The Heat is Getting to Me...

And the smoke from the wildfires in the North American continent just makes it worse for me. The horses deal with this more easily than I do so at least I have the comfort that I am not asking the horse to do too much as I walk and trot around the ring.

When I got to the stable for my lesson with…

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Coach Did NOT Like His New Bit!

I was SO EAGER to try my new bit when it arrived! It is a Bombers Titanium Happy Tongue non-jointed snaffle. Coach has clearly indicated a preference for titanium bits over stainless steel bits, and he also has firmly “told” me that the more joints the bit has the more the bit irritates him. This bit is “anatomic” in shape, with a generous port and it is Bomber's…

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The Nineties Have Arrived

Yes, four days of 90ºF+ in a row. Summertime temperatures and it isn't even the middle of May. I guess it makes up for all those lows in the 20's this year.

So after months of…

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Trying to Bring it All Together

The past few months have been a time of discovery for me, discovering just how badly my multiple handicaps affect my position, seat and aids when I ride horses. Between my Pegasus Butterfly saddle, the “rider's push-ups”, the Equicube getting my shoulders right, the Rainbow reins, and the old type Wellep snaffle bit, I discovered how abysmal my riding was and,…

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My New Wellep Bit Signals How My Hands Need to Improve...

And it is the “zing” of the cable through the mouthpiece that shows me how I have failed through the decades to truly follow the horses' mouths.

From the first day I tried the Wellep bit I have marveled at how I finally found a bit that ameliorates the bad effects of…

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Further Progress

My hands continue to improve, they are steadier and and more acceptable to the horses.

When I got up on Cider last Sunday I was prepared for her to decide that, on second thought, she did not appreciate me changing to the JP Dr. Bristol snaffle. Hey, she is a mare, the weather is spring like, her coat is…

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Question: When I ride my hands bounce up and down at all the gaits. Not a lot but enough so I am not riding horses to the best of my ability and knowledge. I can keep the horse on the bit but in the posting trot every time I go up my hands come up too.Holding a strap doesn't help. Trying to make my hands go down as I go up doesn't help. What can I do?



Basically if you are stiff in mid-back or in the upper chest and shoulders and the shoulder blades don't slide well over the rib cage… Continue