Where Should You Start? By Jec A. Ballou. When spring finally arrives, the sunny riding season ahead can greet riders with both excitement and anxiety. Where do I start, you might wonder as you calculate how unfit your horse has become from a winter of being off work. How long will it take to ease him back to fitness? What sorts of exercises and timelines should I use? In this article, I’ll answer these questions plus offer a simple schedule in addition to some rules you never want to break.

If you’ve ever walked your horse, even with a saddle on, down a trail and past people, you know how it feels. You’re enjoying your horse time and minding your own business, when someone asks Why aren’t you riding that horse? Or someone jokes about taking your “very large dog” for a walk. I had one barn neighbour show her friend on video chat “the girl that doesn’t ride her horse” (me) as we were walking by. It would be awkward if it wasn’t so common. Horses and riding are synonymous in the human psyche, and any departure from this norm is considered very odd indeed, despite the fact that some horses don’t benefit from riding and some humans really don’t enjoy riding.

Rebuilding After Setbacks - The end of the horse show season is time for evaluation. What went well? What would you like to change? Competitors entering the next horse show without reflection often revisit mistakes like a Groundhog Day time loop.

Keys to an effective horse training session. I’ve trained a lot of horses. After nailing up my sign as a “professional horse trainer” several decades ago, I learned quickly that overhead is high in the horse business so you’d better make some hay if you’re going to pay your bills. Consequently, I rode many horses each day, breaking young ones and tuning up show horses.