It’s More Than Horse Shows
An opportunity to study and teach equine behaviour and research in the classroom provided more insights into the way horses think and learn.
Tips from the judge’s perspective. Insights from the horse’s perspective.
• What are the 3 main categories a horse show judge uses to sort and score every class, every riding discipline?
• Does your horse understand your language from the schooling ring to the show ring?
Is your horse in a rush? (Part 2) 4 more tips to SLOW DOWN, tone down your horse’s tension and tune in to your aids.
Horse tension and relaxation – over and over I’ve seen how these really matter in horse learning. Your horse’s emotional state determines how easily he learns – absorbs and acquire skills.
Like cruise control, “self-carriage” in pace describes a horse neither rushing away (accelerating) nor slowing down. He stays within an imaginary box of the rider’s relaxed aids, without having to be held there.
If the horse is hurrying, he’ll be showing some degree of a prey animal’s flight response.
Horses in a rush. Humans in a hurry: Purposeful pauses.
In writing about horses and rushing lately, I got thinking…And what about humans? Ever suffer from “hurry sickness”? ..When I had the opportunity to travel to Israel to judge some horse shows and teach riding clinics, I was moved by how everything shut down for the Sabbath and family. Stores, transportation, restaurants, even…horse shows!
Is your horse in a rush? Part 1
As a young rider my horse rushed his jumps. I reasoned it was a good thing – he was “keen” to jump and so was I!He never refused. In fact, on approach to every fence, his ears would perk up, his head would lift up and his legs would speed up. While I may have … Read more Is your horse in a rush? Part 1
The stressed out horse. The science of equine stress.
“I believe that responsible horse owners essentially ‘owe’ it to their horses to either reduce or manage stress wherever and whenever possible,” Dr. Camie Heleski, equitation science researcher and senior lecturer for U of Kentucky. Obviously, there’s no way to eliminate stress in working with horses. The nature of horse training is that we’re pushing … Read more The stressed out horse. The science of equine stress.
Behind the Bit
Once a horse discovers how to escape a rider’s noisy or inconsistent hands, he may auto-hide behind the bit, even with a rider of educated hands. … He’s found an escape route that works and behind-the-bit becomes his default whether or not the threat is still present.
“Hurt me once, shame on you. Hurt me twice shame on me”. So the saying goes. Like horses, people protect themselves from further hurt by avoiding confrontation, love or risk.
Three equitation riding seats. Three unique roles.
Three riding positions supplying you with a variety of tools in your horse training tool box.
Judging “crooked” – in horse shows and in our human hearts
As horse show judges we’re trained to identify crooked by first recognizing what is straight. A horse’s limb. A rider’s approach to a fence….In this world, so bent out of shape, there’s a sense of how things OUGHT to be in every human heart.
Worry and horses
Worry. It’s the misuse of imagination according to renowned motivational speaker, Zig Ziglar. “What if..?” scenarios of doom, leave us sleepless the night before a horse show. “What ifs” leave us tongue tied in a difficult conversation with our coach. Or gripping the reins, white knuckles, prepared for a blow-up. “In riding, there’s a fine … Read more Worry and horses
Hell hath no fury like a Horse Show Mom scorned
I’m cautiously following my glowing Mother’s Day post in praise of horse show moms (and in praise of my own horse mom and cheerleader) with the other kind of horse show mother. Sharing the same breed characteristics as the intense hockey dad, this mom advocates fiercely for and rides vicariously through her young equestrian. As … Read more Hell hath no fury like a Horse Show Mom scorned