Gerry Cox Needs a Horsemanship Lesson
See Update Below. I’m absolutely stunned. I wasn’t expecting to see what I did in this video from Gerry Cox. I’m not 100% sure what I was expecting because so much horsemanship is a blatant…
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8 Ways to Create a Highly Effective Learning Environment for Your Horse
We are wholly responsible for our horse’s learning environment. Not just actual training interactions, but even the daily care of your horse can affect their learning. With that in mind, here are some techniques to create…
“He’s Being An Asshole”, and Other Name Calling
Without a doubt, name-calling is one of my biggest pet peeves. The only thing that tops it is outright abuse. We’ve all heard how some riders refer to their horse as an “asshole”, “jerk”, “butthead”,…
Is this YouTube DIY Noseband Hack really from Susan Jaccoma?
It’s been quiet around here lately, but today I break the silence to say “WTF internet?” This might be a complete joke of a video, but it is terrifying to know that someone, somewhere is…
Clinton Anderson isn’t an Asshole
There are so many ways Clinton Anderson could be described, but asshole doesn’t quite fit the bill. Although he self-labels himself an asshole, “if your definition of an asshole is someone who tells the truth,…
“Every discipline does it,” is a Pathetic Excuse of Horse Abuse
When I was young, it was common as children to say something like, “but everyone else in my class gets to go!” To which my parents would say, “if everyone in your class jumped off…
Finding Balance In Dressage
It can be easy to lose balance in Dressage and end up pursuing one extreme trait of the discipline or another. Perhaps you’ve been working hard to perfect your lateral work and forgot to notice…
Visual Lesson : Signs There are Holes in Your Horse’s Training
What does it mean for there to be holes in your horse’s training? It means that somewhere along the line his training was incomplete, like he missed a day of school and never got caught…
The Natural Aids
The aids are the means by which the rider communicates his or her will to the horse. Artificial aids, such as whips, spurs, long whips, and all types of special tack, can be very effective when properly used. But the secret to equitation lies int he use of the natural aids — the seat, the hands, and the legs.
You’re Confusing the &*#! Out of Your Horse
You asked for your horse to go left – well you thought you asked anyways. You thought you pressed your right leg to his barrel and applied a direct left rein; but can you be sure? You probably thought nothing about how you caught your horse either, while you approached him head on like a predator and yelled at him for running away. You can’t figure out why he won’t lead properly without running his shoulder into you sporadically. He doesn’t stand still for mounting or walks off as soon as your leg is over his back. He leans on the bit or shies away from any contact, spooks and is either dull or too sensitive to the aids.
Guess what? These aren’t training problems, they’re communication problems.
Is Eco-Friendly Horse Care Possible?
Can you love horses and the environment equally? It doesn’t take long to realize that horses can be very destructive to pastures, soil and ground water. Is it possible to keep your horses happy while also minimizing the damage to your property, encouraging the health of your pastures and local wildlife?
5 Horse Needs
Every horse is unique, that being said they all share the common design of their nervous systems and thus function in the same way. There are also five fundamental needs that every horse has in common, that drives the horse in an attempt to meet those five needs.
Listening to Your Horse
Maybe I’m not being clear, but if time after time I’m being cut off, interrupted, my thoughts summarized incorrectly, then it is safe to assume the listener is no longer trying to listen. Of course at the pace our society moves who really has time to sit down and fully listen to another person…? Or do we and we’ve simply allowed ourselves to get caught up in a pace which requires us to constantly repeat ourselves?
Using Your Indoor Arena Voice
Sometimes when I get wound up, excited or nervous my voice will rise and rise until I am nearly shouting and don’t realize it. This was a big problem when I was a child and…
Reining Competitions Promote Hyperflexion and Running the Horse into Walls
They do not seem to care that they are yanking on the horse’s most sensitive mouth with a leverage bit. They do not seem to care that they are spurring the horse carelessly and excessively. They do not seem to care that the horse is willing to accept these abuses without striking out violently.
Flexing the Stiff Horse
This question is raised frequently – how to soften and flex a horse who is stiff in the neck. There is a problem with the question however, because it assumes that addressing the horse’s stiff neck will actually correct the stiffness. In reality, flexing the horse’s neck alone only causes a disconnection between the neck and the hind legs. If you do not understand the implications of this disconnection you can create more problems later on – making it difficult or impossible to get true collection from the horse.