Recent Articles

If you ask 100 different people about feeding the Event horse, you are likely to get nearly 100 different answers. Feeding seems to be such a personal thing - everyone has an opinion, and many are passionate about that opinion. But the one thing that I think we all can agree on, because it is actually a fact, is that....(Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

Tension in the horse's back is very paralyzing to the rest of its body. It basically inhibits the horse's hind legs from coming sufficiently underneath its body to balance itself. Riding the horse with tension in its back can often cause back soreness, which will then perpetuate the problem. It can also cause spooky and disobedient behavior, as the horse tries to communicate his unhappiness with the state of his back. Lets talk about how to tell if your horse is tense in the back, and what you can do about it.

The horse with tension in its back will typically either tend to rush with short, choppy, and often irregular strides that have no suspension - or will tend to feel "stuck", with the rider finding it difficult to get the horse to really go forward. The rider will often feel resistance in the bridle because of the tension in the horse's back, and will find it impossible to keep a good connection.

You can learn to spot tension in the horse's back by watching their tail carriage, as the tail is usually an accurate mirror of the state of the back.....(Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

Some riders don't seem to want to take enough time to work on basics, and instead seem to be in a hurry to move on to bigger and more exciting things. These same riders usually find that their attempted short cut ends up being very much the long way - since once they hit an impasse due to a hole in their foundation, they have to go back and start over.

Almost every problem that develops on the flat or over fences can be traced back to a hole or a weak link in the basics. And therefore the development of a problem should be addressed by going back to work on that weak link. (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

A rider's position greatly affects the success of their aids. No matter how well intentioned the aids are, if there are flaws or inconsistencies in the rider's position, the horse is likely to not perform perfectly. So it is unrealistic and even unfair to expect perfection from your horse when your legs are in the wrong place, your hands are moving all around, or you are not sitting correctly.

Here are some common examples: (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

Often what separates successful riders from those less successful is their attitude when riding. The riders who get the best out of their horses have full control of their mind, bodies, and emotions. This is because horses tend to mirror their riders, both physically and mentally. It can take many years of practice to develop full body awareness and control, but many riders overlook the mental and emotional aspects - the control of which can be developed much quicker if an effort is made.

There is no place for negative emotions when riding. If you think your horse is going to improve once you have crossed the line into anger, frustration, annoyance, impatience, or irritation - think again. How do you stop those emotions from taking over?  (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

I want to smooth things out and become more consistent, and not feel like I'm playing catch-up the whole round!

What kind of exercises and practice can I do to learn to stay with my horse better over a fence and land ready for the next one? (Cheryl)

Some horses jump too high over their jumps, making it hard for their riders to stay with them. This is often caused from a low level of confidence in the horse. It is fairly common for green and inexperienced horses to feel that they need to jump way up in the air over jumps with any width. And they can get scared and lose confidence in their ability when they realize that no matter how high they go they are still having trouble making the width. These horses need to be taught how to jump more across their jumps.

The key is to....(Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

Because we Eventers gallop and jump at speed, our horses can sometimes develop the habit of jumping "flat". Which can be a big problem when it comes to trying to keep all of those pesky rails up in the show jumping ring! 

When a horse jumps in a flat style, it keeps its head high and back straight, which keeps the horse's body and legs much closer to the rails like in this picture:





Jumping with a good bascule is more mechanically efficient for clearing high obstacles. And it more reliably produces clean jumping, as the act of the horse rounding in the air moves his body and legs up away from the rails, like this:





There are some things you can do to at home to encourage your horse to get in the habit of using its body more fully over jumps. Here are some ideas:(Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

• Visual learner - who learns by seeing? Do you learn best through demonstration, pictures, and videos?
• Auditory learner - who learns by listening to directions and talking about the information until you understand?
• Kinesthetic learner - who learns by feeling and doing? (often the self taught type)

Building muscle strength is a very important part of the training process for the equine athlete. Strong muscles allow the horse to perform to its full potential, and with minimal injuries. Strength training is often somewhat overlooked, as it's easy to get caught up in schooling the horse on the flat and over jumps exclusively. But you will find that a commitment to building your horse into a strong athlete will pay off with a horse that performs more happily and with ease.

I'm going to share with you the specific strength training program that I have recently used to help my big, gangly young horse, who came to me with an extremely weak topline, and therefore suffered from chronic back and sacroiliac (SI) soreness. (Click on Article Title above to read full article)

One of my favorite episodes of the TV show "Frasier" was the one where Frasier, who had never before learned how to ride a bicycle, had to learn to do so in a hurry so that he could ride in a fundraiser bike-a-thon. He was so afraid that he was going to hit the big tree that he had to pass, that he could not stop staring at it. And so every time he went by the tree, he crashed his bike into it. He became convinced that that tree had some sort of a gravitational pull on his bike! Then when the bike-a-thon was starting, someone taunted him (as they knew the trouble he was having with large objects), and said "Gee, I sure hope I can steer around that huge mailbox over there." So of course.....(Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

Imagine that you are standing in front of this door, with your hand on the door knob. This door only opens away from you.....(Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

Bench jumps are fairly common on cross country courses. And although they are straightforward galloping jumps, riders sometimes worry about them, as they often appear quite wide. Let's discuss how they should be ridden: (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

These two terms are often interchanged, but actually have very different meanings. And since they are two distinct problems (although many times the horse will have both at the same time), with two very different causes, they also have different solutions. You need to know which problem you actually have to know how to fix it.  (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

Corner jumps show up on nearly every cross country course around the nation from Preliminary to Advanced. And they are increasingly showing up at the Training level as well. So it is very important that every cross country rider competing at Training level and above learns how to successfully tackle this accuracy question. They are a great test of whether the rider has the horse balanced, straight, and between their leg and hand. Course designers put corners and skinny jumps on their courses to more safely test those qualities, as if the horse is not balanced, straight, or on the rider's aids, a runout is likely, but usually no one gets hurt. (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)