Author Archives: Jillian

Bareback is a great way to improve your seat, your fitness and your balance! It’s great to also be in close contact with your horse. Without the saddle between you and your horse you can perfect your cues and get the horse listening to your most subtle movements and commands with ease! Bareback riding isContinue reading “Ditch the saddle! Your horse is your gym!”

If you’re not confident neither is your horse. Horses feed off each other’s emotional reactions to situations and environments. If one is unsure the look to find a confident herd mate to help them learn about this new thing in life whatever it may be. Horses are curious but they immediately expect the worse. TheyContinue reading “Confidence is key!”

Horses are honest, caring, compassionate, understanding, strong, loyal and trusting. In order to see these traits in your horse you must first prove to them you’re worthy of such attributes. If you notice your horse isn’t trusting you must first show the animal you can be trusted. If your horse isn’t understanding you, you needContinue reading “Horses are a mirror of you”

City people look to the groundhog yet we in the country turn to our horses. This time of year, the trees are starting to bud and grow new life. The grass is a bright shade of green and high in sugars as the seed rises to the top of the blade. With this change inContinue reading “Spring is coming!”

What people see when they look at a broke horse is just exactly that. Face value. What they don’t see is the hours and months it took the horse to get to be a riding horse. It all starts on the ground. If your horse can’t do it when asked from the ground don’t expectContinue reading “Setting them up to succeed”

Kids make the best horses because they are fearless and silly. The horses get used to all sorts of shenanigans, in turn, creating a “bombproof” horse. they are full of energy and have all the time in the world to pester, pamper and poke their most adored thing in life, their horse. If you’ve grownContinue reading “Be silly”

This is a controversial subject in the horse world and always will be. Everyone does things differently. Some things work for others that don’t work for the rest. That’s life. “There’s more than one way to skin a cat” is a term that speaks the truth yet a little grotesque for my tastes but itContinue reading “Let er buck!”

We all like the relaxed, natural head carriage. I use the words natural and head carriage instead of “head set” because my horses do it on their own from learning it on the ground to being rewarded when they are being ridden and holding their head naturally low, relaxed and comfortable. I don’t use strapsContinue reading “Low and slow”

How do people seemingly “sculpt” their horses? Take the AQHA (quarter horse) for example. Same breed but so many variations! Well most horses are built for their “jobs”. Just like us they adapt and become stronger due to what their daily routine is. A broodmare is going to be very different from a barrel horseContinue reading “Conditioning”

Horses are prey animals, therefore have eyes on the sides of their head. This allows them to see more of their surroundings to better prepare for a predator. In order to not be some kitty cats lunch they have to be alert at all times. If they don’t react to a stick breaking that couldContinue reading “Meet “Lefty” and “Righty””