I know it is common practice, and while there is more information being circulated to the general public which supports the idea that starting a horse at 2 years old is premature I still get a lot of questions posed to me relating to issues that come up in training the 2 year old horse under saddle.
I love it when people find my blog with search terms that I haven’t addressed the issues for yet… gives me an opportunity to address them! 
This is in line with today’s search terms “of the day”…
So it’s icy out and I have work tonight so no time to play with the ponies. I figured I would post something written over the course of this fall. It was largely inspired by a Neuromuscular Therapy course I was attending, and also from the previous understanding I’ve had of the horse. Something to inspire the mind, I hope. Enjoy!
What does it mean to be a weak rider? Is it the inability to hold the correct posture and position in the saddle? Is it the lack of strength in the aids to apply them correctly and productively? What if weak riding were not a bad thing, but a highly sought after reality?
Pressure is what we experience every day of our lives, either self-imposed or given to us by those around us and in our lives. For the horse it is a little simpler, from our perspective anyhow, the horse does not take ‘home’ pressure from the rider or trainer when the session is over. They don’t appear to agonize over learning something once they leave the work environment. Pressure however can be exerted on them by sources other than the mere training session they just finished. Pressure is what encourages the horse to do anything other than simply be.
Defining and Solving
Resistance in the horse can come in several forms, at times violent and on the other end of the spectrum, passive. Both forms are harmful, frustrating and a sign that the horse does not fully understand what is being asked of him. Let us take a deeper look at the forms of resistance in the horse, and how they need to be approached to restore a healthy relationship.
