Blog

If you have a nice mare, it’s tempting to imagine what her offspring would be like even if imagination is as far as it can go

When non-horsey people see pictures of the Queen out riding, or Prince Philip driving his team of ponies, they have one of three reactions, writes CAROLYN HENDERSON.

• How do they manage it? After all, Her Majesty is 91 and HRH is 96 in June.
• Surely it’s too dangerous at their age – shouldn’t ...

There are two things that riders should think twice about saying, writes CAROLYN HENDERSON.

One is “My horse is being naughty” and the other is “My horse always goes like that.” You may disagree, and you may phrase the first observation in stronger terms. But before you’re tempted to think that y...

How much is a horse worth? Yes, this is a trick question – and there are several answers, writes CAROLYN HENDERSON.

The nicest is the one you hear from an owner whose horse is part of the family and regarded as priceless. These owners tend to be women, and they often have a T-shirt that proclaims...

Buying a horse for yourself is difficult enough, writes CAROLYN HENDERSON. But when a friend asks you to help them find the ideal partner for their child, the challenge level shoots off the scale.

After negotiations between mother and 12-year-old daughter, we struck a compromise. It was a bit lik...

Even those who don’t know one end of a horse from another have probably heard that showjumping stars Nick Skelton and Big Star are retiring, writes CAROLYN HENDERSON.

The announcement flooded across websites and social media and made mainstream TV. That’s important, just as it was when our dressa...

There was plenty to set racing fans’ hearts fluttering at the 2017 Cheltenham Festival, writes CAROLYN HENDERSON. But for me, the most emotional moment wasn’t seeing Sizing John power home to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Instead, it was the sight of eight wonderful ex-racehorses being paraded by the...

Riders who choose not to compete are often looked on as inferior to those who do, writes CAROLYN HENDERSON. Even worse, they often look on themselves as second class citizens of the horse world.

We’ve all heard it: “I’m just a happy hacker.” Maybe you even say it, with the accepted tone of self-d...

New research from Japan shows that riding improves children’s ability to learn, writes CAROLYN HENDERSON. This reinforces something Feedmark customers will take for granted – that horses are good for us. Scientists at Tokyo University of Agriculture have found that riding activates the sympathetic n...

As I am sure you all know, life in a racing yard is a little like being on a plane ride in the middle of a massive storm: large areas of turbulence which are rather stressful on the nerves, followed by brief periods of calm where you disbelievingly think things might be OK after all! No sport can pu...

Hello! Can you believe it’s nearly Christmas?! I haven’t even started my present shopping yet, though I am considering not buying Ben anything as he keeps not turning me out on account of the ‘mud’ – unbelievable! We have been getting in the Festive mood here, with the yard Christmas party last w...

Horses that spend so much time in the stable have greater exposure to challenging particles, generated by forage, bedding, dried mud, and scurfy coats. These particles are inhaled, and in a healthy environment they will be trapped by cilia and mucous in the upper respiratory tract, and removed. If t...