Last month, we gained some insight into what veteran horse professionals find to be the most important aspects of being a successful horse trainer. Dedicated to passing this knowledge forward, they make it a daily practice to help, share, coach, critique, and comfort the younger trainers following in their path.
Continue reading …What is it about taking our horses to a show that can turn even the coolest, most laid back horseman into a bundle of nerves in a cowboy hat? To many competitors, the announcer’s cry, “All entries to the in-gate,” can ignite a flight response worthy of a skittish horse meeting an airborne plastic bag.
Continue reading …Click here to read the complete article 204 – November/December, 2014 By Mackenzie Patterson Danny Desmond was raised and still resides in Georgetown, Ontario, Canada, where he grew up as the middle child along with two other brothers. Danny recently graduated from Bishop’s University in Quebec where he received a biology degree in Health Science. […]
Continue reading …Being a doctor is a full-time job. It involves devoting your life to preserving the health and well-being of those around you. In the same respect, being a mother is a full-time job, as you devote your life to raising a child and helping him or her discover their own path.
Continue reading …They are legends in their own time; you may have only caught a glimpse of them or heard their names in passing. Some are elusive, like fleeting deer. Others are an ever-present force that can easily be found sleeping in a chair in a barn aisle, glued to their smart phones in the stands at a horse show, or standing in the shadows with a trusty manure fork or bottle of fly spray.
Continue reading …All horse show competitors have been there. We’ve thought, “Why did I place fifth instead of first? Why did their pattern beat mine?” Perhaps, you were pleasantly surprised to be a class winner, yet you still realized there was room for improvement and wanted to know where to start.
Continue reading …The IRS will often argue that a taxpayer is not eligible to deduct losses for a horse business because it’s a “passive activity.” The Material Participation Test (sec. 469 IRS Code) defines a passive activity as a business in which the taxpayer does not “materially participate.”
Continue reading …Despite his large size and laidback attitude, Next Ones On Me, aka “Shooter,” is still very much a baby. At three years old, the dark gelding is just beginning his career in the show ring by competing in Hunter Under Saddle classes. He wasn’t shown much this year, being that it was his first season.
Continue reading …For Chelsea and Paulina Martz, showing horses is a family affair. Chelsea, 25, and Paulina, 16, are the daughters of Cathy and Gary Martz of Blacklick, Ohio. The genuine affection, good-natured ribbing, and dedication to the girls’ interest in riding are the ties that bind this dedicated horse show family together.
Continue reading …Recently, Amy and I were tasked with finding two dead-broke, healthy, good-minded horses for some friends in Ohio. There was a list of requirements that made this task a bit more daunting for us. The horses had to be capable of being ridden on a trail, a real trail over hills, through valleys and rivers that cover their nearly 2000 acre property. Their farm is peppered with trophy deer, wild birds, rabbits, squirrels and coyotes, so the horses had to be broke to gunfire so the riders can shoot them from the saddle.
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