Articles: exercises

Trailering your horse can be a challenge. Does your horse like to play games with you? Drag the human away from the trailer. Do a backwards somersault upon exiting the trailer at high speed. Break all the human's halters and trailer ties. Dent the top of the trailer roof with my head! Load in the trailer at home, and suddenly forget how to load on the return trip. Act like I've never seen the trailer before in my life. There MUST be a MONSTER in there! My human is in a hurry and is late for a show, I'll dance around the trailer entrance for a while. If you put me in that trailer, I'll never come back out!! Does that sound familiar? For a lot of people, it is very common and it can get so bad as to keep us and our horses home. But we shouldn't be home! We should be out there in the wild blue yonder... okay, well at least be a rider amongst the purple sage. Get out there and ride with your horse. Trailering issues should not stop you. You shouldn't have to spend 2-3 hours trying to load your horse. Or even more than 2 and a half minutes loading your horse. And you should be able to get your horse to calmly back out of the trailer, not turn into a reverse rocket engine and create burn marks all the way out into the parking area where your horse emerges from a backflip after breaking another nylon halter. That's why we're here to help. Here are some tips and exercises that will help your furry friend become a trailer loading expert, load himself, and relax when he is in the trailer.


Read More

Q: My nerves get the best of me sometimes and my confidence goes out the window. Any tips on learning how to relax while riding? A: There are many reasons that people feel fear or a lack of confidence while riding. The first step is to identify what is giving us this fear or unconfidence in the saddle. Perhaps you’ve experienced or witnessed a riding accident, you are new to horseback riding, you are getting older or experiencing health issues, or you are returning to horseback riding after a long period of time. Maybe you are feeling unconfident due to a jumpy or unpredictable horse. Here are some exercises you can use to overcome the riding jitters and increase your confidence level as well as the confidence of your horse.


Read More

In this video, Dennis Reis demonstrates how to do teach basic laterally yielding from the ground as well as common beginner mistakes. Teaching the lateral yield from the ground can be the first-step to teaching the sidepass both on the ground and in the saddle. Learning how to laterally yield your horse will give you better body control and the horse will learn those yields from the saddle much faster.


Read More

Baby, It’s Cold Outside. There is snow on the ground and ice on the roads. We are certainly feeling the full presence of winter here in the Pacific Northwest. When the mercury drops, we prefer to stay inside where it's warm and cozy, and neglect the fitness and wellbeing of our horses. We often let our horses stay in the stalls and get fat on hay. But is this really good for them? Horses don’t hibernate during the winter. The exercise that you give your horse will have a direct impact on his fitness and performance for shows and other riding events come spring. Here are some tips for exercising and working with your horses during the cold winter months.


Read More