Riding Horses After a Broken Neck
I know several equestrians who have broken their neck and suffered worse pain and limitations than I have. This is the account of my own personal experience. Please note that my experience is not identical…
Riding
Posts and Articles related to the riding of horses, how to improve your seat, posture, aids and communication.
What the Best Ride Ever Feels Like
I just got home from riding and have to say, without a doubt it was the best ride of my life. When I told my husband this, he asked: “didn’t you just have the best…
2017 Birthday Reflections
Today is my birthday, and instead of making a big todo about it, I chose to spend time with my handsome gelding. The weather was perfect for a ride, sunny with a slight breeze to…
Who Are You Riding For?
We’re all motivated in different ways as equestrians. We have different goals, ambitions, passions. And somewhere in all of those differences, the one thing we have in common with each other is the horse. When…
How To Avoid Drowning Your Horse
Swimming with your horse can be a delightful break from the usual routine. Before you begin it’s important to approach swimming with some safety precautions to avoid injuring your horse or getting yourself stomped on….
Do You Half Halt?
I use the half halt regularly through every ride, but can also attest to the fact that descriptions of the half halt are less-than-helpful. The half-halt is a specific riding aid given by an equestrian…
Nobody Makes You Ride Horses, Be Responsible for Yourself
There is no evil scapegoat we can blame for forcing us to (love) (ride) (train) (compete) our horses. Nope, the only person we can blame is ourselves. But we aren’t terribly good at owning the results…
Virtual Lesson: Using Fear to Your Advantage
I could go on and on about how fear is perfectly normal and natural, but if you’re caught up in it you might be rolling your eyes and expecting this post to be all about…
Finding Balance In Dressage
It can be easy to lose balance in Dressage and end up pursuing one extreme trait of the discipline or another. Perhaps you’ve been working hard to perfect your lateral work and forgot to notice…
Visual Lesson : Your Seat and Legs Aren’t That Important
Surprise, surprise, surprise. I’ve actually been writing about how unimportant the rider’s seat and legs are for a long time but it may have gotten lost in the shuffle. So, here’s a visual to help…
Are you abusing your tack?
The use of horse tack has some interesting parallels to the use of recreational drugs, including the abuse of both. Before your panties get in a bunch, read me out. For some equestrians the use…
This is Dressage!
We’re all in need of some visual inspiration, here are a few rides to get you ready for the weekend by visualizing what is dressage. Mestre Nuno Oliveira sheds some light on the piaffé To…
The Natural Aids
The aids are the means by which the rider communicates his or her will to the horse. Artificial aids, such as whips, spurs, long whips, and all types of special tack, can be very effective when properly used. But the secret to equitation lies int he use of the natural aids — the seat, the hands, and the legs.
Concentrate Your Way to Better Riding
All disciplines of riding can be improved through mental concentration. The ability to tune out distractions, tune out your personal thoughts, tune out that speeding ticket you got on the drive to the barn; and tune into your horse, what you’re feeling through the reins, what your body is doing in the saddle, the timing of the aids, your horse’s balance and gaits and… riding.
I Have a Suggestion
If you were at one of my clinics the very first thing I would say to you would be: “All that we ask our horses to do for us is based on our human goals and desires. I will go further and suggest that many of those goals are at the expense of our horse’s safety and well being.”
To Noseband, Or Not To Noseband
“In dressage, there’s very little risk of nose-diving, at least actually diving into the dirt. So the noseband is used for other purposes. Well, the same purpose, of course, shutting the mouth, but for a different reason.”