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The NCHA is a little more forgiving than the other associations regarding adjusting your reins while showing, but also a bit more complex. Here goes:3 point penalties are assessed if: If the rider uses 2 hands to turn his horse around with the cow.  If 2 hands are...

I’ve never seen collection explained so well. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did!A horse’s weight is distributed over its haunches and forehand. However, because of the heavy head and neck, the horse carries a greater amount of its weight on its forehand. The...

I want to talk a little about bits in this week’s article, because it’s a subject that is difficult to get good information about and because of this, Barb and I are doing a webinar next week combined with how to develop soft hands and feel (no, you don’t have to be...

It’s blanketing time of year and there are a lot of things to consider when it comes to blankets. Here are a few to ensure your horse stays warm and comfortable: 1- Is your horse turned out or kept in a barn? If he’s turned out, you’ll need a more durable canvas...

I was recently asked a couple of questions for an article on judging for the Reined Cow Horse Training Online that I thought it would be fun to share and get you all to weigh in on. What are some of the biggest mistakes you see people make in the show pen?  I said,...

I wanted to share one of my most favorite exercises for suppling a horse. I also use it to help them make the right choices by offering it as a more difficult alternative to their current “choice”, if that choice is not what I want them to be doing. Let’s say for...

I get a lot of questions about how to hold the 2-rein outfit. There are a few different ways, so I’m going to go over each. The great thing about the year spent in the 2 rein (during which you can also show your horse straight up in the bridle) is that’s it’s legal to...

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...

When a horse is soft (resistance-free) in the face, you can communicate through his whole body right down to his feet through your reins and seat. I always strive to “connect their lips to their hindquarters” meaning that when I picked up a rein, I could feel them...

I thought it might be a fun change of pace to explore the myth vs fact of sworls in our horses. Sworls are pinwheeled patches of hair that grow in the opposite direction, on the face. On other parts of the body, they are called cowlicks. Interestingly, the brain and...