Practical Horseman Podcast

Today's Practical Horseman Podcast, sponsored by Sentinel Horse Feed, is with Tamie Smith. The five-star eventer always has a lot on her plate, but her current sights are set on the 2025 Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event in Lexington, Kentucky, that kicks off later this month on April 24. This year, Tamie will be competing in the CCI4* competition aboard 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood Kynan, following their stellar performance at the ...

This week’s Practical Horseman Podcast, sponsored by EQUESTRIAN+, is with Olympian and horse show organizer Ali Nilforushan. He spoke with us in mid-February as he and his team prepare for the 2025 competition season at the Temecula Valley National Horse Shows in Temecula, California, and The Oaks series in San Juan Capistrano, California.

To give you a little more background on Ali, he caught the horse bug at an early age...

Today's Practical Horseman Podcast, sponsored by EQUESTRIAN+, is with Cornelia Fletcher. The five-star eventer made a remarkable comeback at TerraNova’s The Event this past November. After being out of the competition field for a little over a year to give birth to her daughter, Sparrow, last June, the 26-year-old eventer and her plucky Oldenburg mare Daytona Beach 8 claimed the CCI4*-L win on a final score of 41.4.

The pair, w...

This week’s Practical Horseman Podcast, sponsored by Purina, is with this week’s episode is with hunter/jumper trainer Julia Collins. She spoke with us in mid-November about two months after her facility in Asheville, North Carolina, was affected by Hurricane Helene.

To give you a little more background on Julia, she coached her students at A and C circuit shows for several years. Eight years ago, she shifted her focus to predominan...

This week's Practical Horseman Podcast, sponsored by Cosequin®, is with the Practical Horseman 2024 Trainer of the Year Leigh Berman, owner and head trainer of Two Bit Farm in Boyertown, Pennsylvania.

The Practical Horseman Trainer of the Year Program is designed to honor the unsung heroes of our sport—trainers who work tirelessly to improve the education of both their riders and horses. Entrants were nominated for the contest by in...

This week’s Practical Horseman Podcast, sponsored by Purina, is with five-star eventer Lillian Heard Wood. She spoke with us in late October following her eighth-place finish at the Maryland 5 Star with her longtime partner LCC Barnaby.

To give you a little more background on Lillian, she has 16 CCI5* completions, including top-10 finishes at the Maryland 5 Star and top-20 finishes at the Badminton, Burghley and Kentucky C...

Welcome to the PHOD pod, the Practical Horseman Podcast's Minisode series where we share audio clips from our subscription video site, Equestrian Plus. At Equestrian Plus, you can enjoy over 5,000 videos and get insider access to exclusive interviews and lectures, slow-motion demonstrations, and step-by-step tutorials taught by top-level pros in the hunter jumper, equitation, eventing, and dressage disciplines.

On this week's episod...

This week’s Practical Horseman Podcast, sponsored by Purina, is with professional hunter/jumper rider and trainer TJ O’Mara. He spoke with us in mid-October during the busy indoor season.

To give you a little more background on O'Mara, he had a successful junior career, winning three equitation finals in 2016: the Excellence in Equitation Championship, the Platinum Performance/USEF Show Jumping Talent Search Finals - East,...

This week’s Practical Horseman Podcast, sponsored by Horse Week, is with Hannah Sue Hollberg. The five-star eventer has a lot on her radar right now. Earlier this year, she took over the ride on Thoroughbred gelding Business Ben from fellow eventer Allison Springer and has spent the past nine months fostering a new partnership with him. The pair has some big dates on their competition calendar this fall—and hopefully anot...

This week’s Practical Horseman Podcast, sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim, is with health and wellness coach Ruben Mahboobi. He spoke with us last spring after the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event.

In this episode, Rubee talks about what riders need to do to have balance in their lives and how that balance is the foundation of overall health. A healthy person, he says, who is balanced in body, mind, and spirit is a better rider and...

This week’s Practical Horseman Podcast, sponsored by SmartPak, is with international show jumper Laura Chapot. She spoke with us in mid-September after the Devon Fall Classic, following a busy summer competing along the East Coast.

Laura comes from a prolific equestrian family. Her late father Frank Chapot was a six-time Olympian and longtime U.S. Jumping Team chef d’equipe. Her mother Mary Chapot is a two-time Olympian, a...

This week’s Practical Horseman Podcast, sponsored by Purina, is with international show jumper Katie Dinan. She spoke with us in mid-July after she represented the U.S. Jumping Team at CHIO Aachen in Germany. Aachen served as one of Dinan's observation events as a rider named to the U.S. Jumping Team Short List for Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Dinan has collected numerous top placings as well as represented the U.S. on several Nat...

Welcome to the PHOD pod, the Practical Horseman podcast's Minisode series where we share audio clips from our subscription video site, Equestrian Plus. At Equestrian Plus, you can enjoy over 5,000 videos and get insider access to exclusive interviews and lectures, slow-motion demonstrations, and step-by-step tutorials taught by top-level pros in the hunter jumper, equitation, eventing, and dressage disciplines. 

On this week's ...

In this week's Practical Horseman Podcast, sponsored by Cosequin, Sentinel and Zoetis, we spoke with Olympic show jumping team silver medalist Karl Cook. He and his Olympic mount Caracole de la Roque traveled to Paris as the alternate combination for Team USA. But after Kent Farrington withdrew his horse due to an allergy issue, the team decided to bring in Cook and Caracole.

For his part, Cook and the feisty bay mare had a stellar ...

This week’s episode of the Practical Horseman Podcast, sponsored by Purina, is with international eventer James Alliston.

In early July 2024, Alliston and Karma, his and Ric Plummer’s U.S.-bred Oldenburg mare, helped the U.S. Eventing Team earn a second-place finish at CHIO Aachen in Germany. Also, they finished as the highest-placed U.S. combination in ninth place.  

To give you a little more background on Alliston, his journey...

In today’s Practical Horseman Podcast, brought to you by Cosequin®, we’re speaking with chef d’equipe of the U.S. Olympic Eventing Team Bobby Costello.

Costello made his first Olympic team at the age of 35 for the 2000 Games in Sydney, Australia, where he took eighth place in individual performance aboard his career-making mount Chevalier. The pair also earned top three and four-star placings at Rolex Kentucky, Fair Hill Internatio...

This week’s episode of the Practical Horseman Podcast, sponsored by Zoetis, is with Olympic jumper Laura Kraut.

Kraut was a guest on the Practical Horseman Podcast back in 2020. She has remained at the top of the sport and was named to the U.S. Jumping Team Short List for the 2004 Olympic Games back in April.

For some background on Kraut, she represented the U.S. team at the 2000, 2008, and 2020 Olympic Games and was the te...

In today’s Practical Horseman podcast, brought to you by Purina, we’re speaking with 24-year-old eventing phenom Mia Farley. At her young age, Farley has already established a name for herself in the eventing sphere’s upper echelons for helping develop and produce young eventing horses.

Farley grew up in San Clemente, California, and started riding at the age of 3 under the tutelage of her mother, hunter/jumper trainer Rebecca Farle...

This week's episode of the Practical Horseman Podcast, sponsored by Purina, is with top international eventer Caroline Pamukcu.  

Caroline was a guest on the Practical Horseman Podcast back in 2021—episode 47 if you want to check it out—but a lot has changed since then. She got married and has experienced change and growth in other areas of her life, too. In 2022, Caroline consolidated her sales business and moved to Engla...