“[T]his is a mindset of being flexible and creative — of listening to the horse and trying to figure out solutions … is recognizing that so much of owning or even leasing horses is about constant learning and spending time with them …” (more…)
“The combination of core and confidence make a positive-reinforcing cycle that lead to greater strength, and for lack of a better synonym, greater confidence. Together they allow a rider to sit up, add the necessary leg, take a deep breath and release while staying centered over the horse.” (more…)
“[T]here are the [horses] that might not have the most impressive height, might not have a pedigree with the most known sires, might not have perfectly straight legs, or might not be the easiest ride between the ears … Those are the horses that I find exciting. They’re the diamond in the rough horses.” (more…)
“…if you can get your horse balanced . . . they can collect, they can turn, and they can do all of those things as slow or as quickly as you’d like without the necessity of using speed to balance themselves.” (more…)
“… what I do create here, and what this article is about, is a horse who ties well enough, ground ties well enough, and learns to stay calm and independent whether there is pressure on the other end of their line or not.” (more…)
“Riding a horse who is … not tip top, might require more of a push … to get a horse forward. However, a horse who is behind the leg as they are transitioning from go pony to show pony does not a true ‘kick-ride’ make.” (more…)
“You are never truly ready, and there are always excuses or more training that ought to be done. In my books, do you have semi-OK brakes? Do you have semi-OK forward and semi-OK steering? Fantastic, off to cross country for you. Feeling not ready? Meh, do it anyway.”
“No matter how fast your fingers are at opening and closing — holding and releasing tension — your elbows are nearly always faster and more fluid.” (more…)
“I expect that when asked, my horses would ride towards what they should run away from. The gallop-off-into-the-sunset would be a last resort, albeit a fantastically swift one.” (more…)
“He looked at one puddle-fence combination, but otherwise clicked around his courses, did everything asked and hung out like a seasoned gentleman all day. All it took was some trust under saddle and a better, more tailored-to-the-horse turnout situation.” (more…)
“I think these often-comical personalities exist in each of these horses, but there actually is a recipe to allowing it to flourish: Embrace the chaos but have clear boundaries.” (more…)
“In riding, whether flatting, jumping, executing a dressage test, or smartly blasting around cross country, we all think about rhythm and pace. While we have a lot of terms to get at the quality of a round, I think the idea of ‘flow’ is due an equine resurgence.” (more…)
“The me who raced my redheaded Appendix down dirt roads and knew every stretch of potentially hundreds of miles of local trails, never gave one lick about whether or not he stayed obedient or balanced through his transition to canter. Turns out, I was missing out.”
“… to exclude the good ones because they are a touch too short seems silly and often tells me more about the newness of the buyer to this game than about their ability and desire.” (more…)
“In contrast, when one slows one’s body down, the slow translates from the rider to the horse; steady, soft and balanced in the tack encourages quiet and responsive below the saddle.” (more…)
“Correcting head tilts, therefore, comes in at the point where the horse is pushing from behind and elevating their shoulder (even if they can’t hold this strong position for too long). Then you can start to ask them to straighten out. Easier said than done, of course.” (more…)
“I know that as a good horse gains the hope and the expectations that sneak in, they often get fast tracked. He’ll only go BN this spring if he is ready for it. And I’m having to be careful of my enthusiasm for the seemingly quite talented and sweet redhead.” (more…)
Anyone who has ever had a horse — Thoroughbred or not! — has likely said, “This horse is going to drive me to drink.” For those of you who do imbibe, this week’s Thoroughbred Logic offers a sometimes quite necessary barn hack (and let’s be honest, it’ll work for your soda cans, too). (more…)
“…perhaps one of the absolutely most important things to riding young, green, anxious or slightly nutty horses is that you cannot close all the doors at once — you must in fact leave at least one open and give them somewhere to go, lest they exit through a closed window or punch through the ceiling.” (more…)
“Overall, stall rest sucks. But, with patience and a little tactful creativity, most horses make it out and eventually back to the fields and competitions.” (more…)
This week’s Thoroughbred Logic is the first part of a series on injury rehab. Today’s article takes a look at the options when it comes to post-injury confinement. (more…)
“I’m going to chalk 2022 up to being a transitional year – one where the building and the progress is the proverbial two-steps forward one — or 14 — steps back.”
“[T]he biggest determining factor of getting around a course successfully is having the horse in front of the leg, and thereby having the quality of canter to indeed tackle all of the obstacles with both power and balance.” (more…)
“[H]ere’s hoping the breaks that you take are those you choose — with an eye to growth and a bit of a reset before the sun comes back out and the next season sneaks up and kicks off.” (more…)
“The same goes for jumping … There’s a plan to the fence and after the fence. Having a plan that is responsive but not reactive makes the difference between a ride that gets to all the fences … and a ride that has refusals and run-outs.” (more…)
