“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…

When you train at something long enough, sooner or later you're bound to hit a wall. The same is true of riding – despite schooling and lessons, at some point you may find yourself unable to advance past a certain skill or aspect of riding. So, what do you do if this happens?

Don't Panic

Remember that every rider, no matter how…

Does your horse just trot faster and faster when you ask it to canter from a trot? Find out why in this interview excerpt with Dawn Hill Adams, Ph.D. about the biomechanics of the trot to canter gait transition.

WHAT, WHY, WHEN and HOW: The WALK PIROUETTE



Check the link at bottom for full article and over 10 clearly captioned step by step images plus clues to help you figure out what is not working, why and how to fix it.



"There are different ways to introduce the walk…

Hills on your property can be a great training and conditioning tool, and there are various ways to use hills to your advantage when riding and conditioning your horse. Here are a few tips so that you can put hills to work for you.

Keep Safety First

Hills help to condition your horse and develop his muscles in strength, but they are only…

Blake

From essentialequestrian.wordpress.com:

I’ll admit, I haven’t been feeling ready for show season. Between my struggles to find a saddle (stay tuned for a saddle fit post coming soon!), the looming financial toll, and the fact that the test movements were not confirmed to where I want them, I could use another few months!

I have been fortunate to…

New post on http://essentialequestrian.wordpress.com!

Most riders eventually understand that it is ideal for their horse to work in a frame. A frame is a way of carrying the body that utilizes the ring of muscles by asking the horse to engage his haunches, lift his back, travel lightly on the forehand, round the neck from the base and drop the head. This is an efficient way for the horse to move that prevents injury and helps the horse to carry the weight of the rider. Unfortunately, many people lose sight of the whole picture and focus only on…

Horses are fluent in the spoken language of the horse.  Any movement that you ask your horse to perform is something he already does naturally.  The horse can carry himself with perfect balance while executing the most technical movements.  We do not need to teach the horse how to move.  However, we do need to teach the horse how to move under our weight based on our cues.  This is the equivalent of teaching a child who can speak how to read and write.  We must take the horse’s natural…

This topic is something I feel needs to be talked about more often. It is very possible to do the right thing but at the wrong time. Which would make it wrong in most cases. There is also another side to that. In some cases it is possible to do the wrong thing at the right time. There will be times this could turn out to be the right thing. This in part is why I try to look at right and wrong in a way so that its not absolute, but in a way that I see variable extremes. Some simple math…

Building a solid foundation is key in your relationship with your horse. A relationship is built on communication and trust. I believe that communication builds trust. The better you can communicate, the better you will understand each other. Notice I said each other. We need to understand them just as much as they need to understand us. I like to think of communication as send and receive and not a one sided tell all. I feel we need to spend more time listening to what our horse is…

One of the more important things people ask me is, How do you communicate to your horse that you want them to stand still?" This is something everyone would like their horse to do at some time or another. Its nice if a horse will stand quietly when you are working around them, while grooming, saddling, or mounting. It also can help for when you tie your horse for any reason. If they understand that you want them to stand still, then they don't fuss and get all anxious when…

In recent years, rope halters have become very popular with many horse owners. Many 'natural horsemanship' gurus use them and market their own particular type of rope halter.  Because they are used by these famous clinicians, many people assume they are 'kinder' than a regular, old leather or web halter.  But in reality rope halters are meant to be used as training aids - not as a halter for regular, every day use.



In fact, rope halters can become instruments of…

Smart. Clever. Dull. Clueless. We all have stories of horses that connect the dots and others that …don’t. So, really, are some horses sharper than others?

As a trainer, I’ll swear to the value of having a well-defined, systematic approach to training. I’ve also learned (sometimes the hard way) that the cookie cutter has to be adapted somewhat for…

At Training and First levels, you're asked to ride your horse in a working gait.

So you might ask, how do I know what is a good working gait for my horse?

A working gait is the gait that the horse most easily presents himself in the best balance. So a working gait is as individual as the horse…

Please enjoy these final tips. I hope they have been useful for you and your horse!





31. Don’t come in to the grid too fast in an effort to clear a bigger jump at the end of it. The secret is to maintain a rhythm throughout.



32. If you attack the first fence and then try to shorten the stride, you will confuse your horse and he will resist, and that may cost you a fence. Be disciplined in your approach to the first fence and establish the rhythm you want to…