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Are You Excited or Scared?
Sometimes the feelings of being scared and excited can elicit the same physical response in our bodies. When new challenges and opportunities show up in our riding lives, we may think we are feeling scared when what we really feel is excited. We might not have been...
5 Tips for Making Cuts in Tough Cattle
Rerun cattle or groups of wild or strongly herd-bound cattle are always a challenge because they know the “game.” They know where they came into the arena. They know where their buddies are standing when they get separated from the herd, and they intend to get back to...
Two Exercises for Showtime Prep
I love this time of year. It's unique in so many ways. The weather is refreshing, the colors are gorgeous, and there's a lot of change going on. For many, it's a special show season. In this video, I want to shout out to my friends who are going to their final weekend...
One layer at a time
Training a horse is like painting a car. You’ve probably seen one of those incredible “show car” paint jobs - where the smooth, rich color looks as if it’s 10 feet deep. Here’s how that’s done: After the foundation is perfect, with all the blemishes filled with lead...
How to Deepen Your Seat
This week, this question came up: “What does deepen your seat mean?” Now, that’s a GREAT question. That’s what this podcast is all about.Our seat is the most fundamental part of our riding, and it is multi-dimensional. It is our most direct line of cueing and...
The “Whoa Back”
In this exercise, you stop your horse, ask him to further soften to your hands, then back him up several times in succession in response to “whoa.” In this way, the idea that “whoa” means no forward motion is reinforced, plus he learns to get off the bit the moment...
Fencing Troubleshooting
The most common mistakes people make with this exercise are failing to continue driving the horse all the way up to the fence, and pulling on the reins instead of letting the fence do the work. Troubleshooting Common problems in “fencing,” and how to fix them. If the...
Troubleshooting the Runaround
Common problems in the run-around, and how to fix them. If the horse: Races: If he starts speeding up on his own instead of responding to your cues for speed, break him down to a stop then back up. Then just sit for a minute. If that’s not helpful, make him collect...
Seven Elements of Herdwork
Not too long ago I did an in-depth 5 hours and 20 minutes total time, webinar series on cutting. I thought it would be fun this week to share 8 minutes of one of the sessions. It's all about breaking making the cut down into individual pieces. I identify seven in all....
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