Next week, we’ll debut an exciting new website for horse owners and riders. Horse Head will provide features on equine brain science and how it relates to our horsemanship and horse-human interactions. The new site is a collaboration between Dr. Steve Peters, a clinical neuropsychologist […]
Read moreCategory Archives: Training
Horses flourish when humans get the science
If you’ve ever sought a second medical opinion or gotten more than one estimate for a home repair, you know that each vested party has a different take on things. Working with horses, every trainer has a distinctive manner of looking at the horse, of […]
Read moreMule Notes: Backwards is Forwards
Faithful readers might have wondered about Jolene. The beloved mule, who I’ve come off several times, has gone back to basics with me. Since an incident that traumatized both of us, I’ve only ridden her a few times. Instead, we’ve done a lot of ground […]
Read moreWhat is a Good Seat? Katrin Silva explains
Katrin Silva grew up riding dressage in Germany before moving to the United States at age 19 to learn to ride Western. She’s been riding both disciplines for the last twenty years. Read her article on Contact here. Silva has competed successfully through fourth level […]
Read moreThe Brain’s “Low Road” and “High Road”
Mechanics know that one big problem – smoke under the hood – is often caused by tiny, less visible issues. To solve the big problem, you need to understand finer points and foundational concepts. The more you know, the more effective you can be in […]
Read moreUnderstanding “Deep Practice”
In The Talent Code, Daniel Coyle discusses the merits of soccer hotbeds in Brazil and training methods of famous pianists. So, what does all that have to do with horsemanship? Everything. As Coyle explains, it all comes down to one microscopic detail, shared by horses […]
Read moreAnother Core Insight from Katrin Silva
Katrin Silva grew up riding dressage in Germany before moving to the United States at age 19 to learn to ride Western. She’s been riding both disciplines for the last twenty years. Read her article on Contact here. Silva has competed successfully through fourth level […]
Read moreCore Strength Requires Understanding
Beth Watson is a physiotherapist living in Perth, Australia. Here, she lends yet another excellent point of view to our focus on Rider Fitness, especially core fitness. Clinician Wendy Murdoch suggested in a recent article that “core strength is counterproductive to good riding.” We disagree. […]
Read moreWhen Being Negative is a Good Thing
When it comes to working with horses, our very humanness can get us in trouble. Take our use of language: Do you consider “negative” to be bad and “positive” to be good? When working with horses, the opposite is often true. I’m talking about negative […]
Read moreConfidence in Evidence-Based Horsemanship Terms
How to build self-confidence in a horse? It’s a concept to be discussed at next month’s Evidence-Based Horsemanship Seminar, led by Martin Black and Dr. Steve Peters. Peters said giving horses repeated exposure to novel experiences is a great way to down-regulate their fear component […]
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