Category Archives: Brain-Based Horsemanship

Brain-based horsemanship makes a person pretty skeptical about what horses do and don’t “like.” Without a prefrontal cortex that can evaluate and judge, horse brains are left to innate instincts...

If you’ve read Horse Brain, Human Brain, you know that our human noggins are designed to rely on vision as their primary sense, but horse brains are ruled by smell. True,...

My green Warmblood True is doing well with his early hopping lessons, except for one little thing. I call it “crosspole roulette.” Crosspole roulette is evidently some kind of equine...

My green Warmblood True, like most youngsters, has these beautiful lower legs with clear definition between his strong tendons that brings a smile to any jumping rider’s face. We protect...

True, my young Warmblood, is trotting individual ground poles and sequences of up to four poles in a row, in both directions at various locations around the arena by now....

Writing a column like this, where one article follows another in perfect lockstep, suggests that horse training is a serial process. It’s as if my green Warmblood True learns one...

Don’t worry, we won’t be on poles forever. Last week, my four-year-old Warmblood True was clearing a three-inch raised pole by three feet. I redirected him to a different task...

Following the exercise described last week, my four-year-old warmblood True is walking and trotting smoothly from each direction over single poles scattered around the arena. With such practice, he's learned...

You know how show jumpers sail over gigantic obstacles, like oh say…CARS? Or set records for height, like oh say… EIGHT FEET high? Or breadth… um, that would be 28...

It’s time to start teaching my green warmblood True to jump. As usual, we have to begin with some preliminary checks. First, be sure your horse’s bones and body are...

Time: that annoying measure of life that’s worth its weight in gold! In these weekly articles, I often describe brain-based training techniques that proceed slowly. Most people, especially those who pay...

Today’s title might perplex those who read this column regularly and know that for brain-based reasons I prefer to train by reward, but non-edible reward. The three treats refer not...

OK, let’s climb on my young Warmblood True and see how this roundness business works in real life. As with any maneuver on a young or green horse, be sure...

Last week, we reviewed the basics our youngsters need to know before learning to move in a long rounded frame. “Frame” refers to the position of the horse within an...

A couple weeks back, I promised some words on teaching roundness in young and green horses. This is kinda complicated, so let’s approach it in chunks over the next few...

In the past couple weeks, I’ve described my green Warmblood True’s progress with the lessons on my training agenda. But maybe the most fun to consider is his training agenda—all the stuff...

In all my training, with my young Warmblood True and other horses, I use reward as a primary technique. In general, it’s quicker over the long term, lasts longer, is...

Young horses are often awkward in learning to back up while under saddle. It’s an unnatural movement, both physically and mentally. Most youngsters don’t yet have the musculature and physiological...

Last week, we assessed Baby True’s achievements and found that he’s learned a lot in the past eight months. We can use that assessment to refresh our goals for the...

A few months ago, I described my first discovery ride with my three-year-old Warmblood True in his new home. He was comfy with tack, led well, and longed obediently but...