Titan the 18.3hh gentle giant take some well earned R & R

Known for his gleaming horse tack and rider, and being the largest police horse in the UK, Titan will be spending 6 months recuperating at the at the Horse Trust Sanctuary in  Buckinghamshire. The 18.3hh shire cross who weighs more than a ton will be spending time recovering from intermittent lameness caused by ringbone.

Titan has been involved with many jobs during his 9 years of working for Thames Valley Police involved in duties such as crowd control during matches for Reading football clubs, police escorting the Queen and patrolling night clubs across Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire.

Titan’s return to the police force will depend on his recovery and if no improvement, he will retire at the sanctuary where he is already loved.

The yard manager, Shirley Abbott at The Horse Trust, said: "Titan settled in straight away in his paddock. The staff have already fallen in love with him as he's such a handsome and impressive chap."

Introducing Zack the Show Jumping Zebra!

Ever wanted to ride a Zebra but thought it was impossible? Well, think again, a six year old Zebra in America not only has all the necessary horse tack, but is also now being trained and ridden. Could this be the first show jumping Zebra?!

Owner and trainer, Sammi Jo Stohler from Eastern Oregon, USA has a background in training horses before she moved onto exotic animals. She got the idea to start jumping one of her four Zebra’s, Zack, when he kept jumping the fence out of his field. Using his talents, he has easily taken to the jumps becoming quite the natural.

"He's large pony size, but he jumps very easily," said Sammi "The first time I pointed him at the jump, I put it really low. But he likes jumping, and going higher was no problem."

Sammi got her first taste of the African animal 10 years ago and now has Zack who she rides, Charlie who she drives and two others; Zorse and Zedonk.  She set out to train the Zebras to prove critics wrong.

"To say something is untrainable implies that it can't learn, and we all know that if they couldn't learn, they'd all be extinct. They have to be able to learn and adapt. Obviously, the burden lies on the trainer to be able to train them," she said.

"Zebras are very intelligent. When you teach them something, you don't have to do a lot of review."
Sammi took over ownership of Zack two years ago when his owners couldn’t look after him anymore as he wasn’t very accustomed to humans. Now, with training, Zack can be groomed and ridden like any pony!

"A lot of people don't really know how to handle them, so they run into problems, and rather than trying to fix it, they give up," she said.

"Originally, I was going to work with him, get him over some of his issues, and then sell him again, but he's now going to stay with me."

Royal Wedding horse shoes set to be auctioned for charity

Making a designer shoe for the equestrian world, Household Calvary farrier, Major Wayne Freeman and team spent hours crafting new sets of shoes for 186 horses on parade at the Royal Wedding.  So when eyes weren’t set on the royal couple and the horse’s gleaming horse tack and riders, think about all the preparation that went into the horse shoes for the big day at the forges base in Hyde Park.

The horses are based next to the most expensive block of flats in Europe, living in Hyde Park barracks. The stables have full shaving beds everyday, daily rides into Hyde Park and 24hr veterinary assistance and holidays in the country. 
                                                                                                                                                    
The lucky wedding charm of the horse shoe is a well known tradition which comes from the ancient belief that metal keeps away evil. The charms will be auctioned off with proceedings going too the Household Calvary Central Charitable fund. The fund is vital for injured men in need of support, as the men parading at the wedding are in regular danger all over the world; some just returning from Afghanistan who were on the parade on the big day itself.

Farrier Major Freeman laughed: “My mother keeps asking me for a wedding shoe, but I’ve had to tell her that even I can’t have one.”

Requests for the mementos are being made all over the world with Major Freeman and the team of farrier’s working hard to get together each special horse shoe ready for sale. The shoe itself will be lacquered and will come with a photograph of its horse and rider, a certificate of authenticity and in a sealed box.

Bunny Show Jumping - You must be 'hopping mad!'

Ever thought show jumping on your horse was too difficult? Well, maybe Rabbit show jumping could be for you!

Invented in the early 80’s in Sweden, Rabbit show jumping consists of bunnies bouncing around courses of small jumps which vary in height and width. Spreading world wide over the last few years, Rabbit jumping clubs have sprung up across Europe, U.S, Canada, and Japan.

In the German City of Jenna lives the black-and-white star of the bunny jumping world, Snoopy. Part of the local Kaninhop Club, Snoopy uses his bouncy bunny legs to leap over an assortment of fences from barricades, water trays and rails to a maximum of 60cms.

Proud owner of Snoopy, Claudia Fehlen, discovered the sport on the internet. Claudia then started practicing with her rabbits in the back garden and in 2009, founded the Jeana bunny hopping club.

From 2009 Snoopy has proved his talent, with Claudia telling Der Spiegel. 'Snoopy can jump 60 centimeters (about 2 feet) high.'

The 23-year-old also said: 'And he has done well in tournaments. He came in second once, and third another time.'

The competition isn’t just as simple as jumping a few fences. Although the rules vary in different countries, the aim of the game is to clear as many fences as possible with a time element sometimes included. They also range in style, from a dressage style, to high jump and long jump.

However, the sport is becoming controversial with Animal rights groups criticising the use of leashes in Kaninhop competitions and accused trainers of using the equipment to pull rabbits over the fences against there will.

Miss Fehlen rejected the argument, saying that the leashes are practical at competitions. ‘We use them in tournaments for safety,' she said.

'Just think of what would happen if a male were to break free. We want to avoid uncontrolled reproduction. It has happened before.'

So, maybe trade in your equestrian clothing for a jumping bunny and who knows, maybe Britain will be the next place for a club to ‘spring up’!

To view a video of bunny jumping in action, click on the link below: -