A blog about training trail horses.
Posted in Natural Horsemanship Clinic on Jan 12th, 2010
There are a lot of clinics a horseman can choose from to further their education. I have attended a few myself and really enjoy them. All of these clinics have been organized so you can pick and choose your subject matter and most you can bring your own horse. I usually end up buying their [...]
Posted in Trail Horse Training on Dec 31st, 2009
I recently blogged about how to bend your horse. These methods work, but take time and patience. A lot of us just want it done and don’t have time everyday to work with our horse even 30 – 60 minutes daily. But most of us do have a hour or more at least one day [...]
Posted in Trail Horse Training, Uncategorized on Dec 30th, 2009
What is bending? Have you ever attempted to bend your horse? I’m not talking about bending his nose around to touch is shoulder. That is flexing. I’m talking about bending his entire body to conform to an arc of a circle. How do you do this? Why do you do this? There are a lot of [...]
Posted in Tennessee Walking Horses, Trail Horse Training, Trail Horses, Uncategorized on Dec 25th, 2009
I remember my first horse. I was 28 years old and purchased a mix breed that was advertised as a TWH. If there was walker in him, I didn’t know it. But I had fun and learned a lot. AND I KNEW IT ALL! Afterall, I had watched all the westerns with my Dad; John [...]
Posted in Trail Horse Training, Trail Horses on Dec 22nd, 2009
If you are a trail rider, and you have been bored with the same trails year after year, you need to look into ACTHA.us . I recently started to feel I need a more challenging trail experience, so I signed onto the American Competitive Trail Horse Association website. I quickly discovered I needed to brush [...]
Posted in Trail Horse Training, Trail Horses on Dec 21st, 2009
Picked up a few pounds since Thanksgiving? Expecting and dreading picking up a few more over Christmas and New Years? Tired of sucking it in every time you zip up? Yeah, me too! Forget about walking 20 minutes a day, getting on the treadmill or killing yourself with aerobic exercises. Ride a horse!
Riding lessons are [...]
Posted in Tack and Equipment, Tennessee Walking Horses, Trail Horses on Dec 18th, 2009
This is the back of a Tennessee Walking Horse, commonly known as a gaited horse. They use these horses a lot in field trials for their quiet disposition, forgiveness of our stupidity and long, smooth stride that covers a lot of ground quickly. Keeping their backs healthy and fit is so very important for the [...]
Posted in Trail Horse Training on Dec 15th, 2009
Know what your goals are. Don’t just round pen to wear your horse down and don’t round pen unless you have a specific goal in mind for training. For example, when I round pen a horse the first thing I want to teach that horse is to look at me for direction. Then I want [...]
Posted in Ex-race horses on Dec 7th, 2009
I have in the past posted about Sera, our thoroughbred mare we adopted a few months ago. She came from Leighton Farms in Maryland, a race horse rescue farm. A wonderful lady had adopted her from there, then found she did not have the resources to keep her since she was moving away. So we [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Dec 7th, 2009
Let’s face it, when cold weather comes around most of us want to hibernate. It’s not much fun going out in the cold to ride, especially if it is wet out. And in Statesville, North Carolina it seems all we have is wet winters. Cold one day, warm the next, plus rain…… [...]