When I was about fourteen, one of my chores after school was to exercise our racehorse. My father always said, ‘Just sit quietly and canter him up the hill. Don’t take hold of him. He’ll pull if you take a firm grip and you won’t be able to hold him.’ I can remember the horse … Read more
Horse training isn’t complicated. Your horse concentrates on three simple things, every time you ride or handle him. When you concentrate on the same three things, you’re thinking on the same level as your horse. Understanding this is the key to horse training. Every movement you teach every horse comes back to these three things. … Read more
If you watch a week-old foal playing in the paddock, you’ll see that he already knows how to walk, trot, canter, do flying changes, turns, spins, levade, piaffe, passage, extended trot/canter/gallop and every other movement you ever dreamed of. When we ride, the problem we have is to convince our horses to perform these movements … Read more
Many times I’ve seen someone take the rug off their horse and leave it on the arena fence while they ride. When they trot around the arena, the horse takes fright of his own rug and shies as he goes past. Trainers often say ‘He’s gotta get used to it. Let him stop and look … Read more
Horse-back riding conjures up images of a loving relationship between you and a horse, with the two of you cantering off into the sunset in harmonious rapture. People often have visions of horse-back riding where their horse loves to carry them around and obeys every command smoothly and gracefully. Unfortunately, the reality is often very … Read more
Horsemanship is a word that’s heard a lot these days. It conjures images of immaculate horses competing at the highest level and of ‘important’ horse trainers with cowboy boots, lassoes, chaps and spurs. Sorry to disillusion everyone but horsemanship isn’t reserved for a chosen few. Horsemanship is a word that relates to every man, woman … Read more
Many people have horse problems and lots of people think there’ll be a magic fix for their particular issue. Here are some examples: ‘My horse used to be perfect but now he kicks up, bucks, rears, runs home (you name it). How can I overcome this?’ If only it were that simple. If your horse … Read more
People often describe how their horse feels when they’re riding. Some say their horse is soft in the mouth and light and supple. Some say their horse is stiff and hard and they need to flex him to one side to soften his neck and poll. Others say their horse is hard in the mouth … Read more
Walk into any saddlery and you’ll see many different types of bits. There are hundreds of different types of snaffle bits – all shapes and sizes, smooth metal, rough metal, twisted wire etc etc. There are hundreds of different types of curb bits – short shanks, long shanks, spoons in the horse’s mouth, nose pieces … Read more
Whenever you ride, you must remember that your horse has a mind of his own. He may want to run home when you try to leave the barn. He may think it easier to run along in the trot rather than canter when you ask. He may want to stay down one end of the … Read more