jumping

While Tonka and I did our warmup walk in the ring yesterday, we stayed out of the way of a lesson. The horse being schooled is a big, powerful mare, with a goal of competing in the jumpers. There’s a lot of energy and drama when she goes. The fences […]

Listening Despite Enthusiasm

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Tonka and I continue to learn to jump as a team. I listen to our trainer, Steph, and then try to convey her advice about how to approach the obstacles to Tonka, but he has his opinions about the best way to do it. When Tonka gets frustrated, his way […]

Jumping Teamwork

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Shorten your reins! I’ve heard that my entire riding life. On the most basic level, your hands hold onto the reins, the reins attach to the bit in the horse’s mouth, and how you move that bit tells the horse what you want them to do. Turn left. Turn right. […]

Shorten Your Reins

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What with the coffin joint injections and a change in shoeing, Tonka has been sound. However, I felt that there was something not quite right. We had the occasional buck and resistance at the canter transitions. To me it felt like he got stuck and couldn’t step into it.   Tonka’s […]

Feeling (Too) Good

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This week’s jumping lesson provided something of a metaphor for 2020. In January Tonka and I tried something new. Jumping. Despite the pandemic, we’ve been able to take lessons from Steph. We’ve learned a lot and progressed.  Yesterday we were given a new challenge – a bounce line. This is […]

Grabbing Mane Into The New Year

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I recently rode the elusive Skunk-maned Flying Reindeer. Here’s a view from the saddle:   Despite the weight of the antlers on this reindeer’s head, he could move out.   Perhaps the antlers help with balance when flying?   Reindeer are known to kick out to get the after-burners started. […]

Skunk-maned Flying Reindeer

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Tonka and I have a relationship based on two-way communication. We both have a say. I trust that when Tonka stops in an alert posture that there is something to suss out. I don’t take that stop as a disobedience. Rather, it’s the start of a discussion. For example, yesterday […]

He’d Rather Canter

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It might seem as if training a horse to jump is about teaching them to takeoff in the right place, at the right speed, and to go higher and higher. Those might be the details and the visible results, but training is actually about asking questions of your horse and […]

Upping the Questions

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