Now that we have thought about rider position, flexion, and getting the horse to move away from your leg, it's time to move on to your horse's canter.



Canter, rhythm and balance is very important for a show jumper and he should be able to maintain it without too much interference from the rider. For our sport you need a horse whose strongest pace, his favourite pace if you like, is canter as most of the work is done in canter.



Many of us over-ride our horses in canter…

Greetings, my many Barnmice friends, from Riversong Ranch in Alberta. It is so good to be home again after this latest whirlwind trip to Bermuda and the Netherlands.



While I love my job when I am in the arena with the students and horses, what I am getting increasingly tired of is flying. The “friendly skies” are just not all that user friendly anymore.



So it was while enduring the 8 hour flight from Amsterdam to Toronto only to then connect for the 4 ½ hour flight from…

Hi Guys,



Attitude is a choice. You don't have to have a bad day. Here are 3 simple ways to insure that every ride you have with your horse is a great one!



1. Learn to see things in shades of grey.



Want to know how to have a great ride everyday? Stop expecting perfection. Don't look at training and competing in black or white terms. Instead, learn to see things in "shades of gray". The key to seeing shades of gray is to recognize when things…

This Oscar Wilde quote, "Life is too short to be taken seriously," helps me refocus. While news sources seem to focus on what's going wrong with the economy, shootings, floods, and every little bad thing they can discover and share, it can be a struggle not to spend an inappropriate amount of time dwelling on negativity. We need to make a conscious effort to say, "Hey, I'm going to think about all the good things around me." Remember that…

Hello,



Welcome to the second week of the Ride Better blog. We have had some encouraging comments, and one rider submitted photos for analysis and recommendations. While I CAN work with descriptions without photos, it is much better if you can send in photos. If you don't have the three postures such as we see in these first two examples, just some shots of you riding, and a side view or front or rear view would still be better than no photos at all.



And, once again, I'd…

Wow this is scary! Push came to shove when it came to adopting my Standardbred so I had to take the plunge or let him go. So here I am with a new horse and no job! Am I crazy?



Anyway, he's home and his re-training is going to start once he's had some time to settle in. I was very impressed by how calmly he handled coming to a new barn and I think that bodes well for how he is going to handle all the other changes in his life that are coming his way.



I'm really looking…

"When a horse greets you with a nicker and regards you with a large and liquid
eye, the question of where you want to be has been answered."
~ Author Unknown

"Let a horse whisper in your ear and breathe on your heart. You will never regret it."

"Correction does much for the horse, but encouragement does more."

--Anonymous

"In the steady gaze of the horse shines a silent eloquence that speaks of love
and loyalty, strength and courage. It is the window that reveals to us how
willing is his spirit, how generous his heart."
~ Author Unknown

Before you even begin to jump, you need to make sure you have done the groundwork to establish the foundation for success. I'm not talking about pure dressage; I'm talking about the basic skills that are vitally important to a show jumper.



There are 5 basics that will provide an excellent foundation for show jumping. Build them into your schooling program and you will see the results.



Today I will talk about the first three basics.





1. Rider…

Hi Guys,



It's important to have a training system so that you school your horse in a clear and consistent way. The down side of having only one system is that one approach doesn't work for all horses. If a particular system isn't right for your horse, and you try to force him to conform to that method, he can fall by the wayside.



Because I want every horse to develop to his potential, I've come up with my system, which I call "Benign Antagonism". Simply put, if your…

Wow this is my first attempt at blogging of any kind! I felt the need to reach out to other riders and horse lovers alike. My story is sad and I just need to put it out there somewhere. Many of you can probably relate. It goes like this: I bought my dreamhorse 5 years ago. She was a yearling. My first mistake as I am an amature. Things went along ok for the first couple years as I waited for her to get to an age that we could really get going. She is my one and only so waiting was difficult.…

QUOTE . . .

The Chinese Proverb says, "The journey is the reward." It is the quote appearing on my latest painting/quote combo that you can print free from my blog.



It's timely for me, because Thursday I hit the road with the Beautiful Horses of Michigan paintings! I'm so excited about having the opportunity to display the paintings at the Michigan Horse Expo in Lansing, MI. I love…

No other image around the world symbolises the United States like the wild horse, and Americans should respect that God-given heritage, Madeleine Pickens told a House subcommittee this week.



"These are magnificent creatures, a true American icon, and they should be treasured and preserved," said Pickens, who is working to create a million-acre sanctuary capable of taking all 30,000 horses currently held in captivity by the Bureau of Land Management.



Pickens,…

Equestrian

Sport Biomechanics

‘Rider Saddle Horse’







Athletic success is a function of the sum of the parts. In no other sport does this apply more aptly than in equestrian riding.



In equestrian riding, when we are striving for success we need to address the rider / saddle interface, the saddle / horse interface and their reciprocal relationships – horse / saddle and saddle / rider.



Just as humans can acquire and offset bad postural habits…

Pisces -February 19 - March 20



Happy Birthday dear Pisces. Your career with the horses have been very important to you in the past, this trend will continue for most of the year ahead. So try to go that extra mile, and even though you may have reached the pinnacle, there are still hurdles

coming at you. Your horse has been having some health issues in the past year, these will clear up for the most part this year.

Pay particular attention to your horse's hooves this…

Ok, so I've been riding western pleasure the past few years and have decided to change over to an jumping. In what kind of equipment/attire will I need? And how expensive will this switchover be? Oh, and I've been looking around and there are all different styles and colors of breeches... Is there a certain type I'm looking for?? When I looked this stuff up on the internet, I got different answers from almost every site I looked at! ...I'm a little confused. Can anyone out there tell me what…

Frustrations mount.



The open house at Greener Pastures went very well, with quite a large turn out but no real on the spot buyers for that day. For me, salfishly, it was a good thing as no one put their dibes in on the gelding I am hoping to adopt as soon as I can find a job.



It is becoming very frustration. I have been over a year now without a permanent job and still no takers on my resume. I am so ready to bring home my new horse and start with his re-education and to…