Diagnostic imaging results are clearer than ever, but how they will affect a horses performance career isnt always evident.The post What Diagnostic Imaging Reveals About a Horse appeared first on The Horse.

A premium brand, Dyon creates quality saddlery and tack for riders across all disciplines, with a focus on the horses well-being and performance. They have four main collections, each boasting different features to best suit you and your horses needs. Shop Dyon An Overview of the CollectionsNew EnglishMade from Dyon leather with stainless steel buckles and stitching to match the colour of the leather, the New English Collection is for those seeking discretion, quality and comfort.D CollectionThis collection is perfect for classic riding, with brass buckles and cream-coloured stitching. The leather is quality Dyon leather.US JumpingA simple collection with a smart look. Across the range, all pieces of tack are made from Dyon leather, with stainless steel buckles and cream-coloured stitching.WorkingA basic range great for everyday use across many disciplines. Durable, it is made from buffalo leather with stainless steel buckles.A Summary of the Dyon CollectionsLeatherBucklesStitchingWarrantyD CollectionDyonBrassCream-colouredLifetimeNew EnglishDyonStainless SteelTo match leatherLifetimeUS JumpingDyonStainless SteelCream-colouredLifetimeWorkingBuffaloStainless SteelTo match leather1-year Shop all Dyon Whichever collection you go for, know you can choose Dyon with confidence. Explore the whole Dyon range, and more of your favourite equestrian brands at Redpost Equestrian, online and in our Totnes Store. Shop Online The post What are the Differences Between the Dyon Collections? first appeared on Redpost Equestrian Blog.

Ocala, FL World Equestrian Center Ocala is excited to welcome back junior riders for the 2025 Premier Equitation Cup Championship, taking place on February 8, 2025, during the 2025 Winter Spectacular Show Series. For the 2025 championship, junior riders are now required to accumulate 120 points to qualify. The qualifying period for the 2025 Premier Equitation Cup Championship runs from February 1, 2024,[...]Read MoreThe post New Specifications for the 2025 Premier Equitation Cup Championship at World Equestrian Center Ocala appeared first on World Equestrian Center.

British Equestrian has named the teams of three and alternate combinations in the dressage, eventing and jumping for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games starting later this month.The dressage team is made up of Charlotte Dujardin and Imhotep,Charlotte Fry and Glamourdale, andCarl Hester and Fame. The alternate combination is Becky Moody and Jagerbomb.For eventing, the team comprises of Rosalind Canter and Lordships Graffalo, Laura Collett and London 52, andTom McEwen and JL Dublin. The alternate combination is Yasmin Ingham and Banzai du Loir.The jumping team includes Scott Brash and Hello Jefferson, Harry Charles and Romeo 88, andBen Maher and Point Break. The alternate combination is Joseph Stockdale and Cacharel.Dressage, eventing and showjumping will take centre stage in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles from 26 July-6 August, while the para dressage runs from 3-7 September.A list of 12 nominated entries for the para dressage was announced in early June and the final selection from this list will be made this month.The equestrian sport will play out over the 2,000 acres of parkland around the Chteau de Versailles. An outdoor arena has been created on the Etoile Royale esplanade to the west of the Grand Canal at the heart of the gardens, and the eventing cross-country course will take competitors across the canal and along both sides.Find out all the key dates and times and how to watch here.Further readingSchedule and how to watch equestrian sport at Paris 2024 Olympic GamesTeam GB squads announced for eventing, dressage and jumping at Paris 2024Its vital equestrians get behind the Games: Excitement builds for ParisCharlotte Dujardins 5 golden rules for improving your horses paces on the flatIm thrilled for my whole team: Ros Canter reclaims top spot on World RankingsThe post Britains teams of three and alternate named for dressage, jumping and eventing at Paris 2024 appeared first on Your Horse.

The fourth edition of a Holsteiner foal auction in hybrid format will take place during the Springflut Festival in Hrup on July 13, and it promises a lot of quality and genetics of the absolute top level. Marketing manager Felix Flinzer, together with the initiators of the Holsteiner Highlight Sales, has been able to gather []The post A Holsteiner promise for the future: Top genetics foal auction appeared first on Breeding News for Sport Horses.

Brittany Foust and Salida del Sol. Photo by JJ Sillman.Fight. Flight. Freeze. Fawn.Ask any rider how their horse responds to danger and the two most common responses youll get are flight and freeze. Naturally prey animals, theres a reason why there are livestock guardian dogs, not livestock guardian horses. As eventers, we look for the rare horse who is gritty enough to run towards the scary obstacle. The horse who will battle to the end of the cross country course and come back the next day to show jump. In short, we look for the horses that naturally have a little more fight in their genetics.When Brittany Foust purchased a 4-year-oldoff-track Thoroughbred from the Arapaho Park Racetrack, she couldnt have known that the grit she saw in this mare would one day pay off in a way she could have never seen coming. Salida del Sol, barn name Sunny, was originally purchased to be her upper level eventer. We start our Thoroughbreds pretty slowly, so she was getting ready to go out and compete at Novice last season. But she was a super scopey jumper. If she wasnt gonna be an event horse, she wanted to be a Grand Prix Jumper, Brittany said.Unfortunately, Sunny didnt get to go out and compete at the Novice level.Brittany and her sister, Elli, have been riding since they were young. They were students of 5* eventers Jimmy Wofford and Mary Schwentker. Now, they work together to use their horses to help riders with their mental health. Im a licensed therapist and I have a therapy practice, which I use our horses for, and then Elli runs a nonprofit called Nature Heals, which is a 501c3 that offers nature based mental health services to those who cant otherwise afford them.Brittanys problems started in July 2022. Located in the Front Range Foothills of Boulder County, Colorado, it all started when a therapy horse named Hogs Hollow, aka Oink, didnt come in with the rest of the herd one morning. After searching for him on the 30 acre pasture, they found Oink standing alone by the creek.So the best we could figure when we first walked out and found him was that he somehow got himself stuck in a fence or chewed up by barbed wire, Brittany said. We have smooth ranch wire on our farms perimeters. But it almost looked like with high winds, maybe old barbed wire flew in from another farm or something. And he looked like he got tangled up and rolled around in it. It was around his face and around his neck, all across the sides of his body and around his leg.The idea didnt quite fit with what they knew about Oink and their farm, particularly because they couldnt find the barbed wire they thought he got tangled up in. But, because theyve seen bears on the property before, Brittany thought that he must have been spooked by a bear and ran into the fence. His worst injury was on his right front leg.The most life threatening injury was that he basically degloved his right front leg and tore through the area by the tendons, and was leaking synovial fluid, Brittany said. When the vet showed up, she wasnt sure if there was any initial tendon damage, so there were three options on the table. He could go up to CSU, which is an astronomical expense. Option two we could do regional limb perfusions at home for him, and hit him with heavy duty antibiotics and do all the bandage care at home for him. Or euthanasia was on the table of how extensive the tendon damage was and the fact that he was leaking synovial fluid.As she runs a breeding operation, owns several personal horses, and runs an equine therapy program, Brittany has a close working relationship with her veterinarians and opted to treat him at home. It was touch and go at first, the vet wasnt sure if he would make it the first 24 hours, then the question became, will he make it the first 72 hours? The first week? Despite it all, Oink pulled through.Brittany and Sunny celebrate a clear round at The Event at Archer Farms. Photo by JJ Sillman.So we got really lucky with him. There was damage to the right front shoulder as well, we think its muscle damage. And then we also think there was some compensatory damage, as well. He was pretty lame on his left hind, Brittany said.Then, two weeks later, it happened again in the same pasture. The herd who lived in this large pasture was a unique mix. There was Oink and a few other geldings, then Sunny and her youngsters. Sunny was Brittanys go-to horse to babysit the yearlings and two-year-olds. The OTTB loved to hang out with the little kids and treated them like her own. While Oink and the geldings were in one part of the pasture, you could always find Sunny babysitting and hanging out with her three kids, two yearlings and one two-year-old.This time when Brittany arrived at the paddock in the morning, the horses were all gathered by the water trough in a panic. Reader, be warned. The next few paragraphs are a bit of a tough read.They were covered in blood, she was covered in blood. I had no idea what was happening, Brittany said. Sunny was just standing guard over them by the water trough. I realized that none of the youngsters were bleeding, it was all Sunny. So, I took Sunny back into the barn and immediately we started to basically just do triage and pack the wounds. I didnt clean too much because our priority was to stop the bleeding. It was just a bloodbath.Sunnys heart was still pumping her full of adrenaline, which made caring for her wounds that much more difficult. Because she was so pumped full of adrenaline she couldnt tolerate any of the nerve bonding agents and would just burn through all the sedation, Brittany said. So, we had to do the full blown, lay her out with ketamine. I remember the vet was suturing, my sister, Elli Foust, was cleaning and prepping, and then I was sitting on her, making sure she didnt all of a sudden stand back up.She degloved the front right of her cannon bones, like just a huge flap of skin down all the way, Brittany said. Her entire chest was shredded. Her haunches on both sides were shredded. Her shoulders were shredded. There were punctures on her left front, shredded her left front shoulder. It actually looked like they had grabbed her muzzle and she had lines across her jugular. She had a hole in the back left of her lower hock by her chestnut and another puncture down by her fetlock.Once Sunny was stable enough to be transported, she was taken to the equine hospital at Colorado State University. At the time, Brittany was thanking her lucky stars that Sunny was insured, but found out later that she wasnt insured as well as she thought.What I had not realized is that because she was an event horse, she lost her major medical insurance and was only insured for surgical and mortality, Brittany said. So all of the vet bills that were incurred that were non surgical for this incident are not going to be covered by our insurance company. I knew there had been rumors of it. And I knew it was in the works of happening. But it wasnt really something that on a day to day basis, I thought a lot about.At CSU, they were able to lay her down for surgical intervention, which luckily was still covered. During the procedure they discovered that there was an infection that had traveled from one of her puncture wounds into the joint and that there was also an incomplete fracture of the splint bone tracking up into the joint, as well as a sequestrum. Sunny stayed at the hospital for two weeks until she was stable enough to come home.Now with two horses with similar injuries two weeks apart, Brittany was suspicious that there had to be more to the story than some errant barb wire. I asked our vet, Is it statistically possible for two horses to have the same type of injuries, but one more severe, two weeks apart? And they were like, Well, its pretty much statistically impossible for this to happen.We walked our fence line for hours trying to see if we could find anything, to see if there was anything that could have been done to prevent this and found nothing, Brittany said. We started thinking maybe this was an animal attack, especially with the marks on her face. We found her fly mask that she had been wearing, a brand new black mask, and it was shredded across her face, basically.Certain that mountain lions were somehow involved, even though they usually stuck to their territories higher up in the mountains, Brittany called Colorado Parks and Wildlife. The story that unfolded speaks to the unbreakable bonds that our horses have with each other.Typically, mountain lions jump on the backs of their prey, which creates wounds along the spine and haunches. Sunnys wound patterning was unusual in that the majority of her wounds were low, along her chest, legs, and neck. Based on Sunnys wound patterns and the amount of blood that was on the other yearlings, its believed that Sunny was down by the creek with the youngsters when a mountain lion went after one of the yearlings who turned around and galloped to Sunny. Sunny, instead of running, turned and fought back, protecting all of her babies and the rest of the herd, eventually either killing or scaring off the attacking lion.Youre more likely to be struck by lightning than be attacked by a mountain lion, Brittany said. Mountain lions dont usually go after horses like Sunny and Oink, who are both 16 hands. They dont usually go after domesticated horses because theyre usually shod and can do a lot of damage. Basically, the consequences arent worth the reward for them. Its more common for them to go after goats and smaller livestock.Parks and Wildlife is assuming that it was probably young and juvenile mountain lions that were looking to expand territory because the attacks were two weeks apart to the day, Brittany said. So the young lions were basically kind of patrolling a perimeter, or going down the draw and coming back up, while looking for new territory because it was about the time of year that the parents kicked them out.Mountain lions are smart. According to Brittany, they learn from their mistakes. Oink was actually lucky that he was attacked first. When the lions went after the yearling and got Sunny instead, they applied what they learned from attacking Oink, leading to much more severe injuries for Sunny.After Sunny came home and the months of rehabilitation dragged on, it became clear that Sunny would never be riding sound again. Brittany had hoped that Sunny would at least be broodmare sound, but it became apparent her damaged joint wouldnt hold up to the added weight of a baby. It got to the point where we started wondering, would she even be able to be pasture sound? Brittany said. Especially in Colorado where we have snow and ice. That mare was not a stall horse she has to go out for at least eight hours a day. She loves to run and gallop. Steeplechasing fences was her favorite thing in the world. As time kept going on, by November, by October, we were pretty certain that the quality of life that she was going to have was going to be pretty awful.Between July and December, Brittany and her sister could not catch a break. They had to deal with Oinks medical bills, a colicking mare who had to be euthanized, and the loss of her sisters top dressage horse. They also had to move farms after spending the last ten years at their home in the foothills.On top of this, Colorado Parks and Wildlife denied their claim for reimbursement for the mountain lion attacks as there was not enough definitive proof of an attack and Brittany had to fight with the insurance company to get some of their bills covered. To avoid paying out the mortality coverage, the insurance company wanted Brittany to haul Sunny back to CSU to see if there was more surgical intervention that could be done.Photo courtesy of JJ Sillman.Finally CSU and our vets were finally both in agreement that even if there were surgical things we can do the only thing left is the fusing of her joint which is a poor quality of life, Brittany said. She was completely non-weight bearing. She was on heavy duty painkillers still and she was on Trazodone to keep her sane enough to even be safe to handle because this is a mare that had never bitten, never kicked, never offered to do anything nasty, and she was getting nasty, dropping a ton of weight, not eating, not engaging with people anymore. We had to move farms by December 15th and I couldnt put this mare on a trailer to move her. She wasnt stable enough to move. Her joint had deteriorated to the point where she wouldnt be able to catch herself anymore and so she almost fell several times. It was pretty traumatic for everyone involved.After Sunny was peacefully euthanized, Brittany was left with two maxed out credit cards, a huge Care Credit loan, and all the expenses of moving to a new farm. Despite it all, Oink was a bright spot in the otherwise dreary year. At first, the now 18-year-old gelding struggled mentally to adjust back to spending time in the pasture. Moving to a new farm actually turned out to be the best thing for Oink.Since we moved, hes just happy every day to be alive right now, Brittany said. Hes gotten fitter and stronger, he feels safe at the new place. He is back to living out 24/7 with his best friend and hes got a different 30 acre turnout that they go out on during the day and they all come in at night.A true steady eddy, Oink taught walk trot lessons to a variety of the students in Brittanys therapeutic riding program. But, as he got fitter and stronger as they rehabbed him, he started to get some of his old spark back. An adult amateur started riding him regularly and in early June, competed him in the Starter division at The Event at Archer.He was fantastic, Brittany said. We had this huge glow up in April/May. It was like all the pieces that weve been working on for almost the last year came into place for him. He won! He won his whole division. He finished on his dressage score, he packed around his adult ammy and yeah, brought home his blue ribbon.Next up for Oink is Area IV championships at the end of August. Id like to think that Sunny will be cheering him on from the other side of the Rainbow Bridge. Oink deserves the world. He will never want for anything in his entire life ever again, Brittany said of the brave little Thoroughbred.As for Sunny, Brittany says that Not a day goes by that we dont miss her and her larger than life personality.After the mountain lion attacks and moving farms, Brittany and Elli are facing a mountain of bills. To help offset their costs, a GoFundMe was set up in their name. If youd like to donate to Oink and Sunnys bills, click this link.

Yasmin Ingham and Banzai du Loir. Photo by Tilly Berendt.British Equestrian has released its final nominations for the Paris eventing squad, having done so before but leaving open the spot for Traveling Reserve combination. As it stands now, the final squad for the Olympics will be:Rosalind Canterwith Michele and Archie SaulsLordships GraffaloGroom: Sarah CharnleyLaura Collettwith Karen Bartlett, Keith Scott and her ownLondon 52Groom: Tilly HughesTom McEwenwith James and Jo Lambert and Deirdre JohnstonsJL DublinGroom: Adam ShortTraveling Reserve:Yasmin Inghamwith Janette Chinn and The Sue Davies FundsBanzai du LoirGroom: Alison BellIn a true example of the monstrous depth the Tokyo gold medalists retain, thismeans that reigning World Champions (2022) and 2024 Luhmhlen CCI4*-S winnersYasmin Inghamand Banzai du Loir will travel to Paris as the alternate and will only slot into competition should the team opt for or need a substitute (substituting a rider after competition start will incur significant penalties, and is only done in the event another horse is injured and/or the team is in danger of not completing).If you want to remind yourself of all of the other Olympic Teams named thus far, you can catch up here. View more of ENs coverage of the Paris Olympics here. We are pleased to bring you our Olympic coverage with support from Kentucky Performance Products.

Brittany Foust and Oink. Photo by JJ Sillman.Fight. Flight. Freeze. Fawn.Ask any rider how their horse responds to danger and the two most common responses youll get are flight and freeze. Naturally prey animals, theres a reason why there are livestock guardian dogs, not livestock guardian horses. As eventers, we look for the rare horse who is gritty enough to run towards the scary obstacle. The horse who will battle to the end of the cross country course and come back the next day to show jump. In short, we look for the horses that naturally have a little more fight in their genetics.When Brittany Foust purchased a 4-year-oldoff-track Thoroughbred from the Arapaho Park Racetrack, she couldnt have known that the grit she saw in this mare would one day pay off in a way she could have never seen coming. Salida del Sol, barn name Sunny, was originally purchased to be her upper level eventer. We start our Thoroughbreds pretty slowly, so she was getting ready to go out and compete at Novice last season. But she was a super scopey jumper. If she wasnt gonna be an event horse, she wanted to be a Grand Prix Jumper, Brittany said.Unfortunately, Sunny didnt get to go out and compete at the Novice level.Brittany and her sister, Elli, have been riding since they were young. They were students of 5* eventers Jimmy Wofford and Mary Schwentker. Now, they work together to use their horses to help riders with their mental health. Im a licensed therapist and I have a therapy practice, which I use our horses for, and then Elli runs a nonprofit called Nature Heals, which is a 501c3 that offers nature based mental health services to those who cant otherwise afford them.Brittanys problems started in July 2022. Located in the Front Range Foothills of Boulder County, Colorado, it all started when a therapy horse named Hogs Hollow, aka Oink, didnt come in with the rest of the herd one morning. After searching for him on the 30 acre pasture, they found Oink standing alone by the creek.So the best we could figure when we first walked out and found him was that he somehow got himself stuck in a fence or chewed up by barbed wire, Brittany said. We have smooth ranch wire on our farms perimeters. But it almost looked like with high winds, maybe old barbed wire flew in from another farm or something. And he looked like he got tangled up and rolled around in it. It was around his face and around his neck, all across the sides of his body and around his leg.The idea didnt quite fit with what they knew about Oink and their farm, particularly because they couldnt find the barbed wire they thought he got tangled up in. But, because theyve seen bears on the property before, Brittany thought that he must have been spooked by a bear and ran into the fence. His worst injury was on his right front leg.The most life threatening injury was that he basically degloved his right front leg and tore through the area by the tendons, and was leaking synovial fluid, Brittany said. When the vet showed up, she wasnt sure if there was any initial tendon damage, so there were three options on the table. He could go up to CSU, which is an astronomical expense. Option two we could do regional limb perfusions at home for him, and hit him with heavy duty antibiotics and do all the bandage care at home for him. Or euthanasia was on the table of how extensive the tendon damage was and the fact that he was leaking synovial fluid.As she runs a breeding operation, owns several personal horses, and runs an equine therapy program, Brittany has a close working relationship with her veterinarians and opted to treat him at home. It was touch and go at first, the vet wasnt sure if he would make it the first 24 hours, then the question became, will he make it the first 72 hours? The first week? Despite it all, Oink pulled through.Brittany andOink celebrate a clear round at The Event at Archer Farms. Photo by JJ Sillman.So we got really lucky with him. There was damage to the right front shoulder as well, we think its muscle damage. And then we also think there was some compensatory damage, as well. He was pretty lame on his left hind, Brittany said.Then, two weeks later, it happened again in the same pasture. The herd who lived in this large pasture was a unique mix. There was Oink and a few other geldings, then Sunny and her youngsters. Sunny was Brittanys go-to horse to babysit the yearlings and two-year-olds. The OTTB loved to hang out with the little kids and treated them like her own. While Oink and the geldings were in one part of the pasture, you could always find Sunny babysitting and hanging out with her three kids, two yearlings and one two-year-old.This time when Brittany arrived at the paddock in the morning, the horses were all gathered by the water trough in a panic. Reader, be warned. The next few paragraphs are a bit of a tough read.They were covered in blood, she was covered in blood. I had no idea what was happening, Brittany said. Sunny was just standing guard over them by the water trough. I realized that none of the youngsters were bleeding, it was all Sunny. So, I took Sunny back into the barn and immediately we started to basically just do triage and pack the wounds. I didnt clean too much because our priority was to stop the bleeding. It was just a bloodbath.Sunnys heart was still pumping her full of adrenaline, which made caring for her wounds that much more difficult. Because she was so pumped full of adrenaline she couldnt tolerate any of the nerve bonding agents and would just burn through all the sedation, Brittany said. So, we had to do the full blown, lay her out with ketamine. I remember the vet was suturing, my sister, Elli Foust, was cleaning and prepping, and then I was sitting on her, making sure she didnt all of a sudden stand back up.She degloved the front right of her cannon bones, like just a huge flap of skin down all the way, Brittany said. Her entire chest was shredded. Her haunches on both sides were shredded. Her shoulders were shredded. There were punctures on her left front, shredded her left front shoulder. It actually looked like they had grabbed her muzzle and she had lines across her jugular. She had a hole in the back left of her lower hock by her chestnut and another puncture down by her fetlock.Once Sunny was stable enough to be transported, she was taken to the equine hospital at Colorado State University. At the time, Brittany was thanking her lucky stars that Sunny was insured, but found out later that she wasnt insured as well as she thought.What I had not realized is that because she was an event horse, she lost her major medical insurance and was only insured for surgical and mortality, Brittany said. So all of the vet bills that were incurred that were non surgical for this incident are not going to be covered by our insurance company. I knew there had been rumors of it. And I knew it was in the works of happening. But it wasnt really something that on a day to day basis, I thought a lot about.At CSU, they were able to lay her down for surgical intervention, which luckily was still covered. During the procedure they discovered that there was an infection that had traveled from one of her puncture wounds into the joint and that there was also an incomplete fracture of the splint bone tracking up into the joint, as well as a sequestrum. Sunny stayed at the hospital for two weeks until she was stable enough to come home.Now with two horses with similar injuries two weeks apart, Brittany was suspicious that there had to be more to the story than some errant barb wire. I asked our vet, Is it statistically possible for two horses to have the same type of injuries, but one more severe, two weeks apart? And they were like, Well, its pretty much statistically impossible for this to happen.We walked our fence line for hours trying to see if we could find anything, to see if there was anything that could have been done to prevent this and found nothing, Brittany said. We started thinking maybe this was an animal attack, especially with the marks on her face. We found her fly mask that she had been wearing, a brand new black mask, and it was shredded across her face, basically.Certain that mountain lions were somehow involved, even though they usually stuck to their territories higher up in the mountains, Brittany called Colorado Parks and Wildlife. The story that unfolded speaks to the unbreakable bonds that our horses have with each other.Typically, mountain lions jump on the backs of their prey, which creates wounds along the spine and haunches. Sunnys wound patterning was unusual in that the majority of her wounds were low, along her chest, legs, and neck. Based on Sunnys wound patterns and the amount of blood that was on the other yearlings, its believed that Sunny was down by the creek with the youngsters when a mountain lion went after one of the yearlings who turned around and galloped to Sunny. Sunny, instead of running, turned and fought back, protecting all of her babies and the rest of the herd, eventually either killing or scaring off the attacking lion.Youre more likely to be struck by lightning than be attacked by a mountain lion, Brittany said. Mountain lions dont usually go after horses like Sunny and Oink, who are both 16 hands. They dont usually go after domesticated horses because theyre usually shod and can do a lot of damage. Basically, the consequences arent worth the reward for them. Its more common for them to go after goats and smaller livestock.Parks and Wildlife is assuming that it was probably young and juvenile mountain lions that were looking to expand territory because the attacks were two weeks apart to the day, Brittany said. So the young lions were basically kind of patrolling a perimeter, or going down the draw and coming back up, while looking for new territory because it was about the time of year that the parents kicked them out.Mountain lions are smart. According to Brittany, they learn from their mistakes. Oink was actually lucky that he was attacked first. When the lions went after the yearling and got Sunny instead, they applied what they learned from attacking Oink, leading to much more severe injuries for Sunny.After Sunny came home and the months of rehabilitation dragged on, it became clear that Sunny would never be riding sound again. Brittany had hoped that Sunny would at least be broodmare sound, but it became apparent her damaged joint wouldnt hold up to the added weight of a baby. It got to the point where we started wondering, would she even be able to be pasture sound? Brittany said. Especially in Colorado where we have snow and ice. That mare was not a stall horse she has to go out for at least eight hours a day. She loves to run and gallop. Steeplechasing fences was her favorite thing in the world. As time kept going on, by November, by October, we were pretty certain that the quality of life that she was going to have was going to be pretty awful.Between July and December, Brittany and her sister could not catch a break. They had to deal with Oinks medical bills, a colicking mare who had to be euthanized, and the loss of her sisters top dressage horse. They also had to move farms after spending the last ten years at their home in the foothills.On top of this, Colorado Parks and Wildlife denied their claim for reimbursement for the mountain lion attacks as there was not enough definitive proof of an attack and Brittany had to fight with the insurance company to get some of their bills covered. To avoid paying out the mortality coverage, the insurance company wanted Brittany to haul Sunny back to CSU to see if there was more surgical intervention that could be done.Photo courtesy of JJ Sillman.Finally CSU and our vets were finally both in agreement that even if there were surgical things we can do the only thing left is the fusing of her joint which is a poor quality of life, Brittany said. She was completely non-weight bearing. She was on heavy duty painkillers still and she was on Trazodone to keep her sane enough to even be safe to handle because this is a mare that had never bitten, never kicked, never offered to do anything nasty, and she was getting nasty, dropping a ton of weight, not eating, not engaging with people anymore. We had to move farms by December 15th and I couldnt put this mare on a trailer to move her. She wasnt stable enough to move. Her joint had deteriorated to the point where she wouldnt be able to catch herself anymore and so she almost fell several times. It was pretty traumatic for everyone involved.After Sunny was peacefully euthanized, Brittany was left with two maxed out credit cards, a huge Care Credit loan, and all the expenses of moving to a new farm. Despite it all, Oink was a bright spot in the otherwise dreary year. At first, the now 18-year-old gelding struggled mentally to adjust back to spending time in the pasture. Moving to a new farm actually turned out to be the best thing for Oink.Since we moved, hes just happy every day to be alive right now, Brittany said. Hes gotten fitter and stronger, he feels safe at the new place. He is back to living out 24/7 with his best friend and hes got a different 30 acre turnout that they go out on during the day and they all come in at night.A true steady eddy, Oink taught walk trot lessons to a variety of the students in Brittanys therapeutic riding program. But, as he got fitter and stronger as they rehabbed him, he started to get some of his old spark back. An adult amateur started riding him regularly and in early June, competed him in the Starter division at The Event at Archer.He was fantastic, Brittany said. We had this huge glow up in April/May. It was like all the pieces that weve been working on for almost the last year came into place for him. He won! He won his whole division. He finished on his dressage score, he packed around his adult ammy and yeah, brought home his blue ribbon.Next up for Oink is Area IV championships at the end of August. Id like to think that Sunny will be cheering him on from the other side of the Rainbow Bridge. Oink deserves the world. He will never want for anything in his entire life ever again, Brittany said of the brave little Thoroughbred.As for Sunny, Brittany says that Not a day goes by that we dont miss her and her larger than life personality.After the mountain lion attacks and moving farms, Brittany and Elli are facing a mountain of bills. To help offset their costs, a GoFundMe was set up in their name. If youd like to donate to Oink and Sunnys bills, click this link.

Will Coleman and Off The Record. Photo by Tilly Berendt.The Paris Olympics are less than one month away. It is exciting to think of all the athletes around the world who are making their final preparations for the Games. They are under immense pressure to deliver the best performances they can at one of the biggest contests they will ever face in their careers.Three-day eventing has managed to maintain its place as an Olympic sport, although it is now run in a shortened format with only three horse and rider pairs per team, plus a travelling reserve. The U.S. Team consists of veterans Will Coleman and Boyd Martin as well as Olympic first-timer Caroline Pamukcu. Liz Halliday is the Traveling Reserve. With some incredible performances in the last couple of years, including a Team Silver medal at the World Championships in 2022, the American team looks poised for a podium finish in Paris.One way to learn more about the athletes on the U.S. Team is to delve into some of Ride iQs podcasts. You can listen to interviews with all four members of the team on In Stride, Ride iQs fantastic podcast led by host Sinead Maynard, who has herself ridden at the World Championships for the U.S. Team. I will shamelessly admit that I have listened to every episode of the In Stride podcast series. Sinead is an awesome host because she has so much experience of her own, and she is curious to probe into the lives of other horse professionals.Boyd Martin and Fedarman B. Photo by Tilly Berendt.You can listen to the In Stride podcasts with Will Coleman, Boyd Martin, Caroline Pamukcu, and Liz Halliday wherever you get your podcasts. Each of the podcasts is a free-flowing dialogue where these Olympic athletes touch upon many different topics.In the podcast with Caroline Pamukcu, Sinead discusses various topics related to balancing a business and a competitive career, including maintaining a routine and a healthy lifestyle on the road during the competition season, how her sales business has helped grow her competitive career, how growing up in the young rider and Under-25 programs helped mold her career, and her thought process behind deciding who to work and train with. Caroline also talks about learning to deal with competitive pressure while staying levelheaded.Sinead interviews Will Coleman about his upbringing in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the influence of his equestrian family background. He discusses how he balanced college studies with pursuing a career in horse riding, and the challenges and lessons learned during Wills early years as a professional event rider. Will is pensive and reflective about the importance of mindset and personal growth in his sporting career, and he also draws upon insights from other sports, such as golf. Finally, Will discusses the trajectory of USA high performance in eventing and the need for continuous improvement.Caroline Pamukcu and HSH Blake. Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photography.Boyd Martin talks extensively with Sinead about how he has set up his life to help fuel his competitive success. Boyd talks about growing up in Australia with two Olympic athletes as parents: his mother a speed skater, and his father a cross-country ski racer.Boyd talks through his decision to move to America, and the culture shock he experienced when he first came over.Finally, in Liz Hallidays episode, Sinead talks to Liz about navigating the highs and lows of eventing. Liz reflects upon how she was named to the Tokyo Olympic eventing team, but had to withdraw because her horse sustained a minor injury. They also have an interesting discussion about how Lizs former career as a professional racing driver in sportscar and GT endurance disciplines impacts her competitive mindset as an event rider. Liz was the most successful female driver in the American Le Mans series, with no less than six victories, and she emphasizes how this experience gave her an amazing ability to deal with pressure.Liz Halliday and Cooley Nutcracker. Photo by Sally Spickard.What all of these conversations highlight is that there is no singular way to the top of the sport. However, one thing that all of these athletes have in commonand you can tell from the way they talk about the sport and approach their careersis an incredible drive to be the best in the world. Take a listen!

The yearling lived in Madison County and was unvaccinated. The post Florida Yearling Dies After Contracting EEE appeared first on The Horse.