Your Horse – July 2026

Summary

Jasean Spraggett's Caraghann takes the cover of Your Horse July 2026 (Issue 545, £4.75), under "Get competition ready" and a 30-page special. The cover also carries turnout tips, show-stopping manes and tails, time-saving tack shortcuts, and how to turn a raw ex-racer into a perfect partner.

Katie Jerram-Hunnable's ageing-gracefully piece at p28 is the heart of the issue, on keeping the 24-year-old legend Barbers Shop happy, healthy and still enjoying the job. Rev Lisa Coupland, the Traitors star and vicar, talks blessing horses and hacking around Scotland at p14.

The news pages carry the real numbers: more than 1,500 UK owners surveyed on colic at Nottingham, 727 riders on pregnancy and returning to competition, and The Donkey Sanctuary taking in 179 former working donkeys between 2015 and 2023, all but four with significant health problems.

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Content Guide

▸ Regulars

p.6 · Horse talk
Charlotte Cooper and Aimi Clark write the news pages, which carry the three research stories below. News is where a monthly earns its cover price. Read it before the features.

p.10 · Hack 1000 Miles — Why dogs chase horses and what riders can do about it
The hacking column asks why dogs chase horses and what riders can do. Dog chasing is the hazard riders meet most often. Note one route where it happens to you.

p.18 · Selfie — You share your pics
Readers send in their photographs. Reader pages are the community a magazine is built on. Send one picture of your own this month.

p.106 · Take five with Suzanne Dando
Former gymnast turned TV presenter Suzanne Dando takes the closing five. Final pages work when the guest is unexpected. Read it last, as the editor intends.

▸ Training

p.28 · Ageing gracefully — Katie Jerram-Hunnable
The showing star sets out how she keeps the 24-year-old legend Barbers Shop healthy, active and enjoying life, on soundness and fun rather than retirement. A 24-year-old still working rewrites what owners expect. Ask what your own veteran still enjoys before you stop riding.

p.34 · Fix your lower leg — Sarah Bullimore
Top event rider Sarah Bullimore gives solutions for a more secure seat. Lower leg instability is the fault most riders never fix. Film your leg on the flat this week and watch it back.

p.36 · Calm under pressure
Lauren Innes's anxious horse Flipper is the case study for how an anxious horse learned to be brave in an arena. Arena nerves are the problem that ends more seasons than injury. Ride one short arena session and stop while it is still calm.

p.42 · The Thoroughbred transition
The ex-racer cover strand explains what it really takes to produce an ex-racehorse into a riding horse. Retraining is the work most owners underestimate. Give any ex-racer one quiet month before you ask for more.

▸ Features

p.14 · Interview — Rev Lisa Coupland
The Traitors series three star and vicar talks about her life as a woman priest, being on the BBC show and her love of horses, including blessing several horses through her work, and hacking for miles around Scotland. Unusual interviewees are why features pages exist. Watch one episode before you judge the booking.

p.20 · Seize the moment — Senior Wall of Fame
The piece explains how to get your veteran onto the new Senior Wall of Fame at Your Horse Live. Veteran recognition is the sort of idea readers photograph. Enter your own veteran before the show.

▸ Care and Experts

p.56 · The steroid dilemma — Lucinda Ticehurst
Resident vet Lucinda Ticehurst sets out what owners need to know about steroids, as a double-edged treatment with benefits and drawbacks. Steroids are the drug owners ask about and understand least. Ask your vet to explain the risks before any course.

p.76-84 · Ask the Experts
Donkeys, box rest, endurance and feeding are covered, with lysine named as needed by every equine. Expert pages are the reference section readers keep. Check your horse's feed for lysine this week.

p.84 · Feeding — Why every equine needs lysine
Lysine is the essential amino acid every horse needs. Amino acids are the feeding detail most rations miss. Compare your feed's lysine with a balancer.

▸ Competition Special (30 pages)

p.60 · Travel troubles? — Justine Harrison
Justine Harrison explains why loading and travelling confidence starts before the ramp. Loading is the competition day problem nobody practises. Practise one load at home this week, not at the show.

p.66 · Less brush, more hair
Professional grooming tips for show-stopping manes and tails. Manes and tails are the turnout detail judges see first. Change one brush before you plait again.

p.82 · Baths and bubbles
Practical washing tips that weigh appearance against welfare. Washing too often is the welfare mistake behind a clean coat. Wash one less time this month.

p.88 · Rosette-ready jackets
A trusted panel of riders tests competition jackets. Panel testing is the only gear coverage worth reading. Try one jacket before you buy.

p.92 · Smart tack, less effort — Poppy Webber
SMS saddle fitter Poppy Webber explains the two extremes of tack cleaning, obsessed or forgotten, and the balance between them. Tack condition is the first thing a judge sees. Clean one piece of tack properly tonight.

p.98 · The shirt list · p.100 · A wash above the rest
Competition shirts and shampoos are reviewed. Shampoo choice is the purchase owners guess at. Match one shampoo to your horse's coat colour.

p.24 · Bites for better riding
Snack recipes to fuel riders in the saddle. Rider fuel is the performance input nobody plans. Pack one proper snack for your next long ride.

▸ News Research

Colic misconceptions — University of Nottingham
Katie Burrell led research surveying more than 1,500 UK horse owners on colic misconceptions, published in the Equine Veterinary Journal. Colic kills more horses than any other emergency. Ask what your own colic plan is before you need it.

Pregnancy and returning to riding — Hartpury University
Dr Victoria Lewis worked with the University of Kentucky on support for pregnant and postpartum riders, surveying 727 riders. More than a quarter did not return to their pre-pregnancy competition level, and most women were back in the saddle within a year. Ride plans after pregnancy deserve more than silence. Ask your own yard what support it offers.

Working donkeys — The Donkey Sanctuary
Dr Tamlin Watson led research on licensing rules for working donkeys. Between 2015 and 2023 The Donkey Sanctuary took in 179 former working donkeys, all but four with significant health problems, and nearly three quarters had been beach donkeys. Licensing is the gap between a rule and a life. Ask whether beach donkeys are licensed where you holiday.

▸ Offers

Competition and subscription
Three readers can win an Absorbine premium grooming bundle at p22, and six issues cost £25.99 with two Zebra Products gifts at p46. A Red mounting block is £79.99, down from £99.99, weighing 7.5kg. Check whether the offer is still open before you order.

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Editor's Take

Katie Jerram-Hunnable on Barbers Shop at 24 is what makes Your Horse July 2026 worth keeping, because a showing legend still working and still enjoying it, framed around soundness and fun, is a better argument for keeping veterans going than any vet column. The three news research stories earn the issue's seriousness: 1,500 owners on colic, 727 riders on pregnancy, and 179 donkeys with all but four ill is data reported with names and totals. Weakest is the 30-page competition special, which is largely advertising in feature clothing — jacket tests, shirt lists, shampoo matching — and most of it cannot be quoted because the source gives titles only. Poppy Webber's tack-cleaning observation is the one genuinely useful page in it. Buy this for the veteran pages and the news; treat the special as a catalogue.

Strengths
• Barbers Shop at 24 reframes veteran riding
• Colic gives 1,500 owners and a journal citation
• Donkey Sanctuary gives 179, all but four ill
• 727 riders on returning after pregnancy

Weaknesses
• 30-page special is advertising in disguise
• Most feature body text cannot be quoted
• Grooming and jacket pages are lists

Verdict: Recommended — the news research and veteran pages, skip the special.