P W
ublisher’s Welcome
Emotions and Horses: A Good Mix?
hen you work with horses, from the ground or from the saddle, it’s easy for all kinds of emotions to come to the surface, whether you like it or not. They run the gamut from sheer joy to utter heartbreak, praise to frustration, excitement and
adrenaline to fear and anguish. Yet without those types of feelings and emotions, life would surely be boring! As I put together this issue’s articles, I noticed a variety of emotions that in the end played a positive role in guiding riders and owners
as they worked to overcome major obstacles and challenges. Perhaps the most emotional story starts on page 31. Canadian hunter rider Heather McCann-Cuddy suffered a kick that severely
damaged her face and skull. What is so admirable is that this woman, less than two years aſter the accident, won high placements in the hunter championships held at the Royal Horse Show this past fall. At the start, simply overcoming her fear of being around horses was a huge step. In the article, she shares much about her recovery process and how she managed, step by step, to get back in the saddle again. When I spoke to Emily Jewell about her Friesian stallion suffering from the unfamiliar disease CPL (page 39), she explained how
devastated she was when she first learned of his condition, since the prognosis was poor. Her heartbreak—and her love for her horse— led to her determination to help him. Happily, she’s found a way to improve his condition and help him continue a useful life. On page 23, Tamie Smith tells us about her trek to France with the mare Fleeceworks Royal for the Young Horse Eventing World
Championships. Between the qualification process, the mare almost losing her eye last year and coordinating the expensive trip, it was an emotional roller coaster for everyone involved that, in the end, led to a great experience for all. If you’re an adrenaline junkie but don’t want to tackle cross-country courses, check out “Cross Training with a Bang” on page 16.
Learn how Gretchen Walters has taught her Warmblood to compete among Quarter Horses in the sport of cowboy mounted shooting. It’s hard to imagine galloping your horse one-handed as you shoot a course of balloons, but she’s now doing it with her third dressage horse. And one of the biggest benefits, according to Gretchen? “My horse is pretty darn broke.” Now when it comes to an owner or breeder who is selling a horse, fear is an emotion definitely warranted—fear that his or her horse
will end up in the wrong hands and potentially suffer abuse. One way to keep that from happening, according to JP Giacomini in our Point of View column on page 71, begins in the breeding shed. His advice is worth reading, whether or not you are a breeder. We round out the issue with a fun historical feature on renowned breeders Doug and Louise Leatherdale, the story of a unique
jumper mare named Venice, breeding news from seven sport horse registries and a short story about an eleven-year-old girl setting dressage records, along with our other regular columns. (You can test your knowledge on equestrian laws with our eleven-question exam on page 56. I found myself disappointed that I had so many wrong answers!) Is there a place for emotions in the barn, in the arena or on the trails? Most definitely—aſter all, we are human. But if it’s undesirable
and destructive emotions that surface, it’s our responsibility to recognize them, deal with them and figure out how to transform them into desirable and constructive emotions. A perfect example of this is the mother of the superstar eleven-year-old (page 90), who admitted she was heartbroken when she realized her daughter had zero talent as a gymnast, the sport at which she had excelled when young. Once she figured out her daughter would shine as an equestrian, the family dove in head first, learning as they went. She admits that “horses have taken over our lives and we’re broker but happier than ever!” Now that’s an emotion that makes horses worthwhile.
Happy New Year!
Liz Cornell
editor@warmbloodstoday.com
Our Mission: Warmbloods Today is the leading magazine in North America focused on the entire spectrum of Warmblood breeds. It’s a place where people from all aspects of the sport horse community can come together: amateurs, owners, trainers and breeders. Each issue contains interesting, informative and often heart-warming stories of peoples’ experiences with their horses, along with thought- provoking opinions from various professionals and amateurs. We cover all horses from European descent bred for the sports of jumping, dressage, eventing and driving including the Iberian breeds and American Warmbloods.
12 January/February 2017
Ed Haas
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100