Practical Horseman – 3 December 2025

Summary

Practical Horseman Winter 2025 (3 December 2025, Vol. 53, No. 4) leads with a figure-eight jumping exercise for a solid position, Endel Ots keeping it simple at the highest level, and From Stomach to Hindgut: GI Issues Explained.

The cover's figure-eight becomes Holly Hugo-Vidal's feature at p20: the hunter/jumper trainer and judge shares tips for developing independent rider aids and smoother rounds. Endel Ots's Paris journey with Zen Elite's Bohemian runs at p26.

The issue's other named stories are Kaylawna Smith-Cook on making her own way at p40, and amateur eventer Laura Wilson winning the Mustang Classic on a one-eared gelding at p42. Beezie Madden's jumping clinic is at p10 and Susanne von Dietze's at p14.

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Content Guide

▸ Cover Stories

p.20 · Effective Rider Aids for Successful Jumping Efforts — Holly Hugo-Vidal
Hunter/jumper trainer and judge Holly Hugo-Vidal shares tips for developing independent aids and smoother rounds, built around the cover's figure-eight jumping exercise. Independent aids are the difference between riding and being carried. Ride one figure-eight and feel which aid you drop.

p.26 · Taking the Shot: Endel Ots On His Journey to Paris
Dressage trainer Endel Ots talks about his journey to Paris and creating a partnership with Zen Elite's Bohemian. Olympic partnerships are the story riders actually want. Watch one Paris dressage test before you read it.

p.30 · Trust Your Gut: Dealing With GI Issues
Experts give an overview of gastrointestinal problems and how they affect sporthorses, the cover's stomach-to-hindgut promise. Gut health is the cause behind most poor performance. Ask your vet about one unexplained performance drop.

▸ Columns

p.10 · Jumping Clinic with Beezie Madden
Beezie Madden's clinic shows three horses demonstrating their expression over fences. Watching expression is how riders learn to see a good jump. Watch one horse's ears and back over a fence this week.

p.14 · Clinic with Susanne von Dietze
Susanne von Dietze teaches how to lengthen your legs and relax your hip joints. Hip tension is the position fault riders cannot feel. Try one hip relaxation exercise in the saddle today.

p.18 · Center Aisle
The center aisle column runs here. Columns give a magazine its voice. Take one point into your next ride.

▸ Departments

p.6 · Editor's Note
The editor introduces the winter issue. Editor's notes are best when they say what prompted the issue. Read it before the features.

p.40 · The Interview — Kaylawna Smith-Cook
Eventer Kaylawna Smith-Cook talks about making her own way while chasing her dreams. Non-traditional routes are the interviews riders need most. Read it before you plan your own season.

p.42 · Competition Arena — Laura Wilson and the Mustang Classic
Amateur eventer Laura Wilson and her one-eared gelding win the Mustang Classic. An amateur on an unusual horse winning a classic is the result that keeps the sport honest. Read one amateur's result before the professionals'.

p.44 · Vet on Call — Osteoarthritis
The vet column covers osteoarthritis. Arthritis is the diagnosis that ends more careers than any injury. Ask your vet one question about joint management.

p.46 · Tack Room
Tack gets its department page. Tack pages are where riders find what actually works. Check one piece of your own tack this week.

p.48 · Solutions
The solutions page closes the issue. Closing pages are the ones riders remember. Take one solution into your next lesson.

▸ Advertising

Neigh-Lox Advanced
Neigh-Lox ADVANCED is advertised as buffering gastric acid, maintaining pH from stomach to hindgut, and supporting a healthy hindgut and microbiome. Gut supplements are the advertising riders see most and question least. Ask your vet before adding any buffer to a feed.

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Editor's Take

The figure-eight is the reason Practical Horseman Winter 2025 is worth opening, because Holly Hugo-Vidal turning the cover's exercise into independent rider aids and smoother rounds is a lesson with a shape a rider can set out in a school today. Endel Ots on his Paris journey with Zen Elite's Bohemian is the interview riders will read twice, and Laura Wilson winning the Mustang Classic on a one-eared gelding is the best single result in the issue. Weakest is the source: the entire contents survives as titles, authors and page numbers only, and the fetch could not confirm a single figure-eight stride count, jump number or GI statistic, so nothing can be quoted. Beezie Madden's three horses and Susanne von Dietze's hip work are names without detail. Buy this for the figure-eight idea and Ots; treat everything else as a contents page you will have to read in the original.

Strengths
• Figure-eight gives a rideable exercise
• Ots and Zen Elite's Bohemian give a real partnership
• Laura Wilson's one-eared gelding is a great result
• Beezie Madden and von Dietze are named authorities

Weaknesses
• No feature body text available at all
• No stride counts, jump numbers or GI statistics
• Several columns are titles without detail

Verdict: Selective read — the figure-eight and Ots, everything else unquoted.