Lunging is one of those rare things to do with horses that has a pretty low ‘barrier to entry’. Getting started is pretty easy and ‘do-able’ for most riders. All that is needed is a few essentials and most riders can get started and off to the races with their horse. This is fantastic news because lunging, in my opinion,…
So how do you know if your horse is really engaged? If he is using his body to the best of his abilities at that moment in time. For many riders, we know that it is important, however, we struggle to make it happen consistently. Being able to successfully and correctly engage your horse’s core is essential for ‘good’ work…
Setting goals and making plans can feel like a waste of time when your horse is continuously tossing or throwing his head about. If you have a horse who reacts this way when being ridden, you will agree with me. It seems that no matter what you do, this issue is going to taint everything else in your riding. And…
Does your horse go from 0 to 120 in half a stride whenever he sets his sights on a jump? If so, you will probably agree with me that jumping is definitely not the thing you find most enjoyable to do with your horse! In fact, very often it can feel terrifying! And I agree. Jumping with a horse who…
So how do you become a ‘better’ rider? What should you be focusing on in order to make progress regarding your communication skills in the saddle? I believe there are three specific areas that, if you work on, you can really begin to see a difference in your riding. There are a lot of areas in riding that you can’t…
So what do you expect to happen when you mount up? Very often we can have either unrealistic expectations of our horses. We can also find ourselves having negative expectations; usually not intentional, but they happen! Horses are great at living up to expectations. However, they do have to be realistic. Expecting your horse to perform difficult movements when we…
