Enchanted Horse Dressage

03/31/2026

03/26/2026

Absolutely!

Horses seek unity of balance with their riders whether they are on the Olympic level or a beginner lesson horse. If a rider wants to improve, they must understand this principle of horses seeking unity on deeper levels of balance and movement. In short, Riders must become a BETTER BROOM.

I was galloping flat out in a polo game. I heard a pop. It was a billet snapping apart on my saddle as a result of my horse's powerful strides (I don't use elastic girth in polo). Then I heard a second pop. My saddle was then unattached and bouncing around on my horse's back. My horse slowed. As the saddle bounced to the left, my horse moved left to come under it. It bounced right and my horse moved under the saddle to the right. My horse was seeking to balance me in unity with them.

I did eventually hit the ground but not at 35 or 40 mph. My horse's desire and instinct to find a shared balance with me had saved me from serious injury.

The intensity of moments like my polo experience underlines a rider's responsibility to not make the horse's impulse to achieve unity of balance more difficult. The best of us sometimes makes their horse's work to achieve shared balance harder. Sadly, many riders today make that work impossible, and that impossibility causes horses to eventually give up and become apathetic to the constant imbalance with their riders.

Such horses are ruined by this constant failure of riders to achieve unity with them. They give up and become nearly impossible to retrain to seek shared balance, which is sad. Riders, become a BETTER BROOM!

03/18/2026

Some arena thoughts....

• The arena is a truth serum. Ride long enough, and it tells you exactly who you are.

• Dressage is spiritual practice disguised as sport. It punishes your impatience. It rewards your awareness.

• Dressage is just stillness, applied to movement.

• Suppleness is the body’s way of saying “I trust you".

• A dressage arena is just a mirror. And most riders are afraid of what it reflects.

• Ride with the faith that your horse is becoming who you believe it can be.

• You don’t need louder aids. You need better timing.

• Every bad ride is tuition. Pay it. Ride again.

• You don’t achieve connection. You become someone a horse wants to connect with.

• True riders don’t ride to win. They ride to become.

• You can’t fake softness. You can’t pretend to be calm. You have to become it.

• True lightness isn’t the absence of pressure, it’s the presence of understanding.

• Riding isn’t about controlling the horse. It’s about managing yourself so the horse doesn’t have to.

• Progress is invisible, until it’s not.

• You can’t fake collection. The horse will either lift, or lean.

• If you're not failing in the arena, you're not learning, you're performing.

• You don’t fix mistakes. You understand them.

• No one masters dressage. They just get really good at not quitting.

03/18/2026

Where are you on your Journey. I might be in insecure canyon.

03/10/2026

This is awesome!

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03/02/2026

I had a lesson yesterday with Alexis Martin-Vegue at Michelle Marano Dorsey 's place. Good information given in super nice footing. It was my first lesson on my 6 year old Azteca, Pocus. He is definitely Star's son. I love him! Thank you Francesca Terry for organizing.

02/25/2026

Right. A gentle reality check for late-February brains. 🌤️

Your horse has had a wobbly winter.
Maybe less work than you planned.
Maybe more standing in mud than you’d like to admit.
Maybe you’re only just finding your rhythm again.

And now the light is changing.

You feel that twitch in your chest.
The “we should be doing more” itch.
The quiet comparison creeping in as other people start posting sunny arena shots.

Pause.

They are horses. Not productivity projects. 🐴

They are not tracking their step count.
They are not panicking about their spring body.
They are not in the field thinking, “I’ve absolutely wasted Q1.”

What they care about is this:

Are they fed.
Do they have forage.
Are they safe.
Can they move.
Do they have friends.
Are they allowed to just… be horses.

A slower winter does not erase your partnership.
A few weeks of lighter work does not dissolve muscle into thin air.
Bodies remember. Tendons adapt. Cardiovascular fitness returns steadily when brought back with sense.

Research in equine physiology consistently shows that gradual reconditioning restores aerobic fitness and muscle tone far quicker than people fear. What causes problems is panic training. Not patience.

The pressure you feel right now is seasonal human urgency. It is not an equine emergency.

You do not need to sprint into March.
You do not need a dramatic “we’re back” montage.
You do not need to apologise for winter.

Start where you are.

Hack if hacking feels good.
Stretch if stretching feels good.
Hand-graze in the longer light if that is all you have energy for.

Let winter loosen its grip without forcing spring to arrive early. 🌱

Your horse is fine.
You’re allowed to be too.

02/24/2026

Demonizing Tools and Education

It is not hard to understand fear of tools such as bits and whips when they can be so easily used as weapons against the horse. I don't blame anyone for a decision to avoid them, and there are certainly many paths to take in training a horse depending on the desired result you want to produce.

My education with whips was lengthy and sometimes frustrating. My teacher demonstrated and made me practice without the horse repeatedly : on the back of my own leg and on a balloon - both giving clear as day feedback to whether my arm was tense or not. She stressed the importance of supple joints in my arm and using the whip from my core - this created a "bounce," and not a smack.

I watched her many times over take a whip and brush the horse with it, producing a rhythmic swing, a relaxed and open topline, and a happy horse in movement. It was amazing to see horses afraid of the whip become calm and receptive, and horses who were unresponsive open up and flow.

Why use the whip at all, people ask me? There are so many reasons they are essential to in hand work if we are creating elasticity and not just mechanical positions. The whip, when used in this way, supples muscles, helps flex joints, and allows us to communicate in real time to the different phases of the stride: upward, forward, downward, and weight bearing. It can support the seat in this under saddle as well, and is very valuable in teaching people with a scrunchy or shoving seat to gain a deep and relaxed but engaged and supple seat. It can really help them develop a long and effective leg.

The whip should never tense muscles, my teacher warned me. It is not a threat, and the communication of the drive aid is one to one: not me chasing you AWAY from me, but me, through the whip, bringing you WITH me, in a dance, stride for stride.

The whip really shows the horse who you are: your education, your self discipline, your dedication to their health and movement, your ability to control yourself and your emotions and your body, and your oppeness of mind to see things in a different way.

It can be used as a weapon, just as a pencil can create art and poetry and drawing, or it can be used for nefarious purposes (ask any prison guard what they think of pencils). I don't blame anyone for being afraid or disgusted by them - you rarely see them used artfully and respectfully. But there is an entire world of possibilities, and so often in this world, what is painted as good does not serve the horse, and what is vilified can provide so much value: balance, relaxation, joint flexion, suppleness, and connection.

Things are not always as they seem - open your mind and get curious, and even if you come back to the same conclusion you already started with, at least you now have a deeper conclusion that is yours, and not one someone without a true education handed to you to make you afraid.

02/16/2026

Love, in horsemanship, has to be more than emotion. It has to show up in knowledge, skill, and responsibility.

It means learning how your horse’s body and mind really work. It means understanding how horses learn and why they respond the way they do.

It calls us to study, to seek help, and to continually become more capable so our horses can be more comfortable.

Real love asks us to grow.
Maya Angelou said it beautifully: “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”

When it comes to our horses, knowing better means learning.

Love your horse enough to become the rider he deserves.