Category Archives: Training

One of the challenges of fear is how it can leave you frozen and literally stop your ride. Your horse wonders where you went and either takes over or takes...

Good base, bad base, good base, bad base, good base, bad base, good base. It takes time to learn how to ride, and it often requires decent teaching. I learned...

Those who follow Denny Emerson’s Tamarack Hill Farm Facebook page may have caught his comments earlier this year, on the “innies” and “outies” of the horse world: “In the great...

Nervous horses are hard to ride horses. Hard to ride in that they are too reactive. They may not stand quietly to be mounted. They may not walk calmly. They...

I’ve got a confession to make: I’ve been holding out on you. There is one simple exercise that I uncovered a while ago and haven’t shared here. And it’s a...

The Retired Racehorse Project recently released the list of trainers for this year’s Thoroughbred Makeover, and as the winner of one of the disciplines from last year I was at...

When I warm up before schooling a horse on the flat, I tend to do it in stages. First, if I have the opportunity (say it isn’t freezing out, or...

According to Maclay Finals winner, judge, clinician and author Anna Jane White-Mullin, most “rushers”—horses that run to fences—are topped by nervous riders who panic when their horses become tense or...

To the untrained eye, lunging looks like an exercise of chasing the horse around in seemingly never-ending circles. I’ve often heard questions posed by new equestrians, horse husbands and non-horsey...

Pole work is an important part of training a horse, both physically and mentally, says Sally Amsterdamer, a British dressage instructor who specializes in flat work for show jumpers. “The...

Three-day eventer Elisa Wallace, of Jasper, GA, redefines the term “barn dance” in her latest video blog. Watch her cut a rug while desensitizing the spooky young Mustang, Sparks, to Elle King’s pop hit “Exes and Ohs.”...

These days, California-based hunter rider Hope Glynn of Sonoma Valley Stables in Petaluma has a full plate. With 40 clients, 53 horses and ponies in training, and a busy on-the-road schedule...

A few months ago, dripping in sweat and battered and bruised, I came home and text messaged my best friend Meghan, telling her that I thought it was time to...

In Part 1 I spoke of Operant conditioning training as one of the different forms of teaching we can employ. During these discussions I have sometimes struggled with making clear...

The kind and natural approach Several years ago, in search of an ethical alternative to the harsh and seemingly senseless mainstream training techniques, I began following a system of natural...

If you do a Google search for “Juergen von Buttlar,” you’ll find one article and a few random quotes from people promoting the fact that they’ve trained with him or had their...

Jack Le Goff told us (5,974 times by actual count) that in order to have an adjustable canter that "allows" the rider to be able to instantly lengthen, be able...

On approach to a jump there are three distances that will present themselves “on the screen,” says USET veteran Bernie Traurig. “You’re on stride, so you have nothing to do...

Lately I have been thinking about what is meant by being ‘light’ when we ride our horses. I have come to the conclusion that this is a one of the...