Channel Archives: Learn

Flying lead changes are on my short list for True at this point in his training. We’ve been doing a lot of simple changes, shortening the number of trot steps...

This excerpt from Anne Kursinski’s book, Riding & Jumping Clinic, takes the rider through an exercise that helps leverage a key component of a good distance: rhythm. Refining Your Sense...

Aww, sometimes horses are so darn cute. I know that sounds anthropomorphic, but hear me out and judge for yourself: True’s been separated from his injured pasture mate for a...

A friend of mine texted me the other day, “Why are they called field boots, dress boots and paddock boots?” Fair question. Why are they called field boots? And so,...

Suspensory ligament injuries.  The dreaded ‘s’ word in the equine veterinary industry.  “I call it the ‘s’ word just because I've made quite a few girls and, I think, a...

True loves to share the arena with other horses: “Woo-hoo! Play time!” Mares are especially exciting because they’re rare where he lives… and, well, because they’re mares: “Hey, baby! Wanna...

Today I thought I’d venture down the horse’s leg as there are a lot of curious names down there. We will start at the bottom and work our way up...

Working with young horses means dealing with frequent shying. After two years of near-daily work under saddle, True is only now beginning to be more trustworthy in terms of shying,...

Question courtesy of Curtis Pool. This is a very complicated question as there are so many different points of view when it comes to teaching people to ride. As a...

I don’t know how I got here, but here I am.  Every now and then a word springs to mind that’s just odd enough that I’m compelled to look into...

At first glance, the Olympic Training Center might seem a long way from the neighborhood swimming pool, skating rink, or riding school. It’s not as distant as you’d think. Even...

True and I don’t take much time off during the winter because doing so requires so much re-conditioning in spring. Time spent re-conditioning during the riding season is time stolen...

This is very straightforward to me. As a trainer, I think too many of us are scared of their owners/clients. Horses don’t have to do all that they do for...

Whether you’re eating healthier, taking up daily meditation, or embracing ‘Dry January,’ the New Year is all about self-improvement. But it’s not just people who can benefit from methodically implemented,...

Ground manners in any horse are very important and often overlooked. Why? First, they transfer to mounted work. A horse who’s been taught to pay attention to you, follow your...

My green Warmblood True and I have been experiencing a lot of snow lately and don’t have an indoor. We manage to walk on long hilly driveways, practice lateral maneuvers...

It was snowing and blowing yesterday, so my young Warmblood True got the day off and I worked on a photo gift for my father. This required sorting through 170...

Sometimes the hardest part of horse training is training the human. This problem shows up in many ways—we humans often reward at the wrong moment, apply different cues at once,...

It astounds me how little I know about the horse world. I have been involved with horses my whole life, though almost entirely on the English side of things and...

With the help of a grande vanilla latte, I like to get to barns early for lameness exams. I watch the sunrise, observe horses in pastures, ask questions about feeding,...