The Pre-Purchase Exam

Buying or selling horses can be a stressful experience as sellers work to find a perfect new match for their horse and buyers comb through hundreds of animals to bring home a horse that suits their needs. One important aspect of this process is the Pre-Purchase Exam.  This daunting vet check is exactly what it …

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Managing Negative Emotions in the Saddle

For most riders, the barn is their happy place. The saddle, a spot to de-stress and enjoy life. But as with any sport, striving for perfection or working to obtain specific goals can result in anxiety, frustration and even anger. However, unlike other sports, an equestrian's partner is not an inanimate object but a living, …

The Pre-Training Pyramid

Training horses for success in a variety of disciplines calls for an intelligent and thorough approach to their upbringing. Over thousands of years, horse trainers have created numerous systematic approaches in order to develop a horse to the best of their abilities. One of the most well-known and respected of these is the German Training …

You Are Wrong

There are times when everything just comes together, when the happenings of the days and weeks all add up to teach you some great lesson. There are times when everything seems to be pointing towards one moral, one takeaway. Recently, the in's and out's of my life have led me to one conclusion when it …

The Equestrian’s Calculator

Today, I snapped. Today, I hit rock bottom and I'm proud of it. Many of you have heard my stories about Lou, my gigantic, athletic, infuriating hunk of a Thoroughbred. But what many of you have not heard or seen is us actually going places and doing things, pictures of progress in our training and …

First Impressions

As the Makeover is fast approaching and summer is coming to an end, I see dozens of sale ads flash across my social media pages on a daily basis. Sellers are scrambling to find new homes for their horses before buyers hibernate for the winter. From Thoroughbreds fresh off the track to Hunter derby champions, …

When Good Sellers Go Bad

Maybe it happens due to pure neglect, maybe it's a lack of knowledge or just general apathy. Maybe people get into this profession for all the wrong reasons. We may never know, but the problem lies right before our eyes, and who is responsible for picking up the slack? We all are. To say I'm …

Basics of Baby Jumping

Heels down... up in two point... hands pressed into a crest release, knuckles white around the reins. Eyes up... remember to breath... trot, trot, trot.. and pop over the fence.  We all remember the first time we ever jumped. The saintly school horse that made us fall in love with the feeling of flying. The …

The Not-So-Scary Side Rein

A week ago yesterday, Rebel Annie came home from the shedrows at Turfway Park to start her new life as a potential event horse. 8 days she's been home and for 8 days she has been completely blowing my mind. I'm used to re-training Thoroughbreds, this endeavor isn't new to me. But usually, when I …

Following the Money

As a small-scale eventing trainer, it's easy to get caught up in the pursuit of a dollar. There's good money in finding a diamond in the rough, polishing that horse until it shines and then finding the horse a spectacular person who will enjoy the fruits of your labor. But it seems this idea has …