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The half halt is one of the most critical tools in your carriage driving reinsmanship. A well defined half halt can improve your horse's balance, engagement, and movement in all gaits. But what is a half halt, and how should it be implemented? This 12-page downloadable article explains the half halt in detail, and how to train one into your everyday driving. *Get this article for Free when you enroll in the online class "Building A Half Halt." -
If you're looking to advance your skills and communication with your horse, this lesson plan will be a great place to start! 9 exercises will help you develop a clear, reliable half halt. This lesson plan can be used for riding, carriage driving or long lining. **This lesson plan is included in the course materials in my online course, "Building a Half Halt." You may want to check that course out for more comprehensive coaching on the half halt.
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Lengthening is more than just a movement that a horse is, or is not capable of. It's a coordinated movement of balance and impulsion. Learn more with this in-depth article.
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This is an easy weekend project that requires few tools and minimal skill. All of the parts can be acquired at your local home center with the exception of the reins.
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Training for cones courses involves more than randomly driving from one set of cones to another. This lesson plan helps develop skills that can be applied to any cones course with any horse or pony.
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Long lining is easily the most valuable tool that I’ve ever learned and continued to develop as a horse trainer. This invaluable tool has helped bring horses from green broke to elegant mounts for both riding and driving. You may never lunge a horse again once you've learned to longline!
Get this article for free when you purchase the online class Long Lining 101!
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It doesn’t matter if you handle one rein in each hand as a rider, or all four reins in your left hand as a four-in-hand driver, there’s one rein that is, and always will be the most important rein. That one rein that can make all of the difference for bending through turns, square halts, or picking up the correct lead. It’s the outside rein.
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Harness care and maintenance aren't just a matter of vanity. Regular maintenance of your harness can save you from costly breakdowns that can have disastrous results. This is as important for synthetic harnesses as it is for leather.
Bonus Download
When you purchase this lesson plan you'll also get my guide to polishing leather harness for free. -
This is a core lesson plan that many of my other lesson plans are built upon. Use it on its own, or as a warmup for other work.
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The rewards of developing your horse’s walk will pay off exponentially in all other movements. This lesson plan will help your horse gain better rhythm, engagement, and impulsion at the walk. Don’t skip this critical step!
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The Hungarian Position is very intuitive, secure position to handle the reins from. This lesson plan will help you build the coordination for this versatile rein handling technique.
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Transitions are one of the best places to improve your horse’s performance. You can use transitions to improve balance, focus your horse’s attention, and build stamina. This is a great lesson plan for focusing on transitions.
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This isn’t about surfing and long lining at the same time (but that would be cool!) The wave pattern is a challenging pattern that builds your horse’s dexterity, and lateral flexion. This is a really fun, engaging lesson plan.
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Have you been longing for a lengthening out of your horse since the day you met? There is a way to help your horse develop a lengthening without chasing him into it. This lesson plan will help!
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This rein handling position is widely regarded as the fundamental rein handling position that every carriage driving student should learn. This lesson plan will introduce you to the fundamentals of that position.
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Any horse can be taught to stand. You just need a reliable method for teaching him that skill. Once you’ve trained this skill, every other skill you are working on will become much easier to teach (even the ones that don’t involve being still.)
This Lesson Plan comes Free with the "Teach Your Horse to Stand" class!
The online class includes over 3 hours of class video plus more than $60 of downloadable materials.Learn more ➙
This training can be used with horses of any temperament in any discipline. I've never met a horse, no matter how well behaved or rank that hasn't benefited from this lesson. -
This is the story of how two rotten ponies taught me how to teach horses everywhere how to stand. Read it for fun, but there's some good insight in there too!
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Tired of your horse falling in or counter-bending through corners? This third lesson plan in the “Moving Off The Whip” series can teach your horse to move off the whip to achieve better corners.
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Teaching a horse how to move off the whip through in-hand ground training is the best way to build his understanding of this important communication aid. This lesson plan also features a section for helping the whip-shy horse overcome his fear of the whip.
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If you want your horse to react to your whip aids in the carriage you have to explain to him what they mean and how you want him to respond. This simple lesson plan will help you give him those instructions.
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Here's an in-depth carriage safety inspection checklist. Use this at least once a year to inspect each of your carriages to be sure they're safe for your driving season.
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Don't show up to an event with missing harness parts! This checklist will help you be sure each harness you pack has everything you need before you put it on the trailer.
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The rest stop on a CDE marathon is your chance to refresh your horse to attack the hazards. Be sure you have everything you need on hand with this checklist.
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A great warmup is critical to a great performance. Learn how to create a warmup routine that sets you and your horse up for success.
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As a driver, your reins communicate the vast majority of your intentions to your horse. However, most drivers make this one critical error in their driving that makes it much more difficult for the horse to hear those communications.
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Setting up a dressage arena is easy with this detailed plan for full size and scaled arenas.
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Contact is one of the most important principles in carriage driving. Contact is the connection from the driver, through the reins, to the bit, and ultimately the horse, that allows communication to flow between the horse and driver.
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For many carriage drivers using public roads is a fact of life. This article gives you some tips on how to stay safe on the road while working your horses.
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Following safe a hitching method keeps you and your horse safe. Download this article to learn the best practices for hitching and unhitching the single horse.
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Creating a great halt has more benefits than just stopping where and when you want. A great halt encourages engagement, balance, and straightness. Learn how to get your horse’s halt on target and in balance.
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Keeping your focus and attention ahead of your horse can be tough. This lesson plan will give you a fun and relaxing way to drive or ride in the moment to come.
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It’s one thing to understand the outside rein, it’s another to explain it to your horse! This lesson plan will give you the steps to develop your horse’s outside rein. Get this lesson plan Free when you sign up for the Outside Rein Online class.
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Of all of your horse’s movements, the walk is the most important. That’s because it’s your horse’s foundation upon which all other gaits are built upon. Learn more about the walk, and how to improve it in this 7 page downloadable article.
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There’s more to getting a horse straight than meets the eye. It involves communication, timing, and balance. Getting your horse straight leads to better accuracy and movement in all of your horse's gaits. Learn more through this downloadable article.
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If you want better accuracy, bending, and engagement, getting your horse straight is the first step. Learn how through this easy to follow, downloadable lesson plan. You’ll have your horse on the straight and narrow in no time!
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Long lining is easily one of the most valuable exercises for your horse. This class will help you and your horse or pony get started on the path to a skill that has a lifetime of benefits. You may never lunge a horse again once you’ve learned to longline!
