Schooling

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Every Time, Everywhere - Wrong lead! It’s one of the earliest alerts a young rider hears from her coach. One’s heart sinks to hear that same alert from the coach calling over the show ring rail. The novice rider learns the outside leg back and kiss cue to canter but I’ve found that riders are often unsure why they should use this cue. Let’s break it down. We’ll review the phonics of teaching your horse to pick up the correct lead and some hints to help the rider recognize it.

Jec A. Ballou, Is lunging a horse a good idea, Should I lunge my horse, importance of horse lunging, when to lunge horse, how long should I lunge my horse? Horse lunging tips, horse lunging hacks, what surface should I lunge horse on?, importance of sloped terrain while horse lunging

To lunge or not to lunge? Numerous riders grapple with this question, weighing the potential deleterious physical impacts with the exercise value for non-ridden horses. Whether lunging is good or bad turns out to have a nuanced answer. A more practical inquiry might not be whether to lunge, but how and when to lunge.

Horse showmanship skills, off-season horse training, best practices for working on horse showmanship skills, horse showmanship fundamentals, practical benefits of horse showmanship, horse showmanship training, how to read your horse's body language, Lindsay Grice

If you’re looking for a beneficial off-season activity to share with your horse, showmanship skills can be introduced while wearing your winter boots and even in the barn aisle. Just 15 minutes of in-hand training per day will, like planting fall tulip bulbs, bear results in show season.

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Define your goals to develop a training plan - While hill training is widely accepted as important for building strength, its actual benefits rely on answering the question: What is the goal for this individual horse?

Alexa Linton, how to tell if your horse is ready to be ridden, signs your horse is ready to be ridden, how to prepare your horse to return to the riding ring, understanding equine preparatory groundwork, thoracic sling for horses, what age should I start my horse? understand the value of groundwork for your horse

Recently, I officially retired my mare Diva from riding at age 25. She had started showing signs that riding was no longer a comfortable or enjoyable experience. I noticed her topline dropping and her hind end becoming stiffer (which was confirmed as the early stages of hock arthritis in her left hind). In general, Diva’s body was no longer receiving a benefit from being ridden. I decided I am not comfortable medicating my horse so that I can ride her.

horse bits, contact with horse, dull mouth horse, bit evasion, how to get a light mouthed horse, lindsay grice

Not long ago, I toured a Western art museum and found myself absorbed in the works of Russell and Remington. Their paintings, alive with movement, depicted the unforgiving life of the cowboy — scenes filled with dust, tension, and the raw energy of untamed horses. These animals, used for transport and survival, stood in stark contrast to the roles horses now occupy in our world — companions in leisure, competitors in sport, and trusted partners in training. But one detail in every piece caught my attention and left me uneasy: riders with rigid hands pulling back, and horses resisting, mouths wide in distress.

Harmony Horsemanship, horse behaviour psychology, stop horse spooky, horse tense, horse lazy, lethargic horse, exercises for horses, connecting with horse

Have you ever noticed how your horse’s behaviour can change unexpectedly — becoming tense, spooky, or disengaged? What if these signs were a deeper message? Instead of seeing them as setbacks, these behaviours could be an opportunity to strengthen the trust and connection between you and your horse.

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In another of my horse training articles, I discussed how tension impacts not only the horse’s well-being but also the overall training experience. In this article, I’d like to share a few strategies aimed at encouraging relaxation when a horse becomes overwhelmed.

Enduro Equine, horse heart rate, equine heart rate, jec ballou, safely training your horse

While dressage and other arena-based sports place relatively low aerobic demands on horses, emerging studies indicate that improved muscle function may come from occasional exercise in higher heart rate zones. It is worth exploring the use of heart rates during arena training, and how riders can use it to improve physiological responses.

Jonathan Field, Jonathan Field Purpose Camp, Build Confidence in Your Horse, Cone on a Barrel horse exercise, horse jump over log, improve technical horse skills, horse obstacles, increase confidence in horse

Each year, I host a unique and transformative event with one simple idea: variety creates purpose. Purpose camp at James Creek Ranch introduces diverse experiences into our horses’ training keeps them engaged, confident, and willing to learn. Repetitive drills can lead to sour attitudes, but when exercises have meaning, both horse and rider benefit.

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