If it feels like you have to start over every time your horse gets a break because of life, there is a problem. Either the training wasn’t good or the horse is painful.

There is a fine line between pushing too far and not pushing far enough. If we push too hard we can shut our horse down, create anxiety about what we are trying to accomplish, and drive our horse away from us. If we stop too soon, we can teach the horse that when they get stressed we stop which never helps them learn to deal with pressure. How can we find that line?

Literally…..

Just for fun, try sitting still for 3 minutes and focus on one object. Do not let your mind wander, only think about the one object you are looking at. Can you last three minutes? Next, sit at your computer and type a letter to your spouse about your last vacation. While typing start thinking about your last ride on your horse. Could you continue the letter when you let your mind wander? Now, try sitting at your computer practice tying your shoes but have someone giving

If you have conditioned your horse and created a good foundation for where you are going, new things should not be a fight. If you are fighting with your horse over new skills, stop. Evaluate. Are you expecting too much too soon? Did you skip a step? Are you expecting your horse to complete a task they are not fit enough to do? Are you being clear? Are you pushing too hard?

Riding is hard. If it were easy, everyone would be experts. Getting on the back of a large flight animal takes some bravery. Sometimes we have to be braver than we want to be. Horses can only respond to the information they are receiving. That includes our emotions. Sometimes we have to be more persistent than we want to be. Horses will challenge us when they feel confused, insecure or our request is hard. There will be days when we have to push past and through the r

Our attitude has a pretty big outcome on a session with our horse. Monday wasn’t good for most of my horses. Tuesday it stormed, so I opted not to work them because I didn’t want the storms to create a repeat of Monday.

Yesterday was a tough day. The horses had a week off due to my anniversary and lesson schedule. I moved some horses and cows around to utilize our grass better. I had one of 4 horses act like they had a brain.

How often should I ride?

Fear can paralyze us. We are afraid to make a mistake, so we don’t try something new. We are afraid to look like a beginner, so we don’t try something new. We are afraid of the amount of work a new skill will take for us to master, so we don’t try something new. We are afraid to have people watch us, so we don’t try something new. We are afraid to mess up our horse, so we don’t try something new.

Go slow but hurry. We heard this multiple times at the Brent Graef clinic. It seems like a contradictory statement. It is actually wise advice.

Tarrin’s Tips and Tricks

I just spent an amazing six days with Brent and Kris Graef at a young horse handling clinic. Brent is an incredible horseman and teacher. Kris is a gifted horseman and instructor. I feel

Training Tips

Training Video

Your horse can’t be “on” everyday.

I attended my 4th or 5th whole horse dissection last weekend. I have dissected horses from 4yrs old to 25yrs old. All had been ridden. The common thing among all of them was the joint damage.

One common thing I hear from students is, I ran out of time. Trust me I get it! The problem with horses is that they do need time and consistency. That doesn’t mean you have to work them an hour everyday (unless you have competition or distance riding goals). It does mean you need to be intentional in your daily interactions.

I’ve been training horses for close to 30 years. Every 5 years I reflect on my previous 5. If I can’t look back and see areas I’ve improved, then I need to stop. So far it hasn’t happened. Looking back, it’s easy to see how about 60% of my wrecks could likely have been avoided. I can see how much I’ve learned in just the last 5 years. I put a lot of time and money into continuing my education every year. There is always something new to learn. As a trainer, my horses often

Train with chaos. I find that too many of us train in “sterile” environments. There is no clutter. Everything is quiet. We make sure there is nothing that will spook our horse. We obey barn rules like no running, no jumping, hang up the hose, etc. We act completely shocked when we haul our horse away from their sterilized environment and they get overwhelmed and anxious in a new environment with chaos.