There is no “winning” or “losing” in horse education. There is no “war” or “battle” to win. When we have this type of mindset while educating our horses, we are ultimately setting ourselves up for failure.

March Recording and April Zoom info

The expense of tack. It’s easy to buy cheap. But it isn’t always what is best for your horse. We are asking our horses to do a job they were not built for. It is, therefore, our job to keep them comfortable.

Have a horse with a bad experience? Hard to load? Have a horse you have to force in and slam the door?

Short term gratification can often have long term negative implications. Don’t ignore the problem just because the judge is watching.

Our horses are stoic creatures. They will function through discomfort because they don’t feel they have a way out. This is called Learned Helplessness. The discomfort can come from handler, rider, tack, feet, body issues, etc. The horse will shut down and do the work just to get through. We then acted surprised when they blow up or have behavior issues. Pay attention to the small indicators. Tension, fascial expression, body language, evasions, spooking, worry, refusing to en

A day late. This has been a challenging week. Let’s just talk about horses. We are at the time of year the mares are cycling like dragons. The first cycle of spring is a doozy. I have some sensitive mares in that have become permanently bonded to their neighbor as long as their neighbor doesn’t look at them wrong. Then it’s squealing, striking, kicking. The poor geldings are in love and traumatized all at the same time. There has been a lot of work on relaxation and patience

March Master Zoom

Masters subscriber video

Tarrin Warren is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: February Master Zoom Time: Feb 24, 2022 07:00 PM Central Time (US and

It depends, maybe, sometimes, no. Today was a Texas weather day. This morning it was drizzling and humid. When my 12p lesson started it was 70 degrees, sunny, 20mph south wind. Within 20 minutes the wind switched. Clouds rolled in. The temperatures plummeted. By 2p we were in 3-4 layers with actual temperature 49, windchill of 41. By 5p we are supposed to have windchills in the 30’s. We had barrels rolling across the arena, obstacles falling over, leaves racing along the grou

Is it too windy to ride? Probably not if your horse has been taught to be responsive instead of reactive. Your horse lives with Mother...

What were your horses doing in the wind today? Mine we grazing and napping. Did I ride? You betcha. They were great rides. Why? Mostly because I expected them to be. My attitude was appropriate. I believe in working horsemanship. That means my horses and I must be adjustable. That includes adjusting to weather. I even taught lessons.

Video for Masters Level Subscribers

Masters video

Remember they didn’t volunteer for this. They are carrying us around for our gratification.

Stop watching your horse’s head. Look up. Fussiness in the head and crookedness in the neck show a horse is crooked in the body and not coming through the back. The more we focus on fixing the head, the worse our problem will become. Control and containment of the head is never a solution to the problems we are having with our horses.

Anyone can ride a crooked horse. Anyone can ride a horse fast. It takes skill to ride a horse and help them remain straight and balanced. It takes skill to ride a horse in true collection and have an adjustable horse that you can ride forward or bring back.

Half way releasing is not releasing. It’s micromanagement disguised as a release. It’s saying here is the information but I don’t trust you to make the right decision with it, so I’ll just make sure you do. It’s the same as riding your clutch or brake.

In an intense situation you revert to your level of training. Your brain goes to what has been practiced, rehearsed and learned. There is no time to dissect, plan and execute.