In this week’s jumping lessons I focused on helping students improve balance and position over the jump. One of my favorite exercises for this is what I call “hands wide”.  I call it this because the exercise involves the rider riding with their hands wide away from the horse’s neck both on the ... Read More »

One of the most consistent questions that I get from my students and from people I don’t know but are searching for advice is, “what exercises can I do off the horse, to help me on the horse?”. While the answer ranges from person to person and of course may change depending on which discipline you do, ... Read More »

Working with young horses can be one of the most trying and also rewarding areas of horse training. It takes a great deal of patience, consistency and discipline to bring a young horse through the levels from basic handling to riding. The training that horses get at these early stages can play a huge part in their general ... Read More »

When you are competing and working your horse regularly, and jumping a lot it is important to take excellent care of your horse to insure soundness and longevity. Jumping puts a lot of strain on your horse’s legs, which is why every time I jump I use liniment and then wrap all four of my horse’s legs. If you ... Read More »

Last week I took my jumper Vanessa to the HITS Saugerties horse show. We began in a level 4 class that took place in the Grand Prix ring. I knew that this was going to be difficult as Vanessa hadn’t been to a show for a while and that particular ring is extremely overwhelming for a horse. The moment we walked in the ... Read More »