All Blog Posts Tagged 'western' (93)

Bit for Western Pleasure

Dear Julie,

I am currently schooling and riding in a D-ring snaffle bit. I want to start training for Western Pleasure. What kind of shank bit do you recommend for the transition?

Thanks,

Kim

Kim,

In most rule books, horses six years old and up are required to show Western in a curb bit. Horses five and under can be ridden two-handed in a snaffle. As the… Continue

Added by Julie Goodnight on May 21, 2010 at 2:30pm — 1 Comment

"Ground Manners"

"My name is Briana. I’m training a 2-year old mare and she does not know her ground manners. What do I do and how do I teach her good ground manners"? Thank you for asking these questions. This is a very widely researched topic. There are many… Continue

Added by Randy Byers Horsemanship on May 21, 2010 at 12:00am — No Comments

W.D.T.H. "Western Dressage Training Hierarchy"

The best riders and trainers in the world will tell you that good training is that which is built block by block onto a strong, solid base. That base is comprised of the following six elements in that particular order:

1) Impulsion/Forward

2) Contact/Acceptance

3) Collection/Self-Carriage

4) Straightness/Balance… Continue

Added by Randy Byers Horsemanship on May 21, 2010 at 12:00am — No Comments

The search for Turbo

Sunday evening, I was feeling sorry for myself. I had just had to face financial reality and cancel my plans to attend a dressage clinic with Manolo Mendez. Just moments after I send the withdrawal email, I had a message in my in box from a friend with the heading - Lost Turbo. Turbo is a sweet little black gelding she bought a couple years ago to use as a pack horse. I helped her with training him, as he was incredibly sour. Misfitted saddles and bad riders had pretty much convinced him that… Continue

Added by Monica Whitmer on May 6, 2010 at 1:30am — 3 Comments

Dressage For Your Western Horse

Dressage judges are seeing spots before their eyes - Appaloosa spots, that is - and Paints, Palominos and Quarter Horses too. This year has been a stellar one for the sport as the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) approved dressage as an event in United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) and United States Dressage Federation (USDF). Now, AQHA registered horses will be able to earn points towards incentive fund money and year end awards.

With the rise in popularity of… Continue

Added by Lynn Palm on May 1, 2010 at 2:00pm — 2 Comments

Training Tip of the Week: Get control of the five body parts.

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Added by Clinton Anderson on April 30, 2010 at 11:00am — No Comments

Saddle Fit and the Western Saddle

I have been asked now several times to address the subject of fitting western saddles. As you may know, my specialty is English saddles – and mainly dressage – but for what it’s worth, here are my thoughts on western saddles.

…

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Added by Jochen Schleese on April 30, 2010 at 7:30am — 5 Comments

Horse Play News May - June 2010

The Running Horse

A Bi-monthly Newsletter from Horse Play

Issue May - June 2010

Horse Play

EIN: 05-0506340

Website: www.hptrc.org

Email: horseplayri@msn.com

Message from Aidan – the…

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Added by Horse Play on April 27, 2010 at 9:30am — No Comments

A Minor Change of Plans--Bumper Spurs

Last week, with visions of rowel spurs in my head, I went to my "local" tack shop--a 60 mile round trip, and discovered they did not have what I was looking for. There was ONE set of smooth rowel spurs, with the extra long neck, made of zinc of all things but only $10 US so I got them anyway for future experiments if needed. I also found this weird looking set of slip-on spurs, with the "spur" interface being a series of rounded metal curves. This set looked interesting too,…

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Added by Jackie Cochran on April 25, 2010 at 11:00am — 1 Comment

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Added by Gracelynn on March 30, 2010 at 4:25pm — No Comments

Could Mia be a War Mare?

Riding Mia this week was sort of an exercise in boredom. The ring was soaking wet on Wednesday, so I could do very little trotting, and the bitter cold North wind was blowing. Mia sort of put her head down and plodded around. She was NOT going to waste her precious energy by reacting to the wind.

When I first met the Arab mare Mia 18 months ago her beautiful brown eyes looked out at the world with suspicion and apprehension. She had no…

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Added by Jackie Cochran on March 7, 2010 at 3:00pm — 1 Comment

saturday March 6th

Conditions: Absolutely beautiful day, sunny and feeling like early spring. Nice long hacks on both horses before and after the rides. Rode both in snaffle

Caddymaster So yesterday, after his massage, I noticed some striking diferences. 1) he kept trying to pull all the reins out of my hand - as if he needed to cough - something he general won't do unless he really does indeed need…

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Added by liz call, md on March 6, 2010 at 6:00pm — No Comments

Thursday

conditions;Unable to ride today due to delay leaving work.

I have been thinking about Caddymaster a lot and I wanted to put down in words the thoughts about why he is doing so well of late.

Caddymaster: So I've been the only human riding him since he was turning 4 years old (he is now 12). He has always been a laid back dude. The bit has always slid a little out of the left side of the mouth. Recently…

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Added by liz call, md on March 4, 2010 at 7:30pm — No Comments

The Smile Muscles of the Seat

As someone who specializes in movement…

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Added by Sit_the_Trot on February 23, 2010 at 10:00pm — 1 Comment

How can I keep my hands quiet? The Secret Lies Below your Navel!

Question: When I ride my hands bounce up and down at all the gaits. Not a lot but enough so I am not riding horses to the best of my ability and knowledge. I can keep the horse on the bit but in the posting trot every time I go up my hands come up too.Holding a strap doesn't help. Trying to make my hands go down as I go up doesn't help. What can I do?

Basically if you are stiff in mid-back or in the upper chest and shoulders and the shoulder blades don't slide well over the rib cage… Continue

Added by Sit_the_Trot on February 9, 2010 at 10:00am — No Comments

OBBO Futurity

Gary and I are very pleased to be members of the Ontario Reining Horse Association. We are now part of the OBBO committee along with Chairman Harvey Stevens. OBBO stands for Ontario Born, Bred or Owned Futurity. Every year they have a successful stallion nomination program along with a very well run show that is held in London, Ontario during the Western Fair.

We are proud to donate… Continue

Added by Kerri Morden-Marsolais on February 8, 2010 at 1:00pm — No Comments

Breathing: A Lesson on the 1st Step to Effective Movement

As riders we get all sorts of information about how to have correct posture, how to breathe, and how to use our abdominal muscles. All of these things affect the way we stand, sit, move, and breathe. They even affect the way we think and our emotions. As babies we knew how to breathe naturally and use our breath for power. We filled our lungs, letting our belly expand, and screamed! When we breathe naturally our lungs fill as our diaphragm lowers and flattens out, and, because our stomach,… Continue

Added by Sit_the_Trot on January 30, 2010 at 9:30am — 1 Comment

From Chair to Saddle: Take it slowly

Unlike four-legged mammals that generally move with a horizontal spine, the human spine is uniquely shaped to allow us to move in multitudes of activities while standing or sitting upright. With the muscles and tendons providing structure, the spine can bend and twist and oscillate. It can also relax and allow us to sit for long periods. Unfortunately, our spine also has a good short-term memory about what it has been doing.

The tissues hold on to what we have been doing. What does… Continue

Added by Sit_the_Trot on January 25, 2010 at 3:48pm — No Comments

Puttering Around--Then Wimping Out at the Weather

This has been an up and down week. First, on Wednesday it got up to 70 F and it was sunny. Since my riding instructor went to Florida I did not get a lesson. I also had to groomed Mia and got real tired. I rode anyway because it was so beautiful, and I figured if I did anything horribly wrong that I could count on Mia to bring it to my attention. To my surprise I did not ride too badly.

I had been thinking about grooming more because I cannot think of a better warm up for riding, and… Continue

Added by Jackie Cochran on January 24, 2010 at 1:00pm — 1 Comment

Supple, Balanced Seat + Dissipation of Force

The rider, to ride well must be supple; the body must be filled with shock absorbers at every joint to allow the movement of the horse to go through the legs and up the rider's spine without getting stopped anywhere. For the dressage or western rider the ankles, hips and shoulders must be relaxed, moveable, and independent of the movement of the torso.

This… Continue

Added by Sit_the_Trot on January 14, 2010 at 10:00am — 2 Comments