This week marks yet another week that I have been reminded of something so fundamentally true, it can not be escaped: “Teach what your train, train what you teach.” Having recently returned from a successful outing at the Bromont International Driving Championship CDE, I turned to planning the next steps in Loretta’s training. In that process, I reviewed the areas in our work that are going well, and
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Why should recreational drivers practice dressage even if they don't intend to show their horses? Simple exercises can gain you and your horse big benefits such as better communication, improve your horse's balance, and most importantly, greater longevity.
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When I say "young horses," I mean anything under 4 years old. I get a lot of questions about what we should be doing with those yearlings, 2 and 3 year olds. The answer is quite simple.
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I've had quite a few people asking me about getting horses going again after their long winter off. The question always is: How to get the horse back in shape without over-doing it, but fit [...]
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When you hear hooves, you naturally think of horses before you'd think of zebras. It's the simplest explanation. When we have training issues with our horses, we don't always use such simple logic. Occam's razor can help!
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Things you should be doing with your horse during the COVID shut-down. Lots of people are spending a lot more time at home than normal. If you have your horses at home, this can equate [...]
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When you’re teaching a horse to drive, sometimes everything goes great until it doesn’t. Things may go great in the preliminary work, but then you hit an impasse. Those problems can be mild, as described [...]
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Is the single jointed bit the root of all evil? Many people shy away from a bit that has been used successfully for generations. What’s bad, and not so bad about a single jointed bit?
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The most valuable skill you can teach a horse is to stand still. You may think that’s an overstatement but it’s not even the slightest exaggeration. You can accomplish more in all of your training [...]
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Carriage driving pairs of horses and ponies is great fun, but it comes with one common challenge. Getting the two horses to work equally as a pair. The solution is relatively simple, yet most people go about it all wrong. Learn how to make your carriage driving horses a pair.
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Is working your horse longer setting your training back? It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking more = more, but that may be doing more harm than good. Getting the most of your workout may mean quitting while you're ahead. Read how I was reminded of this by a new horse in my training.
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(not actually the opening in the story) It was my last chance for survival… I had just left an airplane at about 6,000 feet (1,800+ meters), and I was spinning on my back [...]
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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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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 [...]
