Whole Horse and Equestrian Science Institute

10/26/2024

New movie out all should watch who love horses and the sports we do with them. Produced by Sue Dyson it hits lots of “touch points” in the horse - human relationship field

10/08/2024

What to do with all those green bananas.

https://thehorse.com/1131528/ask-a-pro-green-bananas-the-equine-gut-superfood/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1aQGl3b4w3GBLrDwWuqDA9FB_yebfSTijgxTqz1lTWFTgv9rLV3eaquTo_aem_8jbWSCnPJLxnslBGkceslw

Equinutritive founder Alexandra Frazer, explains how green bananas provide powerful, natural support for the equine gut.

03/15/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/GRwoUWmmLoqor7dd/?mibextid=WC7FNe

Please come to "An Evening with Janet Jones" at the Golden Ocala Golf & Equestrian Club adjacent to the World Equestrian Center in Ocala, Florida! It takes us a bunch of advance work to arrange food, drinks, and venues, so if you're interested, learn more about the event and reserve your space now at https://janet-jones.com/product/janet-jones-ticket-sales . Also, please share this post with your friends, followers, and associations. I hope to meet you there!

12/16/2023

The new proposed Horse Welfare and Ethics.

“Social acceptability isn’t something you can market your way out of; it’s not something that nice pictures or talking about partnerships and so on is going to solve,” Dr. Natalie Waran, the head of the Fédération Equestre Internationale’s Equine Ethics and Wellbeing Commission warned wh...

05/15/2022

A horse welfare decision

“Do not mistake temptation for opportunity.” – Chinese Proverb With horseracing fans still head in the clouds after the most improbable Kentucky Derby (G1) finish in more than a century, a win by 80-1 late-entry moonshot Rich Strike, the horse’s connections announced what seemed like an equa...

05/14/2022

FRENCH GOVERNMENT ASK FOR AN OVERHAUL OF EQUINE WELFARE FOR OLYMPICS 2024

I'm a bit late with this news but wanted to share it in case you'd missed it. The French Parliament have produced a lengthy report asking the organising committee of the Olympic Games for a complete overhaul of the rules regarding equestrian sport (completely bypassing the FEI!). Their aim is to make Paris 2024 the Olympic Games of equine welfare.

The report has 46 recommendations to improve welfare across all disciplines. There is a section on the use of equipment, including banning the use of draw reins, the use of gag bits in the cross country and elevator bits being used together with martingales. They are asking for a review of nosebands (including cranks and grackles) and for noseband tightness to be checked using the ISES taper gauge. They would like a ban on riders using hyperflexion anywhere on the showground, referring to hyperflexion as 'any head and neck position where the nose is behind the vertical'.

The report also recommends a ban on use of the whip more than once per event and more than twice during the warm-up. They want to prohibit an overly constrained posture and authorise riding without spurs in dressage.

Are the recommended changes really enough to improve horse welfare in sport? Will this report change anything? If the recommendations are put in place, will the rules actually be enforced? This is a remarkable step for a country's government to take, but there were so many concerns about horse welfare at the Tokyo Olympics, I think this move was absolutely necessary if the public is to continue supporting equestrian sport.

The report has been translated by the brilliant team at Horses and People (thank you!) and is well worth reading. You can read the report here: https://horsesandpeople.com.au/french-parliament-calls-for-horse-welfare-overhaul-at-paris-2024

09/04/2021

Coco is back exploring her new “digs”

01/24/2019

Interesting article on interspecies communication between horses and humans.

Article