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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...

I thought it would be an interesting detour to explore how horses see, and how that relates to our understanding them when it comes to training. Horses evolved in open grasslands. They’re designed to be awake and grazing day and night. They have excellent low light...

Do you know the difference? The term "leg yield", half pass", and "side pass" seem to be used interchangeably but are all very different and are indicative of your horse's level of training and responsiveness. Do you know the difference? Here you go: Leg yield – The...

This is a continuation of riding smarter not harder horsemanship skills. Here are Tips #11-13 • Be creative. I usually try to teach my horses something a certain way, but if I'm not getting through by the third attempt, I take a different approach. In other words, I...

In previous articles, I’ve shared 7 tips for Riding Smarter Not Harder. Now, here’s 3 more! • Develop great timing. Remember — horses learn from the release of pressure, not the application of it. When you release pressure (either from your legs or reins), your horse...

In an earlier article I shared 4 tips for Riding Smarter Not Harder. Now here’s 3 more! Be a contrarian. This goes along with training every moment. If your horse is wanting to do one thing, make him do the opposite. Is he leaning in one direction? Make him go the...