Lessons Learned from the Christmas Donkey
Resilient and stoic. Less expressive and reactive than a horse. In our current cultural climate, maybe the Christmas Donkey has something to quietly teach us.
Month: December 2021
Sports psychology for the horse show ring
I liked these sports psychology strategies for excelling mentally in the horse show ring
Coaching riders and removing the training wheels
A good coach fosters independence in riders. Hey, as riding coaches, we LOVE teaching. We strive to give clients good value for money.
SO… we talk a rider through each leg of a course or pattern – “right rein, half halt, LEG, LEG, LEG!” and then coach some more in the class from the rail. My coach never really removed my training wheels…Coaching that requires some problem solving, may not produce early results, but leads to deeper learning,
Horses and the homing instinct
Anyone who’s prodded and zig-zagged their horse away from the barn, only to beeline back on the return trip;
anyone who’s ridden an egg-shaped circle, bulging as though magnetized toward the arena entrance
or anyone who’s earned a break-of-gait penalty at the show ring in-gate knows…Horses have a “homing” instinct.