The dream of most riders and horse owners is to have a special bond with their horses. A lot of people also have problems because they want this bond so much that they let the horse do whatever he wants, as the owner wants to be the horse’s friend. But in horsemanship this just doesn’t work. We have to teach the horse rules in order to safely interact with each other. Continue reading Building A Relationship
Teaching the side pass will teach the horse to move off your leg and prepare him for exercises including leg yielding and flying changes. When your horse is starting to learn the side pass it is important that you break the maneuver into pieces that he can easily learn.
Training for a cross country course can be challenging, but its rewards far outweigh its difficulty. Cross country jumping exercises will directly improve hunter and jumper horses by exposing them to new obstacles and approaches to obstacles that will help them when on course. These lessons can be beneficial cross training exercises to horses of other disciplines as well. Continue reading Cross Country Lessons
Imagine getting on a horse and riding for the first time. If you have never ridden before this is may be only a fantasy, or you may have been riding for years and the first time you sat in the saddle is a fond memory. Horseback riding can be a wonderful experience with the right coaching and guidance, but much too often a new rider’s first few experiences on horseback don’t go so well. Many new riders get scared and confused without the proper instruction and they quit riding before they have really gotten a chance to enjoy it. I want to help change that by educating new riders in an easy, effective way that progresses their riding skills quickly. In this series I will be teaching beginning riding for those of you whom may have just gotten into horses or want to start riding soon. Continue reading The Beginning of Horsemanship
Horse shows can be a great place to test your riding skills and how well you and your horse work together as a team. Competing can be a very fun and rewarding experience when you take the proper steps to prepare your horse and yourself for a exciting, stress-free day. Continue reading Preparing For Your First Show
Blazing fast times don’t come by simply running the pattern at full speed. Fast times require attention to every step the horse takes. Control is extremely important, as the difference between first and second place come down to fractions of a second. Here are a few exercises to help improve your control during a run and overall improve your times. Continue reading Body Control For Better Barrel Racing
Have you ever been upset or at least confused about a placing that you have received after a hunter class? If so, a common response to not placing in a class is “The judge doesn’t like my horse.” “My horse is a paint and the judge doesn’t like paints.” Usually a response like this comes from a lack of knowledge about how hunter classes are judged and how the judge keeps score. Continue reading Hunter Round Do’s And Don’ts
Every hour you spend in the saddle practicing two point or riding without irons is preparing you for jumping courses. The rewards greatly outweigh all the hard work as the payback of being able to experience the joy of flying over a fence on the back of a horse. If you are a hunter or jumper rider than you may be wondering at what point in your training should you start raising the fence height, or even moving up a level. Continue reading Are You Ready To Jump Bigger Fences?
Does your horse stop when you say “Whoa.” or does he push through the bridle and continue on? Maybe he stops when you give him a rein cue but you would like to refine your cues. If either of these situations sound familiar this lesson will help you teach the horse to stop on your seat and voice cues alone from any gait. Continue reading Refine The Stop
Dressage is the heart of all riding activities and disciplines. Dressage is training the mind and body of the horse to learn the basics for any discipline, all the way to advancing him to preform high level movements. Continue reading Beginning Dressage