LG Sport Horses Riding, training and life with sport horses

LG Sport Horses

Riding, training and life with sport horses

Latest Articles

The Policy in the Drawer: A Winter Insurance Audit for Sport Horse Owners
Ownership & Yard Life

The Policy in the Drawer: A Winter Insurance Audit for Sport Horse Owners

Most sport horse insurance claims are decided long before the vet submits an invoice — in the definitions, limits and exclusions of a policy document. As the season winds down, a wet afternoon with a highlighter can show where the cover really sits. Here is a practical UK owner’s audit for pre-existing conditions, loss of use, activity exclusions and vet-fee limits.
Marks in the Margin: Making a Judge's Sheet Work for the Next Six Weeks
Training

Marks in the Margin: Making a Judge's Sheet Work for the Next Six Weeks

That crumpled sheet in the lorry door pocket is one of the cheapest coaching tools in the sport — if you read it properly. Here's how to pull one or two honest priorities out of the collectives and comments, then build a six-week plan around them at home.
Layers That Earn Their Keep: Winter Clipping and Rugging for the Horse in Real Work
Ownership & Yard Life

Layers That Earn Their Keep: Winter Clipping and Rugging for the Horse in Real Work

Clipping and rugging decisions work best when they follow the horse’s actual workload, not just the forecast. Here’s a practical UK winter wardrobe plan for a sport horse that is still in proper work.
Nobody Photographs a Tuesday: The Winter Routine That Holds a Season Together
Ownership & Yard Life

Nobody Photographs a Tuesday: The Winter Routine That Holds a Season Together

The show photos go on the wall, but the season is built on dark, muddy, unremarkable days. Here is how to audit the non-ridden side of winter life and turn it into a repeatable default day that keeps a sport horse sound, sane and ready.
Hoof Care by the Block: Building a Farrier Calendar That Keeps Up With Your Season
Ownership & Yard Life

Hoof Care by the Block: Building a Farrier Calendar That Keeps Up With Your Season

Farrier visits are often the last thing added to a competition diary and the first thing to cause panic when dates collide. This is a practical, yard-level guide to mapping hoof care around blocks of work, travel, rest weeks and a very British winter — without the pre-show shoeing scramble.
Three Ways to the Warm-Up: The Honest Transport Sums Behind a Season
Ownership & Yard Life

Three Ways to the Warm-Up: The Honest Transport Sums Behind a Season

Buying a trailer or box feels like the big decision, but the number that matters is cost per outing. Here’s a UK-friendly way to compare towing, owning and hiring using the shows you actually attend.
The Ground Beneath the Work: What a Winter Arena Is Telling Your Sport Horse
Training

The Ground Beneath the Work: What a Winter Arena Is Telling Your Sport Horse

Winter 2026 schooling often happens on a surface that has quietly changed underfoot. Here is how to read the arena with your feet and your horse, ask the right yard questions, and adjust the work before small surface issues become training problems.
The Late Call-Off: What to Do With a Primed Sport Horse When the Show Disappears
Training

The Late Call-Off: What to Do With a Primed Sport Horse When the Show Disappears

A cancelled show can leave a fit horse feeling ready for a party that never happens. This is a calm, practical plan for the week after a late call-off — protecting freshness, fitness and the rider’s sense of purpose without over-schooling.
Six Weeks in a Stable: A Box Rest Plan That Looks After Horse and Human
Ownership & Yard Life

Six Weeks in a Stable: A Box Rest Plan That Looks After Horse and Human

Box rest is rarely just about the horse. A six-week stretch can test your patience, your routine and your relationship with the yard kettle. Here’s a practical, vet-led plan for keeping condition, sanity and partnership intact.
Miles With a Purpose: Making Roadwork Earn Its Place in the Plan
Training

Miles With a Purpose: Making Roadwork Earn Its Place in the Plan

Hacking is too often filed under 'day off' when it can be some of the most useful work in a sport horse's week. Here's how to use pace, terrain and route choice to build fitness, reset a sharp mind and protect soundness — without turning every outing into a schooling session.
Four Experts, One Horse: Running a Support Team That Actually Talks
Ownership & Yard Life

Four Experts, One Horse: Running a Support Team That Actually Talks

Vet on Tuesday, farrier on Thursday, physio next week — and somehow three good appointments can leave you with three different plans. Here's how to build a support team around a sport horse that shares information, agrees a lead and keeps the horse's welfare at the centre of it all.
The Boring Bits That Save the Partnership: A Sport Horse Part-Loan Checklist
Ownership & Yard Life

The Boring Bits That Save the Partnership: A Sport Horse Part-Loan Checklist

Taking on a sharer can make owning a sport horse more affordable and more enjoyable — but only if the arrangement is clear before anyone puts a foot in the stirrup. This practical checklist covers money, insurance, competition rules, time off and exit plans for UK owners in 2026.
Standing Down, Not Switching Off: A Four-Week Post-Season Plan for Sport Horses
Ownership & Yard Life

Standing Down, Not Switching Off: A Four-Week Post-Season Plan for Sport Horses

The month after the last show is not a gap in the calendar — it is the foundation for next season. Here is a practical four-week reset covering active rest, the checks worth booking now, mud management and the point at which winter work should properly begin.
The Crooked Rider Check: What Your Horse Is Telling You About Your Saddle Position
Training

The Crooked Rider Check: What Your Horse Is Telling You About Your Saddle Position

Your horse keeps drifting left, bulging right, or losing one canter lead, and you have already checked the obvious boxes. Before you book another bodywork session, it is worth auditing the rider in the saddle. This is a practical look at the small leans and twists that quietly shape a sport horse’s way of going, plus a realistic plan for fixing them without turning every schooling session into a clinic.
Slot Books, Not Standoffs: Winter Indoor Time That Actually Schools a Sharp Horse
Training

Slot Books, Not Standoffs: Winter Indoor Time That Actually Schools a Sharp Horse

The indoor arena is the most fought-over square footage on any UK yard from November onwards. Here's how to keep the rota civil, share the space sensibly, and still get a session that leaves your sport horse thinking rather than just sweating.
Just the One: Why a Single Sport Horse Can Still Carry Serious Ambition
Ownership & Yard Life

Just the One: Why a Single Sport Horse Can Still Carry Serious Ambition

Somewhere along the way, one horse stopped being enough. This is a case for the ambitious amateur who stays at one — and an honest look at the situations where a second horse really does make sense.
Reading the Yard: What to Ask Before Your Competition Horse Moves In
Breeding & Production

Reading the Yard: What to Ask Before Your Competition Horse Moves In

A glossy livery brochure can tell you about the arena and the hacking; it rarely tells you how turnout actually works in February. This is the friendly but forensic yard-visit checklist we use when a sport horse’s workload and a rider’s real life both need to fit.
Roadside at Seven: A Show-Day Breakdown Plan for Horse and Rider
Training

Roadside at Seven: A Show-Day Breakdown Plan for Horse and Rider

The dressage times are printed, the haynet is tied, and then the lorry makes a noise it has never made before. Here is how to prepare for the show-day breakdown nobody puts on the timetable — and how to keep the horse’s day as boring as possible while yours falls apart.
Twenty Minutes of Chaos: Rethinking the Competition Warm-Up
Training

Twenty Minutes of Chaos: Rethinking the Competition Warm-Up

The warm-up ring is the most crowded, most stressful and least understood patch of ground at any UK show. Here's why so many sport horses arrive at the bell tense instead of tuned — and the simple routine that fixes it.
After the Rosette: The Recovery Hour Nobody Photographs
Breeding & Production

After the Rosette: The Recovery Hour Nobody Photographs

The photo gets taken, the lorry gets packed, and the work that shapes next week's horse begins. A look at the post-competition hour — cooling, legs, hydration and the journey home — and why grooms treat it as seriously as the round itself.