Next Generation Thoroughbreds

11/23/2025

Great rides the past few days on some lovely TB’s…. This breed is near and dear to my heart, I will always advocate for them

11/18/2025

When trainer Geoff Case watches riders flatting their horses, he sees a lot of the same thing: people lapping the ring, zoning out, and missing a huge opportunity. “It’s one of my biggest pet peeves,” Case said. “People just go around the outside, staring off into space. That’s not riding. That’s exercise.”

In Case’s eyes, flatwork isn’t just something to do when you’re not jumping—it’s where you actually become a better rider.

To Case, a good flat session should feel like a jumping round. “You should be riding lines, bending, adjusting your rhythm,” he said. “Every step is a chance to make something better.”

He encourages riders to ride patterns and turns with purpose. “Don’t just stay on the rail,” he said. “Use the whole ring. Make a circle, ride across the diagonal, do transitions in different places. Ride like you’re setting up for a jump.”

That kind of thinking builds skills that directly transfer to the show ring. “When you ride with that much attention, the horse gets sharper, you get straighter, and suddenly your distances show up easier,” he said.

The flat, he added, is where you learn timing, balance, and control without the distraction of fences. “If you can’t organize yourself between the jumps, you won’t do it over them either.”

For Case, good riding starts with details: straightness, rhythm, transitions, and connection. The riders who stand out to him in the warm-up ring are the ones who treat flatwork like an art form, not an afterthought.

“You can tell the difference between someone who’s just getting around and someone who’s actually training,” he said. “It’s in the way they ride their corners, how they prepare for a transition, how the horse looks in the bridle.”

That difference shows up in competition. “When you’re in the ring, it’s too late to be figuring those things out,” he said. “If you’ve already practiced being precise on the flat, it’s automatic when you’re showing.”

Case also pointed out that judges can spot the riders who do their homework. “Even in a jumping round, you can tell who spends time on the flat,” he said. “Their horses are balanced and adjustable. It’s obvious.”

Many riders, especially less experienced ones, rely on the rail for security or spacing. Case urges them to break that habit. “The rail becomes a crutch,” he said. “You stop steering, you stop thinking. You let the wall do the work for you.”

Instead, he suggests riding off the track, staying a few feet inside the rail to keep both you and your horse accountable. “When you come off the wall, suddenly you have to ride,” he said. “You’ve got to keep your line straight, keep the horse between your leg and hand, and make the turns yourself.”

At first, this can feel uncomfortable, but that’s exactly the point. “It’s supposed to feel different,” Case explained. “That’s how you know you’re actually doing something.”

📎 Continue reading this article at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2025/11/15/get-off-the-rail-creativity-and-focus-in-flatwork/
📸 © The Plaid Horse

11/04/2025

It’s the feed; change it
It’s the grass; take them off it
It’s the bit; you tacked it up, change it
It’s the footing; don’t jump
It’s the warm up too busy/hectic etc; get up earlier school when it’s quiet

It’s my trainer/last trainer/last but 1,2,3 trainer etc; start listening to your trainer, do what they suggest or change

It’s the saddle; we rode 4+ in the same saddle just changed the pad , Skelton won the olympic gold in a decades old stubben.
They have more money; get over it, work harder and smarter

Duncans favourite saying “excuses are like A@ everybody has one” 🤣

We live in a world where the word horsemanship has been replaced with ‘equine science’ 🤦🏻‍♀️ if it has ‘science’ or ‘data’ behind it, it must be right
We live in a world where It’s always the fault of something or someone else

Great saying “when you point a finger there’s 3 pointing back at you”
❤️‍🩹

The great riders don’t make excuses , they strive to do better.
Once you step foot into the ring the responsibility is yours 😇

11/02/2025

One of the Most Offensive Things a Client Ever Told Me.

It is the hallmark of being professional that often times, you have to bite your tongue, or be calm and quiet in the face of inappropriate behaviour. Thankfully, for the last two years, the folks I have been lucky to work with and work for, have enabled me to be 100% myself. And even solicit my total honest, and unmasked self. They call THAT professional, not the masked politeness that often befalls us all in a working setting.

But before I got that lucky, I was once sitting on a zoom with someone who said something that for me- was wildly, wildly offensive -despite the fact they meant it with good intentions.

"I booked with you because I kept wondering why this guy who appeared to know so much about training, riding and biomechanics, chose to just trail ride."

Framed, of course, in the common mainstream assumption that those that can't do much with horses, trail ride. Or, that lower level horses trail ride. Or that preparing for a trail ride is somehow a lowly endeavour.

I spent about 12 years working in trail riding for the public environments. At various different levels. One employer I had used to only "rescue" horses, meaning not spend more than 1000€ on a horse which in Spain only buys you problem horses. Another would drop a minimum 8000€ on well bred youngsters. The latter once lamented that when they visited breeders and mentioned they run a trail riding outfit, would be shown the horses in the back, with weak spines, minimal bone, poor head set. And she would instead insist on the quality of breeding that they hold Dressage horses in regard for, because her horses work harder and in greater demand than any sport horse could dream of.

What this client said was offensive to me, because they were an intelligent, talented and kind-hearted person making an enormous difference in their local community with advanced, empathic training. And yet, they demonstrated a profound prejudice and ignorance about one of the most difficult jobs you can ever ask a horse to do.

Trail Riding a fit, properly prepared, happy and aware horse is one of the highest expressions of quality training in my humble opinion. Requiring them to be as fit as a sport horse. As calm as a paddock puff. Adaptable as a Police Horse. As agile as a Working Equitation mount. As powerful as an Eventer. As collected as a Dressage horse. Yet be able to do all this with both connection to their rider and independence in their skills, while their rider relaxes and takes in the scenery.

Some of the most impressive feats of training I have ever seen, have been out on the mountain, in the forest.

Not in the arena.

10/30/2025

If you haven’t listened to Sydney, you really need to. The girl is pretty funny, and she is nice as well…

When eventer and comedian Sydney Steverson made a video speaking as a Thoroughbred considering a career change, she didn’t expect the reel to take off. But horse people got the joke—so she rolled with it. Since 2023, Steverson has created spot-on reels for Instagram and TikTok, speaking from the horse’s perspective.

“I was expecting people to be more critical or wary of the weird story or the esoteric way I talk about things or approach these topics,” she said. “But people seemed to be really into it right away with positive responses. I was having fun, and I had an audience, so I just keep going.”

Link in comments 👇

10/19/2025

Cross-country was a day for the Thoroughbreds at the MARS Maryland 5 Star at Fair Hill p/b Brown Advisory.

New Zealand’s Monica Spencer retained her dressage-leading score of 23.7 after putting in a foot-perfect round on her longtime partner Artist, finishing a whopping 24 seconds under the time allowed, while ex-race horses accounted for two more of the day’s four double-clear rounds.

Read the full report through the link in the comments:

10/06/2025

Another great ending at finals, and on an OTTB ❤️

By Stephanie Grober  My first experience at Harrisburg was more than twenty years ago, when I was grooming for a friend who was showing in the equitation. Until recently, those fuzzy memories (was it really that dark?) were all I had of the historic equestrian venue. That all changed this August wh...

08/11/2025

"On Tuesday, I went to the USEF/USHJA Town Hall Meeting during Pony Finals at the Kentucky Horse Park, which occurred while USEF Pony Finals was actively showing. While all the top brass were there and claimed to be ready to listen, the event was poorly marketed and even more sparsely attended.

And maybe that’s good, because it showed exactly why change feels impossible in this sport.

I sat there and listened to the governing body blame the stewards for not upholding the rules. I heard them blame trainers. I sat there as punishment was discussed. I sat there while they failed to explain our sport to new members. I heard them discount lifelong horsepeople. I heard them contradict themselves. I heard our longtime leaders profess the need for a culture change.

I wondered if they were part of the same sport I love with my whole heart. The sport where most people are good, where they welcome others in, lift them on their way up, and, maybe more importantly, on their way back up. It’s the sport where horses should come first every single day, and where trainers, judges, stewards, and grooms work so hard they forget to eat, skip the restroom, and think of nothing but their responsibilities. It’s the sport fueled by a dream that demands micromanaging every detail of a horse’s care and performance—a lifelong obsession with creating our best selves and training horses to perform magic.

What I didn’t hear at the Town Hall was anyone truly taking responsibility for our future. Sure, they wanted to pass more rules. But more rules are not a culture change. Since I joined the federation, more and more governing rules each year has been the constant. And more championships. More horse shows. More classes. More pressure. More importance placed on every competition.

The continual “more more more” burdens the people actually doing the work inour sport. It’s nothing new, and certainly not a new direction.

I couldn’t help but sit there thinking of the quote often attributed to Einstein, “Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius, and a lot of courage, to move in the opposite direction.”

I listen to these meetings, feeling that they are so at odds with my lived experience at the horse shows. Over thousands of interviews, friendships, and horse shows, most people truly want to and seek out following every single rule always. Posts come up almost every day on The Plaid Horse Adult Amateur Lounge asking for clarification of the rules. Instead of being a standard for our sport, rules are being consistently contradicted or ignored for their own national championships with no repercussions. I frequently ask about rules to those working in the governing body, and often find myself feeling belittled and told that I don’t understand.

Why is our rulebook so hard to follow?

I watched at the Town Hall, our leadership unable to explain our sport to newcomers at the top level. I heard a chain of contradictions in examples that horses shouldn’t shake their heads with enthusiasm after a fantastic effort, while we are sitting in a meeting ostensibly about drug and medication rules. The rulebook is incomprehensible to newcomers and old timers alike. It is nearly impossible to follow, even for people who want to do every single thing they can to respect the sport. The rules in our (many) rulebooks are not simple or easy to understand.

This is not normal. This doesn’t happen in other sports. The NFL Rulebook is 92 pages. With horses adding complexity to our sport, it would be natural to think that our rulebook would be somewhat longer. And it is… it’s 1,290 pages. Of course, that doesn’t include the separate drug & medication rules.

This doesn’t need to happen in our sport. Most people want to follow the rules.

Instead of making clear and comprehensive rules, which at this point would likely require throwing the rulebook in the trash and making a single clear and cohesive document, the tactics seem to be attempting to make a common enemy of trashing our professionals, our sport, our judges, our stewards, and our community.

When we attack each other, the call determining our future is coming from inside the house.

🔗 Continue the full article by Piper Klemm at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2025/08/11/lets-make-it-easy-to-follow-the-rules/

08/04/2025

Athlete: Coach… I think I want to quit.

Coach: Okay. Then let’s talk about why.

Athlete: I’m tired. All the early mornings, the pain, the pressure. Sometimes I wake up and wonder what I’m even doing this for.

Coach: That’s not quitting. That’s being human. Doubt shows up when you’re close to something that matters.

Athlete: But I’m not even sure I’m good enough. I look around and see people stronger, faster… happier.

Coach: Comparison is a liar. It shows you everyone’s surface but hides their struggle. You don’t need to be better than them. You need to be better than yesterday.

Athlete: What if I never win? What if I give everything and still fall short?

Coach: Then you’ll walk away with something most never touch—truth. The kind you only find when you’ve emptied yourself for something bigger than comfort.

Athlete: So… you think I should keep going?

Coach: I think you already know the answer. You wouldn’t be having this conversation if you truly wanted to stop. You just want someone to remind you that it’s worth it.

Athlete: It hurts, Coach. Some days, it really hurts.

Coach: Good. That means you care. And nothing worth having comes without pain. Now breathe. You’ve made it through every hard day so far. Don’t quit before the breakthrough.

08/03/2025

Unpopular opinion: Know when to back off.

Horses are not machines. Make sure you find a trainer that knows when to push, and when to back off.

Get you a trainer that pays attention to your horse and their needs.

Some horses are such people pleasers, such hard workers, so trusting and willing, that they'd follow people into their own breaking point; and the wrong people will push them past it.

Make sure you find a trainer that recognizes the limits in your horse and doesn't try to experiment with their mental or physical soundness for faster results.

Like it or not, sometimes days off teach your horse more than constant daily pushing will.

They cannot speak, but the right trainers can still hear them. Make sure they listen.

- Good Secret Horsemanship

📸 Max & Maxwell: Equestrian Photography