Mark Bolender is a busy guy… Mark and his wife, Lee, own Bolender Horse Park, are the founders of the International Mountain Trail Challenge Association (IMTCA), and Mark is a three-time National Mountain Trail Champion. Mark takes great pride in designing and building unique Mountain Trail courses throughout North America and abroad and has written the popular book, Bolender’s Guide to Mastering Mountain and Extreme Trail Riding. And he carves out time to administer a judging school that certifies judges in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Europe for Mountain Trail and Trail Challenge. Mounta ..read more

Equine assisted services (EAS) include horsemanship provided by qualified therapeutic or adaptive riding instructors. Shown: A certified instructor assists a young rider onto the horse. Photo courtesy Fieldstone Farm, Ohio Are you in the market for a new career? Equine assisted services (EAS) centers across the U.S. are reporting job openings for qualified applicants. “I would encourage anyone who wants to pursue this industry; it is growing, and it’s very rewarding,” says Carol Young, CEO of Healing Strides in Boones Mill, Va. What are Equine Assisted Services (EAS)? People are often surprise ..read more

Read along for a look at each horse competing in the 2024 Kentucky Derby. 2024 Kentucky Derby favorite Fierceness trains beneath the famed Twin Spires. Photo by Grace Clark In 2021, 17,779 Thoroughbred foals in the United States alone were registered with the Jockey Club. This Saturday, only 20 Thoroughbreds — two of them born in Japan — will load into the starting gate for one of the most illustrious races in the world: the Kentucky Derby.  Dubbed “the most exciting two minutes in sports,” the 1 ¼-mile race will showcase the 20 3-year-olds that qualified for the Derby via a points system ..read more

Read the full article about showing in hand in Horse Illustrated’s June 2024 issue! Here is some great content we couldn’t fit in the print article. Tips to Polish Performance Quinnten Alston is a professional rider and handler who runs his own breeding program at Quantico Sporthorses in Southeastern Pennsylvania, which has produced an impressive string of breeding class champions at prestigious shows, such as Dressage at Devon. He is also an in-house rider and sales manager for Iron Spring Farm, a successful sport horse breeding facility in Coatesville, Pa. Here are his top tips for polishing ..read more

Depending on the availability of indoor arenas, lights, and safe footing where you live, riding throughout the winter can be a challenge. But peak show and trail riding months are arriving quickly, so it’s time to put a plan in motion and get prepared for the season ahead. Without a proper base of fitness, both you and your horse will be more prone to injuries that will keep you from those plans you’ve made. Work on Your Own Fitness It’s not fair to ask hour horses to get into summer riding shape if we have been slacking ourselves, too. It’s a partnership, after all! Now is the perfect time to ..read more

Photo by Heidi Nyland Melocco Whether you’re new to cattle work or want to improve your cattle-driving skills, you’ll need to learn how to influence a cow’s movements. How you and your horse approach, track, and drive a cow influences where it will go next. To master driving and turning a cow in the arena, you must know where to position your horse. “The best way to control a cow is to be closer to the cow,” says trainer Cody Crow. “A lot of people feel it’s safer away from the cow, but if you’re too far away, the cow can move where it wants to go. Make sure to step up and influence where you ..read more

Photo by Leslie Potter A recent study has shown that judges tend to favor pudgy ponies over their more-svelte counterparts in the show ring. This is despite the fact that carrying extra weight may predispose these horses and ponies to such health conditions as an increased risk of laminitis or founder, and adds additional strain on joints, hooves, heart and lungs. Equine health professionals assign a Henneke body condition score (BCS) to objectively determine the amount of fat cover on a horse. This system evaluates the amount of fat on a horse’s neck, withers, shoulder, ribs, loin and tailhea ..read more

Heads up dressage, western dressage and event riders: Are you looking for a way to polish your skills and improve dressage test scores? Do you have a young horse that needs to gain experience before his first show? Do you need help conquering your show-ring nerves? Would you like to get a score for a new test you’ve been practicing or if you’re considering moving up a level? Or maybe showing isn’t for you, but you’d like to have a measure of your training progress. A ride-a-test dressage clinic is just the ticket for all of these situations and more. In recent years, both English and western d ..read more

It’s no fun to ride a horse that needs to be pushed constantly to stay in a lope. It feels like pedaling a bicycle when you must use your legs in rhythmic cues knowing the horse will break gait if you don’t keep it up. It’s time to start training your horse to keep loping until he’s asked to do something different. Photo by Heidi Nyland Melocco Here, trainer Cody Crow helps you understand how horses learn that they can break gait if they choose—and why riders fall into the trap of constant pedaling. He’ll help you teach your horse to lope and keep loping until another cue is given. He also pro ..read more

The following is an excerpt from Winning with Horses, by Adam Snow and Shelley Onderdonk, DVM, about preparing for competition through some self-reflection. Adam Snow. Photo by Robb Scharetg Why is the mental state of the human so important to a sport commonly calculated as 80 percent horse? Because just as horses feel fear, tension, and anxiety, so too do they feel a confident rider with clear intent. Being present and calm, staying with your breath, and having a positive attitude about your objectives gives your horse an advantage. Regardless of which horse sport you compete in, winning is t ..read more