Channel Archives: Learn

Keep It Simple

I don’t mean “keep it easy.” Easy and simple are two different things. Nowadays, it’s common to start young horses over fences by setting obstacles that are needlessly complicated instead...

Avoid Drills

True and I have been cantering low hops over the past few articles. Soon we’ll raise them and get to some two-foot obstacles—still quite low, but a little bit more...

Pole Patterns

To add interest and build confidence, I like to introduce young horses to ground pole patterns once they’re comfy trotting and cantering straight poles in a line. You can find...

Canter Poles

True is now comfortable and relaxed when trotting ground poles one at a time, in successions of four or six, flat or raised a few inches, and in various patterns....

Back to Jumping

Some of the early articles in this brain-based training column were devoted to teaching True to jump. I got away from that goal temporarily for many reasons. Most important, I...

Soothing Anxiety or Rewarding Relaxation?

Let’s chat about training by non-edible reward a little more. It’s more effective and longer lasting than most other forms of training, motivates the horse to perform, and enjoys scientific backing....

Encouraging Equine Motivation

I advocate training by non-edible reward as often as possible. It’s effective and long-lasting, and it encourages a horse’s motivation and builds his trust. But training by non-edible reward means...

The Deeper Lessons

In Horse Brain, Human Brain, and in all my columns and posts, I allude to layers of lessons for horses. Too often, we think of only the surface aspect of what...

Quoth the Raven: Arena Wildlife

We all have our quirks, right? One of mine is the belief that arenas are for horses and riders. Period. Well, all right, ground handlers or instructors are tolerated if they don’t...

Ghost Noises

“Ghost noises” is my term for sounds caused by agents that horses can’t see. For example, the other day someone was stacking pallets next to the outer walls of the...

Turnout Turmoil

Turnout is a risky proposition for performance horses: it’s great when everything goes well, but it can lead to serious injuries when there are problems. I insist on it for...

The Butter Canter

True is progressing nicely in many ways and is still sticky in others. I’ll write a full assessment for you soon, and we will go back to the topics of...

Indoor Arenas

So much of brain-based horsemanship depends on forming a bond of mutual trust between horse and rider. Every day, I am reminded that my methods of teaching a horse a...

Dapples!

A friend and I were walking along the other day with our horses. I had just rinsed True with water and a jelly scrubber—I rarely use soap because it strips...

Reducing Separation Anxiety

True fell in love with the little bay mare in an adjacent turnout about six months ago. “Fell in love” is a human phrase, of course. True stood as near her...

“Hey! She Belongs to Me!”

My own horses watch closely when they see me riding a horse in training. One of my former horses ran the fenceline whinnying for an hour the first time he...

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