Riding is a selfish act – there is really no getting around that fact. Horses do not ask to participate in the activity, they are conditioned for it. That said, I have over forty years of experience that horses can, if treated right, come to enjoy the activities they engage in with their rider. With … More Why do you ride?
If you hang around the classical Dressage crowd for any length of time, you will hear someone say something to this effect: “Horses already know how to do the movements, in the field; training only consists of teaching them to do them with a rider added.” It might also be slightly modified to include “on … More What is the goal of training?
In a recent post, I discussed the general notion of how you can change the horse’s body, for better or worse, based upon the nature of the work. The inspiration for that post came from Coffee. Recently, my mother had been commenting on how much more handsome Coffee is than when he came here. I … More Sculpting the Equine Body, Pt 2
We interrupt your regularly scheduled program … I promised that my next post would be more information on sculpting the equine body, but I confess that time has not been in abundance this week, so that is still in draft. However, having just spent a lovely day listening to Christoph Ackermann teach, I wanted to … More A Day With Christoph Ackermann
One of the aspects of classically based Dressage training is the way in which it changes the horse’s physique. It is true that any equine activity that involves a level of conditioning will tone muscles, and should make the horse more attractive. I say “should” because there are definitely activities that condition a horse but … More Sculpting the Equine Body, Pt 1
“Then comes a revelation, finally feeling that a horse behaves gymnastically correctly, and the new convert displays a fervor the likeness of which has not been known since the conversion of Paul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus.” Charles De Kunffy, The Ethics and Passions of Dressage (pg. 36) Have you had that moment? … More “Then comes a revelation …”
Horse Crazy Once Again 