#1:  U.S. Olympic Show Jumping Team Withdraws Beezie Madden

News that team stalwarts Beezie Madden and Cortes ‘C’ were withdrawling from the Rio Olympic Games competition after Round 1 of the team competition—leaving the U.S. team to complete with just three riders—was huge for fans following the Games. 

You can watch what happens in the ring on live feed, but it’s up to news outlets like the Chronicle to report what goes on outside the ring! This story was the most-read story of the year on www.coth.com.

#2:  Behind The Stall Door With: Thunder, The Denver Broncos Mascot

The second most popular story of 2016 wasn’t about an Olympic medalist or a top competitive performer. It was a meet-and-greet with a horse famous in a whole different sport!

Thunder, the gray Arabian who has been the mascot for NFL team the Denver Broncos for decades (there have been a few Thunders), was a huge hit with readers—especially since the Broncos won the Super Bowl right after we published this story!

#3:  Watch It Again: Valegro At The Rolex Central Park Horse Show

The truly legendary dressage horse Valegro made an amazing appearance on U.S. soil in New York during the Rolex Central Park Horse Show, and fans loved watching him and reading about him.

We posted this article, with a video of Valegro and Charlotte Dujardin’s freestyle performance and more, and it was enormously popular with viewers online.

#4:  How To Make A Grand Prix Horse

Blogger Lauren Sprieser’s entries frequently resonate with readers, and this pragmatic and humorous entry made a real mark on our analytics. 

It’s a light-hearted but very accurate look at the leaps forward and staggers backward that go into training a horse, and readers really loved it.

#5:  The Judge’s Card: The Original Emojis

Ever wonder what creative symbols hunter judges might come up with to describe some more unusual moves in the ring?

Columnist Jody Lynne Werner came up with a hilarious graphic of what judges might mark down if they had a little creative license for “need coffee,” “too much bling,” “refusal with impressive skid marks,” and more!

#6:  Updated: FEI Investigating Penelope Leprevost’s Warm-Up Incident From World Cup Final

Video of Penelope Leprevost reacting to her horse stumbling in the warm-up ring surfaced on social media and caused a furor among the public.

We kept track of Leprevost’s reaction and the Fédération Equestre International’s investigation.

#7:  Liz Halliday-Sharp Speaks Out About HHS Cooley’s Death

Event rider Liz Halliday-Sharp tragically lost one of her top horses in a fall at the Burgham Horse Trials (England) and made a poingnant statement about the incident.

In her statement, she not only memorialized a beloved horse, but also called into question some safety aspects of certain cross-country fences.

#8:  The Blanket Clause

Humor columnist Jody Lynne Werner struck gold in 2014 with this hilarious flow chart, even though it didn’t make our top-10 most read posts of that year. 

Readers unearthed it again this year and loved it even more, vaulting it to No. 8 on our 2016 list!

#9:  Behind The Stall Door With: Valegro

He’s by far the most famous horse in the world right now, and when “Blueberry” was in New York City for the Rolex Central Park Horse Show, we caught up with him and groom Alan Davies for our popular Behind The Stall Door series.

#10:  2016 Pessoa/U.S. Hunter Seat Medal Final Commentary

The round-by-round description of the action in the Medal Final is a yearly top seller for COTH readers, and this year was no different, as they put it into the top 10 of popular articles.