Tuesday and Wednesday were windy and not ridable.

Thursday – March 11

So…

Conditions After work light enough that I was able to ride outside. Hack before and after ride

Tia Quick ride. She has not been worked outside since october/november. After my hack went to "woodchip" ring where the footing is really good. She settled right into work with rising trot and big figures 20m - 15m circles and 3 loop serpentines with me emphasing the straightness.

Quick walk break then picking up the…

I’ve often been asked whether wild and domestic horses are the same or different from one another. Here’s my take on it.…

Shoulder-in is the father of the advanced lateral dressage movements. It does many wonderful things for your horse. Here are just some of them:

• Shoulder-in is a suppling exercise because it stretches and loosens the muscles and ligaments of the inside shoulder and forearm. During shoulder-in, your horse passes his inside foreleg in…

Monday 8th Conditions; after work very crowded ring rode both horses in snaffle

Caddy couldn't really get him to the place he was in the last 2 days. My theory - he could have been tired or, I rode him in Tia's saddle and I think it interferred with the freedom of his shoulder. I generally ride him in an Albion slk which fits him great.

Tia by the time I got on her, the ring was full of a larger than…

I would always support investing in our coaches because the pay off is so great as they influence so many hundreds of riders over their lifetime. I agree with Sebastian Coe, the Olympic 800m and 1,500m medalist and now head of the 2012 London Olympics, that more money should go to

coaching and coaches rather than to individual performers…

Saturday, March 7, 2010

Well, I settled for free lunging and wind sprints today. Not enough hours in the day. Still, for the week, Belle got ridden 3 times and free lunged twice, and I can’t recall when she has had that consistent of work schedule! Still, I need to…

Conditions: Another great day, able to hack before and after ride rode caddy in snaffle and Tia in double

Caddymaster: Very similar ride as on Saturday. I need to let him trot in the speed he wants at first and not get frustrated with how it looks and feels. By the end of the ride he was FANTASTIC. I figure it may take another 3-4 weeks of working like this to get him back to his PSG/I1 work - which is fine, as long as it…

This Week in Horse History - March 8th Through March 14th

March 9, 1975 - Thoroughbred racehorse John Henry was born today. He acquired his name, named after the legendary steel driver John Henry, because while young he (the horse) used to pull his steel buckets off of the walls and flatten them. He was…

Sat results from Palm Beach Derby: Belinda & Anton broke the 70% mark, earning

their personal best in the GPS -- 70.708% for 2nd place. Congratulations Belinda! Vicki Winter & Proton were 6th with 66.208%; Bonnie Bonnello & Pikardi in 7th with 65.125%.

Three YRs in top 4 in the YR Ind Test - Jaimie Holland in 2nd with... 65.053, Amy…

Riding Mia this week was sort of an exercise in boredom. The ring was soaking wet on Wednesday, so I could do very little trotting, and the bitter cold North wind was blowing. Mia sort of put her head down and plodded around. She was NOT going to waste her precious energy by reacting to the wind.

When I first met the Arab mare Mia 18 months ago her beautiful brown eyes looked out at the world with suspicion and apprehension.…