Increasing a riders awareness of the feelings or emotions that come up during the learning process is extremely beneficial. For most riders, learning to train their own horse means learning new skills and experiencing the feelings that often accompany that like; vulnerable, nervous, disappointed, frightened, uncertain and awkward. In this podcast I explain the role of these uncomfortable emotions and how they can lead to other emotions like focused, determined, strong, excited…and confident.

Today I’m talking about patterns…why I recommend riding patterns and why riders often have resistance to riding patterns. I’ll discuss anticipation in multiple forms, increasing your awareness by getting feedback from your horse and how your focus, or lack of focus, is impacting your ride.

I posted two of my favorite training patterns over on my website under the show notes for this episode. They are great examples of patterns that can be useful in improving your communication with your horse.

If you’re in the middle of a work session and things aren’t going the way you hoped do you lose confidence? How does this impact your time with your horse? In this episode I propose the idea that we can have different types of confidence. I outline ’self’ confidence vs ‘skill’ confidence and explain why knowing the difference could improve your results with your horse.

In this episode, I explain three ways I see people holding themselves back by accidentally limiting their awareness of their body. Riding horses can be a great physical awareness tool. I describe what I call ‘body scanning’ and how to use this tool as a way to increase your awareness of your body so you can communicate more clearly with your horse.

In this episode I’m answering a question about lead changes. In the beginning I’m very methodical about teaching shoulder control with the reins, legs as speed control. THEN hip control with my legs…separate from the shoulder control that is in my reins. I discuss: Bend and counterbend, turn on the forehand, Canter-walk-canter transitions, bouncy canter (collected), counter canter…and more. Can I slide my leg back and cue the hind end to step without the horse walking off or side passing? Can I pick up the ‘wrong’ lead on purpose…and why would I want to?

In this episode I’m answering a question about teaching a horse how to hunt slowing down with less or no rein contact. I’ll discuss teaching multiple cues, offering choices through the use of patterns and I’ll give you three different ‘tests’ you can take to evaluate your communication with your horse.

Learn how to identify what lead your horse is on when watching from the ground or when riding. What makes a lead ‘right or wrong’ or correct or incorrect? What is counter canter? What is cross firing? If a horse is constantly cross firing…what’s going on? Is this a soundness or a weakness issue? I answer all these questions and more before then giving tips on how to encourage a horse to elevate and take the correct lead. In next weeks podcast…I continue this discussion on leads!

I recieved an email awhile back that asked a short question. Here is what was written. “The biggest question I can’t seem to get a clear answer for is “how do I ask for the collection?”

It is such a short…and seemingly simple question. I explain the underlying issue of collection and why the answer isn’t as simple as applying a few aids correctly. I explain what collection is NOT and how to identify horses that may be struggling with balance. Sometimes the ‘resistance’ that a rider feels is actally a sign that the horse is unbalanced…and needs a physical fitness routine.

Are you naturally a low energy or high energy person? Is your horse a naturally low energy or high energy horse? How does this impact you training the horse? Sometime people solve this issue by buying the ‘opposite’ horse. High energy person=low energy horse Low energy person=high energy horse Some people solve it by buying the matching energy horse.

What if you…and the horse…both learned to be both?

Do you think horses can be taught to be emotionally mature? What would that look like? Can you teach a horse to ‘help you out’? Or do you expect things will always feel ‘manual’ with your horse? In this episode I share my thoughts on emotional maturity and the three reasons people don’t teach it. (Spoiler alert: here are the three answers) The main reasons people don’t do it are: 1) they aren’t aware its an option 2) it is repetitive 3) repetitive is a bit boring

But it is all worth it when you get to say, “Yes!” to your horse and you’re really excited they volunteered!