These articles explain various training principles employed here at Free Heart Stables as well as opinions on common techniques and approaches to horsemanship. Some articles provide advice on how to solve specific problems whereas other articles address the basic underlying principles of horse behavior and training. Check these articles out if you want to learn more about horsemanship or want to understand the “whys” behind our training methods.
I used to think holding space was about willing something to happen. So I would stand there trying to make something happen with my mind without getting too tense or tight or upset that nothing was happening. It didn’t work very well and I really couldn’t focus on what I Read more
I wrote about this on Facebook briefly earlier this week and I thought it really warranted it’s own article. To me the little things will always and forever be the most important, yet time and time again they are what is overlooked. When I teach I spend most of my Read more
When I’m working with horses and riders one topic that comes up almost every single lesson is boundaries. In fact with most “problem” horses you can track the roots of the issue to a lack of boundaries, unclear boundaries, or confusing boundaries. It seems that most of the horse world Read more
When you are working with a horse that has a mind of his own there will always be things that don’t go quite as planned. This is the moment that I see riders make the most mistakes. As humans our nature is to try to force something to go our Read more
I recently had a conversation that brought up a lot of stuff for me and really helped clarify some ideas. I figured what better topic for a blog? This conversation centered around coddling in the context of when is it coddling versus respecting boundaries. I think the horse world tends Read more
In my experience the “dull” horses are the ones that are actually the most sensitive. Yet they are labeled as dull by owners and even other trainers. These are the horses often ridden with whip and spur. Maybe they have a big bit as well. For some reason these horses 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
I seem to be on a bit of a trend here with blogs on training philosophy. I think it’s because I’ve become a lot more clear on a few topics recently and really wanted to share them. This week I wanted to discuss the difference between giving your horse an Read more
Horsemanship and riding often revolve around us being in control of the horse. Although that has become the status quo, there are quite a few problems with it. If we are always focused on being in control then it makes it much harder for us to listen to our horses. Read more
Last week I wrote about forcing horses to comply to our demands. If you didn’t see that article, check it out here. What was interesting to me is the conversations that article brought up. It seemed that everyone took something different from the article, but there was a common theme Read more