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Mr Ponderful My regular students usually have come to understand the flow of our training process. That’s not always the case when someone presents themselves at a clinic. Most times they are thinking “This is costing me a bundle. I better get a lot out of it!” From the
Questions
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Does this sound like you? A woman came to my clinic with a fancy but difficult horse whom she had recently acquired. The horse was a schoolmaster and knew lots of tricks, but he had been ridden the last few years only in a double bridle. His poll was very
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Recently beyond the "how" I discussed why you should ride accurate arena figures. If you’re having a problem of execution, preplanning and visualization can help. Try to compose a mental video tape (as though shot from the saddle) of what you’re attempting to do. The tape
Educational Discussions
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"I’m so glad when my horse acts up because then I have something to do with her." A clinic rider said these very words to me. When I had stopped shuddering and my heart rate had returned to normal, we had lots to talk about. Her comment
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"I’m going to supple her a minute." That’s what a student announced to me as she was riding. Because I have a kind and generous soul and always display good temper, I did not act incredulous that she should seek permission to do something that riders
Photos
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A new student in her first lesson with me was making all sorts of freeform ring figures. A requested circle she translated as a randomly placed oval. A volte from the track came out like an egg of indeterminate size. When I began to explain about the arena’s dimensions
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As I look back on the hundreds of blog posts I have written, one recurring theme is the need to be clear and definite in the way you communicate with your horse . . . not to be passive, to be the Alpha, not just to ask but to be sure your horse
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Sitting with Major Lindgren at the Aachen show in Germany one day he jocularly observed that international judges only needed to know four words – “more,” “less,” “faster,” and “slower” to accomplish their task. Of course that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but it brings to mind a very interesting
"School figures should not be regarded as an end in themselves but rather as a stage in a particular aim, that of control of the horse. Initially, they will be practiced in the school but an early opportunity should be taken to perform them outside so that the rider
