Clear Round Stables

11/23/2025

Izabella's New Mount . Dominican 🇩🇴

11/19/2025

10/26/2025

10/23/2025

Ask Dr. Holly Helbig what she worries most about for the future of the sport, and her answer isn’t about judging systems, prize money, or even veterinary shortages. It’s about kids.

“We’ve done this to them,” she said during a recent Plaidcast In Person event. “We’ve tacked up for them, been their grooms, enabled them. They aren’t getting the hours it takes to build intuition around horses.”

That loss of hands-on time—the small, daily habits that teach empathy and awareness—has become one of Helbig’s biggest concerns. And as both a veterinarian and professional trainer, she’s seen how taking those opportunities away doesn’t just change young riders; it changes the horses too.

Helbig describes herself as a “horse-crazy girl, not from a horse family.” She didn’t grow up surrounded by resources, but she found a way to make it work. “My parents went through bankruptcy,” she said. “Being a kid, not coming from a ton of money, I had to be scrappy.”

That scrappiness, she believes, is part of what shaped her success. “I didn’t have the money to pay a braider or a bunch of grooms,” she said. “You just jump in and do what you have to do. At the end of the day, I wouldn’t trade it. My relationship with that horse was stronger because of all the time I spent with him.”

Today, she worries that many young riders aren’t getting those same opportunities. “I think we’ve created a generation that can ride beautifully,” she said, “but hasn’t had the chance to really know horses.”

In her own training program, Helbig made sure her students stayed involved in every aspect of horse care. “My kids tacked for themselves at the horse show,” she said. “We had grooms, but they tacked for themselves.”

When something medical came up, she used it as a teaching moment. “Whenever anything happened in the barn, I’d scoop all the kids up and say, ‘Come look at this. What is it? Look at this ultrasound. Let’s look at this x-ray together.’”

Those experiences, she said, taught her students to see horses as living, breathing partners—not just show animals. “They learned to pay attention, to notice things, and to ask questions. That’s what builds confidence.”

📎 Continue reading this article at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2025/10/22/let-the-kids-tack-up-why-the-next-generation-needs-more-time-in-the-barn/
📸 Lauren Mauldin / The Plaid Horse

10/08/2025

10/04/2025

Stay out of his Way. Let him do his thing ! Great Horse !

Celebrating a Legend: Idle Dice 🐎

They say greatness isn’t always born into pedigree — sometimes, it simply emerges. That was the story of Idle Dice, a horse that rewrote expectations and captured hearts.

Idle Dice’s remarkable journey is a reminder that with the right partnership, grit, and trust, something extraordinary can unfold.

From Humble Beginnings to Grand Prix Glory

Idle Dice arrived on the scene fresh off the racetrack, with unremarkable lineage and an uncertain future. Purchased for just $3,500, he was far from a guaranteed champion. But under the right hands, he found his calling—not on the racetrack, but over fences.

Renowned rider Rodney Jenkins, his later owner, put it best: “Just stay out of his way and let him do his job.” And do his job he did—over 29 Grand Prix wins, a long, sound career, and a legacy that still inspires today.

What Makes a True Champion?

Idle Dice’s path highlights a few timeless truths:

Heart over heritage — exceptional ability can surprise you.

Trust your partner — more than training or control, trust often leads the way.

Longevity matters — retiring sound at 21 speaks volumes about careful care and balance.

Why His Story Matters

Because every equestrian knows: success isn’t always about starting with the best. Sometimes it’s about seeing potential, investing in it, believing in it, and letting the horse shine.

Idle Dice’s legacy isn’t just in trophies — it lives in every overlooked horse we give a chance, in every bond that defies expectations, in every rider who dares to dream bigger.

09/09/2025

08/18/2025

08/15/2025

Sprucing it up in Canada! 🇨🇦

US Equestrian is pleased to announce the Team selected for the FEI Jumping Nations Cup Spruce Meadows CSIO5* in Calgary, Canada.

🔹 Elena Haas (Oakland, Calif.)
🔹 Lillie Keenan (New York, N.Y.)
🔹 Laura Kraut (Royal Palm Beach, Fla.)
🔹 Aaron Vale (Williston, Fla.)

📺 FEI.TV
⏰ September 2-7, 2025

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07/31/2025

Abdullah, the iconic gray Trakehner stallion, named one of the Top 50 Horses of the Century

Abdullah will forever be remembered for his brilliant clear round with rider Conrad Homfeld at the 1984 Olympics, helping secure the first-ever Team Gold Medal for the United States in show jumping 🥇—followed by a stunning Individual Silver Medal 🥈.

Their legacy didn’t stop there:
🏆 1985 World Cup Champion – Berlin
🥇 1986 World Champion Horse – Aachen (Team Gold again!)

Abdullah also competed with show jumping greats Joe Fargis and Debbie Stephens, becoming a Grand Prix winner and a pioneer warmblood jumper stallion. His impact as a sire is unmatched:
🔹 7 USEF Horses of the Year
🔹 IHF & IJF Champions
🔹 His son Abracadabra – 1999 USEF Jr. Jumper of the Year
🔹 Airborne Monticello – 1996 French Olympic Team 🇫🇷

Thanks to Select Breeders Service, Abdullah's legacy lives on internationally through cutting-edge frozen semen technology 🌍.

💫 A true legend in sport and breeding, Abdullah’s name will continue to soar across generations.

07/16/2025

Yes. Yes . Yes !!

The most common riding flaw I see among today's riders, including pros, is that they look down. To maintain correct balance, we need to ride with our head up and our eyes forward. I see riders posting images all over the internet of them riding that show they are looking down. This might seem a minor issue, but it is not.

When your eyes are down, your horse can feel that your balance is more forward to varying degrees over their horse's forehand. This might seem like a minor issue, but it will put your horse onto their forehand. When your eyes go down, your head that weighs 15 pounds (7 kg) goes down and forward, and usually your shoulders begin to close. All of this together causes a horse to fall forward onto their forehand. The fact that your head is up high at the end of an effective lever, that is your upper body, multiplies the forward weight of your head and shoulders significantly affecting your horse's balance.

The negative effects this has on your horse show up in several ways. It makes both upward and downward transitions more difficult for your horse because this imbalance interferes with your horse's need to engage their hind to reach under themselves. Simply said, when you shift your weight forward in this manner it becomes more difficult for your horse to use its hind. The same is true in lead changes. Rider weight over the forehand, even a little bit, makes all movements that depend on hind engagement more difficult for your horse.

This common riding flaw also affects the rider. Looking down makes it more difficult to develop "feel". To develop "feel" a rider must be centered in unity with their horse's balance. Being forward, ahead of the horse's center of balance creates an obstacle to feeling the horse's balance.

If you look down when riding, just stop it. If you have to look down for a reason, move your eyeballs, not your head. If you keep your eyes and head up and your shoulders open, many improvements will follow. You will sit the canter better because your head and neck position will no longer interfere with your hips swinging to the beats of the canter. "Eyes up". It's simple and fixes a lot of things.