Danke, a tall and beautiful sensitive chestnut mare, came to me for training with quite a bit of emotional baggage as a result of some unsettling prior experiences in her life. One positive was, though, she arrived quite clicker-savvy because her owner used clicker...
OK I’ll be honest!! I can’t stand watching the little dance of line up horse to mounting block, he moves as soon as rider starts to get on block, so rider stops getting on and repositions the horse, and the whole thing starts over again ad infinitum. Good...
This is an update on Pamela, a horse I talked about back in February. Just to remind you, Pamela is a 6 year old Tennessee Walker who had been used as a ’show horse’ prior to being acquired by my client, Michele Williams. In the previous installment of her saga I had...
Charlie is a 7 year old TWH. His owners, Jim and Donna Dehaas, who were relatively new to horses, just happened to find me after an online search for trainers in the area. One of the problems the Dehaas’ had with Charlie was handling his feet. In fact,...
I subscribe to a book discussion group on yahoo called DogRead. Yes, it is about dogs. But, hey, I’ve got dogs and when it comes to training, well, good training is good training. So there is always something of interest. Anyway, this month’s author is Jim...
I have been working for the last couple/few months with a 6 yr old gaited mare named Pamela. The mare is owned by a lovely, but mostly inexperienced, older couple who are so tickled with the change in their horse. When we started this mare was so not OK. The slightest...
I have just finished reading a book by one of my most favorite horsemen: Philippe Karl. The title of the book is “Twisted Truths of Modern Dressage, A search for a classical alternative.” See my Other Resources page for more info about this book. I was...
I suppose some folks aren’t aware that there is a controversy within the dressage community. And quite a few might say, so what, and wonder, what could it possibly have to do with me! A fair enough question. For those who have been riding with me you know that I...
I love watching these horses and riders. Dressage should make the horse more beautiful. But if it isn’t also making the horse more RIDEABLE then there is definitely something amiss with the training program. Here’s an example of an advanced horse and rider...
Dix, Lauren’s 13 year old Lippizan, is on the “20 year plan”. It has taken some years, and a lot of changes, for Dix to finally get healthy and happy. But (do we need to knock on wood?) it seems to be happening. When I first met Dix at Lauren’s...
