Injury. Behavior. Age. Fear. Each of these factors can be a reason why equestrians put away their saddle for a long or short period. But even if saddle time is on pause, strengthening a partnership doesn’t have to be....
If you are thinking of making a transition from English to western riding, I have a few tips to help make that switch in riding disciplines a bit easier. The first 20 years of my riding career I spent...
Groundwork can be an essential part of horse training and is quite beneficial to our equines for a variety of reasons, one of which is to help bring the horse’s body and mind into focus. But have you ever...
Tik Maynard has never been one to shy away from a challenge. He spent much of his twenties competing full-time in the sport of Modern Pentathlon—which includes running, swimming, shooting, fencing, and show jumping. He won the Canadian National...
The following is adapted from Finding Your Superhorse: 8 Keys to Developing the Horse That’s Just Right for You by Lynn Palm with Rebecca M. Didier and Marie-Frances Davis (2023), with permission from Trafalgar Square Books.
One of the truths...
Some of the safest horses you can ride are also the least responsive to the aids. These quiet types are often the go-to for use as school horses or privately purchased mounts for beginner riders. So how do you...
You don’t have to ride your horse to give him a good workout. Groundwork is an effective alternative that’s loaded with a wide range of benefits: You can boost your horse’s strength, endurance, balance, posture, and more. The following...
Does time spent with your horse feel more distracted and scattered, rather than present and meaningful? If so, you’re not alone. This is just part of being human and having a mind! And sometimes that mind simply becomes the...
Learn how you and your horse can get the most out of your clinic time with these tips from trainer and clinician Mike Brashear.At the start of Mike Brashear’s clinic in Nunn, Colo., he invited—or nearly commanded—students to ask...
For most of us, “trauma-informed horsemanship” likely brings to mind the plethora of equine-assisted therapy and learning programs in which horses help humans heal. But these days, we are witnessing a rise in approaches that apply the term to...
