It’s a challenging dance, but cutting is a fun, fast-paced event that not only excites horse and rider, but also fires up a crowd of spectators.
Dashing from side to side, Sidney Kahla’s gray gelding athletically keeps the black cow...
Blending arena figures together allows you to shape your horse’s body under you. Whether you want more bend, impulsion or roundness, remember that well-ridden, accurate, and rhythmic figures are your sharpest tools.
More often than not, riders end up with...
Sigh. You know the feeling: You’re galloping along on your horse, jumping fences easily, when all of a sudden, your horse is doing a drive-by of the fence or, even worse, has left you to jump the fence alone,...
Start your ride with this exercise to work your horse’s key postural muscles correctly.
Set your horse up for a successful workout at the beginning of a ride by activating his deep postural muscles, the small tissues with a rich...
Teach your horse to stand still for the vet and farrier.
By Julie Goodnight with Heidi Melocco
When an emergency is happening, it’s too late to train your horse to cooperate with the veterinarian. It’s frustrating for everyone involved when your...
Use this exercise to add strength and looseness to your horse’s movement.
One of the greatest tests of balance in an equine athlete is to transition smoothly from a maneuver requiring flexion of the spine and stride to one requiring extension....
By Julie Goodnight with Heidi Melocco
You’ve probably seen horses tied to all kinds of inappropriate things, from lightweight plastic chairs and moveable objects like gates, truck mirrors and bumpers, to flimsy fence rails instead of solid posts. You’ve probably...
Q: My pony has a very fast trot that is really short and choppy. Are there any exercises to help lengthen it?
A: Trotting is so much more comfortable when a pony learns to lengthen his stride and slow...
Horses learn quickly. In the wild, they learn to read the environment and react in ways that will save their lives. Horses must learn if a sound or object is dangerous to the herd or safe to ignore. If...
By Marsha Hayes, Photos by Ron Osborn
Tennessee Lane, riding a 17-year-old, bald-faced chestnut Arabian gelding named Auli Farwa ("Far”), won the 62nd Tevis Cup on August 5, 2017. Her picture graced the front page of local California papers and...