April Master Zoom

I enjoy teaching at Fine Print Farm. Mariah has created a horse friendly facility that is education centered.

Favorite Things Friday

I had a really tough ride on a young horse yesterday. Nothing went correctly. She was emotional. My timing seemed off. I probably didn’t...

Why do you still take lessons? Don’t you know how to ride your horse yet?

When we ride our horses there are two nervous systems involving, yours and your horse’s. Your horse has the nervous system of a prey animal. Often times if they are stressed that comes with react first and think later. That reaction in turn sends our nervous system into defense mode. We often make big, rapid movements in our “fight for survival”. Unfortunately, this reinforces the horse’s nervous system reaction about their perceived perilous situation. Alas, the chain react

The best way to have a good lesson:

Effective immediately group lessons are being suspended. I will be offering private lessons. I will offer semi private for my students...

Trailering becomes hard when horses have been taught to react instead of think, are painful or don’t have a good relationship with humans.

Hard to believe we are 1/4 of the way through 2025. I am not taking any short term internships at this time (less than 3 months). I am...

Releasing a rein aid is not the same as giving to your horse. I had this epiphany several months ago and I have been trying to actively adjust my riding accordingly. Often times we think that because we quit pulling, fiddling or holding on to the rein that we are giving to the horse. Really what we are doing is just ceasing pulling, fiddling and holding. That is not equivalent to giving to the horse.

When your horse is having a hard day, you must remain persistently patient. I find humans, in general, are not the most patient creatures. We are into instant gratification. We can get almost anything we want at our fingertips.

Training is not linear. When you are working with horses, you will have good days, bad days, and some days that are in between. Having a good day yesterday doesn’t guarantee a good day today. Same is true of bad days. We have to meet the horse where they are at. The key is to keep showing up. You can’t make progress working your horse once a week.

Horses at attention to detail. It keeps them alive. When something in their environment changes, they notice. They notice how we move, our position, our mood, etc.

March25

Password: GWG25

Hauling young horses for the first time makes me have ulcers. Horses weren’t meant to be in small, confined areas that move them away...

The power of waiting. Waiting can build confidence in a rider, strength in a horse, competence as a team. Waiting can also become a crutch. We can indefinitely wait trying to get things perfect (which doesn’t exist). We can cripple ourselves and our horses by waiting too long. We can easily stay in the safety of our comfort zone telling ourselves that always waiting is good. We can stifle progress. It’s a tight rope.

Refuse to fight with your horse. It takes two to fight. The horse won’t quit first, unless you make them think they are going to die. I don’t want my horse ever feeling like it is going to die with me.

3/26 7pm cst