How-To Guides are articles that explain how to perform simple exercises with your horses using step-by-step instructions. These guides will help you build a solid partnership with your horse drawing from a variety of Natural Horsemanship and Classical Dressage training techniques. They can be great resources to remind you of exercises you have forgotten as well as to expand your equestrian tool box.
You are always encouraged to seek professional help when in doubt. These guides are not a substitute to training and instruction from equine professionals.
The half halt is one of the simplest, yet least understood concepts in riding. In very basic terms the half half is half of a halt. A halt is performed by the horse rocking back onto his haunches, balancing, and slowing his gait until he stops moving. If we think Read more…
I have a lot of students currently that have trouble steering. And this has been an issue the majority of my students have struggled with at one point or another. I could blame it on my teaching or my horses, which I’m sure play a role, but I think it Read more…
I currently have a few horses that are really learning to use themselves. They are all suffering from PSSM, which has certainly contributed to their fundamental lack of balance and awareness of where to put their feet. Since I am sure I am not alone in having horses like this Read more…
I’ve been doing a lot of theory blogs recently so I thought it might be fun to mix it up and do something a little bit more accessible that you can incorporate with your horse right away. When I was trying to come up with a topic I kept going Read more…
Every horse in every minute gives off a certain energy. In fact every creature does, we are just very bad at reading it. Most people can feel the energy shift when a horse tenses and bolts off or sighs and softens through their body after something stressful. But can you Read more…
No matter what discipline you ride you always want some sort of contact with the horse through your reins. We then want to be able to use this contact in order to collect the horse and create the proper outline or frame for the job we are doing. Despite how Read more…
As a trainer one of the most difficult tasks I am faced with is determining whether a horse’s problem is due to pain or due to purely poor behavior. Figuring out the root cause of the problem is essential to fixing it. For instance, if I have a horse with Read more…
I decided to write this quick guide because I have been severely disappointed in most people’s bridle adjustments. In particular, I don’t like where most riders position the bit in their horse’s mouth. When I get a new horse in training I almost always adjust the bridle before I even Read more…
First things first, let me clear up some terminology. I don’t tend to use the word “lunging” a whole lot because I feel it tends to draw up the image of sending your horse in endless circle after endless circle in the hopes of tiring him out. I hate to Read more…
I know a fair number of people that would rather be on a difficult horse than on the ground with the rationale that at least they can’t get run over or kicked when they are riding. I’m guessing most of my readers are of a different opinion. However, that still Read more…