Riders often ask me, "How do I know it's the right time to start training something a bit harder?"



This is a big topic so I'm going to cover it over two blogs. In this blog, I'll give you a way to come up with a logical plan for introducing new work at Training Level. Next week, I'll show you to plan to move up to Second and Third Level. I'll also show you how you can use feedback from competition to help you decide whether or not you're ready to move up.



First, I…

My darling Maggie has been in some intense training of late, with me riding on weekends and her getting training during the week. She's progressed to long lining and it's going quite well. So, then it's up to me to keep everything moving forward, but I hadn't had a lesson in weeks. Now that doesn't seem like a long time, but really, we're trying to move forward and I don't want to be hindering progress.

So, last night, I rode and had a lesson. I KNEW IT, I was NOT riding quite…

2. Protect Your Horse:

While protecting yourself and your space, you need to protect your horse. This means protecting your horse from any human, animal, or objects that could hurt him.

This responsibility starts as soon as you enter the paddock – you need to make sure that no other horse…

10 Diet Tips to a Healthier You, Tip 3:



Add Vegetables to Your Day - Start by adding one more vegetable to your day until you reach more than 5 servings of fruit and vegetables per day. The adult recommendation from Canada’s Food Guide is 7-10 (7-8 servings for females and 8-10 servings for males) servings. Vegetables have a…

Women Riders Who Could ... And Did: Life Stores of Top Level Equestriennes

Author: Karma Kitaj Publisher: Huckle Hill Press 2010

" ... It's a worthwhile book for young riders who aspire to be professionals. ..."

Cindy Sydnor, Long-listed for the U.S. Olympic Team, Dressage instructor, "R" dressage judge, USDF Examiner for Certification Program

It may seem odd to start an independent…

After 33 years of marriage, I decided to leave my husband in June of this year. We are still living together and our farm is up for sale so we can go our separate ways. This is why you have not heard from me for a while, it has been hell to say the least, and very hard on both of us. Sometimes people just grow apart and I realized that I wanted more out of our relationship than just being business partners. It has been the saddest and hardest decision of my life, but I feel a right and…

Brody had stopped whinnying to me. In the paddock, he greeted me every day with his “cranky face”, ears back, nostrils wide, and tense wrinkles around his mouth. Then Friday, a full blown bucking bronco show when I waved him away from the door of the feed shed while I filled his dish. Brody was sour. How could I get him sweet again?…

Recovery...thats the word of the day. My hand that I cut open 10 days ago is healing very well. It still hurts to hold a hair brush, use a squirt bottle or use a body brush using downward strokes. Up until 10 minutes ago I couldnt take the cap off of my water bottle.

Part of my healing has been just getting back out to the barn to interact with my horses. Im a little nervous around them, since I am so protective of my hand right now, but thats fading away each time I go down…

“Ridden hard and put away wet!” This age old expression brings to mind an image of a horse that worked rigorously and was not properly cared for. You can picture the animal galloping along, doing her…

Well, I have given up on going back to using regular bits for now, it is back to learning all the subtleties of the Wellep bits! Mia had behaved quite well when I used the Mullen mouthed snaffle, but she communicated to me that she MISSED the mouthpiece of the Wellep. So I got the regular cheeked Wellep snaffle out and sat there trying to figure out how I could use the bit on Mia and still have the stability I needed to keep good contact. Finally I decided on bit…

Congress!!

Recently, the U.S. experienced the World Equestrian Games in Lexington, Kentucky and the horse world lit up with the news and events. But…

10 Diet Tips to a Healthier You, Tip 2:



Add Fruit to Your Day – Start by adding one more fruit to your day until you reach more than 5 servings of fruit and vegetables per day. The adult recommendation from Canada’s Food Guide is 7-10 (7-8 servings for females and 8-10 servings for males) servings. Dried fruit like raisins or prunes contain a lot of nutrients but they won’t fill you up the way fresh fruit will. Fresh fruit contains…

What it Means For YOU to be Naturally Unbridled

By Patti Bartsch, M.A., Ph.D.…

Trust is absolutely crucial when working with horses. You need to trust your horse, and your horse needs to trust you.

Your horse needs to know that you will keep them safe and only ask them to do things that they are capable of. You need to trust that your horse can act like a partner and be…

The timing of this topic is very à propos – I was just at the National Championships of the IALHA (International Andalusian and Lusitano Horse Association) in Dallas Texas. These horses especially need to have saddles to accommodate freedom over the withers to allow their huge moving shoulders to really work. Whereas in Thoroughbreds you often have the paradox of ‘narrow wide trees’ (to accommodate narrow shoulders but big withers) with these Iberian horses you have usually no or small…