Forbes Farm LMF

09/07/2026

The athletes are arriving for Spruce Meadows. Top competitors from around the world will be competing at the impressive venue Spruce Meadows. If you have the opportunity to attend, it is an experience for everyone.

09/06/2026

All dressed up and no show to go to???? Try a Virtual Horse Show- Ranch Riding & More offers a Ranch Riding & More Virtual Show Series that has a variety of classes. Give it a go, it might just be the most fun you've ever had o a horse.

What Classes Does Ranch Riding & More Offer?

People have been asking what classes we offer at Ranch Riding & More, so here’s a quick look at our current lineup.

Ranch Conformation

Offered for horses Under 3 Years and 3 Years & Over.

Ranch Showmanship

An in-hand pattern class focusing on accuracy, control and effective handling.

In-Hand Trail

Navigate a course of obstacles from the ground — a great option for young horses, green horses and exhibitors getting started.

Ranch Riding

A pattern class showcasing a willing, handy ranch horse that moves forward with purpose and looks ready to go to work.

Working Western Rail

Also commonly known as Ranch Rail or Ranch Pleasure — a rail class showcasing natural, forward, ground-covering movement.

Ranch Trail

Horse and rider complete a course of obstacles based on the kinds of situations and tasks a horse might encounter while working on a ranch — showcasing willingness, confidence and control.

Ranch Reining

Working-style circles, stops, turns and changes of direction performed with control and purpose.

Ranch Horsemanship

Focuses on the rider’s ability to effectively guide the horse through a ranch-style pattern.

And there’s more than one way to get started.

We offer options from Intro Walk/Walk through Experienced, including Walk/Trot and Walk/Trot/Lope, with divisions for Youth, Amateur, Select Amateur and Open.

Not quite sure what some of these classes are — or which ones might suit you and your horse?

Keep watching — we’re going to take a closer look at each class, what you’ll be asked to do, and what the judge is looking for.

And if you’re thinking about entering the September RR&More Virtual Show Series, now is a great time to learn more about your options.

Entries close September 14. Videos are due September 27.

Which class would you like to know more about?

Ranch Riding & More Virtual Show Series

09/01/2026

Looking for a special getaway, this could be it

WHERE COULD A HORSE TAKE YOU?

What if seeing the world from horseback was part of the destination?

In the August issue of Ranch Riding & More Digital Magazine, we featured Saddle Sojourn and founder
Claibourne Jordan, whose equestrian travel experiences open the door to some pretty incredible places.

The American West. Africa. Patagonia. And now, the vineyards and mountains of Mendoza, Argentina.

These aren't simply riding vacations. They are opportunities to experience a destination differently — its landscape, culture, food and people — with horses becoming part of how you experience it.

As Claibourne puts it:

“Horses become the way people connect with a destination rather than the destination itself.”

If you've ever wondered where a horse could take you, this feature might add a few places to your bucket list.

Read the Saddle Sojourn Travel feature in the August issue of Ranch Riding & More Digital Magazine:
https://heyzine.com/flip-book/44fbbc75fb.html

And we'd love to hear from you:

If you could experience one place in the world from horseback, where would it be?

09/01/2026

Interesting read-

What New Research Reveals About Equine Myofascial Pain

A June 2026 study investigating thoracolumbar myofascial pain in horses raises some interesting questions about how muscular and myofascial discomfort may show up—and how easily some of those signs could be overlooked.

The researchers weren’t simply asking whether horses could have sore muscles. They were investigating thoracolumbar myofascial pain syndrome as a recognizable clinical condition and looking at how findings on physical examination related to movement and pain-associated behavior.

That distinction matters.

A horse experiencing myofascial pain may not necessarily have an obvious injury, dramatic lameness, or a clear structural lesion that immediately explains what we are seeing. The horse may still be ridden, compete and perform while showing much subtler changes: sensitivity through the back, muscular tension, changes in movement or performance, reluctance to bend or use the body normally, changes under saddle, or behaviors that might otherwise be interpreted as resistance.

One of the particularly interesting aspects of the study was that the researchers looked at the horses from several directions at once. They combined clinical assessment of myofascial pain with objective gait analysis and the Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram rather than relying on one observation alone.

And that is where this research becomes especially relevant to massage therapists and bodyworkers.

Our hands cannot diagnose the cause of a horse’s discomfort. A sensitive area, increased muscle tone, or tissue that feels different from the surrounding area does not automatically mean that a horse has myofascial pain syndrome. Palpation should never replace appropriate veterinary investigation.

But palpation can give us information.

When we repeatedly find an area that feels different from the tissues around it, when a horse responds consistently to palpation in a particular region, or when those findings occur alongside changes in movement, posture, performance or behavior, that information deserves our attention.

That doesn’t mean we have diagnosed what is wrong.

It means we have noticed something worth listening to.

Perhaps one of the more useful questions raised by this research is not simply, “Does this horse have myofascial pain?” but:

Could myofascial pain be one of the things we are overlooking in horses?

For massage therapists, learning to palpate is not about learning to find everything that is “wrong” with a horse. It is about becoming better at noticing differences, comparing tissues, observing the horse’s response and recognizing when what we feel may deserve further attention.

The better we become at listening with our hands—and combining what we feel with what we see in the whole horse—the more useful our observations can become.

https://koperequine.com/why-fascia-softens-with-manual-therapy-and-how-it-affects-the-nervous-system/

08/29/2026

Check it out

GIVEAWAY TIME!

With harvest fast approaching, we’re giving away one drone valued at $500 for a lucky winner to enjoy the eagle-eyed view of their field!
To enter:

1. Follow
2. Like this post
3. Leave a photo in the comments below of your recent ag adventures – anything goes!

The contest will run until August 31, when the winner will be chosen and contacted by our team!

Good luck!

Disclaimer: This contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed, or affiliated with Instagram or Facebook. Be cautious of spam or fake accounts. Shur-Gro will never request payment or sensitive information in connection with this giveaway.

08/28/2026

HOW DO WE ACTUALLY KNOW HOW MUCH SALT OUR HORSES NEED?

Blanket statements often never take into consideration of a horses individual needs, we must always ask more questions as to why.

After disappearing rather too far down the salt rabbit hole 😅 I think I have actually come out of the other side with more questions than answers and maybe that isn't such a bad thing…because I'm not really interested in arguing whether salt is good or bad or whether every horse needs one tablespoon two tablespoons or a particular coloured block hanging in the field…I keep coming back to one really simple question how do we actually know?

My own horses are all different sizes and types, they live out and graze and forage 24 hours a day so they aren't starting at zero sodium before I put something in a bucket. There will already be sodium coming from grass, forage and anything else they eat and that baseline isn't necessarily going to remain exactly the same throughout the year either. Then I've got different sized horses eating different amounts of forage, moving different amounts, drinking different amounts and probably sweating different amounts…so already I struggle with the idea that one spoon measurement could somehow be the correct answer for all of them.

And spoons bring another problem because a tablespoon measures volume not weight.
Different salts have different crystal sizes and pack differently so two people can both say they feed two tablespoons while not necessarily feeding the same weight of salt at all. If we're going to be precise enough to tell owners their horse requires a certain amount surely grams make considerably more sense than spoons and scoops.

Then we get to the salt block. One of the arguments I keep seeing is that horses can't reliably regulate their own salt intake therefore leaving a block isn't enough…but my immediate thought is have we actually measured what that horse is consuming before deciding it isn't enough? Why couldn't we weigh the block or loose salt tub at the beginning and again at the end of a day or preferably over a week? Obviously this becomes harder with several horses sharing one but where individual access is possible it gives us some actual information rather than an assumption.

And interestingly this is pretty much what researchers do. A 2026 study measuring voluntary salt consumption over 7-day periods found individual daily intakes ranging from around 2g right up to 135g. More than half of the horses didn't voluntarily consume enough to meet their estimated requirements so I'm absolutely NOT saying every horse will perfectly regulate its own salt intake…but that enormous individual variation is exactly what interests me. If horses in one study can vary from 2g to 135g a day why are we so keen to hand out blanket statements about what every horse should consume? Surely that is an argument for looking more closely at the individual rather than less.

Weather throws another spanner in the works because my horses' energy levels can change hugely through different seasons. A cooler day can suddenly produce considerably more horse 😂 while a hot day can result in everyone conserving energy and standing around doing very little. That doesn't automatically mean I'm watching a change in salt status. Like us horses have to thermoregulate and temperature itself affects behaviour and energy expenditure. Obviously if a horse is sweating then electrolyte losses become relevant but seeing a horse quieter in hot weather or more energetic when it cools down isn't on its own evidence of a salt deficiency.

And that's really where I've ended up with all this. I'm not saying don't feed salt and I'm certainly not saying a salt block will magically provide exactly what every horse needs. I'm asking why the conversation so often jumps straight from horses need sodium to therefore feed this amount without first asking what is this individual horse already getting?

What is in its forage and feed…how much forage does it consume…what does it weigh…what work does it do…how much is it sweating…what is the weather doing…how much water is it drinking…and if it already has free-choice salt how much is it actually consuming?

Maybe before adding more we could simply start by measuring what we can.

Because once again horses have done that really annoying thing of refusing to all be exactly the same 😂 and perhaps the answer isn't finding another blanket rule…it's getting better at looking at the individual horse standing in front of us.

Remember its never running out and doing something because we read it on the socials its always taking the information finding the fors and against and finding a middle ground.

08/27/2026

Barrel racing continues to be nationally recognized by other industries, and recently saw stardom when Matthew McConaughey partnered with stallion Adios Pantalones and his owner, Tricia Aldridge.

Read more here: https://bhnmag.co/PantalonesTequila