It presents step by-step training programs and showing advice from recognized experts in hunters, jumpers, equitation, dressage, and eventing, along with money- and time-saving ideas on health care and stable management.
Tune In I was blissfully unaware of how distracting a phone could be until I recently bought a new one. My old phone allowed me to get voicemails and texts, but I had to go into those applications to actually retrieve them. I could find emails only by going through the Internet. The plus side of this was that when I went to the barn, I was able to keep my phone near me for emergencies but still stay fully engaged in the moment, whether I was feeling my horse’s legs for heat or trying to figure out why his right leg-yield was easier than his left. My new phone is a mini-computer that is constantly dinging and lighting up, keeping me abreast of just about everything that is going…
George H. Morris is the former chef d’équipe of the U.S. Equestrian Federation Show Jumping Team. He serves on the USEF National Jumper Committee and Planning Committee, is an adviser to the USEF High- Performance Show Jumping Committee and is president of the Show Jumping Hall of Fame. 1 This is a great rider demonstrating security and balance, but who has a little homework to advance her release to the next level of difficulty. The hinged stirrup irons are acceptable but not preferable. The joint that is supposed to bend, flex and absorb shock is the ankle joint, not the joint of the stirrup iron. Nevertheless, the rider’s heel is down, the iron is crossing the ball of the foot with the little toe touching the outside branch and there…
Based at Fox Covert Farm, in Upperville, Virginia, Jim Wofford competed in three Olympics and two World Championships and won the U.S. National Championship five times. He is also a highly respected coach. For more on Jim, go to www.jimwofford.blogspot.com. Winter is the time to plan for improvement. Long walks during this time give your horse the strength and fitness to perform better in the coming year. While you are conditioning your horse, leave your headphones behind. If you disconnect yourself from the natural world, you are a menace to society and a danger to your horse. Headphones are mental “bling”—they tell me that your riding is about you, not about your partner. When told they are a defense against boredom, I ask, “How can you be bored when you…
An equestrian mental- skills coach and A-circuit competitor, Tonya Johnston has a master’s degree in sport psychology. Her book, Inside Your Ride: Mental Skills for Being Happy and Successful with Your Horse is available in paperback or e-book editions. For more info on Tonya’s work, go to www.TonyaJohnston.com. Christine from work left you a voicemail, Steve sent a text about rescheduling your daughter’s voice lesson, your brother emailed you about dinner on Saturday and Alice commented on your new profile picture on Facebook—but guess what? You don’t know any of that because you are with your horse and your phone is the furthest thing from your mind (turned off, in the car, in your tack trunk, on airplane mode or at home). Bravo! You have successfully navigated a significant challenge…
Sometimes a little self-doubt can do the trick. Tori Colvin was halfway through a beautiful handy round on John and Stephanie Ingram’s Cuba when the takeoff on Fence 6, a big oxer right in front of the VIP stand, was a little slower than she expected. Cuba jumped well but rubbed the rail. Tori thought she might have lost her opportunity to win the derby championship. “And I thought—me being myself—well, that is the end, it’s over,” Tori explained. “Because I like to be perfect and it wasn’t perfect, so I thought we didn’t have a chance. Which was probably beneficial because after that I rode like I thought I was now going to get second. I rode it to be as handy and as tight as I could to…
Horses have a natural aversion to jumping crosscountry ditches. So do riders! But that doesn’t mean teaching this skill has to be a miserable experience for everyone involved. I’ve developed a system that does it in a gentle, progressive way guaranteed to produce successful results from the very beginning. In the seven or eight years I’ve been using it, I’ve never had a horse refuse to jump the ditch in the first attempt. Before developing this system, I spent many years retraining students’ “problem” horses who routinely stopped at or were eliminated at ditches. I got on the horses and schooled them until they were jumping ditches successfully again. It was an ugly process that I didn’t enjoy—I hated feeling that I had to dominate them. And no matter how…
