Horseshoe Ranch Riding Academy

11/12/2025

⭐️ HOW TO NOT ANNOY THE JUDGE: Affirmation Edition

I shared these with the youth exhibitors at the Ocala International Horse Show recettly, but it felt too good not to share with everyone.

Before you step in that ring, take one minute to remind yourself who you are and how you ride.

These affirmations are not filler. They are habits judges actually notice.

Use them to level up your show ring game. 💪🐴
Save this. Share it. Repeat it.

06/25/2025

Many of us have been conditioned by industry that once a horse hits 4, they're an adult and should be ridden. Some industry practices dictate that horses should be started as young as 18 months - 2 years old and many breeds have been selectively bred to look more mature at a younger age.

But maturity on the outside doesn't indicate maturity on the inside -

A horse’s skeletal development depends on growth plates — areas of cartilage at the ends of bones that allow them to grow longer. Once a bone reaches its full length, the growth plate turns to bone and fuses. Until then, it remains a weak point within the bone.

We need to remember that not all bones mature at the same time -

The bones in the legs fuse earlier - between 6 months and 3.5 years. This gives your horse their height - a red herring that they've finished growing because "look how tall they are!"

But the spine - the bit we literally sit on - doesn't finish fusing until much later - between 5 and 6 years approximately, though depending on height and s*x, it can be as late at 7 or 8.

And equally, the pelvis - an area which receives the forces from the hindlimbs and transfers it to the spine, is formed of multiple pieces which don't finish fusing until the horse is approximately 4.

With all of this in mind, it’s worth asking:

Should we really be sitting on horses whose growth plates are still developing?

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"Should I be riding my horse right now?"

Join Integrative Equine Podiatrist, Beccy Smith, and I as we discuss this topic through a variety of lenses: combining evidence-informed practice and research to give you practical skills to assess your own horse's wellbeing so you can answer the question for yourself.

30.06.2025 19:00 BST

Recording available if you can't make the live ❤️✨️

https://www.yasminstuartequinephysio.com/webinar-should-i-be-riding-my-horse-right-now

05/16/2025

Hello everyone and happy Monday!

We are gearing up for a new week and some of us are preparing for weekly shows!

Transporting horses can take up A LOT of energy! Make sure you have pre- and post travel care list for your equine friends!

05/15/2025

Just like training a horse—it’s not overnight.
It’s early mornings, muddy boots, tiny breakthroughs, and showing up even on the hard days.
It’s trust built one ride at a time.

Progress isn’t flashy. It’s quiet, steady, and earned.
So keep showing up—for your goals, your dreams, and your future self.

You don’t need a shortcut.
You’ve got grit—and that’s more powerful than any hack.

01/21/2025

Well said 💯

12/12/2024

A small stab in the heart is what you feel when you put up the day's riding list and you see riders sinking heavily in their shoulders when reading which horse they are assigned for the lesson. A small stab in the heart for that horse that for an hour will carry around a rider who has already decided that he does not like his horse. A small stab in the heart for the horse that did not choose the rider himself but still does his best, lesson after lesson.

Riding is a privilege and something you have chosen to do. If you chose to ride at a riding school, your instructor assumes that you actually want to learn how to ride. The instructor's highest wish is that you get good at it.

Often there is a plan and a thought as to why you are assigned to that exact horse. Before you mount up next time, ask yourself "what can this horse teach me today?" All horses have something to give, a feeling or a new tool in the box.

The art is actually in being able to get a lazy horse to move forward, to get an uncertain horse to gain confidence, a naughty horse to focus or a tense horse to be released. It takes work. If you think a horse is boring, it's more likely that you don't ride the horse as well as you think! It's not easy to be confronted with your own shortcomings, but it is in that very situation that you get the chance to truly grow as a rider.

The excuse that "it's not my kind of horse" is actually a really bad excuse. A good rider can ride any kind of horse. A good rider has trained many hours on different types of horses to become a good rider. A good rider can find and manage the gold nuggets in every horse.

If we absolutely want to ride, it is our duty to strive to do it as best as possible, even if it's only for fun. We owe it to every horse that carries us upon it's back.

Copied and shared with love for all of our horses, ponies and riders 🐎❤🐎

11/07/2024