Whole Heap of Little Horse Links

Thank you to Christina for this link about an Olympic three-day-event hopeful who survived a catastrophic barn fire. The NYT features includes a short film and a slideshow.

Christina also sent this extraordinary story about a rescued horse. It’s not so much the rescue that stands out, as the practice it sheds light on. Apparently the height of sophistication of STD testing in the horse world consists of breeding a mare to a newly imported stallion and seeing if the mare develops any diseases. Every bit as foul as the Premarin mares… This mare was lucky to be rescued, albeit with permanent damage to her reproductive system. UPDATE: Corinna has researched the story behind this, and I suggest you mosey over to her blog to have a read.

The Independent on Sunday has a long feature on the epidemic of horse abandonment and neglect in the UK. Redwings Horse Sanctuary has declared itself full. Redwings. ENORMOUS Redwings. I visited their HQ at Hapton in Norfolk two years ago for a chapter of If Wishes Were Horses, and was amazed by their incredible facilities: post-and-rail paddocks as far as the eyes could see, a fully equipped veterinary hospital, rehab facilities and retraining for adoption. They also have a healthy annual income. If Redwings can’t cope with the demand for shelter for unwanted British horses, no one can. Worrying stuff.

Side-saddle enthusiast Cindy Simms (whose grandmother was at the vanguard of the side-saddle revival movement of the 1970s) is looking for an off-side saddle. Blogger Sidesaddle Girl may have found the solution: a brand new piece of tack made by Zaldi in Spain.

More cheerily, someone at HHO provided a link to British eventer Phoebe Buckley’s 2010 round up of bloopers, which is great fun. Watch for the hair-raising stuff at 1.20!