Editors of EQUUS for Young EQUUS

It?s important to your horse for his tack to fit properly. Ill-fitting saddles or bridles not only hurt your horse, they can cause permanent damage to his back, head and mouth. And once a horse knows that his tack hurts, he?ll fight you whenever you try to put it on him.

Here are some helpful hints to make both your life and your horse's life easier and more comfortable:

With no tools but your eyes and your hands, you can give your horse a simple health check. Once you get into the habit of doing a health check every day, you?ll be able to tell almost right away when he isn?t feeling well. But, of course, you have to know what to look for.

If you could teach your horse English, there is one word he would learn extra fast, and it would be his favorite--food.

The best rides of all are when you can say, ?We were together all the way.? But being together means more than just staying in the saddle. It means your horse worked with you instead of against you.

Although horses have been man?s companions and partners for many centuries, they were once wild-and in many ways, domestic horses view the world as if they were still wild. To consider illogical or harmful (such as shying on the trail or chewing wood in the stall), it helps to know how a wild horse learns to survive.

In order to take good care of our horses we have to understand them. And one of the best ways to understand them is to ask questions about them. Here are the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about horses and ponies.

Here are some fascinating facts and stories about horses, like how a "neigh" is pronounced and spelled in several different languages and countries..

If you lined up all the creatures on Earth in one starting gate, here?s what would happen.

You can easily get a feel for what it?s like for your horse to wear a bit and bridle by placing the headstall (facing backwards) over your own head and holding the bit lightly in your fingers. Have a friend be your ?rider? and stand directly in front of you, holding the reins.

Just because ponies are smaller than horses, it doesn?t mean we should think less of them. Good things can come in small packages. Ponies want people to remember that they?re different from standard-size horses, and in some ways, they don?t want to be tr