Glenshee Equestrian Centre

i found a link to this great article over at Mustang Saga about the state of our wild horses. sorry for the rant here, but this breaks my heart. and it makes me sick. it certainly says something about the rotten soul of our culture which, so indoctrinated into the religion of capitalism, fails to find value in what it cannot exploit for cash. instead we sell our souls for a burger off the dollar menu, a cheap tank of gas and another excuse for the all-powerful oil companies to delay our development of clean alternative energy while they squeeze out every last drop of profit... all while the horses - who were here long before we even became a nation - are made to suffer for it. at the same time, we have the audacity to exploit their image as a symbol for the alleged 'freedom' we claim to stand for and hold so dear. could we be more hypocritical? i can't help but think that this issue is a kind of thermometer for the health of our society... wasn't it gandhi who...

Are we on the way to creating a world where there is no more room for horses? In a practical sense, I think we may be. This is hardly news to some of us, but someone sent me this article form the LA Times, and I thought I'd pass it along, since it's something that affects all of us in one way or another. I know this is a huge problem on the East Coast as well; nearly all of the stables where I rode and boarded years ago have now been demolished to make way for encroaching development, not to mention the trails that have been destroyed or made forbidden to horses. Or, in some cases, the stables remain but the surrounding pastures are sold off for houses and condos; the horses must live in their stalls more or less 24 hours a day which, in a way, is worse. Is this happening in your area too? Have you felt the squeeze of development on your equestrian pursuits? Is there anything we can do about it? Equestrian culture may be fading into the sunset ...the vanishing of horses ...

My Case Against the Crest Release ... In addition to my series of posts on the rein aids, I thought I’d address releases over fences. While not exactly rein aids, they do affect the use of rein aids while jumping, so they are worth a little discussion. Most of us here in the US are taught variations of the crest release for jumping. And while it has its place in starting novice riders over fences, I think our lasting fascination with it is a detriment to our horses and riders at the higher levels. We can thank George Morris for the popularity of the crest release. He is credited with “inventing” it, thereby allowing average riders everywhere the ability to ride and show over fences. Touted as one of his many indispensable “innovations” on the art of riding, the crest release is a sham. It’s a money-making scheme. Previously known only as a training tool for the greenest of beginners over fences, he re-branded and promoted this farce as a way to allow mediocre riders the opp...