Setting Your Horse Up For Success

This class is great for riders of all disciplines, and a helps lay the theory foundation for what we strive for in practice. When we know the theory behind why we do things the way we do, it helps us to better achieve the goals we are aiming for, and avoid compensation and things that just look like bending and collection.

This video contains video and images of the horse’s back and how to avoid pitfalls in the communication with our seat.

Here we go through the body of the horse and points to look at to help you see functional movement, or disfunctional movement. This class will help you school your eye and understand why certain movement is healthy or unhealthy for the horse.

This class discusses the structures of the neck, and how recent evolution has changed the horse’s neck. We will briefly discuss how we can better support the horse in order for him to have a comfortable and long career.

Here we dive into what makes the horse tick, and work to ethically motivate the horse and stay out of the sympathetic nervous system during training.

This class brings forth some of the science that supports the idea of energy, and how we can use it to our benefit when working with horses.

Here we dive deeper into understanding what the lateral movements are and how they benefit the horse.

Holding space and staying safe.

Here are a couple points of interest to keep in mind when starting liberty work.

As with everything, I like to bridge the gap of understanding with the horse and create small stepping stones for clearer communication. Here is what I do in most cases before I turn the horse completely loose.

Here I share with you what I do when my horse loses interest or focus.

Here I put together a few clips of beautiful moments with my horses. Enjoy!

Here Crucero is showing several different displacement behaviors and I talk you through what they are, what is potentially causing them, and what I do about it.

This video isn’t so much a “how to”, but more of a pause and feel of appreciation of having both horses together and mentally with me, touching a bit on my thoughts about teaching a horse to “lay down”.

Here I give some reasoning on why it’s important to take the time it takes to teach the horse to stand quietly, and some of the products that I use to make it easier and safer.

Before ever tying the horse, I want to make sure these basics are in place!

Doing this step and seeing how the horse handles it helps me decide when and if the horse is ready to be tied.

The previous steps take as long as they take. Then I go to this step. I will “hard tie” a horse if I am confident they are comfortable being tied, but I do always like to have safety features in place when possible, just in case the unexpected happens.

Watch the process from start to finish of introducing the saddle for the first time. I talk you through each step and why I do it this way.

I like to break the saddle introduction down into small lessons. I never want the horse to get excited. This is step two, where I take Crucero for a little walk while carrying the saddle.

This is the first time carrying the saddle in a bigger area. I like to keep the first introductions in smaller more contained areas. If the horse is not prepared mentally and would startle in a big area and get away from you, this could be a very negative experience, and why I wait until I’m confident that they are ok with the idea of something on their back.

Teaching the horse to stand at the mounting block is very important, but remember that this also involves keeping the horse motivated to continue t

We must always prioritize the horse’s mind before we start working their physical body if we want it to be a beneficial training session.

This is a short video voicing over a training session with my young horse who gets a little too eager in taking a treat during training, and how I handled it.

While many young horses, especially males, will go through this mouthiness phase, we don’t want to allow the horse to “practice” it. Here is a way to redirect it, without punishing for it.

Here I show the very first attempt with Crucero, and then the second session with him the next day, and then show you the response in Gustavo who fully understands this request.

This power point describes why we do groundwork and what to look for, because if done improperly, you won’t see the results that you’re expecting.

This is a guide to get started with haunches-in. It’s important to understand how to do it properly in order to achieve the results of strengthening and suppling the horse.

In this video, I wanted you to see exactly what it looks like when teaching groundwork. Many online courses show you how to do things with horses that already know the exercises, but here you are truly seeing it from the start, and how I handle it.

When teaching a horse an exercise, it never begins as a finished product. Here I show the steps along the way as my horse learns it, and how I handle things that pop up on the journey.

This video breaks down lunging in order to help you understand how to better communicate with your horse at a distance.

This video will help you get started even if your horse has never lunged.

Here we learn how to shape the horse at a distance.

This is a little history about how and when I acquired Pugsy and some events that happened in his time with me.

Having these videos proved to be very valuable when going throught the findings.

This video takes a closer look at Pugsy’s skull and hyoid in comparison to that of a younger horse.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised but the bones did confirm for me what I suspected upon palpation during life.

In life, it was very noticeable how asymmetrical Pugsy’s pelvis was. Here we can take a much deeper look at how uneven different parts were right to left.

any factors can contribute to why Pugsy’s bones were lighter, but I hypothesize that his advanced age and poor absorption of nutrients, along with the compost process are what contributed to this lack of density.

Pugsy had “pigeon toed” (toed in), conformation and here I try to show the boney alignment, along with wear and tear.

This was the last video of the skeleton I needed to film, and it wasn’t until I got to the last hing leg that I realized Pugsy had an even bigger surprise that possibly explained what I had been seeing in the left hind.

I hope you enjoyed learning what Pugsy had to show us, and that you gained some information that you can take forward to help your horses and those that you work with. Pugsy was a tough boy, and that’s the only way I can explain it. Some horses, like people, have a higher pain tolerance. I think that, along with his big heart, and managing him the best I knew how at the time, is what kept him going and so kind.

This information is for entertainment purposes only.