Horse Wise

One of my favorite books is Turning Pro by Stephen Pressfield. It describes the importance of taking ownership in your work (and your life). The book is short, direct and full of humor. When I finished the book, I sat back and thought about a particular mare long ago. She was injured, frightened and needed to be transported asap from a busy fairground facility. Due to unforeseen circumstances, my usual mentors weren’t available — and I had to figure out a way to safely load her on the trailer. While well-meaning spectators offered advice and tools ranging from ropes to brooms to holistic solutions. It was quite an experience for both me and the mare! At Horse Wise, I teach people tools so that they can learn how to coach themselves and their horses to progress together as a team. It’s a fun process that shows you how build a good partnership with your horse (in a practical, straightforward way). If you’d like more information on mindset practices, audio coaching or general Horse Services, please visit our web

Most of us dread the idea of doing things wrong. But the only way to learn how to do something right is to do it wrong at first. Or many times. When it comes to riding and horsemanship, we have to learn (and feel) for ourselves what the right things are. A good teacher will help set it up so you can discover what the right thing is on your own — rather than just being told to do something a certain way. And of course the same is true for horses! At Horse Wise, I teach people tools so that they can learn how to coach themselves and their horses to progress together as a team. It’s a fun process that shows you how build a good partnership with your horse (in a practical, straightforward way). If you’d like more information on mindset practices, audio coaching or general Horse Services, please visit our website for more information:  http://horsewisecoach.com/  And if you’d like to keep up with our news and updates, please join our email list or follow us on social media:  https://www.facebook.com

“Have the courage to do nothing.” I’ve seen this quote used in many different ways. While I’m not sure who said it first (or why), I can see how it might apply to good horsemanship (and to certain circumstances in life). I first learned this from a wise horse named Dan. Many years ago, I met Dan at Park Police training barn. I was a volunteer exercise rider there. Dan was often my assigned mount — and his quirky personality (and impressive athleticism) made him the perfect schoolmaster. In this episode, I share Dan’s lessons — and how they are perfect for coping with the unexpected pandemic of 2020. At Horse Wise, I teach people tools so that they can learn how to coach themselves and their horses to progress together as a team. It’s a fun process that shows you how build a good partnership with your horse (in a practical, straightforward way). If you’d like more information on mindset practices, audio coaching or general Horse Services, please visit our website for more information:  http://horsewisecoa

"I often tell people that I truly want the horse to be my feet and legs. I want to be an extension of the horse and him to be an extension of me. That's what I'm always working toward when I'm on a horse.” -Buck Brannaman If you’re like me, you probably are getting a little tired of COVID-19. It often seems like everything is on hold (literally) because of it. But there are advantages to this coronavirus spring — and I’d like to help you enjoy the benefits of every silver lining it brings. One of the best benefits of this time is that many of your usual patterns (with or without your horse) are interrupted. This gives a wonderful opportunity to see things from a new perspective! In this episode, I share two exercises that helped me improve my body awareness and riding posture. They are fun, easy and can be done at home without your horse (if you are in self-quarantine or shelter in place order). I also mention a terrific article about the concept of “Hangerman” from the Eclectic Horseman. Here’s a link to it:

“So you make the wrong thing difficult and the right thing easy. You just fix it up, and let him find it.” -Ray Hunt Like many riders, I’m prone to trying extra hard to get something right. If at first I don’t succeed, I try, try again. But sometimes it’s much better to not TRY so hard. Instead, slow down and take a step back — so you can see the situation from a different perspective. Trying hard usually means you’re already expecting to fail. You can put effort into things, you can put in steady, good work — but trying too hard often closes your mind and gets you fixated on a particular approach. Instead of trying to make something happen, instead experiment with setting up a situation so that you and the horse can learn together. At Horse Wise, I teach people tools so that they can learn how to coach themselves and their horses to progress together as a team. It’s a fun process that shows you how build a good partnership with your horse (in a practical, straightforward way). If you’d like more information

Even if you are in quarantine and can't ride your horse, you can STILL make real progress with your riding goals. What are the things that you always wished you had time to study or learn or get better at? Because what's good about now is that we ALL have lots more time on our hands. And we have the luxury of slowing down. So many big gains in performance come from slowing down to get things right first. I want to share my knowledge and help during this temporary chaos of coronavirus. So I’ll be offering customized education tips, classes, podcast episodes and coaching to support riders who feel sidelined and frustrated now. For more details, please stay tuned for future podcast episodes! At Horse Wise, I teach people tools so that they can learn how to coach themselves and their horses to progress together as a team. It’s a fun process that shows you how build a good partnership with your horse (in a practical, straightforward way). If you’d like more information on mindset practices, audio coaching or gener

I know this is a challenging time for horse people. Shows and favorite clinics are postponed. Riding stables and lesson programs are on hiatus. Some equestrians are confined in self-quarantine. Over the years, I’ve been through periods of epic disruption (such as multiple natural disasters). Each time, I gained insight about my horses and myself. After the chaos subsided, I found that my riding had improved significantly – in spite of being completely removed from my normal barn routine. I want to share my knowledge and help during this temporary chaos of coronavirus. So I’ll be offering customized education tips, classes, podcast episodes and coaching to support riders who feel sidelined and frustrated now. For more details, please stay tuned for daily posts here. Equestrians are people of action – and we don’t idle well (especially if we can’t ride much). Let’s put our energy toward making progress on our horse goals – and wrestle amazing positive results from this annoying pandemic phase. We ride at dawn!

If you have horses, you know that it’s inevitable that you will deal with unexpected issues or problems. It’s the nature of horses to constantly introduce mayhem into their own lives. Or at the very least, shake up the normal routine by losing shoes, getting pasture injuries, developing sudden performance angst and so on. The good news is that these situations almost always give you a way to grow as a rider and a horseman/woman. In the episode, I also share a story of a particularly frustrating rehab case that I encountered with a personal horse. At Horse Wise, I teach people tools so that they can learn how to coach themselves and their horses to progress together as a team. It’s a fun process that shows you how build a good partnership with your horse (in a practical, straightforward way). If you’d like more information on mindset practices, audio coaching or general Horse Services, please visit our website for more information:  http://horsewisecoach.com/ And if you’d like to keep up with our new

In this episode, I tell a recent story about taking my own advice from the podcast. In Episode 28, I shared some ways you can improve your horsemanship and riding during forced periods away from the barn (due to weather, work commitments, injury, etc). Due to family illness, I haven’t been able to ride or work with the horses consistently. I followed many of the strategies that I described in Episode 28, to make good use of the my limited time with the horses. As luck would have it, I was then contacted by a television series that wanted to do an episode about my work with the horses and horsemanship in general. It sounded like a fun opportunity!  They wanted to film a session of me working with a horse as the sun rose behind us. Which meant being “on set” well before dawn — on a extra cold, dark morning preceded by days of wet weather. The horse I planned to use (who had been in more consistent work) had become feral due to the cold and was running around his pasture happily. His pasture buddy (Coz

In this episode, I discuss how to take advantage of extended breaks from riding (due to weather, injury or other annoying factors). It can be frustrating to have a forced break from riding. But there are fun ways you can use this time to actually improve your riding -- even with very little time in the saddle. If you can take a playful and fresh perspective, the exercises I share will be of great benefit (plus will make you laugh). I speak from much experience — over the last seven years, I’ve had multiple  involuntary breaks from riding (from reasons such as natural disasters, athletic injury and family member illness). Each time, I emerged with greater insight and improved horsemanship skills — precisely because I couldn’t ride in my usual routine (and in my old patterns).  Below are some of the resources I mention in the podcast: 55 Corrective Exercises for Horses book by JEC Ballou https://www.amazon.com/Corrective-Exercises-Horses-Resolving-Preventing/dp/1570768676 Kathleen Beckham’s Grey Horse

The term “bombproof horse” is always a red flag to me. Many times, that can mean that the horse is shut down and essentially unresponsive to its environment. In this episode, I discuss the reasons why you don’t want a bombproof horse — and how to help a horse that has become desensitized to the point of equine zombie status. A good riding partnership requires that both members truly participate in their endeavors together. At Horse Wise, I teach people tools so that they can learn how to coach themselves and their horses to progress together as a team. It’s a fun process that shows you how build a good partnership with your horse (in a practical, straightforward way). If you’d like more information on mindset practices, audio coaching or general Horse Services, please visit our website for more information:  http://horsewisecoach.com/ And if you’d like to keep up with our news and updates, please join our email list or follow us on social media: https://www.facebook.com/HorseWiseCoach/ https://www.i

Winter can be challenging for equestrians. The weather is often cold, snowy or icy (depending on where you live). Your normal riding routine gets disrupted on a regular basis. How do you make progress  with your horse during the winter months? In this episode, I share a fun exercise that is easy to do in the winter — and reveals much about your riding patterns. Best of all, it doesn’t even involve your horse or the outdoors. All you need is your car and some groceries. I came upon this exercise purely by accident a few years ago — and it changed my entire perspective on my equitation and riding goals. At Horse Wise, I teach people tools so that they can learn how to coach themselves and their horses to progress together as a team. It’s a fun process that shows you how build a good partnership with your horse (in a practical, straightforward way). If you’d like more information on mindset practices, audio coaching or general Horse Services, please visit our website for more information:  http://horse

It seems like a paradox that nice people can ruin horses. When we think of a ruined horse, we envision cruel owners who abuse and mistreat their horses. But unfortunately sometimes truly nice people can create big trouble for their horses. Mostly through small things that don’t seem important at all. As well as things that don’t seem at all related to horses — like what type of perspective you bring to learning or listening to advice. In this episode, I share some examples of what I’ve observed over the years with nice people and troubled horses. Including the story of a hard luck little mare who had only nice people for owners — yet still ended up deeply in crisis. At Horse Wise, I teach people tools so that they can learn how to coach themselves and their horses to progress together as a team. It’s a fun process that shows you how build a good partnership with your horse (in a practical, straightforward way). If you’d like more information on mindset practices, audio coaching or general Horse Services, plea

I didn’t learn to ride until I was an adult. Predictably, I wasn’t exactly the smoothest rider at first. In fact, I was a downright nerd at the barn. If there was a wrong fashion choice to make, I made it. Rubber riding boots. Giant bright sweaters. Oversized helmets that made me look like an uncoordinated motorcycle cop. You name the worst equestrian fashion faux pas — and I embodied it. I longed to be rugged, tough and world wise, like the pro horse trainers I knew. But over time, I came to realize that my nerdy perspective was actually a positive thing. It gave me a fresh and completely non-cynical approach to the horses. My “beginner’s mind” was open to many possibilities that experts would never consider. Because of that, I became aware of small things in the horses’ behavior and expressions that seemed significant to me (and to the horses). I was more receptive to learning — and the horses were happy to teach me because of that.  I owe this insight to an early experience at a Ray Hunt clinic. It wa

I started the Horse Wise podcast in February 0f 2019. At the time, it was just an experiment. As I look back on the year, I’m amazed at the growth of the podcast. It has become one of the key tools of the Horse Wise education program. We now have listeners in 48 states and 23 countries! I have learned so much from doing the podcast — including my own aptitude for talking endlessly about horses, horsemanship and horse people. Enjoy this episode about the lessons I learned from hosting the Horse Wise podcast — and thank you all for listening. Happy New Year! If you’d like more information on Horse Wise services, please visit our website for more information:  http://horsewisecoach.com/ And if you’d like to keep up with our news and updates, please join our email list or follow us on social media: https://www.facebook.com/HorseWiseCoach/ https://www.instagram.com/horse_wise/ )

The most important principles in life are often simple. They seem self-obvious and straightforward to understand. But putting them into practice isn’t always so easy. Especially when the principle involves becoming aware of how you need to change. One of the most helpful horsemanship sayings to me is the seemingly simple Ray Hunt quote: “Believe in your horse, so your horse can believe in you.” But there are many layers of wisdom beneath that short sentence. In this episode, I share some of my own experiences with believing in my horse — and how those led to me learning how to believe in myself. True to form, the podcast includes entertaining analogies (such as how tying your child to a dining room table is like you not allowing your horse to make a mistake) — none of which are suitable for actual child supervision or parenting techniques. At Horse Wise, I teach people tools so that they can learn how to coach themselves and their horses to progress together as a team. It’s a fun process that shows you how bu

There is a classic mistake I see most riders make when a ride doesn’t go as expected. And that is the tendency to immediately assume that 1) you suck; and 2) your horse hates you. Pretty much every horsewoman I’ve ever known has experienced the “I suck and my horse hates me” syndrome. It can be overwhelming— and involve sleepless nights, inner turmoil and complete loss of perspective. We think that we are taking constructive action by berating ourselves — after all, we failed and we should pay a price for that right? But the truth is that all of the angst actually prevents us from helping and supporting our horse. The chaotic wave of emotion acts like a fog — we can’t see the what actually happened during the ride because of it. The good news is that there are some fun, simple ways to prevent the “I suck and my horse hates me” scenario. Listen to the episode to discover how you, giant muddy puppies and a sense humor can change everything for the better. At Horse Wise, I teach people tools so that they can lea

What's your dream horse like? Most people have specific ideas about what they want in their dream horse. They make a detailed list of qualities (like height, conformation, bloodlines, movement type, color, discipline training and so on).  For me personally, I never much believed in the idea of dream horses. The horses in my life had all crossed my path at the right time — rather than me specifically searching for a certain kind of candidate. None of them were perfect by traditional standards (they had sports injuries, personality quirks or imperfect conformation). But they all were good horses for me and I enjoyed our time together immensely. This year, I had to unexpectedly retire a 9 yo gelding due to EPM complications. Inspired by several friends who had acquired young prospects, I began a quiet search for a new horse. My list of ideal attributes was a little offbeat — so I didn’t expect to find a horse that matched them all. But then I met a 16H bay gelding who had the most important quality of all.

This interview is the last of a series in honor of the Retired Racehorse Project TB Makeover event in Oct 2019. Erin Shea and I discuss the history of the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (“TAA”) and the evolution of its partnership with the racing industry. TAA accredits charities that provide assistance to off-track TBs throughout the US. Due to their rigorous accreditation process, TAA literally sets the standard for aftercare in the nation. Once accredited, organizations are then eligible for grants through TAA. The TAA accreditation and grants allow TB charities to gain key national support for their work that they might not otherwise be able to access. The TAA accreditation process also promotes the sharing of best practices and mentoring among TB aftercare charities. I’m honored that the aftercare charity I founded (LOPE) has been been accredited since 2015. Speaking from experience, TAA has played an invaluable role in LOPE’s warhorse program. Because of their accreditation and support, LOPE has b

This interview is part of a series in honor of the Retired Racehorse Project TB Makeover event in Oct 2019. Erin Crady and I have a fascinating discussion about the evolution of Thoroughbred aftercare and TCA’s role in the industry. TCA’s history literally began in a living room (a very nice living room at CandyLand Farm) over thirty years ago. Since then, TCA has has provided over $23M grants to over 200 Thoroughbred related organizations. In addition to aftercare groups,ŤCA also supports Thoroughbred incentive programs, backstretch and farm employee programs, equine-assisted therapy programs that utilize Thoroughbreds and equine research. Their Horses First Fund is a ground breaking initiative to assist Thoroughbreds in crisis situations (such as Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico). TCA is the Presenting Sponsor of the prestigious Retired Racehorse Project TB Makeover. They have supported the Makeover since 2012 (at its inception) and its mission of creating markets and public demand for OTTBs in the show