EHAL Magazine May 2019

Everything Horses and Livestock Magazine ®

Training Can Be Fun by Matthew Jobe

How many horses are in the United States? The current estimate according to a recent study commissioned by the American Horse Council Foundation and conducted by the Barents Group is 9.2 million, this includes both recreational and commercial horses. Out of the grand total 3.91M are used for recreational purposes. Many folks enjoy riding their equine partners down some of the beautiful trails across America. How many hours a week do you spend trail riding? When I ask this question, the average answer I get is “four hours per week”. How much of that time is productive for the horse? How many times did you pick up on your horse’s reins and ask something of them? Trail riding can be a fun and relaxing way to enjoy our horses. It’s also a great way to see some of the prettiest of places and spend

horsemanship clinics, to my surprise, I find the average trail horse to have the least amount of training/knowledge.

time with our friends.

As I travel the United States putting on monthly

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