I was 13 and rode a horse for the very first time. I was immediately hooked and from that moment on I could only think of horses, horses, and more horses. Very soon I knew that I wanted to devote my whole life to them, there was no doubt about that. Only, my environment would not go along with it...
“You always remain so calm and patient when working with horses, also in challenging situations. How do you do that?” The answer is very simple: I just know that things will get better and a solution is on its way. This will be within 5 minutes, the next day, within the next week, or within a few months.
Tip #1 - When a horse doesn't feel a connection with you, when the relationship is not strong, it will be harder/more difficult to train your horse in groundwork. It's logical: the more trust, the deeper the connection, the more your horse will be willing to do things together with you.
"I'm very emotional, and my horse feels that. How can I be less emotional?" "I'm too sensitive and soft to be able to train my horse well. How can I be more firm? " "Whenever I'm stressed I start to cry. And this also happens when I'm with my horse. I don't want my horse to think I'm weak."
1️⃣ Leading your horse over it in the lead position, the partner position, and the drive position in walk and trot. 2️⃣ Circling your horse over the tarpaulin in walk, trot, and canter. 3️⃣ Asking your horse to halt and then back up on the tarpaulin.
A famous quote says: "Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway". I know, this quote is a philosophy on living life. However, the sad truth is, that in the horse world, it's still common to reason that way. I would never get on a horse if I'm afraid to ride that horse. As a professional trainer, it took me a long time to admit that. And that's because ...
During my last webinar, a participant said in the chat: "I hope to have a better relationship with my horse". My answer was: "Don't hope! Just work on it. Then you WILL have a better relationship with your horse!". It's funny sometimes how horse owners ...
We should let go of the idea that everything and every moment (or training with our horse) should be a happy, joyful, or successful moment. When that would be the case, we would not learn a lot, and we would less appreciate the good moments.
Tip #1 - Horses are attracted to people who are calm and centered. Bringing your awareness to your breath is the simplest way to (re)connect with yourself. It's free, it's simple and it's effective! Even only giving attention to your breath will already make ...
When leading your horse, regularly ask him to stay out of your personal space = min 3 to 4 meters distance. When you lead your horse at a distance, you are leading your horse from the "lead position". Be calm and polite when you ask for more distance. But there's also something else that is important, and that is:
If you’re not connected to yourself, your horse will also be less connected to you, and thus it will be harder for your horse to stay focused on you and the training you're offering him. So whenever you feel you are losing your groundedness, when you lose your calmness,
I recently had a conversation with a new student. This new student - my guess is he was about 50 years old - came to me because he had a few problems with his 14-year-old mare: biting him when he wants to saddle her, pushing him against the wall when he wants to clean her hoofs, pulling on the rope
Some days, some situations, and some experiences can be difficult... You might wonder how you will cope with it, or if you will be able to solve the problem you're facing. This is also the case when it comes to horses and training horses...
Horses are intelligent creatures and are able to find solutions to problems, challenges or questions they are faced with. Take simply the fact of putting on a halter. What often happens is that the trainer brings the halter up to the head.
It has now been 1 week since my family and I returned home from a month-long road trip to and through Portugal. The trip was fantastic, and we made a lot of great memories. However, there's 1 memory I don't like to think back on ...
Big Deal was a horse at the stable in Portugal where I worked 20 years ago when I was 23-24 years old. I moved to Portugal in 2001 to work for a riding stable to teach riding classes, and train horses in dressage and trail riding. The day I arrived at the stables ...
When I advise people to spend time on Bonding Time with their horse, the answer is sometimes: "I already spend undemanding time with my horse in the field, so I know how it works, and I know how to do it". However, ...
A Connection Circle is a live online workshop that has a specific subject, with a duration of 2 to 4 hours . At the start, we come together online, I get you all set up, and give you the instructions for the first exercise.
In the riding school where I rode as a teenager, there was a mare, Muguette. She wouldn’t let anybody touch or halter her without pinning her ears and giving you a (very!) nasty look.
Joey was about 4 months old when he was taken from his mother in a brutal and aggressive way. Three strong men cornered him to grab him, then they forced him to go on a trailer without his mother while screaming at him and hitting him with a whip.
Today is International Women's Day. And that is necessary. Because worldwide women still receive less or worse education, violence against women is higher than against men, women are still paid less for their job, etc.
My first own horse was Niki. She was 12 when she was given to me by an acquaintance. She was sweet and willing, but very energetic and quickly stressed. She also couldn’t stand still easily.
I was 15 when one day I arrived at the riding school and a young black horse named Farao was standing in one of the boxes. He was beautiful, but there were quite some problems: Farao didn’t like to be touched and he didn’t let himself be haltered without trying to kick you first.
Fella was a 12-year old mare, that was tensed and angry during lunging. No bend, short strides, ears flat, swishing tail, nasty looks. The previous weeks her owner focussed mainly on liberty training, to build a..