It’s seldom “just one thing” that causes a problem for your horse. I was inspired to write this little note by a post I ran across called “Trigger Stacking.” It’s a great quick read about [...]
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There's specific training trick that most people don’t know about, or forget to use. It’s simple that you can use it every time you take your horse out to train, and he’ll never get tired [...]
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I’ve been surprised at how many horse enthusiasts aren’t aware of the training scale. Of the ones who are, many view it as an overly complicated, strict set of ideals that can’t [...]
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Did you know that horse trainers are experimenting on horses every day? In fact, if you're taking lessons with a horse trainer, they're most likely experimenting on you as well. What this video to learn [...]
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Sometimes the ponies have trouble understanding theory! One thing that drives me crazy is “theoretical instruction.” Like most people, I start to get fidgety, even anxious when an instructor makes a deep dive [...]
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When a horse or pony bucks in a carriage, it presents a potentially dangerous situation. If the horse is able to get his hind end high enough, he can kick the carriage, or worse yet, [...]
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Even the best horses have their spooky moments. When those moments occur under saddle, their usually pretty easy to ride through. However when we put the horse to a carriage, those spooks can a be [...]
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The most difficult thing about creating lesson plans is making sure that I explain the movements of the exercises as clearly as possible. To be honest, that can even be challenging when we're together in [...]
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Every once in a while experience walks up to me and gives me a good dope-slap. Sometimes, it does so several times because, well I probably need it. The dope-slap I’m thinking of right now [...]
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Your reins are your primary communication device when driving your horse or pony in the carriage. So how you use those reins is of critical importance. Here are some tips on how to make those communications come through loud and clear to your horse.
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In the words made famous by Frank Sinatra “The best is yet to come!” Fall is my favorite time for driving horses. It probably has something to do with the fact that my passion [...]
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Probably two-thirds of the information passed between the driver and the horse is transmitted through the reins. It stands to reason that the more clearly and accurately we can handle the reins, the clearer and [...]
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I got a great little success e-mail last week from one of my west-coast students, Deb Holmes. She'd just finished up the Equestrian Institute Combined Driving Event in Ethel, WA where she won her division. [...]
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What’s your plan when you head out to drive your horse? Do you make a plan and follow that plan, or do you follow your horse's nose? Some people will answer that they are going [...]
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Driving corners and turns in a dressage test shouldn’t be that difficult, but it’s the one place that people most often get it wrong. They either drive so far from the corner that they bearly use [...]
