Blog
Personal essays, training advice, creative non-fiction, and poetry— a little bit of every genre as a space for sharing, musing, and feeling.
Education to the Bit
I do not bridle my horses; my horses bridle themselves. This isn’t just some party trick I teach them for show– my process and practice of teaching horses to self-bridle is part of education to the bit, as well as a means of checking in to see how they’re feeling and asking permission to work off of the bridle in hand and/or under saddle. Part 1 of this Education to the Bit post is all about teaching horses to self-bridle. Part 2 goes through next steps of educating a horse to the bit so that nothing they feel under saddle is a surprise or a question to them!
Establishing Boundaries: 5 Tips for Handling Horses in Harmony and Straightness
Last week, I observed one of my clients struggling with her horse on the ground while I was out teaching others. Her horse was pulling her all around, leaning back on the lead rope, lunging forward, and diving for grass. While I couldn’t help in the moment, I took some time to reflect, and sent an email with some tips to help when I’m not available, and realized how universally needed that information was. I realized I wasn’t formally taught how to lead horses with ease, and chances are, others weren’t either. I was inspired to put together this blog post with the intention to help others understand how to handle horses in harmony and straightness on the ground, and how that impacts everything else you do with your horse.
Emotion and Connection
What are you supposed to do when you’re experiencing normal human emotions, beyond the mindful calm I’ve described in other posts as a key to connection? How can we realistically get along with ourselves and our horses despite the normal stresses and events in life? This post describes emotional regulation skills with and without the horses for healthier coping and personal development.
The Aids (Over)explained
Many students feel overwhelmed by too many things to focus on and control when it comes to their aids. Seat, hands, legs, and then I’m telling them to also bring their breath and back and jaw and tongue and knees and thighs and ankles and toes into their awareness… this list could go on. How can we integrate all of these pieces without our brains exploding and still manage to enjoy the ride? This blog post begins to answer that question and offer a framework to develop feel so it’s not just your brain knowing… it’s your body.
Oversights when working with my own horses
A meditation on a challenge trainers often have— seeing clearly with their personal horses, and being willing to let go of expectations, go back to basics, and allow playfulness, curiosity, and gratitude to guide the journey.
Attunement and Restarting after Shutting Down
An evening training session demonstrating the power or attunement, and how less is more in allowing shut down horses heal from their trauma and feel safe enough to come into their bodies and express themselves again.
Looking Back
I want to take some space to describe my history as a horse lover from where I started the journey that got me here and is taking me where I’m going. I haven’t always ridden dressage, and the majority of my years of equine education were far from classical. I share this backstory not only to introduce myself and my background, but also to show the importance of learning and openness– we always have more to learn and it’s just as valuable to know what you don’t want to do as what you do. Horses still teach me every day how much more learning I have to do.