Photo by Amanda Terbrusch Excerpt from The Athletic Equestrian, by Sally Batton and Christina Keim When your two-point seat is correct, you will have developed the alignment and balance that serves as the basis for all future work. But many riders have not been taught the proper mechanics of the two-point, and instead of sinking into their leg and closing their angles, they stand over or even ahead of the pommel. They are then both unbalanced and unable to apply their aids correctly. In addition, they are using their back to hold the two-point, rather than allowing the legs and abdominal muscl ..read more

Photo by Leslie Potter Have you ever tried to braid your horse’s mane for a show and gotten so frustrated that you begged a friend for help or ended up paying someone to do it for you? Braiding a horse’s mane is not overly difficult, but one adage holds true: Practice makes perfect. If you want to have beautiful, even braids, don’t wait until the night before a show to start learning. It takes most people a few fully braided manes to develop an efficient technique. My preference is for “hunter bump” yarn braids because I find them easier to put in and take out than round braids sewn in with th ..read more

Last month I discussed how the leg-yield is a useful suppling and training tool for both horse and rider, how the movement is ridden, and some of the common mistakes from the rider’s point of view. Of course, the horse can cause leg yield errors, too, and this article will focus on some of those and how to correct them. If your horse rushes away from your inside leg, turn onto a circle in the opposite direction of the movement. Photo by Amy Dragoo Introduced in First Level dressage, the leg-yield is an important prerequisite for the horse and rider before starting more advanced lateral work. B ..read more

David Svoboda (CZE) riding in the show-jumping phase of the modern pentathlon during the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janiero. Photo by Petr Toman/Shutterstock Last winter, the International Modern Pentathlon Union (Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne, or UIPM) decided to remove equestrian show jumping from its slate of five sports. Without directly referring to the controversy that occurred during the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games last summer where a German coach was seen striking a horse, the committee determined that “critical reforms” were necessary for the maintenance of the sport. The ..read more

A great track causes Billy to jump perfectly over the center of the jump. Photo by Allyson Dean There is often a misconception among jumping riders that in order for a practice course to be interesting or beneficial, it needs to be a lengthy, complicated track. While it’s important to test yourself and your horse in this way, it’s also important to take time to return to basics and use practice tracks for jumping. By using a course that is easy to remember, it frees your mind up to focus on the details. This course is also a great idea for anyone that is making do with a limited number of jump ..read more

Photo by Elizabeth Moyer Horse shows are filled with excitement. You eagerly await a weekend show day or an even more exciting overnight horse show with your pony. You agonize over your jumping rounds—breaking down every takeoff, landing, and turn. However, there’s still one more very important class, the under saddle flat class, that makes up a division at a hunter horse show that you will want tips on how to master. At a hunter horse show, the under saddle class and the jumping classes make up a division. The scores from all of these classes combined decide who takes home the division champi ..read more

A horse show inside one of the most densely populated urban landscapes in the country doesn’t happen often. But the Central Park Horse Show brought elite horses to the city—for four years in a row. That streak ended in 2017 after subsequent scheduling issues. And an anticipated return in 2020 was sidelined by COVID-19. Photo by David Handschuh Last fall, when the Central Park Horse Show would have taken place, there was still no sign of it. As New York City re-opened to previous leisure activities and sports, the safety protocols weren’t enough for the beloved Central Park Horse Show to return ..read more

Team USA celebrates their silver medals on the Tokyo Olympic podium. MacMillan Photography & Media Services Ten national teams took to the arena to take their turn around Santiago Varela’s colorful course in the team jumping team medal final to wrap the final day of equestrian competition in the Tokyo Olympics. The teams competing in the final were:  Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, Great Britain, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and the United States of America. All teams started the final round with a clean slate (previous faults from the qualifier did not carry for ..read more

Courses for jumper and equitation riders include tests that are more difficult than those found on the average hunter course. One of the most challenging is the rollback turn. A turn on the haunches will prepare your horse for rollbacks by committing to sudden changes of direction. Photo by Leslie Potter. Immediately after your horse lands from a jump, you must make a tight turn, rolling back in the opposite direction to take yet another jump. So much can go wrong, from a haphazard misstep to a dropped rail or a refusal. Yet rollback turns are fairly simple to accomplish with the right amount ..read more

Horse Illustrated presents the latest information and daily updates from the Tokyo Olympics on equestrian sport for the three disciplines of dressage, eventing, and show jumping.  Schedule U.S. Dressage Team U.S. Eventing Team U.S. Jumping Team U.S. Paralympic Team   Current Olympic and Paralympic Medal Count Scroll down to each individual sport for Official Results. Gold Dressage Team: GERMANY Dressage Individual: JESSICA VON BREDOW-WERNDL AND TSF DALERA BB (GER) Eventing Team: GREAT BRITAIN Eventing Individual: JULIA KRAJEWSKI AND AMANDE DE B’NEVILLE (GER) Show Jumping Team: SWE ..read more