When we talk about the importance of timing in horsemanship, we don’t often think of the timing of meeting the right help we need most, at the time we need it most.
Soft Feel or Softness?
Separation Anxiety - A Measure of Our Relationship
Separation anxiety is not a problem that needs fixing. It’s the relationship that needs fixing. It’s the trust and confidence in being with us that needs fixing. Any approach that does not include building trust and confidence in us and eventually in the horse itself is a bandaid, not a solution. Separation anxiety is an important metric we can use to gauge our relationship.
Does A Horse Need A Job?
Two Ways to Achieve Focus
In my book, The Essence of Good Horsemanship the first major section discusses the importance of a horse’s focus and how to achieve it and maintain it. That’s because focus is perhaps the most important requirement even before the teaching can begin. If a horse is not paying attention, we trainers are doing little more than talking to ourselves.
What's Wrong With Classical Training
I respect and admire horse people who know so much and have so much skill that they can train at an elite level. But it makes me want to cry when I see them lead a horse like it was their first horse or struggle to help a horse that is worried to walk through the arena gate. Many of my regular students could help their horses better. If they truly believe the basics are so important to the more advanced training, how can they skip so many of the basics and fail the horses so miserably?