jumping

Yesterday Tonka and I trailered to meet our friends Maggie and Michele at Pipestave, a gorgeous chunk of conservation land that has horse trails and cross-country jumps. We haven’t seen each other for more than two years. The horses were pleased to reconnect. Note that neither horse needed to stop […]

Tonka Jumps Cross-Country

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Recently I pushed myself to go out of my comfort zone and go to a fancy show. That required a multi-night stay for Tonka at the showgrounds, and me in a hotel. I like small schooling shows. An easy day drive there and back. No braiding. No pressure. Not much […]

Our First Overnight Show

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Tonka has a history of having issues with the canter. When I got him, he had no stamina for it. Once around the ring and he’d peter out. As we progressed in our dressage Tonka was able to do a first level test without breaking stride, but the judges always […]

Hill Work as Physical Therapy

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More from the Margie Engle Clinic: It didn’t matter whether she was teaching riders who regularly jump 3-foot fences or 18-inches (me), Margie had us do the same exercise before going over the jumps. After warming up by getting our horses to expand and contract their strides on the flat […]

5/6/4 A Margie Exercise

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Last March, when I entered the “Win A Day With Margie Engle” contest, my horse and I had only been jumping for a couple of months. I wanted to win as a gift to the girls at the barn who had welcomed this dressage rider into their hunter/jumper world. I […]

More Leg! with Margie Engle

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More than a year ago I entered a contest in Practical Horseman. The prize was a clinic with Margie Engle. Out of hundreds of entries, I won. You can see the entry and video here. Of course, what with the pandemic, Margie’s trip to my barn was put on hold. […]

Margie Engle Clinic Prep

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Steve often comes to my lessons to take photos or video. It’s great to have a record of our progress. But for someone like me who is self-critical and analyzes details, it can be hard to have concrete evidence of all of those things that I need to improve (those […]

What the Ears Say

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After years of me writing about things, it’s time for Tonka to have his say. Here’s his point of view of last week’s lesson.         Show season starts soon. I’m sure that Tonka will have a lot to say about that!

Tonka’s POV

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