Ridden relationship

For every hour you spend riding your horse there are countless spent on the ground, not just doing groundwork exercises but also all of the hidden hours, feeding, mucking out, moving from paddock to paddock, grooming, tacking up etc. That time on the ground is where most of the relationship is built. We need to bring the good relationship we have developed on the ground up into the saddle. We want a seamless transition from good groundwork and handling skills, to good riding. All the thing we practice in our groundwork, intent, communication, timing, empathy and feel are just as important when riding. Simply bringing these good practices from the ground into our riding will avoid many common rider issues, and set our horses up for success.

It's so simple!

It really isn’t hard to make huge changes to your riding with a tiny adjustment of your mindset. You don’t need to learn a whole new style, or rush out and buy a tack shed full of new gear. The principles that we learn and develop on the ground can have a huge impact on our riding if we just keep them in mind when we get up in the saddle.

Teaching basic horsemanship & riding

Part 1: Horse communication

This is the first part of a five part video series I am making about teaching kids to ride, and what I want them to learn in their first few lessons and beyond. In this video I am giving a intro riding experience to a school group. Our “Intro” lesson has developed over the decades of teaching I have done, and has been tested on thousands of people! It always follows a similar format and can be adapted to individuals, large groups, or anything in between. First I explain to the children (or adults) a little bit about how horses communicate. Being told this information from the start helps to avoid many common pitfalls and misunderstandings with the horse.