The pilot check before every ride

The pilot check before every ride A lot of the time we go into our routine: we saddle up, bring the horse in and we get on. We don’t check in with our horse. Usually, this is the moment where horses tend to check out and where little problems become big.    So how do […]

Are you the Mommy, the Dictator, or the Mentor?

Are you being the best mentor for your horse? When it comes to our horses, we can have many different relationships.  But in broad lines, we can narrow them down to three types: 1. The Mommy;2. The Dictator;and 3. The Mentor. However, only one of those will actually give our horses the room to grow […]

How to control your own level of tension

How to control your own level of tension when your horse spooks If you have a horse that’s a little bit nervous or that’s prone to spooking, your anticipation to that spook is creating tension in your body. It’s a natural reaction, but it will definitely create tension and anticipation in your horse’s body as […]

Goal setting for the new year – what’s really important to you?

Setting Goals for the New Year What is really important to YOU? We are often led to believe we should be doing a certain thing with our horses. In a certain way, at a certain level, in a certain amount of time. These beliefs have been congregated over time from past experiences, memories and knowledge […]

When your horse is pushy

What do you do when your horse is pushy and doesn’t respond to your cues? I recorded a little video with a young stallion to show you the dos and the donts.

Motivate your horse!

A horse that is very laid-back and maybe extremely lazy, often struggles to get himself motivated. How do you get those horses to be in control of themselves, how do they learn to give themselves a feeling of having energy, of being athletic, of being something that is feeling good? That’s where my Groundwork Wednesday comes in!

To what are you giving your attention when you enter the arena? [video]

Last week I was at the World Cup Qualifier, the Dutch Masters, in the Netherlands to give two clinics. While I’ve been here, I’ve been really focusing on where the attention of the riders is when they’re bringing their horse to the warmup or when they are entering the main arena to ride their test. […]

Does your horse really know the trailer?

Does he really know the trailer? It is a question I often ask myself. ‘He is just missing parts of information that he needs to know how to be relaxed about traveling.’ This is what I think when someone tells me of their trailer loading problem or horse. Some of you may have seen the […]