What makes a teacher good? That’s a difficult question. It’s easier to point out what does not: Not a German accent, or an Australian...

I felt like I was treading water, while everyone around me moved ahead. Opportunities to compete at a high level never seemed to...

If we want our horses to become happy athletes, if we want our work to build them up over time instead of breaking them down, we need to...

If you’ve ever started a horse under saddle, if you’ve ever felt a horse take those first tentative, wobbly trot steps with you on his...

One way is to look at the quality of their gaits. Good work does not impair rhythm, cadence, and elasticity. Correct training makes a...

More is not always better. Extremely low or high neck positions rarely lead to harmony or long-term soundness. Riding forward is good,...

If you’ve ever taken a dressage lesson, you may have heard the words “More outside rein!” - probably not just once. But like with so much...

The quest for the best possible seat is a search for middle ground: We want our heels to be low, because we want our lower leg to be...

I was born in 1970 and started riding horses when I was seven. In those days, at least in Germany, no one wore a helmet, except for...

Many horses who come to me for training have contact issues. Contact can be tricky. Horses learn to avoid honest contact by leaning on...

In my early twenties, I spent several years as an assistant trainer at Quarter Horse show barns. I soon realized that training a...

When does a training session start? When I swing my leg over the horse’s back? When I pick up the reins? When I ask for the first step of...

This is a common complaint from riders. When their horse does not do what they are asking, they assume he is being willfully disobedient,...

Learning will only happen in certain conditions. The most important of these is mutual respect - between horse and rider, between teacher...

Anyone who reads my writing can tell that English is not my first language. It’s not my second language, either. It’s my third. I grew up...

Ivy, my favorite OTTB to date. Over the years, I’ve worked with my share of former race horses - OTTBs, but also Quarter horses and...

There’s a lot of talk about heart, spirit, and emotional connection in today’s horse world - a marked contrast to the buzzwords of...

I call myself a dressage rider. So why am I using my Western saddle more than my dressage saddle? There's a practical reason: it fits...

"Sit tall in the saddle, Hold your head up high Keep your eyes fixed where the trail meets the sky And live like you ain't afraid to die...

Dogs and their owners start to look alike after they’ve spent enough time in each other’s company. Something similar is true for horses...