Explaining Dressage: the small print.
First of all, the reason Dressage needs some explaining is that the there are some misconceptions about this riding discipline.
learning to ride
Sharing Horses with Little Sisters.
Ah, Spring! When a young girl’s thoughts turn to… horses. Just like old girl’s thoughts, and just like every other day of the year. Horse-crazy girls are a consistent bunch. Most of my clients are adults, but now and then, I get a young rider and I love it. It’s nice to be reminded. This … Read more
Part Two: Thanksgiving Every Day.
Last week I had a bit of a Christmas rant (read) and declared I would celebrate Thanksgiving until New Years. I feel better already. I followed with, “And if thanksgiving is my religion, then the barn will be my church.” I know I run the danger of offending a wide range of religious and spiritual … Read more
R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Find out what it means to me!
Namaste is a Sanskrit word -which means it’s very old. Most translate it to some version of “The spirit in me respects the spirit in you.” There is so much in a name. Namaste is also an easy-on-the-eyes, young, Friesian-Arab gelding with a big dressage heart. I have known him for about 5 years and … Read more
Who Am I This Time?
Sometimes our personality isn’t the best match for where our horse is at the moment -but acting the part of a confident rider might reveal a path from being the Odd Couple to Fred and Ginger in Shall We Dance?
A Lesson Horse is Born….
… and Grace gives herself a promotion. Dressage borrows lots of language from ballet -after all, we are the dancers of the horse world. Pas de Trois is a dance of three. I have commandeered that phrase to describe riding lessons as a conversational dance between horse, rider and instructor. All three participants have to … Read more
Embrace a Career Change.
I’ve traveled in all directions in the last few months- looking at potential lesson horses. I want to rescue the skinny ones. I try to guess how much retraining will be needed for others. The right horse needs to be not too old or too tall. There is a temperament I am looking for; tolerant, … Read more
Time Travel with Horses.
This week I have been reading Xenophon, (431-350BC)- On Horsemanship. So much remains true, except perhaps for the part about the importance of choosing a double-backed (wide) horse. In Xenophon’s defense, saddles hadn’t been invented yet.
From a Whisper to a Scream.
Let’s start at the beginning; loving horses is fine, but they don’t care about that. Horses will choose respect over love every time.