My Soapbox for Equestrian Writings
When I was younger, I loved to jump big fences. I loved the thrill and the air time. 4′ courses were just a regular lesson. When I started eventing there was no Beginner Novice and the Novice fences looked very manageable, even on a green horse. But the older I get, the smaller my comfort […]
Read MoreThis video has some lovely slow motion video of horses jumping and performing dressage movements. It’s amazing to see how much concussion the pasterns absorb.
Read MoreCross country jumps lend themselves to realism!
Read MoreI’ve seen this photo make the rounds on Facebook for quite some time. And each time I see it I can’t decide if this kid is having fun . . . or is scared out of his mind! The expression could go either way. As a parent, it worries me to see his left foot […]
Read MoreAbout 20 years ago I was fortunate enough to take several lessons with the great horseman Ronnie Mutch. Obviously, he made a great impression on me because I can still play back those lessons in my mind. One of the real “light bulb” concepts that he introduced to me was how effectively you could use […]
Read MoreOne thing I like about horses is they don’t hold a grudge. Even when maybe they should. At the end of hunt season I rode badly to a big vertical. I didn’t realize that the ground dipped slightly before the fence, making it larger than I realized. I could tell that Freedom didn’t like the […]
Read MoreOkay, I will never complain (even to myself) that my horse is not “big enough” to jump the fences I jump. At 16.1, Freedom is quite capable of jumping a lot higher than I want to jump. However if you want to see an athletic jumper, just check out Larry, a 30-inch mini, jumping fences […]
Read MoreIntuitively it’s pretty obvious that when you are riding toward a jump you should not pull back. It puts your horse behind your leg, it restricts their forward motion and it prevents them from using their necks effectively. If you are always restricting your horse coming into a fence, eventually it will stop wanting to […]
Read More