Horse Rider UK – May 2026

Summary

Anna Haines, clinical animal behaviourist with an MSc in Applied Animal Behaviour and Welfare, argues on page 48 of Horse&Rider UK May 2026 (£4.99, issue 684) that the 'bombproof' horse most British owners advertise for may be shut down by learnt helplessness rather than genuinely calm.

Horse&Rider issue 684 (May 2026, £4.99) splits roughly 60/40 between editorial and advertising, and the editorial half is unusually behaviour-led. Louise Kittle's editor's letter frames the whole issue around one question: what does 'bombproof' actually mean for a flight animal? From there the magazine works through showing classes, backing young horses, hillwork fitness, mare cycles, wormer resistance and a 20-page summer rugging guide covering fly rugs, no-fill turnouts and coolers.

The strongest pages are the vet and behaviour features. Anna Haines gives a side-by-side table separating a genuinely relaxed horse from one in learnt helplessness — vacant stare, triangulated upper eyelids, plodding gait — while Huw Griffiths, clinical director at Liphook Equine Hospital, walks through the mare's 21-day cycle and how stable lighting can keep her cycling all winter. Julia Shrubb of Three Counties Equine Hospital and CANTER explains why ivermectin and moxidectin are already failing against roundworms.

Training content is pitched at the amateur rather than the competitor: Simon Luck's showing-class map for cobs, hacks, hunters and natives, Jay Buxton's two-pole rhythm exercise at Strides Equestrian, and a seven-step backing routine for three-year-olds. Elsewhere there's Jane Tuckwell on running Badminton (180,000 spectators, 850 volunteers) and a £253 WeatherBeeta bundle to win on page 58. The 20-page Summer Rugging Special from page 100 will sell rugs; the behaviour feature on page 48 is the reason to buy the issue.

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Content Guide

▸ Cover Story

p.48 · A quiet calm

Behaviourist Anna Haines, an MSc-qualified clinical animal behaviourist and APBC member, argues that the horse everyone calls bombproof is often in learnt helplessness rather than calm. A three-row table contrasts the two: soft eyes, ear movement and curiosity versus a vacant stare, triangulated upper eyelids and a plodding gait. She lists the triggers — excessive training pressure, housing that blocks natural behaviour, chronic pain, inconsistent cues. Takeaway: if your horse never startles, watch its eyelids and gait for a fortnight before you call it safe.

▸ Training

p.18 · Show time

BSHA judge Simon Luck, who runs Petworth schooling course in West Sussex, maps local showing classes onto horse types: cobs for hogged and traditional hairies, hacks and riding horses for finer Thoroughbred types, hunters for solid horses with more bone, mountain and moorland for natives, plus coloured, veteran and ex-racehorse classes. He explains why you turn a horse away from you, how to teach it to walk alongside you, and how in-hand classes fix napping. Takeaway: check the schedule's eligibility rules before you enter, and keep a mane comb in your pocket to scratch a tense horse in the ring.

p.34 · Early education

A seven-step backing routine for three-year-olds, filed in the dressage section. Start on long lines and lunge, fitting them to a lunging cavesson rather than the bit so steering comes without mouth pressure; a rubber bit is suggested for a first experience of a bit. The sequence runs from leaning over the saddle to the handler detaching the lunge line. Young horses get straight lines and 20m circles in canter, not tight turns. Takeaway: if the horse tenses at any step, go back one and repeat — do not sit heavily on a young back.

p.42 · Go with the flow

International showjumper and coach Jay Buxton, who runs Strides Equestrian in Cheshire with his wife Paige, blames lost rhythm for most messy rounds. His favourite exercise is two ground poles roughly two canter strides (about 10 human steps) apart with wings either side of the second, ridden in trot then canter from both directions; the second pole then becomes a cross-pole, an upright with a back rail, then a small oxer. Takeaway: resist looking for a stride — ride a straight approach and an energetic rhythm and let the horse find the distance.

p.30 · Head for the hills

Hillwork as fitness without a gallop track. Walk up a short, shallow slope first and add trot, canter and longer hills as fitness builds. On steeper ground keep your shoulders above your knees; in canter adopt a two-point seat and consider a neck strap. Downhill, stay tall with shoulders back, weight in the heels and longer reins so the horse can use its head and neck; ride a zig-zag if it rushes. Transitions on a gradient build muscle. Takeaway: warm up on the flat in all three paces before you point at a slope.

p.24 · Better together

A four-point case for riding in company, under the fun riding banner. Nervous riders relax with a more experienced companion; shared hacks unplug busy weeks and give the horse equine company; friends spot the faults you cannot feel, such as sitting to one side or losing a shoulder in a turn; and planning clinics, beach rides or a riding holiday gives you something booked. Takeaway: choose people who nudge you slightly outside your comfort zone rather than push you past it — or ask a non-horse friend to cycle alongside.

▸ Horse Care

p.60 · Girl talk

Vet Huw Griffiths, clinical director of Liphook Equine Hospital with a CertAVP in stud medicine, explains the mare's 21-day cycle: five days in season on dominant oestrogen, 16 out on progesterone. Signs include tail raising, winking, frequent urination and sensitivity near the flanks. Mares are long-day breeders, so the pineal gland reads daylight — and stable or barn lighting can keep a mare cycling through winter. Native pony cycles usually run March to September; Thoroughbreds and warmbloods start earlier. Takeaway: keep a diary of the behaviour you want to change so you can spot a seasonal pattern before asking your vet about progesterone.

p.78 · Clear and present danger

Julia Shrubb, a vet at Three Counties Equine Hospital and chair of CANTER, sets out the wormer-resistance problem: five licensed drugs in the UK and reported resistance to all of them. Ivermectin and moxidectin, the two most common dewormers sold here, are mostly ineffective against roundworms, and their egg-return window has roughly halved. No new dewormer has been licensed since moxidectin in the late 1990s. Her four steps are discuss with your prescriber, risk assess, test, and consider non-drug methods. Takeaway: stop calendar worming and justify every dose with a test result.

p.92 · No-fly zone

A practical run through fly control with the chemistry spelled out. Repellents work by blocking insects' odour receptors — IR3535, PMD from lemon eucalyptus and DEET — while permethrin and cypermethrin kill flies but are highly toxic to cats and wildlife, so limit their use. Licensed products carry an HSE registration number on the label. Fly rugs and masks are a physical barrier, and zebra stripes genuinely deter flies: University of Bristol researchers found the pattern interferes with a fly's judgement of distance and speed. Takeaway: rotate between sprays so flies do not learn to ignore one product, and patch-test for 24 hours first.

p.54 · Balanced thinking

Angie Jones-Moore's time-management feature, the issue's work-life cover. She asks you to list work, family, life admin, pets and horses, then score each area from one to four for ease, cost, effort, impact on you and impact on others, and add the totals to find the cheapest next move. She distinguishes intentions from goals — "I'll ride on Tuesday after work" beats "I will ride this week". Practical fixes include batching a week of haynets and feeds, and pairing with a yard friend so one does mornings and one evenings. Takeaway: set a fixed leaving time with a 15-minute contingency.

▸ Rugging Guide

p.100 · Fly rugs explained

Premier Equine's team explains what a summer fly rug actually is: polyester or nylon mesh creating a lightweight physical barrier that lets air through while keeping insects off the skin. Many now reflect sunlight to cut heat build-up, and design detail does the work — integrated neck covers, deep cuts, shoulder gussets, extended tail flaps. Static is the common complaint with synthetics, so look for anti-static linings over the mane, withers and shoulders. Unlike turnouts, fly rugs are rarely rated in denier, because breathability matters more than yarn weight. Takeaway: prioritise an anti-static shoulder lining and a detachable neck over a higher price tag.

p.124 · Tried and tested: Stable sheets

The magazine's own product test, closing the 20-page Summer Rugging Special that also covers fly rugs from page 102, waterproof fly rugs from 106, UV protection from 110, no-fill turnouts from 114, breathable fabrics from 117 and coolers from 118. The stable-sheet test is the only part of the guide written from the reader's side of the fence rather than a brand's. Takeaway: read this page first — it tells you which sheets survived use, then treat the surrounding 18 pages as a catalogue to shop from rather than advice to follow.

▸ Regulars

p.8 · Work in progress

Event director Jane Tuckwell opens the issue with what it takes to stage the MARS Badminton Horse Trials, which draws up to 180,000 spectators and runs 6–10 May 2026 on the Badminton Estate. Ground work restarts the moment the previous event ends; the main arena is fed, watered and mown year-round. Course designer Eric Winter re-routes the cross-country annually, keeping signature fences such as the MARS Lake, Vicarage V and Beaufort Staircase. Around 850 volunteers staff it, some for three generations. Takeaway: the full timetable, including the 11.30 Saturday cross-country, is printed — book tickets at badminton-horse.co.uk.

p.16 · Stay up to date

The news and events pages. Natalie O'Rourke, coach and founder of Park Lane Stables RDA in southwest London, is named The Sunday Times Grassroots Sportswoman of the Year. World Horse Welfare launches HEY (Horses' Experiences on Yards), a free five-domains assessment scoring 15 essential needs for yard managers. Researchers identify the horse whinny as a dual-mechanism sound — vocal fold vibration plus an in-larynx whistle — the first large mammal known to do both. The diary lists Bicton Horse Trials (28–31 May), Hickstead Derby (18–21 June) and the Royal Highland Show. Takeaway: download the free HEY tool before your next yard review.

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Editor's Take

Anna Haines' page 48 feature is the best thing in issue 684 and the only piece likely to change how you handle your horse tomorrow: the learnt-helplessness checklist — vacant eyes, triangulated eyelids, no startle response — is worth the £4.99 alone. Haines also flags the legal risk of advertising a horse as 'bombproof', which is an absolute claim. That said, this issue is padded. The 20-page Summer Rugging Special from page 100 is product copy dressed as advice, and fly sprays, hoof supplements and feed balancers eat whole spreads. Two pages of horse properties and a horses-for-sale section follow. Buy it for the behaviour and vet pages, not the shopping.

Strengths
• Haines' learnt-helplessness table gives a usable test for an ignored welfare problem
• Vet bylines carry real weight: Liphook, Three Counties, CANTER and the RDA
• Jay Buxton's two-pole rhythm exercise needs no arena-sized budget

Weaknesses
• The 20-page rugging guide is retail copy with a technical gloss
• Ad density is high; fly spray and balancer spreads break the feature run

Verdict: Recommended — Buy it for the behaviour and vet features; skim the rugging guide and shopping spreads.