Everyone knows that good hoof care is a crucial part of overall horse care and this weekend I was reminded of it again when my brother, a farrier, was home for a visit. Every time he visits we inevitably end up going through each of my horses and talking about what kind of feet they have. This time when we got to one of my ... Read More »

After a hard riding last week Brando was extremely difficult to ride this past week. At first I didn’t understand why after what should have been a constructive piece of his training he actually seemed to regress. He didn’t want to go forward and instead wanted to suck back and not work. But upon further ... Read More »

For the past two months I’ve been treating my horse Vanessa’s ulcer problem. While the treatment has been making her feel much better overall, the increased stress that being at a horse show brings brought out the original symptoms again this week. For Vanessa the most extreme symptom of the ulcer hurting is ... Read More »

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 »