Equine vets are filling up on the latest, smartest research this week at the British Equine Vet Congress.  We all benefit , don’t we?... as new evidence trickles into our barns, it changes our treatments and traditions. It often changes our minds.

Here’s just one of  the top seminar tweets…”Based on Dr. M. Hewetson’s ongoing study of owner-reported signs, most…

Credit: Dana's Doodles

Like bookends to the dressage pattern’s rhythm and brilliance, the halt is a moment to compose beforehand and reflect afterwards. This week Jill Irving reflected on her FEI WEG performance regarding the challenge of the halt. She was so proud that her horse stood quietly, despite outside…

What are the welfare challenges facing pleasure and competition horses? A four-year research study, led by academics at the University of Bristol’s School of Vet Sciences set to find out. I thought it was cool that experts from across the equine industry contributed to the research- vets, farriers, trainers, welfare charities, breed and competition associations. As…

I love this thought from Clinician, Chris Sorensen at the recent EC Convention (Can. Equestrian Team) “One of the most amazing things that you learn as you train with top people around the world is that almost all of them practice basics every day. We all think that these famous riders are going to teach us magical tricks that are eluding us, but the fact of the…

On the benefits of installing lateral “buttons “ on competitive horses, while “jumping as little as possible.”

“I do lots of flat work. A work a lot of poles on the ground to replicate the same kind of training that’s required for the course, but over a rail on the ground instead of having a jumping effort. It just minimizes the impact on the horse. I have a…

Humility - The professional horse trainer who joins in to help set the trail course. The champion who uses his moment in the spotlight to share his own life challenges as encouragement. The clinician who includes the novice riders along with the experienced. The judge who smiles. The winning rider who claps for everyone – even when in 2^nd place. The rider…

Our prime minister set off a national conversation about showing more "swagger" as entrepreneurs in business. So as a riding coach I was thinking - what's the role for swagger in the horse world? Is riding different than in other sports?  Some describe it as an expectation of success. Others, cockiness. Does  an "Own the Podium" attitude, get in the way of some…

Just thinking through what it’s like to be a horse is bound to make us better riders and appreciate our equine partners!

“Consider, for example, a horse and rider preparing to jump a four-foot wall. Jumping serves the rider’s interests—recognition and a ribbon! The horse, however, takes a risk by jumping, and given a choice most…

Standard equipment in English disciplines. Training equipment in western.  While nosebands are designed to prevent bit evasion, in the horse business, we’re inclined to default into thinking “If a little is good, more is better! Are we masking bit evasion without asking WHY the horse might be resisting?

The International Society of Equitation Science…

Have you ever been unsettled by your classmate’s handwringing before an exam? Or the patient before you holding their jaw as they emerge from the dentist’s room?

Its not that you sense or smell fear. You’re reading their body language….and catching it like an infection.

Riders often tell me that their horse senses they’re nervous. I ask them if they…

Reliable brakes – not just for reiners!  Anyone ever been thankful for a horse who had a braking safety feature installed? An accident averted, an equitation class won, an opportunity to re-group before things got “out of hand”?

I’ve been thankful for horses that know “whoa” before they steps on the reins, unseat a novice, or bump into another horse in the…

Flight response is a prey animal’s instinct to flee from perceived danger.

Dr Andrew Mclean says “A structure deep inside the brain called the amygdala, sorts out stimuli as to whether they are fearful or not. Fearful stimuli receive special recognition by the brain in terms of remembering - unlike other information, once learned, fearful responses…

Don’t give up what you want most for what you want right now.

I had the privilege of speaking to a student group last night- Life Lessons Learned from Horses. From the city, on outdoor education at a local retreat centre, everyone had experienced their first “horse encounter”.

Horses are hard on fences, I told them. They…

Is it an AHA moment in a horse’s understanding? A sign of submission or a sigh of relief?

Always one to ask questions, I think a little differently about the licking and chewing thing  than I did in earlier years training horses. We recognize this mouth behaviour in a horse after stopping to take a break in an intense training…

Applying science-based learning principles for any horse training scenario, Dr. Sue McDonnell suggests how to de-stress 5 common stressful vet treatment procedures. It's common for equestrians to unintentionally train avoidance responses using pressure and release in the wrong timing. “We put pressure, the horses react, we back off because we have to because they're big or we weren't prepared, and the horse almost immediately gets into an avoidance cycle,” she said. “Recognize when something…

It’s human to look for a fresh start every January, isn’t it?

New habits and attitudes to replace or tweak the old ways.

And because it’s our human nature to find a loophole, horse show committees roll out new or tweaked rules to close them!

 Judges and stewards reset our inner scoring systems. Competitors tweak tack and even training techniques.

What’s new from EC?

No ear phones or earbuds in the show ring. And only one…

That bareback beach riding bucket list experience - a tender moment for the rider, yet perhaps differently “tender” for the horse.

In several recent studies researchers have confirmed the benefits of pressure -distribution thanks to saddle trees, making them a better option than some treeless saddles or riding bareback…For example,…

 I'm asked this question at a few open shows per season. Currently most rule books do not permit bitless bridle.

At the Global Dressage Forum. Dr. Andrew McLean one of the panel experts “How you train the bitless bridle depends on the hands at the other end. I think you can have the horse light in anything.… It’s how you train it.”

When asked if a…

I applaud Melanie Ferrio-Wise  not so much for going bridleless at the Washington Horse show, but for the systematic process she took to get there.

As a riding a teacher, I’m excited about process– understanding and enjoying the journey, not just the results.  Teaching skills and cues to your horse, layering them to produce the manoeuvres you’ll need and then…

Even with one refusal and two rails, which dropped them to 24th in the placings, Melanie Ferrio-Wise  was delighted with her performance at the Washington International. She rode the course with a neck rope instead of a bridle!

She describes her horse as a tough horse unable to handle the stress of his previous life in competitive dressage. “He doesn’t like…