By Will Clinging - Some time ago I wrote an article about giving your horse a break from training. I talked, if I recall correctly, about too much work over time becoming detrimental to the horse’s progress. Mental and physical breaks are needed to refresh the mind and the body.

By Lindsay Grice - A good coach should be able to read their students and tailor their approach somewhat to meet their needs. Following are some questions to consider as you search for an instructor who will meet your needs.

When working with a green horse, progress is not always consistent. The horse will plateau as he becomes confident in performing what he has been taught. The amount of progress we expect from the horse, and his physical and mental ability to handle increased expectations for performance, will be major factors in how quickly he improves.

Recently, an international team of scientists decoded the genome of the domestic horse Equus caballus and the results, published in the journal Science, showed a genome structure remarkably similar to humans. The research was led by scientists at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, a collaboration of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, in conjunction with an international group from 11 countries that all came together on the Horse Genome Project, which actually began in 1995.

By Lindsay Grice - If you are a results-oriented person, even on a limited budget, consider that it can be a false economy to do all the training yourself. A skilled professional has learned to avoid miscommunication that can slow down a horse’s education, or cause things to get worse before they get better. A real horseman knows how to use cues with the appropriate timing, intensity, and repetition (not too much, not too little) to get the job done efficiently.

It is a wise coach who prepares their green competitors for all aspects of show day before it arrives. As a coach who enjoys working with novice riders, I’ve learned that there are as many issues to deal with outside the show ring as inside it.

By Lindsay Grice - If you allow your horse to rub or nibble on you, you become his equal rather than the herd leader. In the horse’s hierarchy system the leader doesn’t allow subordinates to play with her or invade her personal space. Recognize the warning signs in your horse before a bite ever happens.

By Lindsay Grice - Going out on his first “field trip” can be overwhelming for a young horse whose training foundation has not been completely set. I like to make sure a horse feels “show ready” in his home environment before I take him to a new place. If your pace, transitions, steering control, etc. aren’t in place at home, chances are things won’t magically come together when you get to the show.

By Lindsay Grice - It’s important to keep it very simple when coaching children. I usually give the young ones only two or three things to think about before their class. I give the student specific word pictures as guidelines that are easily understood.