but the music did not. In the same way that ballet music hasn’t changed, dressage music has remained stagnant for years, recycling the same dozen classical composers’ works. It’s no surprise that dressage attracts so little viewership considering humans lose interest in any piece of media regardless of the content if the sound is not good within eight seconds.
But all of that is changing. New music is reviving dressage in the public eye. Much like what happened to figure skating after the Olympic Committee began allowing music with words, dressage is experiencing extra attention.
While not nearly as viral or “pop music like” as the following two performances, Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro’s World Record Breaking Freestyle Test at London Olympics has my heart. The pair performed to a Tom Hunt’s remix of “This Is Berk”, an original score by John Powell for the 2010 Dreamworks film, How to Train Your Dragon. Not only will this performance go down in history for the stunning art and skill executed, but it also serves as one of the first popular routines to a relatively famous score taken from an extremely successful movie, setting the stage for using new music.
Read more: Olympians Music is Elevating Entertainment Value in Dressage
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