{"id":24850,"date":"2015-11-06T12:54:48","date_gmt":"2015-11-06T01:54:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/?p=24850"},"modified":"2017-02-10T10:46:58","modified_gmt":"2017-02-09T23:46:58","slug":"rodney-martin-young-horse-maker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/2015\/11\/rodney-martin-young-horse-maker\/","title":{"rendered":"Rodney Martin \u2013 Young Horse Maker"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"_K3A9107\"<\/a>Words and photos by Rebecca Ashton<\/h3>\n

Rodney Martin is a quiet achiever. You don\u2019t see him spruiking his wares on social media and he also has a life outside of the horse world, that of a hairdresser. But Rodney is always there in the young horse ring, accumulating ribbons, trophies and titles. Add to that the fact that he trained the auction record-breaking sale horse Dante at the famous PSI Auctions earlier this year and you get the idea that Rodney is no one horse wonder.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Spring was just breaking through a chilly Southern Highlands winter when I caught up with Rodney on the property he shares with dressage-star partner Matthew Dowsley.<\/p>\n

So Rodney, how did the whole dressage journey begin?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been riding since I was about five. Mum and Dad trained racehorses for a hobby and I used to ride the racehorses a bit and do track work. When their racing career was over, I would try and get them going and then sell them. I was a hacky until I was about 16. I won at Sydney Royal, which is the best show in Australia and I thought, \u2018Where do I go from here?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll my horses always went a bit more like dressage horses anyway; you know, I wanted them to go on the bit. I didn\u2019t want to sedate them and if I didn\u2019t sedate them then they needed to be on the aids more. I was one of the more fortunate people because we had a swimming pool for the horses, so all my hacks would go in the swimming pool for half an hour before we went to a show to tire them out! I mean it\u2019s better than sedating them or lunging them for 12 hours!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I was always interested in dressage. I think it came from ignorance a bit. The only people that would come to the Hayshed at Pialligo were Gert Donvig, Clemens Dierks and Christian Thiess. At the time I didn\u2019t know if they were good or not, but they gave me the concept of walk, trot and canter.\u201d<\/p>\n

What do you think your secret is to all your young horse success?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIf they go correctly, you can improve the horse\u2019s pace. Sure, you can\u2019t make them move more than they actually can naturally, but you can make a horse that just rickets around do a medium trot without force, just by transitions and going backwards and forwards and working on their balance. That\u2019s what I pride myself on. I\u2019m not a vain person at all, but I think that\u2019s why my young horses go so well because, sure they\u2019re four and I push them, but they\u2019re only ridden four days a week for about 20 minutes, but in that 20 minutes, I want them to go up on the bit and I play with them; I play with each pace. I\u2019ll go rising trot forward and then back and forward so that they learn that it\u2019s all the same no matter what you\u2019re doing. They learn in the end that when they come back, they get to go forward again and they actually quite like it. They bounce together and they think, \u2018Oh, I\u2019m going again.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI see the problem so much here with people riding piaffe\/passage, people think too much about piaffe. They think passage, then they think trot then they think extended trot, all as separate things. People forget that it\u2019s all just trot. It\u2019s the adjustability of the trot. I want them to go walk, trot and canter, but I start at an early age to go forward and come back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not about teaching a four-year-old how to passage so you can get a better trot because that\u2019s completely incorrect. Also you can\u2019t make any animal do something they can\u2019t physically do. That\u2019s where I think some riders have to learn the limits.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut in the end it\u2019s just training. I see horses out there and think that\u2019s a far better horse than the one I\u2019m riding, but it hasn\u2019t been trained correctly. It doesn\u2019t show off what it can do. You see great horses at FEI level and you think if on y they\u2019d put them on the bit, because they\u2019re really nice horses. The amount of times people come up and tell me how lucky I am because I\u2019m given such amazing horses, but it\u2019s the work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRenaissance is a beautiful horse and Dante was a beautiful horse and physically they can do the work, but it was the training. Dante didn\u2019t move like that naturally.\u201d<\/p>\n

How do you split the horses between yourself and Matthew?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cUsually I\u2019ll have the young ones. I\u2019ve got a couple also that are a bit smaller. It depends on the horse. Usually once I start riding them, I keep riding them. Before I had all the success, sometimes people were funny when they\u2019d bring a horse here and Matthew would say, \u2018I\u2019m not going to be riding it, Rodney\u2019s going to be riding it.\u2019 Now they don\u2019t mind and some people want me to ride the young ones because I\u2019m good with them. But that took a long time before people accepted me riding them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"_MG_0177\"<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Rodney and Matthew with Renaissance<\/em><\/p>\n

How many would you ride a day?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI do five maybe six and Matthew does the same. Then we\u2019ve got two boys here and they ride a couple of horses that have just been broken in. I\u2019m old now, I don\u2019t want to fall off! It\u2019s like skiing, you think about falling off your skis now. You see the kids and they go flying by because they don\u2019t think about falling down so then they don\u2019t hurt themselves when they do fall. We try to save ourselves and that\u2019s when we hurt ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do you get bored of just doing baby horse work?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe young ones are so much fun because they haven\u2019t been interfered with by other people so they\u2019re like a child. If you teach a child properly, then they\u2019re good. Even though I\u2019m tough, I know if they\u2019re tired in the back or if their tail sticks out funny then you think well that\u2019s enough, they\u2019re tired. I don\u2019t push them past that point.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe general public somehow think that dressage is light and fluffy. If a horse drops the bit, which some people think is good and they should be so light and there should be no rein, it means that nothing is connected, there is no throughness. It\u2019s got to go from the hindlegs, over the back, through the neck to the bit and if there\u2019s something that\u2019s not connected in that you have no contact, how can it go from the back to the front and into the bridle? And sometimes when you push them they get a bit strong, but then that\u2019s how you develop self carriage; they lighten up and they\u2019ve got to yield to you somewhat. It\u2019s not about pulling their heads in. It\u2019s about a consistent contact and getting it from the back end to the front. To a degree I think they\u2019ve got a job to do. The other 23 hours of the day they get totally spoilt.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s why so many riders have problems when they get to the five and six-year-old classes, they\u2019re still treating them like young horses. I mean I don\u2019t agree particularly how the German industry for young horses is just to make them move for a ten, because then you have nothing afterwards. But at the same time a six-year-old here should be able to do a half pass, should be able to do a flying change, should be collected and if you do it right from a four-year-old, it\u2019s easy. They don\u2019t even think about it, it just happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s great that Australians are nicer to their horses, but to wait until the horse comes on the bit, that\u2019s just crap. Horses aren\u2019t that smart. You have to show them the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re looking for a young horse, do you look for a horse for young horse classes or do you aim to take them all the way through?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially in Europe, it\u2019s now two completely different sports. There are professional young horse riders and then there are the FEI riders. Here we should be able to do both and as I said, it\u2019s the training. I\u2019ve had nice horses, but I\u2019ve made them better and that\u2019s why I have had success at DWTS and CDIs because international judges see that even though it\u2019s four, the riders get on and they can touch it with the whip and they can go forward and they can come back and that\u2019s how it should be, not just crossing your fingers and hope you get around the ring, which I do sometimes as well! Haha.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut if I was looking for a young horse, long gone are the days of buying the horse with the biggest trot, the biggest canter, the biggest walk. Sure it helps in the four-year-old class but usually horses with great big paces find it really difficult to collect because they\u2019re too slow. I don\u2019t care if it hasn\u2019t got the best trot, but there\u2019s got to be nothing wrong with the trot and the conformation has to be good, the hindleg has to be under and they have to be quick, and sure the walk and canter are the most important.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI want a horse that will over track in walk, but not over track a mile because when you take the reins and say collect, then you have problems with a lateral walk. I\u2019d pick a horse that had normal, correct paces because with correct training you will make them better. Over the years, Matthew and I have had some real donkeys, and I don\u2019t hate that horse anymore than any other horse. I don\u2019t like the best horse in the stable more than any other one. My attitude is, \u2018Ok, I can make this horse better. It\u2019s here, it\u2019s what I\u2019ve got to work with, let\u2019s see if I can make it better.\u2019 It\u2019s a challenge. I\u2019ve always prided myself on that, developing any horse. And that\u2019s why I like the young ones because unless they\u2019re full of shit or are unsound, you can improve them and each day they get better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Temperament. What do you look for there?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cLike the four-year-old I\u2019ve got now, SPH Renaissance, to me she\u2019s perfect. She\u2019s hot but she\u2019s sensible. She wants to do it and I have to be careful because she always wants to do too much but she\u2019s not stupid, she doesn\u2019t shy. And it\u2019s what Anna-Sophie (Fiebelkorn, young horse riding judge)<\/em> said at the Sydney CDI, that the horse is fabulous. All the others, the five and the six-year-olds were all tired. This four-year-old was the only one that when Anna got on, still wanted to do it, pricked her ears and said, \u201chere I am\u201d. That\u2019s the type of horse I like.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhereas Sonata (SPH Sonata Hit) was a bit more difficult, which everyone knows. He was hot in the same way, but naughty. But I think now that I\u2019ve been overseas so many times and have more knowledge, in hindsight I would have started him differently. I kind of let him get away with things because I didn\u2019t want him to lose that pizzazz he had. He won the four, five and six-year-old classes at DWTS but he never got Champion of Champions because he would come in and spin around. As Ulf M\u00f6ller said, \u201cYou know this horse is going to do this. Don\u2019t let him do it.\u201d Whereas I thought, \u2018Oh, it\u2019s alright.\u2019 He never did anything that made me think I was going to fall off. Everyone would look at him and say, \u201cIsn\u2019t he amazing!\u201d so I would think, oh that\u2019s good, he\u2019s mucking up a bit and pat him or do something stupid! But I have lost classes because of that. I would do more now to try and keep that pizzazz, but without him being naughty. He\u2019s never actually done anything wrong in a test, but even to this day I have to lead him up to the arenas at the Nationals, so I think I created that a bit, but that was me not knowing enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNow with the young ones as soon as I\u2019m on, they\u2019re on the bit and they have to walk up to where we\u2019re going.\u201d\"_MG_0162\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Rodney and Sonata Hit in the stable<\/em><\/p>\n

You want the pizzazz, but have them sensible, you need that hotness and spark but you need relaxation through their back. How do you go about getting that in terms of your training methods?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really difficult. As I said with Sonata, I could contain his tenseness, but he would always look a bit tense. The judges would say, \u201ctight in the neck,\u201d or \u201che looks tense\u201d. That\u2019s just that particular horse. I don\u2019t actually know how to answer that because every horse is different. Dante never looked tense even if he was; Bella (Renaissance) has tension but she just does the job. Maybe I\u2019m better now as a rider, when they\u2019re four I let them do their job and make it fun for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHuman nature is a funny thing, everything we should do with horses is really not natural for humans. If the horse is tense or naughty we tend to take our aids off, if they\u2019re pulling we tend to not push them, if they\u2019re tense we take our legs off whereas it\u2019s actually the opposite you want to be doing. If they\u2019re tense you should put your legs on and push them so that they listen to you and that also creates confidence in the horse. If you have your legs on at home when everything is fine and you go to a show and they get tense and you take your legs off and do the opposite, the horse is wondering where you are.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, forward, back, push them so you get them thinking, lots of transitions and just try to ride them the same as you do at home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do you do a lot of lateral work as well?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cFour year olds, because they\u2019re still growing and their bones are soft, I tend not to. But, they\u2019ve got to be straight so I\u2019m always thinking shoulder fore and like all animals, like us, they\u2019re all one sided. Most horses are stiffer on one side than the other so say a horse is really nice to the left, to the right I\u2019ll think travers and things so that they bend their spine and their neck.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI start off by stretching them, pick them up, do a bit, walk, pick them up again, do some canter, let them stretch and then I finish and walk them to the front gate and back.\u201d<\/p>\n

You mentioned you\u2019ve done a few trips overseas now…<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cFive times to Germany just last year! Also when Matthew had Cinderella we were based there for 18 months. We went for eight or nine months the first year with Ulla Salzgeber and then we came home and then we went back to J\u00fcrgen Koschel\u2019s for about six months before the horse died. I\u2019m one of those people who always wants to learn. If you think you\u2019re too good, sometimes you can close your mind off. I believe, whoever I go to, even if I don\u2019t like everything about them, if I can get one thing out of them, it\u2019s been worth it. J\u00fcrgen, Ulla, Ulf M\u00f6ller, all of them have different things to offer, all good things, but getting back to my first statement, the most important thing is throughness. The tricks are easy then.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople in Australia are too eager to go up the levels and do the movements. I find a young horse just as fun to ride doing walk, trot and canter say as much as Sonata who is about to go Grand Prix because you\u2019re always doing something; leg yielding, making them supple. I just love doing it, I love playing with the horses, I spoil them a bit too much in the stable, but as long as they work they deserve to be spoilt.\u201d<\/p>\n

When do you think you\u2019ll start Sonata Hit in Grand Prix?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI think in about another six months I\u2019ll try. I can do all the Grand Prix movements now and he does have talent for all the hard stuff, but I\u2019ve never ridden a Grand Prix test in competition and it\u2019s so bloody hard. It\u2019s ok to go and do the half pass tour from the test or the piaffe\/passage movements on their own in training, but in the test where it\u2019s movement after movement after movement, it\u2019s all so quick that at the end of it, I\u2019ve sort of lost the horse a bit. We can get through it but I don\u2019t want to just get through, I want it to be flash; I want to show off the work that\u2019s gone into it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOriginally I thought about the Rio thing, but Rio is going to be so difficult. They\u2019ve got to leave here so early and the quarantine bringing them home is hard. The horses that do go from here, as Brett (Parbery)<\/em> said, you\u2019ve actually got to look at being away ten months. That\u2019s a lot for a horse. If it was in Europe I\u2019d say yes, I\u2019d go now and train, but I like horses too much to stress them out like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPlus I can\u2019t afford to be away for a year. Like everyone else, I have a mortgage. We\u2019ve done it a few times and it also takes a while for your business to build up again after you\u2019ve been away. And with my hairdressing clients, as loyal as they are, they have to get their hair done once a month and then they feel loyalty to the new person and then it\u2019s hard for them to come back to me. So once you\u2019re away and have come back and built your business up again, it\u2019s probably more like 18 months.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery aspect is really difficult and people don\u2019t realise. We\u2019re not fortunate enough to have lots of money. We\u2019ve been really lucky with our clients, like the Oatleys, Claudia Harper, Andrea Beatty that they\u2019ve had the funds to help us along, but if we had to do it on our own with our own horse, it would be really difficult. If we\u2019re not here, we don\u2019t have an income.\u201d\"_MG_0096\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Rodney and Santa Fe with 19-year-old Max:\u00a0<\/em>\u201cSanta Fe is a five-year-old owned by Martin Duncan and Karen Michael, and bred by Matthew. San Jose\u2019s first foal out of a Medallion \/ Donnerhall mare. Won her last few outings at novice \/ elementary.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Where do you go when you go to Germany?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cTo PSI basically. The first time this year I went to Andy\u2019s (Sch\u00f6ffner)<\/em> place for a holiday and then we took Dante over and then I went back for the Young Horse World Championships that we didn\u2019t end up doing. Then we went back for the auction. Each time we stayed at PSI they were good because they could see that I liked the young ones so they would give me five or six to ride a day and help me. Just little things like throughness and little tricks they had. Sure, a place like that, people just think it\u2019s all about show, but Bianca Kasselmann is the nicest person. She\u2019s quiet, she does it on her own. I learnt so much about how a horse has to be responsive and do their job without grinding them into the ground. Sometimes I\u2019ll get on a horse and it feels so nice that I\u2019ll get off after 10 minutes because I don\u2019t want to keep going until it\u2019s tired. It\u2019s done everything I\u2019ve asked it to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is it annoying that you put so much work into a young horse and then it gets sold and you never get to take it right through the levels, or do you just accept it\u2019s part of the business?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI accept that it\u2019s part of the process, that\u2019s our income. It helps us build our fences, it helps pay the bills. I always say to Matthew though one day, I\u2019m going to keep one horse. One horse and it\u2019s going to be 30 years old which will probably be Sonata because no one will want him! Haha. And Andrea would never sell him which is nice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think if something happened to Sonata and I didn\u2019t have a Grand Prix horse, I\u2019d be happy with the youngsters. And I always have something at Medium \/ Advanced. Sure, some of them come here and get sold, but we have 15 here so there\u2019s always something to ride.\u201d<\/p>\n

That must have been quite satisfying to have a horse like Dante, that you trained yourself, sell for what it did (the horse sold for 2.8 million euros setting a new PSI auction record)…<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cGee of course! I was thrilled to bits. Sometimes women think men are too strong, but at the auction, I was there watching and so many people rode him, some were so terrible, but he didn\u2019t hang on one rein or the other, they kicked him he cantered, they pulled on the reins he stopped. It\u2019s got nothing to do with strength, it was just correct training. I cried when he was sold, it was terrible at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Verden still a dream of yours?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cOf course. I mean we just made a bit of a mistake last time. We lost control of the horse. When they said they wanted to buy the horse we should have said yes, but I\u2019m still going to do the championships. The reason I went back the second time was because they dangled the carrot and said there was still a chance but I don\u2019t think there ever was. It\u2019s just a shame because how often do you get to do something like that?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the end he actually got sick at the show. I think that was a travel thing. He got pulled out the morning of the show.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHorses break, they get sold, financially it\u2019s hard and I might never get the opportunity again. I would still love to do it, it\u2019s my goal. You look at horses like Sezuan that Dorothee Schneider rides and it\u2019s not a great horse. If you see it standing in the stable, it\u2019s not all that flash, but it\u2019s ridden so beautifully, so soft; shoulder in, circle, half pass, it\u2019s head doesn\u2019t move, it\u2019s so through and supple, it\u2019s so beautiful. So sometimes, sure you can say the young horse riders want these flashy, flashy horses, but at the same time the world champion was a horse that wasn\u2019t that flashy, just ridden and trained so beautifully it had to win. And that\u2019s what I\u2019m about. You don\u2019t have to have the best horse in the world. That\u2019s what dressage is about. And Dorothee is a young horse rider and a Grand Prix rider which is very unusual in Germany.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGood, correct riding will prevail in the end.\u201d\"_MG_0139\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Rodney and Donner Summer talk to Santa Fe in the stable:\u00a0\u201cDonner Summer is a six-year-old by Don Frederico out of a Weltmeyer mare. She\u2019s really exciting. She has big paces but she\u2019s easy to close up as well. Super temperament, more like a gelding which I prefer. She\u2019s owned by Ann Barber and I\u2019ve been riding her for about six months. I\u2019m thrilled with her. I\u2019m really looking forward to next year with her.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Do you really think it does though? It hasn\u2019t always gone that way.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI think things are changing because of the amount of horses you never see again. You see a lot of World Champions but how many do you then see in the FEI ring or at WEG or the Olympics? The owners are happy because they sell them, but I\u2019d like to see both.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is there a trainer out there you admire more than any other?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cJ\u00fcrgen Koshel is very good because it\u2019s not circusy, it\u2019s not heads on the chest, it\u2019s proper riding. I hate the word \u201cclassical\u201d but to a degree it is classical. They\u2019ve got to go on the bit, they\u2019ve got to do their job. Good riding gets the horse to move better. To have a lesson off him, it all makes sense. How he says to do something, it works and it\u2019s easy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUlla was a technician. She was amazing too and I love our national coach Ton (de Ridder)<\/em>. I\u2019ve had lots of lessons with him and he\u2019s along the same lines as J\u00fcrgen. If a horse doesn\u2019t want to be round, you make it rounder; if they want to be too round, lift them up. He\u2019s also very good in the way you train with the test in mind. For instance, you\u2019re not allowed to canter in the corner on an FEI horse because it doesn\u2019t happen in the test.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou get the basics right and then you train for the test. And that\u2019s probably why he enjoys Matthew and I because he can say, \u201cthat\u2019s rubbish, fix it,\u201d and we can because our concept is the same. I\u2019m not saying I\u2019m as good as the Germans but what they want, I understand.\u201d<\/p>\n

And what do you get up to when you\u2019re not on a horse?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cTwice a week I go back up to Galston to my hairdressing salon, just in the afternoons so I can still ride in the mornings then I work later and miss the traffic as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI do the garden here myself. It\u2019s only eight acres and we\u2019ve only been here for four years. The only thing that was here when we came was the house. It was just one, big bushy paddock. We\u2019ve built the stables and the garden and the arena and the fencing is about to be done in two weeks. It takes time… and money! Little things like the driveway needs to be finished and the stables and we\u2019d like an indoor school eventually. It will look lovely in a year or two.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would never go back to Sydney. It\u2019s nicer for the horses here, the climate is better. We die when we have to go to Clarendon or Horsely Park now when it\u2019s hot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI love cooking and I always have people over. I\u2019d prefer to do that than go out. And I drink a lot! It works for me. But I love being here on the property. Moving here was the best thing we ever did. We\u2019ve created some great friends down here too; Brett Parbery and Michelle Baker, Robbie Soster, Dave McKinnon, and all our lovely little group. The restaurants are great and we\u2019re not that far away from the city.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wow, you\u2019re really selling it!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI should be a real estate agent!”<\/p>\n

There are lots more articles on dressage and dressage training, just click ‘dressage’ at the top of this page, and you will find a whole library waiting for you…<\/p>\n

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Rodney Martin is a is a young dressage horse specialist – he talks to Rebecca Ashton about his approach…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24851,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1243,1315],"class_list":["post-24850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dressage","tag-dressage","tag-rodney-martin"],"acf":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24850"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32464,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24850\/revisions\/32464"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}