The Base of Support for Good Horsemanship

Base of support contains the first building blocks of good riding, but the components of base of support changes according to what type of riding you are doing.The

Read More

10 Things to Improve the Future of the Horse Business

When you hear about things like horse show competitors who can’t ready their own horse, water withheld from horses so they are calmer for their riders, lunging to

Read More

What’s in a Good Riding Instructor Certification Program?

Do I recommend certification to student instructors? Would I tell prospective riders to look for only  instructors who have certification? It all depends, because those are two questions

Read More

Are You Teaching Foundation to Your Riding Students?

Say foundation and most people readily think of a house. Check out what the website This Old House says about foundations. “A proper foundation does more than just hold

Read More

Rider’s Knees – The Forgotten Joint

I ask new students a lot of questions and since I love foundation teaching, I usually start my inquisition with the leg. Almost 100% of the time, a

Read More

Tell Me What You Know About Riding Horses

There are two basic types of riding students; the ones who have riding experience and the ones who do not. When I make the commitment to teach a

Read More

Riding Horses Is Different

Teaching beginner riders seems like it should be easy, right? After all, what do you teach? A few safety rules, how to lead a horse, how to mount/dismount,

Read More

The First Three Riding Lessons

I make no bones about being an advocate for instructors of beginning riders. It’s because I firmly believe that you can lay so good a foundation for your

Read More

“Get Those Heels Down!” part 1

“Keep your heels DOWN!” What rider hasn’t heard this a multitude of times? And what riding instructor hasn’t said this to the point of near despair? That one

Read More