EXPERT TAKE
RIDER TO HORSEMAN PRESENTS:
How the Pros Keep Their Horses Happy at the Horse Show WHETHER YOUR HORSE competes in the occasional
local show or they live their life on the road, the stress of travel and being in a new place can take away from your horse’s overall health and happiness. We chatted with ten top professionals in the industry and asked, “How do you maintain your horses’ happiness on the road?”Here’s what they had to say:
JENNIFER ALFANO We keep our routine the same. Other than being in a different place, we try not to change anything else. We try to go to horse shows with paddocks, especially if we are going to be somewhere for a couple weeks.
AMANDA STEEGE When we are traveling with our horses, we take a lot of steps to keep them as happy as possible. We put a lot of thought into the trailer ride to the show. We always use our own trailer, or if we are shipping commercial,
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THE PLAID HORSE
we rent the entire truck so that only our horses are in the trailer and so that they have a direct route from our farm to their destination. We also know at this point which horses get along with which other horses and we try to pair them up accordingly so that their neighbor on the trailer is somebody that they tend to get along with. We also try to look at the weather forecast and make our travel arrangements accordingly. For instance, if it’s going to be very hot, we try to travel early in the morning. We want the travel to the show to be as stress-free as possible so that
October/November 2023
they arrive happy and healthy. Once we arrive at the show, we put a lot of thought and care into choosing which stall each horse will live in. We have some horses that don’t do well with neighbors so we try to pick a stall for those horses where they have the least amount of horses around them. We have other horses that do well with particular neighbors and not with others so we spend a lot of time picking out who is going to live where. Oftentimes they live next to the same horse that they shipped next to. Also, if we are at a show for more than one week, we usually get enough extra stalls to make each one a stall and a half or double stalls so that the horses have plenty of space to lay down and move around. We bring fans to hang in the stalls to keep the horses cool and comfortable, and to help keep the flies off of them. While they are at the show we try to keep their schedule
as consistent as possible. We bring all of our own feed and supplements, and we make sure to purchase hay that is the same type that they eat at home. My horses are used to a lot of grass turnout at home, so when we are at the shows, we try to get them out multiple times a day for hand grazing. We monitor them closely for any signs of stress, check often to make sure that they are drinking plenty of water, monitor their manure, and make sure they are eating well.
GEOFF CASE Most of what we do involves keeping the horses as entertained as possible. We take them for hand walks and grass whenever there is an extra minute. Normally in the stalls we always try to keep a haynet and a toy (each horse has their own stuffed animal) in front of them. Here in Europe it’s nice that most of the stalls have an outside window so they can
