Training with distractions
Training with distractions How do you approach the groundwork when you don’t have a quiet, enclosed indoor arena? Or when the only space where you can train is a small patch of grass? In actuality, you might actually make more progress than someone training in an indoor. I explain why in the video below 👇
Ground shyness
Solving ground shyness It’s not about the spooky thing Tire tracks. A scary corner. A ray of sunlight, or even a speck of straw: it can be enough to spook our horses. It’s natural to think that these things are the cause of our horse’s tension, so removing the object will remove the tension, right? […]
Don’t ride when you can’t touch
Don’t ride when you can’t touch When I met Nina, her owners told me she was tense under saddle. The traditional fixes didn’t seem to work. We took a step back and approached the training without a saddle. https://vimeo.com/930313535/987804e358?share=copy The tension wasn’t just under saddle. If you can’t touch all the areas where the saddle […]
Handling grumpy faces
How to deal with grumpy faces What do you do when a horse comes at you with their ears pinned and their teeth bared? And how can you safely change the behavior? It might just be a habit your horse has picked up from another horse. It doesn’t mean anything to them. But if we […]
Starting young horses the right way
VIDEO The first steps of starting a young horse When you start training your young horse, it might seem like the goal is just to get the saddle on and start riding. But rushing into it can lead to your horse not really understanding what’s going on. This misunderstanding can cause problems later, like running […]
Trailer loading: Going into the trailer is not the end goal
Trailer loading Going into the trailer is not the end goal Often, with trailer loading, people focus on just getting the horse in the trailer. And once he’s in, they will quickly close the bar and ramp, preventing the horse from running off. But it’s not about just getting the horse in the trailer. It’s […]
Entertainment at horse shows
Loud Music and Applause Entertainment or Needless Anxiety? Last year, I was at the Dutch stallion show where they had added quite a remarkable element to the judging of the test. At the end of each test, the audience got the opportunity to rate it by applauding. The organization recorded the decibels and the rider […]
Leading your horse safely
VIDEO How to lead any horse safely Leading a horse with high energy can be challenging, and I think it’s something many of us have experienced. Most of the time it looks like the horse is leading the handler, instead of the handler is leading the horse. The main issue with this is that a […]
Create flexion in your horse’s body
Create flexion in your horse's body A distanced variation on the groundwork pattern Lately, I’ve received a couple of questions from riders with pushy horses, often young stallions. Their horse stepped into their space, pushing into the handler and often trying to bite as well. ”When you work at a distance, it’s not inviting for […]
Are you making or teaching the piaffe
Are you making or teaching piaffe? As a Grand-Prix rider and horse trainer, I’ve seen many horses do a piaffe. However, only a handful of them mastered it in a way that is sustainable for their bodies. A well-executed piaffe should look so easy that it seems like the horse could do it all day. The movement […]