(2/2) “So I talked to her. She asked: what do you want to work on today? And I said: a motivation problem. She asked what was wrong. I explained: my horse doesn’t like the work anymore and now I don’t like it anymore. I don’t feel motivated to continue this Read more…
(1/2) “I have a history of asking too much of myself and my horse. I don’t do it intentionally; I just have a hard time not pushing the boundaries when I’m working on something. I never feel like I’m good enough, that what I’m working on is good enough. I’m Read more…
“I restarted as a beginner at 27 (did a few years of lessons as a young adolescent) and every week, surrounded by kids/teens who were more experienced than I was, I would make at least one embarrassing mistake. My favorite one was putting my saddle pad on upside down. No Read more…
“My pony has a bit of a patented move to remove a rider, it’s worked on all my family members. It’s a bit of a rite of passage as his rider because he tests everyone at least once. He doesn’t try it very often, and after having him for almost Read more…
“He was just a wonderful guy. He was the kind of horse you could put little kids on, new riders, anyone. He took care of them all, but he also wasn’t a dead head. We used to show in high school and then we switched to trails and hunter paces Read more…
“I adored Hands, even though I could only reach his legs to brush, and I only fell off him twice: once, when his girth was not tightened properly and I posted merrily until the saddle went sideways and I hit the ground. I still remember the way he stopped and Read more…
“When I was 6 years old, I took weekly riding lessons with a tiny, ancient lady named Ms. W. She was notoriously grumpy and incredibly loud. At least once a month she’d scream that her dog could ride better than us girls, call us all into the center of the Read more…
“Certainly we need great movers and powerful jumpers, but above all we need a partner, not a slave. We need horses who are supremely courageous, fiercely independent and phenomenally agile. Find such a horse and treasure him. Teach him that you will trust him with your life. Give him the Read more…
One thing I’ve learned over the years is to do your best to try and ignore those that only have negative things to say. I’m not talking about the ones that give honest feedback, I’m talking about the ones that never acknowledge any improvement. When I bought my first mare Read more…
We got this one gelding from a high end hunter barn. He’d been a part of their lesson string but just didn’t seem to want to fill that position. Although he was in his early teens and had all the buttons installed he had a tendency to bolt and buck, Read more…
