It’s mesmerizing to see your horse float across a field, his limbs swinging effortlessly like pendulums. While a horse is built to cover ground, he often loses that long flowing stride with a rider on his back. We often...
Everyone wants a gorgeous tail in the show-ring. Once you get to the bigger stock-breed shows, tail extensions are common. Check with your association’s rules, however, before you spring for a tail extension. Arabians and Morgans, for example, must...
Q: My western pleasure mare travels canted along the rail and bent to the outside of the circle. I’m only walking and jogging now. How do I fix this so I can move on?A: Often, a horse is...
While neck reining is not necessarily a complex skill, it is one that requires basic training. If you want to ride one-handed, you need to make sure both you and your horse understand the foundation of neck reining.
Carla Wennberg,...
Carla Wennberg, coach of the 2013 Intercollegiate Horse Show Association reserve national champion western team from St. Andrews University in Laurinburg, N.C., offers some advice to help you teach and reinforce neck reining.Equipment: Remember...
Q: My 6-year-old Quarter Horse mare is very difficult to get into a lope. She usually just goes into an extended trot. When I do get her to lope, it is very rough and hard to sit. Do you...
Q: A few months ago I bought an older horse that had spent the last few years as a trail horse. Before that he was a lesson horse after retiring from a successful career in the show ring. While...
Maintaining a balanced, consistent, and controlled canter on the correct lead presents enough challenges. But what if your horse has trouble holding his canter? If your horse starts off fine but repeatedly breaks to the trot, then you need...
A horse show class can seem like a marathon torture session, especially if you’re aboard a cranky horse or trying to hold your position despite the fact that your body’s going numb. Yet you can’t relax just because the...
Part of the allure of riding western is sitting astride a slow-legged horse as it moseys
along at a jog. Faster than a walk, slower and more relaxed than a lope, the jog is the
gait most favored for covering ground...
