Did you know that how you hold the reins affects how balanced and stable you will be when your horse spooks or trips? Or that it also affects not just your rein contact but how fluidly your whole body is able to move in sync with your horse? Gripping the reins too tight or holding them too loosely can be equally as negative for your riding. This has to do with stabilizing versus mobilizing muscles as well as the difference between mobile or too-tensed joints. In this video, I will show you how to hold the reins, so they don’t slide out of your hands, you can maintain good contact, and be soft ..read more

A lot of riding advice is given as though every rider has the same type of body. Of course, we don’t – some of us have long arms, short arms, high waisted, petite, lanky, etc. For this reason, riding advice needs to be individual and alignment based. One piece of advice that is given to the benefit of some and the detriment of others is “hands at the withers”. Simply put, this position doesn’t always work – it depends on you and your horse. What we do want to find is how to soften your arms so you can feel stable, comfortable, and have effective rein contact. Hit play to watch the video below ..read more

Whether jumping down a line, practicing dressage, or riding down the trail, we all want our horses to move with balance. We want them to be able to carry us with rhythm and ease, without slowing down, speeding up, rushing, throwing their head up, etc. Self carriage is where the horse can carry themselves this way without our constant intervention, without us hauling on the reins or kicking constantly in an attempt to keep them “in frame”. In this video with accomplished Show Jumper, Dressage coach, and PhD of Equine Behavior, Angelo Telatin will explain how to teach self carriage, not through ..read more

Good riding posture is important not for looking good, but for being a rider who is comfortable to carry, and can communicate clearly to the horse. To put it simply, the better our posture, the easier it is for our horses to carry us. In this video, I will go over 5 tips for better posture – applicable to any discipline and not just for beginners – even advanced riders can easily forget these simple steps to good riding. We will work from head to toe to make you more stable, balanced, and connected on your next ride.    Hit play below to watch 5 Tips for Great Riding Posture See you ..read more

Whenever we learn a new technique or exercise, learning it is just the beginning. Making it part of our routine practice is the key to finding the benefit in any new learning. Over the past week, we have hosted the online In Hand workshop with Patrick King (no relation despite the last name, although we do have a few creative stories about being long lost identical twins we could tell…) If you haven’t joined in on the workshop yet, no worries, its open over the weekend and you can join in here. The In Hand exercises Patrick begins with are very simple, and can help any horse at any training le ..read more

We want our horses to be relaxed, calm, quiet. However, the ideal learning state is not one of total relaxation. The best state for training movement and balance – for us or our horses – is a state of athletic relaxation. It is a place of balance with both calmness and engagement. How do we find and recognize this state of athletic relaxation? This summer I hosted a clinic at my farm with Patrick King, where he coached participants through the exercises of Classical In Hand work. In Hand work is a series of exercises practiced from the ground that encourage the horse to position and move their ..read more

“Get back on the horse” isn’t just advice for riders, it’s become a saying for not giving up, being brave, and being resilient. But is getting back on always the best advice? In this video, I am going to share three times when you should NOT get back on the horse. One, even two of these situations may be kind of obvious, but you may not guess the third. Hit play below to watch the video and see if one of these three situations has ever happened to you. p.s. If you are still fearful after a fall or find that you are often worried or anxious about riding and want to get back to enjoying your rid ..read more

Outside leg, inside rein, less hand, lift the rein… How do you know which cue to use when to communicate with your horse from the saddle? How do the great riders seem to do so little, and get such clear responses from their horse? In today’s video, I describe the concept of becoming “fluent” in your riding aids. Think of your riding as learning a new language. You begin with a limited vocabulary, only a few words. As you progress, you can start to create sentences, then paragraphs and your use of the language gradually becomes more descriptive, nuanced, and fluent. The same process happens wit ..read more

Walk into any tack store and you will find what may feel like endless options of equipment for horse and rider. There are walls of different kinds of bits, variations of bridles, reins, nosebands, and training aids that vary from simple to complex. Many of these tools are designed to change how a horse feels pressure or how they carry their body. Tools such as side reins, draw reins, flash nosebands, training systems, and more. So how do you know when a tool may be helpful or if it will cause more problems? How do you determine what is a quick fix gadget or something that could really help you ..read more

Are your stirrups too long? Are they too short? What actually is the right length for our stirrups? In today’s video, I’ll give you both the simple answer to this, and a few easy tips to determine your stirrup length. The full answer to what is the right stirrup length is a bit more complex as it will vary depending on what you’re doing, the saddle that you’re riding, and the activity and discipline that you’re doing with your horse. Stirrups provide more stability, mobility, and balance as we ride. Their history is an interesting one, as they are an invention that spread through warfare, with ..read more