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Linsell Farm, 3937 Dunrobin Road, Ottawa, ON (2026)

12/19/2025

When trainer Geoff Case talks about great riders, he doesn’t start by listing medals or miles. He talks about feel. It’s that elusive, intuitive quality that turns skill into art.

“Feel is everything,” he said. “It’s how you know when to go forward, when to wait, when to soften, and when to do nothing.” But feel isn’t magic. It’s built through time, mistakes, and awareness.

Case believes that some of the best lessons happen when no one’s telling you what to do. “When you don’t have a trainer in your ear, you have to actually listen to your horse,” he said. “You start figuring out what the horse is saying back.”

That process of trial, feedback, and adjustment is how riders develop true sensitivity. “If he leans, try something. If it works, remember it. If it doesn’t, try something else,” Case explained. “That’s how you learn timing.”

He compares it to learning a language. “The horse is talking all the time,” he said. “You just have to learn the language.”

Feel starts on the ground. Case says groundwork is one of the best ways to understand timing and communication before you ever get in the saddle. “Every horse on the ground teaches you about pressure and release,” he said. “You ask, they move, you release. They learn that the release is the reward. That’s horsemanship.”

He encourages riders to notice those same cues under saddle. “When you put your leg on and they move off, take it off,” he said. “Reward the try. That’s what creates softness.”

This rhythm, ask, feel, release, is the foundation of connection. “If you’re just pulling or kicking, you’re not having a conversation,” he added. “You’re just yelling at the horse.”

📎 Continue reading this article at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2025/12/15/feel-is-a-muscle-how-to-learn-without-a-trainer-in-your-ear/
📸 © The Plaid Horse

12/14/2025

In a world where everyone wants more riding time, trainer Geoff Case says the secret isn’t luck—it’s effort.

“People always ask me, ‘How do I get more chances to ride?’” he said. “The answer is simple: show up, pay attention, and work hard when no one’s watching.”

For Case, the difference between a rider who gets one opportunity and one who gets a hundred is professionalism.

Case learned early in his career that the riders who get called on are the ones who are there. “Half the time, opportunity looks like being in the right place at the right moment,” he said. “If you’re at the barn, if you’re helping, if you’re ready—you’ll get asked.”

He’s not talking about luck or timing. He’s talking about commitment. “You can’t get a ride if you’re sitting at home,” he said. “You have to be around. You have to make yourself available.”

That means doing the small things that make big impressions like helping tack up, walking a course for someone, or simply being on time every day. “Trainers notice,” Case said. “We always remember the kid who’s early, who’s dressed, who’s ready to help. That’s the one we trust to get on a horse when we need someone.”

He’s seen it time and again: a rider who’s quietly sweeping the aisle or holding a horse gets a surprise catch ride simply because they were nearby and prepared. “If you’re ready, those moments happen,” Case said. “If you’re not, they pass you by.”

Once you do get the chance to ride, Case says attitude is everything. “If someone hands you a horse, treat it like it’s the most important ride of your life,” he said. “That’s how people know they can count on you.”

He believes the best riders make every single ride look like a privilege, not a chore. “Even if it’s just walking a horse, do it like it matters,” he said. “That’s the difference between someone who’s hungry and someone who’s entitled.”

That level of care shows in how you cool out the horse, how you clean your tack, and how you talk to people around the barn. “Being a good horseman is being a good professional,” Case said. “The horses feel it, and so do the people who might give you your next chance.”

Case doesn’t mince words about what separates long-term success from short-term promise. “Work ethic beats talent every time,” he said. “Talent’s great, but if you don’t work, it doesn’t matter.”

📎 Continue reading this article at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2025/12/12/the-professional-habits-that-get-you-opportunities-to-ride/
📸 © The Plaid Horse

12/12/2025

"The only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on. So I give you some of my favorite pearls of wisdom, in no particular order. Some of these are from trainers of mine, both past and present, some are widely recognized from BNT, some have nothing to do with horses by origin but still apply, and some are from my own head.

- If a horse says no, you either asked the wrong question or asked the question wrong.

-An average hunter course has 100 strides. Only 8 of them are jumps. Don’t sacrifice the 92 for the 8.

- On approaching a fence: good riders wait until it’s time to go. Great riders go until it’s time to wait.

- Don’t squat with your spurs on.

- It is NEVER the horse’s fault. Yes, sometimes a horse may take advantage of a situation, but there is ALWAYS something the rider could do differently to change the situation.

- Pass left hand to left hand.

- You can only lie to your horse so many times before they call your bluff.

- Horses do not know what they are worth. They do not know, or care, what they are capable of. They only care about the way you treat them.

- Injuries and colic happen almost exclusively at 10:00 pm on a Saturday.

- Shoes get lost almost exclusively when preparing to leave for a show.

- If you work hard, try your best, and never give up, your efforts will not go unnoticed.

- And you will be rewarded with opportunities when you least expect it.

- If you work hard, try your best, and never give up, you will still fail sometimes.

- Video doesn’t lie – after being told repeatedly that I was lifting my right hand before every fence, and swearing up and down that I was certainly NOT lifting my right hand before every fence… I was—in fact—lifting my right hand before every fence. Sometimes your brain lies to you. Video does not.

- On being nervous going into the show ring: you’re just not that big of a deal. No one at the show is watching you close enough to know every mistake you might make, except for the judge and your trainer, and you are paying them to watch.

- Be patient – there are no shortcuts. Any shortcut you may try, will actually be the long way.

- Check your personal issues and emotions at the door. Your horse will know. It usually does not go well.

- If your horse is in front of your leg, you have options.

- We never lose. We either win or we learn.

- Ride like a winner. You cannot act like flip flops and expect to be treated like Louboutins.

- If you have to pick only two things to think about during a course, pace and track are the two you should choose. The rest cannot happen without pace and track.

- Give yourself and your horse brain breaks. Go have fun, go hack out in the woods, go swimming ba****ck, read a book in the paddock, whatever. Just allow yourself time to have fun.

- At home there’s no reason to jump as big as you show every time. The basics are the basics regardless of the jump height. Save your horses legs.

- The horse world is very small. Remember this and don’t burn your bridges and be mindful of your words.

- Clean your tack. Groom your horse. Properly. Every day. If you can control nothing else, you can control your turn out. There is no excuse to not do the minimum effort.

- No matter what the problem is, the solution is almost always add more leg.

- Ride the horse you have today. Not the one you had yesterday. Not the one you want to have. The horse under you at this moment is the only one that matters.

- You go where you look. The human head weighs 10 pounds. Unless you would like to end up on the ground, do not look down.

- Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.

📎 Save & share this article by PonyMomAmmy at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2020/09/15/equestrian-advice-to-ride-and-live-by/

12/09/2025

Good frosty morning to everyone

12/08/2025

By EMILY BAKER This is a tale of two trainers, two horses, and one rider. It is the tale of the struggle so many of us have had in this sport that we devote our entire lives and salaries to—remembering that, in spite of the tears, the injuries, and the dollars spent, we do this […]

12/06/2025

In a perfect world, riders would have unlimited access to lessons, schooling days, and polished horses. But as trainer and “R” judge Geoff Case points out, that’s not most people’s reality, and it doesn’t have to be.

For Case, who’s spent his career producing successful juniors, amateurs, and professionals, progress doesn’t come from how often you ride. It comes from how intentionally you ride. “Not everybody gets to jump every day,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t get better every time you’re on a horse.”

Case believes that every minute in the saddle is an opportunity. “You can make progress just walking if you’re paying attention,” he said. “The key is showing up like it matters.”

That means replacing autopilot with awareness. Whether you’re hacking, flatting, or even just walking a horse out, Case says riders should treat those moments like practice rounds.

“When you walk, check in on your posture. Feel if your leg is underneath you. Are you breathing? Are you listening to your horse?” he explained. “Those are the same skills you need in the ring.”

This mindset, he added, separates riders who plateau from riders who progress. “You can’t always control how much you ride,” Case said, “but you can control how much you learn when you do.”

One of the strongest themes in Case’s teaching is effort. He’s seen too many riders treat opportunities casually, whether it’s hacking a horse for a trainer or flatting their own mount on an off day.

“When I was a kid, if someone handed me a horse to ride, I treated it like the most important ride in the world,” he said. “That attitude is what gets you more chances.”

He encourages students to ride every horse like it’s an audition for another one. “If you work hard, people notice,” Case said. “Barn managers, trainers, owners, everyone wants to give more rides to the person who shows they care.”

Even simple details, like cleaning tack properly or cooling out carefully, demonstrate effort and professionalism. “When someone sees you doing things the right way without being asked, that’s how you stand out,” he added.

📎 Continue reading this article at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2025/12/06/how-to-turn-any-time-in-the-saddle-into-progress/

12/06/2025

5 Things Any Rider Can Do to Be Successful:

Be a Good Learner
Good Learners want to know anything and everything they can about training, showing and horse care. They watch videos and read books and listen to podcasts about horses and training. They ask good questions of me, the vet, the farrier, the grooms. They never stop learning.

Be a Good Listener
Good Listeners can tune out distractions. They pick up the things said around the barn, in other lessons, between the trainer and the grooms, between the vets and carriers. Good Listeners learn to pay attention to what is being said and not being said. This applies to the horses, who don’t talk in words, but have so much to tell us. Good Listeners pay attention to how their horse is feeling. They know when he is calm and happy, or nervous and upset.

Be Responsible
Responsible students know that ultimately, they have to take control of their own learning. It’s not up to their trainer, their parents, nor their horse—especially not the horse. The horse didn’t sign up for this sport. We ask them to let us ride, train, and jump them. Most of the time they comply. If the horse doesn’t, the responsible rider asks why and tries to be a good listener and good learner.

Be a Worker
Workers show up. They are ready to learn from the moment they get to the barn. We all get distracted, but a worker is the one who puts in the extra time. They pick up, and help around the farm with whatever is needed. When they ride, they ride with a plan. They do transitions, and figures and have a goal. They ride without stirrups, without reins. They put in days of long, boring fitness rides because it is the right thing for the horses. They do the hard things, because it makes them stronger and better.

Be Brave
Bravery is trickier to define. Not everyone is inherently brave. Some people are brave until something goes wrong. Others ride like they are infallible. But to me, bravery is the willingness to keep trying—to keep stretching. To do the hard things even when you think you can’t. To trust the people around you to just do it. You might fail. You might fall. But that is how we grow and learn. It’s ok to be scared, but that fear doesn’t go away by not doing it.

Riding is a sport that rewards talent, but the most naturally talented rider in the world can’t succeed without these five traits. They’re the lifeblood that keeps riders going through the inevitable hardships of our sport, but anyone can be this kind of rider. All it takes is a diligence and dedication to keeping the right frame of mind.

📎 Save & share this article by Emily Elek at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2020/05/29/5-things-any-rider-can-do-to-be-successful/

11/26/2025

In case you missed it - we are running our only sale of the year!
Take advantage of 20% off on our tack and accessories, along with free shipping on your order 🩵
Shop our staples now: https://voltairedesign.com/us/23-girths

11/25/2025

🖤 BLACK FRIDAY DEAL 🖤

BRAAKLANDER BOOMERANG
2015 14.2hh German Riding Pony Stallion

⭐️ Licensed in Germany as a 3 year old

⭐️ Completed Stallion Performance Test in Germany - Top placed

⭐️ Qualified for the German championships - Eventing

⭐️ Competed successfully in the hunter ring in both Canada and the United States, always in the ribbons. 🏆

▪️ Black Friday special is available now until Dec 1 2025

▪️ $1000.00 🇨🇦 -50%

▪️ collection schedule M-F

11/11/2025

"I’ve always said that riding is like tennis (or, these days, pickleball). It’s a lifetime sport. You can enjoy riding at almost any age, and there are many levels of participation. Things don’t get tricky until you want to compete. And then they get really tricky when you want to compete—and succeed—at a high level. Here are some thoughts on success in horse sports.

If you’ve been in this sport for any length of time, you already know this. If you’re just starting out… well, welcome aboard the struggle bus.

However, there is a path to success. You may think that path involves talent, and while talent surely doesn’t hurt, it’s not always the main ingredient for success in horse sport. If you’re not the most talented rider out there, there are other things you can do that will help vault you to the top.

At least 50% of the people (okay, 99%) reading this right now are thinking the same thing—money. And they’re not wrong. I’m a realist, and have been playing in this sandbox long enough to understand that money plays a significant role in horse sport. Frankly, access to some fairly deep pockets is essential. A competitive horse is expensive. Top coaching and training are expensive. Upper-level horse shows are expensive.

But there are some things that money can’t buy. And those things can get you closer to the top, regardless of how rich or talented you might be. Here’s my top 3.

Time

Success in this sport requires a great deal of time. This includes time in the tack as well as time at the barn. That sounds easy enough, right? I wish.

I’ve spoken to so many parents over the years who wonder why Suzie isn’t doing better…doing more…winning more. Unfortunately, Suzie takes one or two lessons a week, misses a lot for school activities, social activities, “tired”, or a million other reasons, and cannot find time to come to the barn to ride her horse much outside of her scheduled lesson rides. She is very busy and just doesn’t have the time.

To really succeed in this sport, you have to know your horse. You must know his canter in all its facets. And for that to happen, you need to make a serious time commitment to the barn and to your horse. You need to take lessons at least twice weekly (preferably with one of them a flat lesson), and ride on your own several other times.

If you are not putting the time in with your horse at home, it’s hard to be the winner at shows.

Anyone can enjoy this sport at a lower level without spending a lot of time at it, but to succeed at a higher level, time riding and at the barn is essential.

Effort

Here’s another one that sounds easy. But, like time, effort is sometimes rare.

I’ve known kids who come to the barn a lot. They show up with friends, spend an hour or so chatting and having fun, finally get their horse ready, and ride for 15 or 20 minutes between standing center ring and gabbing. I like fun, I like chatting, and I like gabbing. It’s important, and it definitely belongs in a barn. I’d just like to see that same effort expended on actually riding.

We spend a lot of time on tracking exercises in lessons, and I know other trainers do as well. The foundation for a winning hunter ride is track and pace. And yet many students don’t practice difficult tracks when they hack on their own. It’s all w/t/c on the rail, and an occasional circle. Your horse doesn’t need to work hard every ride, but he does need to concentrate occasionally. It’s a skill that requires effort.

What does effort look like? It looks like practicing difficult tracks, it looks like varying your canter pace, it looks like riding on your own without stirrups, it looks like cantering in a half seat for a hot minute, it looks like varying your posting rhythm, and challenging yourself with some hard ones. It looks like framing, and bending, and flexing, and stretching. And once your ride is over, it looks like taking good care of your horse with a proper cool-down, maybe ice boots or some liniment, maybe a nice bath, maybe a hand-graze. It’s certainly not just throwing him back in his stall after a cursory brushing.

Anyone can enjoy this sport at a lower level without making a huge effort, but to succeed at a higher level, effort is essential.

Commitment

This one is a little more elusive than the first two. Basically, it’s sticking to something when it gets hard. “I asked him to do that, and he didn’t.”

“He won’t listen.”

“I did everything right, and we still didn’t win.”

My answer? Try it again. And possibly again. And possibly 100 times after that, without getting angry or frustrated or taking it out on your horse. Read the first sentence of this article again. Success in this sport is hard. There will be frustrating moments. There will be many fails. You can do everything right and still not win. And yet, do it again. Try harder. Keep your cool. Assess. Evaluate. Tweak. Listen. Change. Learn. Grow.

Anyone can enjoy this sport at a lower level without making an enormous commitment, but to succeed at a higher level, commitment is essential.

If you can put in the time, give the effort, and make the commitment, you might be surprised how far you can get."

📎 Save & share this article by Daphne Thornton at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2025/11/11/success-in-this-sport-is-hard/
📸 © The Plaid Horse

10/18/2025

When a round goes poorly, it’s tempting for riders to shrug and say, “I’m just not talented enough.” The idea that natural ability separates the great riders from everyone else has been around forever. But Geoff Teall argues that this belief is not only false—it’s dangerous.

Most riders have fallen back on the excuse of lacking talent at one point or another. It’s an easy way to relieve pressure when things aren’t going well. As Teall puts it, “Lack of talent is a great stress reliever. It allows you to say things like, ‘I didn’t do that right. It’s not because I’m not trying hard, it’s because I’m not talented.’”

The problem with this mindset is that it creates a false barrier to improvement. If talent is all that matters, then there’s no point in trying harder or practicing longer. You either have it, or you don’t. Teall dismisses this as a “ridiculous excuse.”

In Teall’s philosophy, “talent is so unimportant when compared to interest, when compared to desire, and when compared to hard work.” A disciplined rider with modest natural ability will almost always surpass a gifted rider who lacks focus and consistency.

This is because riding, at its core, is about repetition, discipline, and refinement. Correct position, independent hands, balance, and feel aren’t bestowed at birth. They are developed through hours of practice. Riders who commit themselves to mastering the basics methodically are the ones who end up achieving the most.

Discipline, in Teall’s view, is the great equalizer. It’s not glamorous, and it doesn’t make for dramatic breakthroughs overnight. But it’s what keeps riders drilling the fundamentals, fixing bad habits, and returning to the saddle day after day, even when progress feels slow.

Discipline also shows up in the rider’s mindset. A disciplined rider doesn’t let frustration boil over in the schooling ring. They don’t look for shortcuts or gimmicks. They know that equitation isn’t about doing flashy things, but about doing the simple things, like keeping a steady pace or following softly with the hands, better than anyone else.

Teall emphasizes that “drive and determination are enormously leveling factors.” This is particularly encouraging for the average rider who may not fit the ideal body type, have limitless financial backing, or possess the innate “feel” that others seem to show.

A rider who truly wants to improve—is willing to put in the work—will often outpace a peer who relies only on raw ability. The sport rewards persistence. Every hour spent practicing correct position, every lesson spent refining basics, builds toward the rider’s long-term success.

📎 Continue reading this article at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2025/10/15/talent-vs-hard-work-what-really-creates-great-riders/
📸 © Heather N. Photography

10/14/2025

Welcome to Trainer Tuesday! Each week we ask trainers a question and gather their answers for you. These trainers have a range of experience, backgrounds, and focus points of their programs, so the answers have as much variation as you would expect and also probably much more similarity. This week...

Linsell Farm

12/19/2025

12/14/2025

12/12/2025

12/09/2025

12/08/2025

12/06/2025

12/06/2025

11/26/2025

11/25/2025

11/11/2025

10/18/2025

10/14/2025

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