PetLvr.com - [The Blog]

How To Groom Your Horse For Results You’ll Be Proud Of - Part 3

By Geoffrey Roberts and Michael Glenn

The fact is that most of us horse lovers don’t groom our horses properly. This could be due to lots of things - time, motivation, circumstances etc. What we need to realise is that time with our horse is bonding time. Remember that in the wild, horses groom each other and that’s the basis for their relationships with each other. If we don’t take the trouble to groom our horses properly, then we can’t expect to forge the bonds we want between us and if this doesn’t happen then we can’t expect the partnership benefits we look for either. If we take the time, if we have the patience, if we use the right techniques AND the right products, then we’ll forge a bond of trust between us and our horses that will last forever.

Domesticated horses rely on humans to provide the opportunity for skin care, unlike the wild horse where they have the opportunity to groom each other! Grooming should be incorporated into the daily routine of owning and managing your horse to maintain its health and happiness. This practice increases the circulation to the skin, releasing necessary oils that promote a vibrant and lustrous coat. Daily grooming allows the coat to be shed gradually, easing the burden of trying to remove long hair and excess dead skin. A horse that is worked regularly should be thoroughly and properly groomed at all times.

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Horse Racing - The Sport of Kings

By Michael Russell

Thousands of years ago, man discovered that an animal from the Equus order was good for carrying his burdens and lightening his load. Then one day, as the human race as a whole are natural competitors, we began to use that animal, called the horse, to race against others.

Then man began breeding horses to excel in speed and endurance. When this new type of entertainment and sport began to evolve, it was the nobility, or royalty, who could afford the expense of breeding horses for this purpose. Therefore, that “class” of people were the ones who most often enjoyed the leisure of competing in horse races.

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I’ve Got A Horse, Now What?

By Belinda Osgood

Ever since I was a little girl, I hoped and prayed for a horse to call my own. It became a ritual every birthday and Christmas that I would first check the property for a horse tied up to the plum tree, or stabled in the garage with the family sedan. Of course, I was totally naïve as to the expense of owning a horse and so I was always disappointed. Somewhere in my teens I gave up on the dream. So it was at the more mature age of 31 that my dream was finally realised and I became the owner of a precious baby girl (well, 14-year-old ex-Pacer, Standardbred mare). But to me she was my new baby and she came with the most perfect name, Angel.

So here was my dream, in living colour, high spirits and dignified stubbornness. I … well I was an untrained and inexperienced, though willing, Mum of one huge equine. I had no gear and even less of an idea. So began my training to become a suitable mum for my beloved dream come true.

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Horses - War Admiral

By Michael Russell

Sometimes the sons of the fathers surpass the accomplishments of the father. Such was the case with one of the greatest races horses of all time, the son of Man O’ War, War Admiral, who went on to become racing’s 4th triple crown winner.

War Admiral almost wasn’t the 4th triple crown winner. He was almost the 5th. Owner Samuel Riddle, of Glen Riddle Farms, had many prejudices about horse racing beyond the East coast in 1920. Riddle owned War Admiral’s father, Man O’ War. However, he chose to skip the Kentucky Derby with Man O’ War in 1920 because Churchill Downs was too far west for his tastes. Had he run he most likely would have won and been racing’s second triple crown winner. Fate is sometimes a funny thing.

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The Majestic Arabian Horse

By Michael Russell

Bedouins believed that the horse was a gift from Allah. It was to be cherished, revered, almost worshipped. The Arabian horse has been bred for centuries, with its beginnings in the oases around the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in the countries known in our modern history as Iran, Iraq, and Syria, as well as other parts of the Arabian Peninsula.

Because the Bedouins cherished their horses, the bloodlines were a jealously guarded family treasure within the different tribes. There are records which indicate that the nomads began breeding these superb horses as early as 3000 to 2500 B.C. However, the modern Arabians trace their roots back to five mares which were owned by King Solomon around 1600 B.C. Those five mares were known as “Al-Khamesh”, literally “the five”. Those five bloodlines were Kehilan, Seglawi, Abeyan, Hamdani and Hadban. As substrains were developed in each of the bloodlines, those would be named for celebrated mares and/or sheiks who significantly contributed a substantial branch to the strain.

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Buying Your First Horse - a Practical Guide

By Trish Haill

Spring is here, and the warmer weather is on the way. As the grass starts to grow, the sun appears and nothing seems so attractive as meandering down those country lanes or cantering up the bridle paths on your own horse.

If you have only ever ridden at a riding school before, buying your first horse will be a real experience for you – and one you shouldn’t go without doing some careful thinking and planning first. A horse should be your trusted companion for some time – you owe it to him to make sure you pick the right one for you. There is nothing worse for a horse than to be sold on time and time again because he was bought by the wrong person.

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Horses - Citation

By Michael Russell

In this article we’re going to briefly go over the career of one of the most famous horses in racing history, Citation.

If you look past the losses that Citation sustained at the end of his career, this has to have been one of the greatest horses in racing history if you simply look at his accomplishments. Citation was a horse that was not only blessed with blinding speed but with great staying power. The horse just never tired. Add to that a killer instinct that literally willed him past the other horses and this horse was almost unbeatable until he just got too old to do it anymore.

Over the course of Citation’s career there were many changes. After the patriarch of Calumet Farms, Warren Wright, died, trainer Ben Jones started to hand over more responsibility of handling Citation to his son Jimmy. He ultimately took this horse to a place where no other horse had been to that time; retiring as a millionaire in 1951. Unfortunately, the losses he sustained in the last 2 years of his career greatly diminished what he had accomplished in the eyes of others.

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Buying a Horse - Without Being Taken for a Ride

By Mark Andrews

So you think you have found the ideal pony or horse? Before you hand over your hard-earned cash, wait a minute… What can you do to make sure you don`t have an unpleasant surprise in a week or two`s time?

Don`t buy a horse unseen. Go and ride it. Check its competition records, if appropriate. Make sure it can do what you want. Take your trainer, or a knowledgeable horsey friend, along with you to give an impartial opinion. Only when you are satisfied that the horse is capable of doing the job, should you consider getting it vetted.

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Horses - Seattle Slew

By Michael Russell

In the short list of triple crown winners, this horse had to be one of the biggest bargains in racing history. We’re referring to the puzzle of a wonder, Seattle Slew.

The story of this horse is just another reminder of how weird the sport of horse racing can be and how unpredictable it can also be. All over the racing industry millionaires were spending small fortunes trying to breed the best horses they could in the hopes of coming away with a winner. While this mad spending was going on a few friends got together and spent $17,500 to buy Seattle Slew when he was just one year old. You wouldn’t think that kind of money would get you much of anything. But these friends saw their investment go on to become a triple crown winner and also go on to be one of the greatest horses in the 20th century.

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American Saddlebred

By Michael Colucci

The American Saddlebred is a breed of horse developed in the state of Kentucky. Today they are featured in many showring competitions, and they are also used for racing, parades, and hunting. These horses have a disposition which make them good for virtually any task in which they are needed. They are well known for their stamina and the ability to learn quickly.

The Saddlebread is very alert and keen. It is flashy and steps high, and they are referred to as the “peacocks of the horse show world.” The preferred Saddlebred is one that has excellent proportions and is beautiful. They have large eyes which are sharp and ears which have an excellent shape. The Saddlebred is known for having a head which is well proportioned to its body. These horses are also known for their prominent withers and muscular shoulders.

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