My Soapbox for Equestrian Writings
Most of the time your horse (hopefully) stops on cue. You increase the contact on your reins and simultaneously ask your horse to slow by stopping his forward motion with resistance from your seat. On rare occasions, you may need more stopping power. It could be that your horse has bolted or started bucking, or […]
Read MoreI read something today in the January 30th Chronicle of the Horse that made me laugh out loud. In an article by trainer John Madden, “A New Year Means New Goals”, he says: “Don’t let yourself fall into the trap of treating your horse like a Barbie doll and getting too carried away by the […]
Read MoreLong lining is a technique that many trainers use to start a horse or to introduce new steps in training. Unlike lungeing, when you use long lines it gives you the flexibility to ground drive, double lunge, or work in hand. That’s because with long lining you have a rein attached on either side of […]
Read MoreI own very few equine related DVDs. I simply am not willing to pony up the dollars for something I might watch once or twice. Now, I don’t have to. There are (at least) two companies who are offering DVD rental programs akin to Netflix. Horseflix offers three membership categories: 1 DVD at a time […]
Read MoreNot every ride goes according to plan. I’ve had a few where after I mounted my horse it seemed that nothing went right. My horse wouldn’t listen, I felt I couldn’t ride, and what should have been a pleasurable experience became an exercise in frustration. Funnily enough, it often happens when I most need the […]
Read MoreHands down the scariest thing that ever happened to me while riding was when my horse was chased by a dog. Although this happened more than 20 years ago, thinking about it still makes my heart palpitate! At the time I was living in Pennsylvania and leased a young Hannovarian/TB gelding. He was probably about […]
Read MoreI know this topic has been covered before — Behind the Bit did a posted on this several months ago — but tonight I came across some amazing photos of the diving horses of Atlantic City in the Life Magazine collection on Google. It is such a mind-boggling stunt that I still find it difficult […]
Read MoreYet another great commercial from Budweiser. This video makes me think of Freedom, my TB. Freedom was always my spare horse . . . the horse that I thought would eventually become my hunt horse. I had him in training and was slowly asking him to do more. When Kroni died this fall, he got […]
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