Trail riding or hacking is a fantastic way for both you and your horse to experience the world outside the gates of the arena.

However many riders look at riding on the trail as merely a way to relax and unwind.  And while they are not wrong, riding along a bridle path is a fantastic way at boosting the connection between you and your horse, it is often an overlooked opportunity for schooling and working through different exercises and movement, with the advantage of doing so in a…

A reader from England describes her Welsh gelding as “way more whoa than go.” She writes, “I want to do as much as possible at liberty with him and build a bond and incentive for him to want to be with me.” That’s the good news!

The trouble is: “When I have got on him I always struggle to get him to move, I have to resort to moving his hindquarters over and then…

Ex-racehorses are unique, and present different challenges when it comes to retraining. They’re incredible athletes, and while they’re quickly gaining popularity among riders, ex-racehorses aren’t for everyone. To successfully work with an ex-racehorse, you need to understand their unique mentality. Here are some things to think…

How to make friends with a horse?



"Give him what he needs and he will give you what you want“

I think the quote is by Pat Parelli and it sums up what I think is the basis for a good relationship with our horse: the change of perspective.

In order for the relationship to thrive, we need to put our horse‘s needs…

I just had an incredible training session with my mare, Whimsy! What does an incredible session look like? It’s a session where you have complete connection with your horse and your horse gives everything they’ve got to practice the exercises. We were working on hard stuff! (Tips at…

Riding a ring sour horse doesn’t make for the most enjoyable time. Unfortunately, being ring sour is a problem that affects many horses, especially those in serious training. Want to improve your horse’s ring sour behavior? Here’s how.

Understanding Why a Horse is Ring Sour

Most horses become ring sour out of boredom. If you have been riding your…

Jumping, it has the ability to thrill and to strike fear into riders, sometimes all at once!   However, if approached in a systematic and patient manner, most of the fear will dissipate allowing both you and your horse to enjoy jumping; whether it be a pop every now and then, or a trip round a course of fences weekly at a local show.

You can listen to the audio lesson over on the original blog post …

Have you ever found yourself riding a hot horse where the slightest touch of your leg sends them shooting forward with the speed of a snake strike?  Even worse, once they start on that forward trajectory, they get heavier and heavier on your hand, they get more and more unbalanced until eventually there is an epic tug of war happening; horse and rider pitted against each other, often at speeds, which for the space you are currently occupying, are breakneck! …

“Asking your horse to hold your weight at the halt, like gossiping cowboys with their legs hooked over their saddle-horns, is much harder for a horse than moving with weight on his back. When you’re not riding, kindly get off his back.”

This quote is from last week’s blog and Cathy asked me to elaborate. I promised I’d hold it to a moderate rant.

Let’s start by…

“Working student.” It’s a phrase that is often thrown around in the horse world, but what does it really involve? If you’re questioning whether being a working student is right for you, or even whether you should take a working student on yourself, this information about the world of the working student may help you decide.

The Basics of Being a Working…

I don’t use spurs, because I don’t want to make my horse dull!”

If you’ve shared this opinion with so many riders I meet, you’re in good company!

But what if I suggested that the opposite might also be true?  As a woodworker might choose smaller chisels to refine the details of his project, so spurs give a rider precision in delivering his cues,…

More importantly, how do you know if your horse is falling in?  The quickest and easiest way I can explain this is to imagine you are riding a circle which you have planned out beautifully in your head; but as your horse travels around it you seem to be getting more and more off track with each passing stride; in fact what started out as a 20m circle is soon resembling a 10m triangle, drawn by a three year old...

Or another area this where problem can tend to rear its ugly…

When sending a horse away for training, that horse may be away for a few weeks or even a few months. And while you may have done your homework before sending your horse away for training, there’s still room for things to go wrong. Monitoring your horse when he’s not at home can be tricky, but it’s also important to ensure that he is safe and training is…

I reward too often. I reward when I shouldn't. I reward behavior that doesn't deserve it (anymore). How, some may ask. You cannot reward often enough! Reward fuels motivation, without reward no learning!



Wrong (at least in my opinion).

To understand the most important lessons, horses need no reward.



I don't know about the…

Sending a horse away to a trainer requires a good deal of trust, since your horse’s care and wellbeing will be in the trainer’s hands. If you’re planning to send your horse away for training, you will want to make sure that the horse will be safe and that the training will be a positive experience. Here are some factors you’ll want to…