Forging a Path: What to Do Next With Your Horse.
It's that time of winter when you half-think spring isn't real. Are you frustrated with how you and your horse...
The Problem with Pre-Corrections on Horses.
She enters the barn, looking left to right. What does she think her horse might be afraid of? First, let's...
The Dynamic Power of Consistency
We would like consistent behavior from our horses. It would be good if they took each cue with light and...
Book Release: Horse. Woman.
Book Release! Available Now! Horse. Woman. Poems from Our Lives "It was a tough life if you was useless.” -Leafa...
Photo & Poem: Soundness
Centering myself behind the horse as he walks away, bent forward with my hands on my knees, staring his hips...
Photo & Poem: Spine to Spine
His back is not solid, nerves run between banks of muscle, each vertebra linked to the next, from the base...
Writing and Riding
Happy New Year. It's my ninth year of writing this blog about riding. Thank you for reading along, and I...
Calming Signals Aren't Calming
Lots of the people who come to Calming Signals clinics are bright-eyed and hopeful that I have a signal to...
Photo & Poem: Soft
Hands go soft, give him his head. The red gelding wants to be braver than he is, shaking his neck...
Riding: If We Can’t Feel It, We Can’t Fix It.
After the last blog, a friend/trainer thought legs should have been mentioned. Or as she put it, "'The...
Riding: Feeling Every Stride, From Our Inside
This is the recurring nightmare. You're on a twisted version of Dancing with the Stars. There are glaring lights and...
Riding the Middle: My Horse is Lazy.
My horse is lazy. He won't go forward. He doesn't listen to my legs no matter what. Do I need...
Riding the Inside of Your Horse
When I was just a dressage-princess-wannabe, before I became a full-blown Dressage Queen, I thought dressage riders all wore a kind...
Photo Challenge: Opposites.
Stillness bounded by movement, offered without demand. Independent, connected, Cradled as close as skin, but set free. At peace...
Reciprocity: A Softer Ask, a Softer Bend
I overheard some riders complaining like old campaigners. Asking a horse for bend sounded like the Hundred Years' War. They...
How to Defuse a Horse Bomb
Maybe you're mentally arranging your to-do list, or rehashing an imaginary rant about something that happened at work, or just...
Listening with Your Seat.
How's your derrière? Is posterior a more delicate word than rump? Our culture has a lot of fanny chatter: too...
It's About Greeks and Romans. Even Today.
Is there a natural way to ride a horse? Is it possible to ride in such a way that the...