One sure-fire way for a horse to ditch most riders is to buck … and buck … and buck. Most times, if they keep at it, they’ll get you off. And any horse is perfectly capable of throwing a bucking fit if he has the right stimulus … if he wants to get out of work, he doesn’t like what you are asking him to do, he gets spooked, or he’s experiencing discomfort.
As a rider, you need to know how to ride through a horse bucking in order to get …

My horse and I have had a very successful week in our training, largely due to some wonderful tips I’ve gleaned from dressage trainer Jane Savoie’s blog. Specifically, I’ve been working on getting Ace to go on the bit and to round through his back and neck.
Like many riders, I didn’t have a good concept of true roundness and collection for a large part of my riding career. I would use my hands to crank my horse’s nose in. I got a nice round frame, but didn’t have a horse …

Last week I had the distinct pleasure of visiting a friend at the Standardbred horse racing farm where she and her husband work. He is the head trainer while she works as a groom as well as with training the young horses. They currently have 36 young trotters in training to harness race.
Of course, I’m always happy to be around horses of any kind, and as such have managed to glean a bit of knowledge about all kinds of disciplines. But this was my first experience with the harness racing …

Without a doubt, the biggest challenge I’ve had in training my horse is getting him to go forward. This was such a major issue in the beginning that he would stop dead and go backwards and sideways but refuse to put a foot forward. And even when we were moving, he was non-responsive to my urges for more energy and speed.
And then I learned a fantastic method for sensitizing Ace to my leg aids in reading articles by several respected dressage trainers. In one session of using this technique, I …

Before I jump right in, let me apologize for my extended blogging absence. I’ve been in the process of moving into my first house, on top of a bunch of other new things in my fall schedule, so it’s been a little nuts. I’m starting to settle back into a routine, so blogging needs to move back up in my priority list!
Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming …
Learning Through Blogging
Through nearly two years of running Regarding Horses, I have learned in leaps and bounds about the equestrian industry, horse …

There have been some really great training-related articles out in the blogosphere this week. Some I can apply to my journey with Ace right now, and others I’m storing away in my memory banks for future reference should they ever be needed. We are never finished learning when it comes to horses, and it’s always useful to look at good ideas and evaluate our own practices and ideas.
This week a few great topics have revolved around how much of your horse’s attention you should demand and how to handle a …

I’ve always found that one of the best ways I learn is to teach. Not that I’m teaching something I don’t know, but I’m solidifying what I do know and thinking through all of the nuances and details as I articulate it for someone else.
Thus, since I started blogging over a year and a half ago, I think I’ve learned more about riding, horsemanship, and horse care than I have in the entire last decade. I’ve read magazines, read blogs, watched videos, and done lots of research to bring helpful …