“Selecting the appropriate trainer is not a matter of choosing the most prominent name or the highest price point… You are not just paying for a set number of training rides. You are investing in your horse’s cognitive and emotional framework.”
“There’s no amount of reasoning with what is under you, because you can’t reason pain and fear and the eventual lack of self-perseveration that comes with it. But often, you can hunt down the cause, treat it and try again, this time with more data.”
“A gentled horse isn’t afraid of making mistakes, because mistakes simply are part of the learning process. They’re not punished into silence, they’re guided into confidence.”
From tight muscles to swinging trots, this week’s article explores what it means when a horse comes off the track ‘track tight’—and how time, turnout, and care transform them into sport horses.
“‘Bombproof’ is one of my least favorite terms to describe horses. I mean, when a bomb goes off, I’m going to either freeze or jump. I expect my horse to do the same. I do not want them to stand there and not realize or care that the world around them is changing rapidly.” (more…)
“Instead of beginning one’s search for pain under where a horse palpates sore (their back or SI, for instance), I’d recommend first taking a good long look in the other direction — their feet.” (more…)
“When trust is broken or never fully built, it becomes a barrier to progress. No matter how experienced you are, your cues won’t communicate to your horse the way you expect. You’ll start to overcompensate, using more leg, stronger bits, harsher training aids, and more assertive body language, but force can’t substitute for foundation.”
“A softer, more (literally) accommodating ride crafts openings for them to figure out the best placement for their hooves, best way of moving energy over their back. Such a ride channels flexibility to help build the strength and the confidence …” (more…)
“…while these exams are often described in terms of ‘passing’ or ‘failing,’ there really is no such thing. It is all a subjective view of the particular vet of the particular horse on one particular day in time in relation to the needs and desires of the particular buyer.” (more…)
“It might take three steps or three laps around the ring, but there is a feeling that comes with it — a suspension of disbelief. You know they’ll get there (to whatever it is you’re asking), but it will take a moment for them to understand and try in the right direction.” (more…)
If you don’t feel yourself, you surely won’t feel your horse. Skilled riders aren’t perfect. They’re present. They feel every shift in themselves first, which allows them to feel and respond to shifts in the horse.
“… it feels like trust — like if I give you a solid foundation and eventually point you at that big solid fence, are you going to try to get both of us safely to the other side?” (more…)
“Once one is restarted, there’s a clamoring for horses around the $5,000 mark. Folks, many of the nice ones are coming straight off the track at around or above that $5,000 mark.” (more…)
Seasoning young or green horses off-property poses its own set of demons. This week’s article offers three ways to get your not-so-seasoned horse to settle in like an old pro… or at least less like an aggravated electric eel. (more…)
“…growth isn’t always flashy. That real growth rarely looks like a grand finale. It’s not always shiny or Instagram-worthy. Sometimes, it doesn’t come with applause or dramatic breakthroughs.”
“… the goal for the past couple weeks has not been to increase his jumping experience or see how big of an oxer he can clear … but to shore up the foundation and his rhythm so that he can go do the big things without the need for an equally big bit.” (more…)
“The idea is pretty simple — a horse that is not entirely straight (what horse ever really is???) generally lines up in a crescent of some variation from nose to tail.” (more…)
“… there isn’t any set timeline. [Horses], apparently like this year’s spring, take their time if they need it. And if they don’t — that’s great too.” (more…)
