Memoirs of a Riding Instructor

One of my parents came to me shortly after the fourth of July and confessed she had “tried” to have a quiet Fourth of July holiday. They are the proud owners of a large hound dog. And when I say large, I mean large, with a howling bark that could wake the dead. Whenever I go over there to teach, the dogs starts bellowing until I go over and say hello. Then he’ll let me teach my lesson in reasonable silence. Blue is a great dog with a an even better set of lungs.             Kathy, the mom, being ex military runs her home like a well run machine. She marches her petite 5’2”  frame through life, keeping her two daughters and husband in line and on schedule.             With the 4 th of July coming up, she wisely went to her local vet to get some acepromazine, a mild animal sedative for Blue. She figured it would keep the dog from getting stressed out during the fir...

Susan, a mother of three talented riders, who all, including herself take riding lessons from me was getting on her horse one day. She smiled a huge devious grin and asked if she had ever told me about Jake, her son, and his best friend Sally Bug. Of coarse this piqued my interest. “No, I can’t say I've heard that one,” I said sitting on the mounting block waiting to hear this story. “Well,” she said, “Jake must have been about three or four, and had a typical fascination with bugs. He would go around the garden and find all kinds of bugs. One day he came in with this giant soldier beetle.” “This is Sally Bug,” Jake declared but of coarse it sounded more like ‘Sawwy Bug,’ because he couldn't say his L’s well. “She’s my best friend!” He stated. Being the good mom that she is, she controlled her revulsion and said hello to Sally Bug. With that Jake went on to play the rest of the day with Sally bug in his hand. Several times he proclaimed that this was his ‘best friend’. Sus...

I don't know about a spoonful of sugar, but I do know that Peppermints are great for getting the medicine to go down. Have you ever tried to get a horse to eat any medications in their feed, or medicine into an apple, carrot, molasses, applesauce, peanut butter, and any other palatable food stuff your horse would normally love to eat, but find your horse now spitting out this expensive medicine and deciding he doesn't like your treat today. Well I may have a solution for you. Most horses like the taste of peppermint. Probably more than like the taste of apples..hard to believe I know. I give my horses peppermint candies sometimes as a treat. I have given them everything from the red and white Starlight mints, to old fashioned peppermint sticks, to dinner mints, and even candy canes. Yes, I am aware they have a lot of sugar in them, but I think the benefit outweighs the risk. Here is why: Most medicines have a bitter taste to them so putting them in sweet foods like c...

I always try to remember that we cannot expect our horses to have "self carriage" if we do not have "self carriage". Many times we, as riders tend to use our horse for support, from the big things of leaning on the neck, or slouching in the saddle to the little things like resting our hands on the withers while we ride. I always tell my students, if the horse can carry you, the least you can do is hold your hands up and carry yourself. In asking for collection in Dressage, we ask our horses for "self carriage" and it is only in holding our frame upwards in our own "self carriage" that the horse can truly rise to our expectations. In jumping, we ask the horse to carry our body over fences and we can help our horse by holding our own "self carriage" on the approach, take off and flight, and landing of the fence. By keeping ourselves in balance with the horse, and not throwing our weight forward, falling on the neck, or pulling on ...

I have to laugh.... Every vacation I go on with my Mother, we end up going on a trail ride. I haven't quite figured out why she is so insistent that we go on these trail rides because she doesn't really ride when we are home, but every trip she insists that we rent horses and go on a trail ride. Now don't get me wrong, those trail rides are great and you get to see a lot of great scenery that you might not get to see any other way, but I ride almost everyday. So to me a vacation usually does not include riding. My mom and I were on a vacation in Arizona, having a great time and she wanted to go on a trail ride. So off we go to the trail ride stables. At this point I'm thinking about how I am usually riding with the reins over the horn, with both hands on the camera, turning backwards to get lots of pictures of my mom on her trail ride. Those trail horses know there job very well and steering is really not always necessary. I am also trying to remind myself how m...

I have been asked what my New Year's Resolution would be for 2015 and I have decided that I want something bigger than a New Year's Resolution. Something that is not going to be lost, broken or forgotten easily and dismissed as another broken resolution. I want a statement of  transformation that inspires me and those around me. So I have decided that I would like to create the possibility of being "Brilliant!" I would like to be "brilliant" by shining inside and out with joy, happiness, courage, confidence, love and inspire others to "be brilliant". This takes commitment. Everyday I must ask myself what would brilliant look like? What would a person who is being brilliant do in this situation. How can I inspire the people I am going to interact with today? How can I make them feel enlightened and inspired? I not only want to inspire my students to be brilliant, but inspire them to inspire their horses. I want them to ride with the vision o...