Therapeutic riding is a well-established and highly regarded equine-assisted activity for helping people with physical disabilities. Horses are also becoming increasingly recognised for their beneficial role in interventions designed to improve mental health and wellbeing, especially in relation to PTSD and other forms of trauma. But horses don’t have toRead More →
If you were an imbalanced rider, wouldn’t you notice that? Not necessarily, scientists say. People usually feel their own natural asymmetry as symmetrical. Their horses, however, would notice—managing uneven weight across their backs which might even make them compensate by becoming asymmetrical themselves. “For the welfare of the horse, it’sRead More →
Every year, 20 Australians lose their lives to horse-related incidents, and hundreds more are hospitalized. But according to an industrial safety risk management specialist, it doesn’t have to be that way. If people in the horse industry followed the example of other high-risk industries and sports like mining, construction, andRead More →
I own the most beautiful horse in the world. Well, maybe I’m a little biased. We all have our own biases – things that skew our attention away from seeing the bigger picture or considering other options. Sometimes our biases are just towards our likes. Most of you reading thisRead More →
Do you know when you are doing a good job or do you rely on others telling you that you are? In my experience, many riders don’t trust themselves and, therefore, keep looking and craving other people’s praise. This in itself is not a bad thing, it just becomes hardRead More →
Horse riding is dangerous. I’m not going to go into the statistics on horse-related injury and fatality because they are far from straightforward. Do you calculate injury rates per ride, per hour spent in the saddle or per jump attempt? Suffice to say that all accidents range from annoying toRead More →
Concussion in any sport is common and presents a significant public health issue, yet it remains poorly understood and is frequently undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. So what do riders need to know? Recognizing concussion is the first step. Equestrian sports present one of the highest risks for concussion when considering theRead More →
