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Many choose to ride their horses without a bit and, if you are considering this option, I would like to give you a few pointers on how to get the best result. There can be many reasons for choosing a bitless bridle and there are many different types of bridles. All these things, I will get into more detail with in one or more later posts, but for today we will cover how to get started.

Sometimes I hear people say that they just put on a halter or their new fancy bitless bridle and jumped on the…

We have all met a horse that bites. And it is not funny. And neither are a lot of the different solutions people offer up when they try to give well-meaning advice.

"When your horse bites you have to bite it back! It is what horses do to each other."

"Say NO loud and hit him hard! You have to show that you're the boss."

"Your horse is trying to dominate you and you have to start join-up!"

I feel speechless. How my heart feels heavy when I hear these sorts of replies. Are we actually consider…

I meet a lot of riders. And I see even more. And something most of them have in common is that they are convinced that they are riding primarily with their seat. And some of those are definitely not riding primarily with their seat - maybe not at all.

You can see it in the posture and movements of the rider. Hunched shoulders, rounded back. Stiff arms. Head down looking at the hands. The body of the rider seeming a little unbalanced, bouncy, out of rhythm. Since the rider’s focus is often on ke…

Some of the most frequent posts in Facebook horse groups go something like this "My horse .... not listening ... tried this bit ... pulling the reins ... bla bla bla ... runs off with me ... bla ... which bit should I try out now?"

I think we have all seen these posts, if we engage on social media. And there are so many people coming with advice on which bit they have had success with for their horses. Often the most common factor is that it is a bit, that is able to exert more pressure or pain…

I know the feelings - frustration, irritability, anger, hopelessness, guilt, sadness, resignation... And I believe you do to. I believe most horse riders know these feelings. Things don't go as we planned. The horse seems stubborn and doesn't want to cooperate. You feel out of place on your horse - rigid, stiff. Frustrations mount and you end up taking some of your anger out on your horse. You stop training your horse, with a hopeless frustrated feeling in your body. Afterwards you feel guilt fo…

The popularity of yoga seems to slowly spread into the equestrian world. It gains more and more approval. And a lot of riders experience a lot of different benefits from practicing yoga - benefits in their daily lives and in their riding. Some of the benefits are physical while others are mental/emotional/spiritual.

If you have never tried yoga, then you might be a little skeptical about this "hype", but I hope to explain to you why you and your horse could benefit from (you, not your horse) do…