The Riding Blog

A while back, I heard an Olympic level rider explain that cross country reins should be somewhat long in order for you to throw yourself back on downhill landings. 

And let me start off by...

Every now and then, I've had an interesting conversation with another horse person about the cost of something to do with horses. 

It frequently goes along the lines of them saying that...

So in the previous blog post (read here if you haven't), we talked about what analysis paralysis is, how it affects our riding, and why we should avoid it.

But now you're probably...

This has been a frequent item I've addressed in lessons I've taught, as well as something that I have to work to overcome myself.

In a nutshell, the term "analysis paralysis" is used to convey a...

Today I want to talk about retired NBA player Brian Scalabrine.

You probably don’t know his name, or if you do, it is for all the wrong reasons.

He played in the NBA from 2001 to 2012 and was...

Winter is officially upon all of us and I wanted to take this time to have a reminder for horse owners and extra education for new horse owners who are going through their first winter!

Here are...

Here are 3 ways you can improve your dressage test scores.

These are mistakes that I myself have made in years past, as well as seen others make either by watching rides or when I have judged...

To start, let's talk about the 80/20 rule. It is a concept that broadly states that the first 80% of a skill takes only 20% of the time/effort to learn. But the last 20% of that skill...

Growing up learning to ride in the hunter/jumper part of the horse world, I don't remember horses really getting breaks. Sure, they may have had 2-3 days off, or maybe a week off, around Christmas....

At the beginning of each year, there are things I like to do to ensure that I am all set for the upcoming year with horses. These range from memberships to trainings to horse care items. 

I...

It is just a plain fact that if you ride horses, you will have bad days.

You will have bad rides.

You will fall off.

This sport is too demanding, too technical, too difficult, and relies on not...

Let me just start with saying that I have been extremely lucky and fortunate to have the opportunities and support from many people (but particularly my parents) over my riding career.

However,...

There are so many directions and ideas on this subject, but let's start here with this brutally honest fact:

If you want to get the best out of your horse, they need to be happy.

A happy horse will...

How do you plan out the competition year with when/where/levels/etc?

This is something I've done for many many years now. I make an excel sheet with all possible competitions, then start narrowing...