Would you say you’re always aware of what you’re saying to your horse? Riding techniques may vary but if we can put our riding aids into words we’re likely communicating clearly to our horse. And are we more intentional about the signals we send to horses we ride than the words we speak in casual (human) c
conversations?
A horse will tend to hide behind the bit if his rider’s hands are noisy or inconsistent. If it works, behind the bit becomes his default whether or not the threat is still present. This is “Avoidance Conditioning”. We do the same – once hurt we tend to protect ourselves from further hurt by avoiding a person vs. forgiving them, self-protection vs risking again.
Training your horse to work a gate teaches skills that will spill over into other other dimensions of his training. As a horse show judge, I assess and score riders working gates in several riding disciplines.
In “doing” for our horses, Ii a little is good, more is better…right? Expert share top ways horse people can overdo it. Our horses might be better off when we consider they might need less meddling, maintenance, and medications.
Prepare for that first horse show and navigate the horse show warm up ring like a winner. While horse riding’s not technically a team sport, looking out for one another in the warm up ring benefits everyone!
The horse show warm up ring- a sea of horses and riders, each rider in their own head -and under pressure. Time pressure, peer pressure and pressure to succeed in the horse show ring. While riding’s not technically a team sport, looking out for one another benefits everyone!