Your Horse – April 2026

Summary

Your Horse April 2026 (issue 541) leads with a Buying a Horse Special on whether senior equines make smarter second-time-around partners, alongside a new World Horse Welfare guide that questions everyday whip use. Ontario Veterinary College's five-year nephrosplenic closure follow-up lands in Horse Talk, while Catherine Welton asks whether an ex-Flat or ex-National Hunt Thoroughbred makes the better second-career horse.

The Buying a Horse Special anchors pages 21-32. Emily Bevan's 'A sensible choice – or risky buy?' (page 22) weighs the case for 17-plus horses, drawing on Salvation-loaner Alison Kenward, vet Georgia Poolton of Field Equine Vets and SEIB underwriter Anthony Burnett, plus three case studies – Dubai's Vicki Holland riding 19-year-old Arab Muhtaram to dressage success, master's student Georgie Estall on schoolmasters Piggy and Rocky, and 63-year-old Di Guest returning to the saddle on ex-two-star eventer Vito.

The training block pushes confidence and consistency. Catherine Welton's 'That Aha! Feeling' (page 38) traces how one inch of stirrup leather and a correctly positioned bit rewired her own jumping confidence at a Devon clinic with BHSI Andrew Lovell. Five-star event rider Tom Rowland follows at page 42 with a curving five-bounce-pole exercise that produces a horseshoe shape over related fences. 'Sprint star or endurance hero?' (page 44) consults Jess Westwood of Molland Ridge Stud, Amanda Mills of Mills Stables and Pam Atkinson of New Beginnings to settle whether retired Flat or ex-National Hunt Thoroughbreds retrain more cleanly.

Care coverage opens with vet and animal behaviourist Dr Amber Batson on the friends, forage and freedom triad for stabled horses (page 58), Dengie nutritionist Tracey Hammond explaining why the energy jump from light to moderate work is just 13.81 MJ daily for a 500kg horse (page 62), and BreathEazy's Jon Slattery MRCVS on winter stabling and the 14% UK severe equine asthma prevalence (page 66). Sian Constantine reframes ragwort, buttercup and dock as soil imbalance signals rather than enemies (page 70).

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Content Guide

▸ Cover Story: Buying a Horse Special

p.22 · A sensible choice – or risky buy?

Bevan walks the senior-horse question with quotes from Salvation-loaner Alison Kenward BHS APC, vet Georgia Poolton of Field Equine Vets and SEIB underwriter Anthony Burnett, who notes that veteran policies are typically restricted to accidental external injury only. Three first-person accounts sit inside the feature: Vicki Holland riding 19-year-old Arab Muhtaram to dressage success in Dubai, master's student Georgie Estall on schoolmasters Piggy and Rocky, and Di Guest at 63 returning to the saddle after three decades off on a former two-star eventer named Vito. Vet Nicky Housby-Skeggs sets out a five-stage pre-purchase vetting as the standard safeguard. Take-home: budget for restricted insurance cover and put a vet, farrier and physio team in writing before you buy.

p.28 · Three tiny ponies, with not so tiny problems

Bransby Horses field officer Kris Walker describes finding more than 20 cobs and Shetlands in poor condition on a remote northern England property, with Shetland mare Miriam and her seven-month-old colt Remus arriving at body condition score 0.5 alongside overgrown hooves and heavy worm burdens. Foal Tonks was delivered by emergency caesarean at Oakham Veterinary Hospital, weighed 7.6kg at birth, and was diagnosed with dummy foal syndrome. Walker outlines the escalation path: abandonment notice, repeat welfare checks, then an owner agreement to sign the animals over once conditions worsened. The 9,000 pound emergency hospital bill sets the rescue cost scale. Take-home: a single welfare call from a member of the public triggered this case, so keep reporting even when an owner is engaging with advice.

p.32 · Rehome rather than buy

First-time owner Sue, supported by Redwings' vets, works through a Polysaccharide Storage Myopathy diagnosis in rescue mare Estelle using a graduated exercise plan – five minutes of in-hand walking daily, building to ridden work after three weeks. Sue's rewards include dressage competitions, fun rides and weekly swimming sessions that manage PSSM without triggering muscle cramping. Redwings' matching process is foregrounded, with the charity's own vet team writing the care plan and reviewing weight alongside exercise. Laminitis and pyloric ulcers struck in 2023 but were managed locally and via the Redwings hotline. Take-home: ask the rehoming charity for a written care plan and confirmed phone access to their vets before you collect the horse.

▸ Training

p.38 · That 'Aha!' Feeling

Devon-based BHSI Andrew Lovell and BHSAI Alaina Webster run through the one-percent fixes that tighten a rider's position without an overhaul. Adjustable knee rolls let you switch a GP into a dressage-y leg, rein length within an inch reshapes your balance, and a hole higher or lower on the bit changes the consistency of contact. Lovell insists on 'planning ahead' rather than staring at the ground and warns against letting 'best' tack sit unused until show day. Catherine Welton anchors the piece in her own clinic experience: switching flexible stirrups settled her lower leg and sharpened her approach to a fence. Take-home: do a one-hour tack and kit audit before your next lesson and pick one stirrup, bit or saddle adjustment to trial first.

p.42 · Fix it… Careful, canter, clean round

Five-star event rider Tom Rowland – 12th at Badminton 2025 on Dreamliner, seventh at Badminton in 2024 – sets out a curving five-pole bounce exercise on a 30m circle, using soft cuboid poles that won't roll like solid jump poles. A fence added between the third and fourth poles delivers an ideal take-off spot, and the curve engages the inside hindleg to produce a quality canter. Rowland also splits a course into four or five riding sections between fences so riders can rebalance and breathe instead of holding tension through the closing distances. Take-home: count the strides between fences on your next course walk and plan one half-halt at each section break.

p.44 · Sprint star or endurance hero?

Retraining specialists Jess Westwood (Molland Ridge Stud, around 400 horses retrained), Amanda Mills (Mills Stables Retraining Racehorses) and Pam Atkinson (New Beginnings, operating since 2010) trade evidence on whether ex-Flat or ex-National Hunt Thoroughbreds excel in a second career. Flat horses tend to be smaller with a larger muscle mass – Westwood's Usain Bolt – while NH horses carry up to 76.2kg in work and retire more physically mature. Both flag muscle transformation time: the racing topline must come down before a new topline can be built. Surprisingly, several Mills-produced Flat horses have become the steadiest jumpers, while some NH horses refuse to jump again. Take-home: judge each horse on what it offers in front of you rather than its race record, and budget at least a year before competitive jumping.

▸ Health, Care & Welfare

p.58 · Thrive rather than survive

Vet and animal behaviourist Dr Amber Batson, founder of Understand Animals, lays out the friends, forage and freedom triad as a non-negotiable baseline for stabled horses, distinct from the enrichment layer that adds immune and cognitive value. Compatible companions should be introduced with scent first, then visual barriers, then shared walks – full introductions in unfamiliar terrain can sour quickly. Freedom of movement is non-optional: studies suggest horses shift a hoof every 15-30 seconds on average, so attached pens, hard-standing and barn access reduce standing-still time. Forage must be spread across multiple locations and ground-fed where possible. Take-home: build a written Three Fs checklist for your own stable and pick one enrichment swap to trial this week.

p.62 · When work isn't enough

Dengie nutritionist Tracey Hammond MSc RNutr breaks down the calorie maths for working horses, citing the NRC: a 500kg horse only needs 13.81 MJ more for moderate work than for light – the equivalent of a 2kg slice of good hay. Persistent overweight status signals an energy-in/energy-out mismatch rather than a feed-quality problem. For weight loss without nutrient collapse, she recommends a broad-spectrum vitamin and mineral balancer, soaked hay mixed with straw (up to 50% straw if teeth are sound), and the balancer fed at full rate rather than rationed. Case study: Stan, a 570kg EMS horse at fat score 5, dropped 46kg and returned to BE90 eventing. Take-home: weigh-tape weekly and recalculate forage against workload every four weeks.

p.66 · The air up there

Vet Jon Slattery MRCVS, founder of BreathEazy Ltd, documents why cold-weather stabling hits airways hard – typical stable air carries more dust, mould spores and ammonia than pasture, and 14% of UK horses are affected by severe equine asthma. Early signs are subtle: dry cough on starting work, mild nasal discharge, slower recovery. Slattery walks through the cornerstones: maximise turnout, avoid mucking out with the horse present, soak or steam hay, use low-dust bedding and feed forage from the floor. International Grand Prix dressage rider Lewis Carrier adds nebulised saline as a non-invasive maintenance tool for cough-prone horses on his yard. Take-home: invest in a hay steamer and a written stable dust audit before next winter.

▸ Land & Pasture

p.70 · Stop fighting weeds… and start fixing your soil

Sian Constantine (Hoof and Habitat) and chartered environmentalist Laura Hobbs (Switch Equine) reframe ragwort, buttercup, dock and thistle as soil imbalance signals rather than enemies. Ragwort indicates overgrazed, low-copper soils; creeping buttercup and horsetail point to waterlogging and compaction; dandelions mark trafficked, compacted ground; nettle-rich patches signal high nitrogen. Polymer-coated slow-release fertilisers can leave microplastic residues in grazing land and are best avoided. Practical fixes include spike or slit aeration, rest periods, deep-rooted seed mixes and hedgerows for shelter. Take-home: commission a soil pH and broad nutrient test before buying any herbicide, and rest any field held below 5-7cm sward height.

▸ Regulars

p.6 · Horse Talk

Charlotte Cooper and editor Aimi Clark round up April's news. World Horse Welfare's Roly Owers launches a decision-tree guide on whip use that promotes 'minimally aversive' light tapping as part of a learning-theory training plan. A Cornell University 13-year study of 61 Icelandic horses shows that none of the 30 animals exposed to culicoides midges from birth developed sweet itch, against 10 of 16 exposed as adults. Ontario Veterinary College's Nicola Cribb reports nephrosplenic-space closures still holding at five years in 8 of 12 colic horses. OLS Solicitors' Lara Davies cites an 81% jump in County Court damages claims over broken livery contracts. Take-home: download the WHW whip-use guide and get contracts put on paper before renewing any livery arrangement.

p.12 · Just the two of us

Mindset coach Sasha Whitaker, BHS Intermediate Instructor based in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, gives a worked-through plan for taking a new or young horse out alone for the first time. She pushes groundwork as the prerequisite – leading in-hand with a long rope before any ridden outing – then recommends ride-and-lead from a sensible older horse as the next step, ideally in a slightly enclosed lane rather than open space. A foot-follower on the first hack is a sensible choice; tell someone your route and expected return time. Reader Karen Arkle walked her horse's intended route in-hand first, then rode it. Take-home: write out your solo-hack route, brief a contact person, and walk it in-hand twice before riding it solo.

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Editor's Take

The cover-locked Buying a Horse Special gives this issue a clear editorial point of view: Your Horse wants to be the magazine British riders reach for when taking on the next horse. The training trio – Welton on micro-adjustments, Tom Rowland on bounce-pole baselines, and Welton's Flat-vs-National-Hunt investigation – is unusually strong for one month, and the welfare science is fresh (the 14% UK severe asthma stat, the Cornell 13-year sweet-itch work, Cribb's five-year colic closure data). Where it stumbles: pages of ad-heavy sponsored cross-promo on SPILLERS, Dengie, British Horse Feeds and Premier Equine eat into editorial space, and the reader Q&A banners are cluttered. Best suited to a returning rider weighing a veteran buy or rebuilding competition confidence after a winter off.

Strengths
• Fresh sourced welfare science – colic, asthma and sweet itch – collected in one issue
• Cover-locked Buying a Horse Special weaves three rescue case studies into concrete ownership advice
• Tom Rowland's bounce-pole exercise is one of the most actionable jumping fixes published in months

Weaknesses
• Sponsored SPILLERS, Dengie and British Horse Feeds features eat 8-10 pages of editorial space
• Sasha Whitaker's solo-hack advice repeats ground rules newer readers will already know

Verdict: Selective read — Strong welfare science and one excellent training trio, diluted by sponsored cross-promo.