As I Become Stronger

In one way the last two weeks have been frustrating, the horses are STILL NQR. Debbie has me ride Bingo while he wears his BOT exercise boots, then after the ride she applies DMSO and wraps his leg, all in the hopes that his new wind puff improves. I mostly walked with him, and when Debbie asked me to trot him so she could check and see if his croup was even, I stayed up in…

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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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The Deep Freeze

Even down here in the sunny South it has been COLD this month. I feel so sorry for all the horse people further north than me, because it has been so COLD the past two weeks. This is North Carolina, we are not supposed to have weeks of bitter cold, we are not supposed to wake up to single digit temperatures. We are not supposed to have weeks of bitter north winds.…

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Lethargy. Sweltering with a non-specific stickiness. Flies. More flies. Dilly-dallying. These are the wilting Dog Days of Summer, named for Sirius, the Dog Star. No connection to the napping habits of dogs so deflated by the heat that a sploot position on the linoleum is the…

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One Old Cow Girl

Linda Peterson was a former guest on my podcast - Straight From the Horse's Mouth Radio Show - http://www.straightfromthehorsesmouthradioshow.com/057. Linda is a real Canadian Cow Girl who lives a happy,…

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Do you find yourself huffing and puffing after a few strides of canter?  Have you been riding less recently and find that now your back in the saddle, your less effective than before?  Are you spending hours schooling your horse but seeing little to no difference in his way of going...

It often amazes me how much time, effort, planning and work riders put into conditioning and increasing the fitness levels of their horses and yet completely fail to invest even a little of that towards…

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Hi, I thought I'd share a recent fitness tip I send out in my newsletter about how to recover from injury and manage age so your body works the way you want it to when you're riding. (by the way, you can sign up to receive free monthly fitness tips for riders at www.equifitt.com )…

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While we all know there is a huge psychological component to riding there is no denying that it is also very much a physical skill. Everyone needs to develop a balanced, stable secure seat on a horse. That requires improving your core strength and balance but there is a payoff for that effort. You will fee much more confident in the saddle if you know that you can stick there no matter what happens. Continue

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

Often people who come to my clinics complain that their horse is lazy. They say things like: "He doesn't want to go," or "Even my trainer has problems getting my horse to go."

I say, really? your healthy, vibrant 5 year old is lazy? Your prime-of-life, athletic 10 year old is lazy? Really? Does he just stand around out in the pasture?

"Well, no..."

Hmmm, Let's see what's going on, I'll say.



I watch as they ride and yes, the horse seems sluggish, making little effort to… Continue

For many riders the half-halt is elusive even though they understand that if done correctly it will rebalance the horse, increasing engagement of his hind end and readying him for the next move. Your seat during the half-halt must be ready to receive the engagement of the hindquarters and increase of energy created by your legs, otherwise you'll lose your balance and be tempted to hold onto the reins or grab with your legs because the change in balance and energy has left you behind the motion… Continue

Hello and Happy New Year!



I had a great question recently posted to my page about the effect of barn chores on your body, as a rider. Lorel's question about barn choring is actually quite common, so she gave permission for me to post her question here in the blog so that others could benefit.





Lorel's Question:

Hi Heather, I struggle with a problem which I am sure many other riders have. I am employed working with horses then do farmwork when I get home so I have… Continue

Hi, I had an excellent question about suitable training schedules for getting fit for Eventing in my inbox in response to one of the recent Ride Fit blogs. The question and response are below.



Question:

Hi Heather

Thanks for responding to my blog post about neck stretches. As my neck and back have been causing me problems lately I've decided to start up my clinical pilates again which I'd let slide when life got busy. I'd be interested on your opinion about a couple… Continue