A medley of horse riding issues stem from the same source – lack of straightness. When our lives get out of alignment, we lose sight of our priorities. The off-season is a great time to realign our riding goals with our other life commitments and values
Unsteady hands in riding interfere with the clarity of your message to your horse, like radio static. Here are some tips to ride with quiet hands
“Horse classified scams run rampant.”This cautionary headline caught my eye . It seems that a new scam rears its ugly head every week.The sad truth is that in every corner of the horse world, every sport and every business, there are those finding new ways to bend a straight line crooked.And if we’re honest, isn’t … Read more
As I count my Thanksgiving blessings, topping my list are, funnily enough, what I HAVEN’T received. What I’ve be spared from. Amazing graces…
Falling off horses, struck at, run into yet never so far, been significantly injured…
“Blessed are the flexible for they shall not be bent out of shape.” I describe suppleness in training horses as lack of “brace” – longitudinally or laterally.
I love when horses seem to “hunt” the trail obstacles – bridges, water boxes or tarps. Checking out the footing. How solid is the foundation? Logically, a horse, unlike his rider, doesn’t have this information at the outset. He has to test it…by faith.
Stay away. I kick. If your horse’s personal space-guarding has become assertive enough to warrant a red tail ribbon, it’s time to go back and do some homework before going off property. Instead of donning a red tail ribbon, train towards expanding his social bubble. Though there’s a few red ribbon PRICKLY people, thankfully, there’s another kind of red-ribbon personality to be spotted at horse shows… gracious, grateful, curious, helpful
First impressions are lasting impressions in horse show flat classes. Enter the show ring with confidence – in show mode, not training mode. Though judges aren’t yet officially scoring, they’re forming opinions as they organize bookwork and check tack. Get in there promptly. Don’t dilly-dally and contribute to a delay. That’s irritating to a horse show judge – the judge you’re hoping to impress. As a bonus, making an early entrance into the show ring carves out extra warm up time while the judge is recording numbers…and waiting for the tardy entries.
“Clenching the bit”. “Stiff necked”. Horse idioms we use for steely determination. So what’s this got to do with Good Friday? This week I saw a horse that’d had enough – took the bit between his teeth, locked his jaw and trotted off on a tangent out of the circle, toward the gate., neck and determination were set like stone. This riding session was over…
I see it in the show ring as a judge. A horse digs in his toes at the trail bridge, stalls on approach to a jump or balks to enter the ring altogether. If you’d like some help refining your horse’s go-forward cues, solving your “horse puzzles”, or teaching your horse a new skill, I offer freelance coaching at Ontario farms. I’d love to meet you and your horse!