equine pemf therapy, massage & mindful horsemanship
“If your arms are tired, you’re riding wrong.” Saying or hearing that phrase can be how you make enemies at the barn, but there are better ways of controlling speed than by pulling. It may seem like the only solution at the time, but whether your horse is constantly pulling against you to drag his nose in the dirt, or you are pulling on them to slow them down, once you fall into the trap of tugging, it can be a difficult habit to break – for us. For a horse? They tend to
Movement to a horse is language. It is also freedom, comfort, and safety. When you “talk” to your horse (and from now on “talk” means communicating with your body and gestures), you have the power to influence even the most flamboyant gestures from your horse by the most subtle of body angles, curves, and, when applicable, subtle gestures with your arms.
In this eloquently written manual, de Kunffy encourages as much the individuality of the horse as he does the athletic development for a fully-fleshed, evolved, and liberating approach to training. He begins in genuine fashion of the Classical schools looking at rider education, and emphasizing the good that comes from accepting the horse’s individuality and sometimes-unique …
First let me clarify that I will be discussing over-flexion and not looking at or critiquing rollkur, the latter being something worthy of a blog post all its own, but I digress. Over-flexion is occasionally a soft-mouthed horse’s method of evading the bit, or a developed habit from a heavy-handed rider. Despite the “aesthetics” of all of those …
Getting right down to the core elements of rider position, effect and influence, Anatomy of Dressage by Heinrich Schusdziarra and Volker Schusdziarra is a staple of the dressage (or any!) rider to truly understand their body in the saddle and how best to use it to for desired effect. Originally translated from German and now co-published …
To aid in the development of a better, more-balanced canter make the first stride a good one. For best results with this exercise, it is important to have a good warm-up and a forward, active trot established. On a twenty metre circle at the trot, spiral inward to a 15 or 10 metre circle (small …
The croup on the horse is identified as the area along the topline from the loins to the base of the tale. From the side, the point of the croup should be in alignment with or just behind the point of the hip which is the bony protrusion at the front of the haunches which …
There is more to the shoulder than meets the eye. Firstly, it is important to realize that the horse’s shoulder is not actually attached to the spine by a collar bone as it is in humans. Instead, the shoulder is attached to and supports the weight of the front end by sheets of muscle. These …
While reasons are varied, rehabilitating the soured horse is as much about rekindling his desire to perform as it is his relationship with his rider. The latter is perhaps even more important as it is through developing a “partnership” that we’re more likely to be the person our horse wants to perform for, but when …
Whether you’ve got an off-the-track thoroughbred, that school horse that “isn’t recommended for beginners” or a warmblood who thinks he’s a bulldozer, it can be frustrating, difficult, and sometimes even intimidating to effectively address strong or fast gaits. While the “easy” thing is to lean back, haul on the reins and pray for a give, …