Malcolm Gladwell put forth a theory in 2008, in his book, Outliers: The Story of Success that sounds to be entirely relevant to us horse riders. In it, he proposes that it takes 10,000 hours of practice in any task to become exceptionally good at something.  That breaks down to approximately 3 hours per day over a course of ten years. He goes on to explain that it’s not just about having talent – less talented people can progress beyond their more talented counterparts…

Most interesting fact as arisen since I posted about potential bitless competitors.

Seems back in 99 over 2,300 people signed a petition for bitless competition, and yet now I cannot get people to write an affidavit that they want to compete bitless here in the United States.  An affidavit is a legal document used in a court of law.

What is the reason?  The request I placed on the Internet is not about my position, it is…

Henk writes:

I share my paddock with 4 other horses: two are Friesians (Wilby and Charlee), one is a Welsh pony (Bella), and the fourth is a Standardbred (Sunny). When it’s time to go inside for the night (and, of course, dinner!) Wilby gets to go first if he wants to. He’s the boss. Sometimes he chooses not to exercise this right, and lets me, Charlee, and on occasion even the pony, go ahead of him. Sometimes he hangs back like we’re allowed to go ahead of him, and then…

Tackling the Arena

I am riding Cole all over the place on the trail—walking, trotting and cantering, but I still felt nervous in the arena.  Now, it didn’t help that I only rode him in there a couple times a week.  It was the same old problem—the far end just got me nervous.  That didn’t mean I didn’t go over there—I did, but I didn’t enjoy it.  It distracted me.  It didn’t help that…

Well, it's been awhile since I've said much.  Maggie and I are undergoing a complete revision of our lives.

My trainer is a brilliant woman, and we sat down for a chat a month or so ago, after a lesson.  And basically she laid it out... we can continue as we've been going, not seeing much in the way of progress, but no crabbing about it, OR, we could re-vamp the program.  So, her thoughts were:  She takes over and fixes my horse (who has issues, holes in her training, a…

Motivation – Why Do you Ride?

I have started rereading “In Search of Your Image – A Practical Guide to the Mental and Spiritual Aspects of Horsemanship” by Jill Keiser Hassler.  I bought the book a number of years ago, and found it too spiritual for me.  Times change, and so did I.  My life is different, and now the book seems so much more relevant.…

On the Road to the Canter

Cantering Cole has been tough for me, but it’s my own fault.  I never taught him to canter on the lounge line before I started riding him—or for that matter—all winter when I was lounging him before I rode him.  I have to confess, part of the problem is I don’t like lounging.  I see nothing wrong with it, but my time is limited and I prefer riding.  Once I…

Cole's First Show

Don’t get excited.  It really wasn’t a big deal.  One morning, we found out there was a horse show at the public show ring.  Since we were planning to ride up there, anyway, we thought we would expose Cole to some of the excitement. 

We rode all around the back trails behind the showground, like we usually do.  This gave him a chance to get acquainted with the loud speaker blaring.

We then rode to the show grounds and stood on the outskirts…

If you, like me, subscribe to Practical Horseman magazine, odds are you might also be a devotee of George Morris' monthly column called Jumping Clinic. Each month, readers faithfully turn the pages to see which four riders he picks and what he has to say about their equitation, their horse's jumping ability, and their turnout.

Just about every month one finds George bemoaning the prevalent habit today's riders have of jumping ahead of their horses.…

Learning a new skill in riding can be pretty daunting. Not only do you need to coordinate your entire body (including the ever-pervasive ‘core’ of your body), but you also need to stay in balance while moving, in time, in partnership with the (much larger) horse that happens to be using his own feet while yours are dangling in mid-air! You get my drift….

So at best, it’s not easy. When other people tell you that riding is all about the horse and not about the…

Before I got Oakley, I'd never actually loaded a horse on a trailer myself. I've led horses up to someone who took them onto the trailer, I've seen it done a dozen times, but never done it myself. So, I figured, since he's going to have to go to shows, therefore I'd better learn how to put him on board and get him there safely, in comfort.

The first thing I learned was how not to do it.

Under instruction from his previous owner, we led him to the trailer. I climbed up…

First lesson of the next group of 10 but I am just going to continue numbering them as if it were in sequence.

It was after 7 by the time we got to the barn tonight. I groomed and put Coopers boots on him and took him into the round pen as the sun was going down. By the time I was done that and tacked up it was time to for the lesson. It is dark now and the earlier lesson was indoors too, I think it was too cold for them outdoors. It will soon be too dark to do round pen work and we…

The equestrian world can seem kind of bi-polar. Some of us ride like headless (brainless) horsemen with little consciousness for our horse or surroundings.  Some of us are such control freaks that we slow every walk stride and micro-manage our horse’s nose into being afraid to take a breath. Most of us are working towards a middle ground.

Dressage seems to attract riders who like…

Your horse’s skin and coat form an important protective barrier against bacteria and infections. If his coat is short on shine, that could be an indication that his skin isn’t as healthy as it should be. Adding a high quality skin and coat supplement to his diet isn’t just a great way to boost his good looks, it’s an investment in his good health.

Fat Facts

To get a glossy coat, add essential fatty acids to optimize skin health. When comparing…

Yup, that seems about right.  The ad flat out states the the mare is not sound, and yet they want you to breed her and put an additional 100 pounds on a bum hock.  Let us then ask you, oh knowledgeable seller, if you were crippled in some way, would you want to carry a child around your midsection for 9 months?  No?  WE DIDN’T FREAKIN THINK SO!

We’ll stop taking ads from craiglist when… no wait, we can’t think of scenario wherein stupid people stop posting on craigslist.  Case in…

At a horse show the other day a horse came firing backward out of a trailer, breaking the trailer tie (and the pride of the red faced owner) as she pranced free, tail flagging, touring the show grounds. Her  owner had tied her up, and then went around to fasten the tail bar….

You never know…

Remember the mare from “Solid doesn't even begin to cover it"?  Well we think we’ve found her long lost twin on equine.com! 

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