Name of breed: Arabian, or Arab Country of origin: This is a much-disputed point! There are arguments to support the breed’s development in northern Syria, southern Turkey, the Piedmont region in northern Italy, the Fertile Crescent running from Iraq to the coast of Egypt, and southwestern Arabia. Breed origin: The prototype for the modern Arabian […]

Did you know that the first ever motion picture featured a horse and rider? In 1873, Leland Stanford, horse breeder and founder of Stanford University, commissioned Eadweard Muybridge to photograph his prized trotter, Occident. In doing so, Stanford wanted to settle a long-disputed question: does a horse have all four hooves off the ground at […]

Name of breed: South German Coldblood (German: Süddeutsches Kaltblut) Country of origin: Bavaria, Germany Breed origin: The South German Coldblood is a descendant of Austrian Noriker horses that were introduced to Bavaria, in southern Germany, in the 1800s. The Noriker is a fine draught horse, but breeders in Upper Bavaria wanted to create a different, […]

Nothing speaks of Aussie bush heritage more than Banjo Patterson’s famous poem, ‘The Man From Snowy River’. Musicians have sung it, there’s been a movie made about it, and the town of Corryong, at the base of the Australian Alps, has created an entire festival around it. The sleepy little alpine hamlet swells in April […]

Horse Breed: Don Name of breed: Don (Russian: Donskaya) Country of origin: Russia Breed origin: The first recorded mention of this breed dates from the 16th century, when it was bred by the Cossack tribes near the Don and Volga rivers by crossing the semi-wild horses of the Russian steppe with Arabian, Turkmenian (today’s Akhal-Teke) […]

Zoë Vorenas is a para equestrian dressage rider who is part of the Victorian State Squad and the National High Performance Squad. A horse girl since she was first put on a Shetland at age 3, Zoë tried many different disciplines before falling in love with dressage. In 2014, during her final year of school, […]

Name of breed: Coffin Bay Pony Country of origin: Coffin Bay, Australia. Breed origin: The Coffin Bay Pony’s story begins in 1839, when Captain Hawson transported around 60 Timor Ponies from Sumatra to the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. He intended to use the ponies for breeding, and in 1847 all of the ponies were […]

Anna King, globetrotter and medical professional, has kindly written an in-depth guide to staying healthy and identifying and treating illnesses and injuries while travelling. She’s covered common complaints and their treatments, first aid, coping with long-distance flights, and a whole lot of handy tips. Keep this info on-hand for your horse riding holiday! (Make sure […]

Seasoned globetrotter and medical professional Anna King has very generously given us the ultimate guide to staying healthy on your horse riding holiday. In this article, we’re going to cover everything you need to know about preparing for your travels, from vaccinations to first aid kits. (Make sure you also check our article with our […]

Alycia Burton is a 29-year-old New Zealander who rose to fame almost by accident when videos of her free jumping – jumping bareback and/or without a bridle – went viral. Together with her beautiful gelding, Gold Rush, she now runs Free Riding New Zealand, giving demonstrations and lessons at home and abroad to help people […]

Few horses can claim to have had more effect on the modern Thoroughbred than the Godolphin Arabian. Now the subject of poems, novels and paintings, this stallion had a pretty rough start. From what history can tell us, it seems he was a small, golden-bay Arabian horse born on the Barbary Coast of northern Africa […]

Hey Globetrotters, You may remember our post back in March where we introduced Clemmie Wotherspoon, an extraordinary rider traversing the 5,330km Bicentennial National Trail with three brumbies. Clemmie’s main goal is to increase awareness of the healing power of animal-human connections and equine therapy, especially Riding for the Disabled. Three months in, it’s time for […]

Hey Globetrotters, did you know that an FEI Classics Series three-day event happens right in our backyard every year? Right in Adelaide’s backyard, to be precise! Every November, the parklands that circle Adelaide’s CBD are taken over by this internationally significant equestrian competition. Three-day eventing, commonly called eventing, originated as a way to test military […]