Students who ride primarily on trails often ask me what kinds of exercises they can do to benefit their horses. If they don’t plan to be in an arena anytime soon, does that mean they can’t give their horses the gymnastic and core exercises that optimize their bodies and comfort?

What is it and how can it help horses and riders? Riders train horses to act in ways they deem positive, whether it’s jumping a jump, walking down a trail, or performing movements in an arena. But to train horses effectively and safely, riders, trainers, and coaches must understand how they learn and react. Over the past 15 years, equine scientists have researched the learning theory of horses — how horses process, retain knowledge, and learn. Equitation science applies this evidence-based learning theory of horses to horse training, and explains horse behaviour based on horses being horses – without attributing human emotions, ways of thinking, or behaviour, to them. It’s a burgeoning field that is changing the way many riders and trainers think and act.

With Lee Tubman - The simplest, most effective exercise to improve the horse's rhythm and balance, and thus improve the gaits themselves, is the half halt. A correctly ridden half halt encourages the hind legs to step further underneath the horse’s body.

In November 2019, the International Society for Equitation Science (ISES) released their position statement on restrictive nosebands. For the purpose of the position statement, a restrictive noseband is defined as one that is tight enough to prevent the placement of two adult fingers between the noseband and the frontal nasal plane.