As adults, vacation days are few and far between. Precious free time is used not only for traveling the world, but for accomplishing things we’ve dreamed of doing before it’s too late. One of my dreams has always been...
Teamwork, speed, skill and communication all tie in with a little luck for the western sport of team penning.It all started years ago with a practical objective. In order to brand, doctor or transport single cows, ranchers first had...
There is more to the sport of jumping than just getting from one side of the obstacle to the other. Yet it seems that many English riders envision themselves leaping over challenging jumps long before they're truly up to...
We spend much of our time in the saddle honing the walk, trot and canter, but there are two other speeds that are required in English disciplines: the hand gallop and the gallop. In the good old days of...
Of course you should always ride your horse in the bit that lets him perform at his best. And you must be in control of your horse for that to happen. But while pelhams are common in equitation and...
So much preparation is spent riding toward a jump that riders often neglect to continue riding after the jump. Whether it’s contemplating what just went wrong, mentally celebrating a wondrous effort or just plain old daydreaming, a lot can...
In the Old West tradition, horses earned their keep when gathering and trailing cattle on the open range. In fact, getting a herd of cattle to market in those days took a top hand mounted on a horse with...
Can you keep your horse on the bit through basic dressage movements? Is he comfortable negotiating difficult terrain while hacking out? Can he handle a course of small jumps with ease? If you answered yes to all three, you’ve...
On-the-aids goes out the window when you ask for canter. Your horse trots faster and faster until he finally plunges into canter, which he maintains only for a few unbalanced moments before he falls back into that equally not-fun-at-all...
We’ve all heard the jokes and the ridicule. We’ve heard western pleasure horses called peanut rollers, zombies and creepers. It’s been claimed that time-elapsed photography is the best way to determine if they are actually moving around the arena,...
