Blue Dome Equestrian

04/30/2026

Knight enjoying semi-retirement ❤️

04/20/2026

The difference in a person's ratio of leg length to their torso length has a profound impact on the ability to balance in the saddle. The rider on the left has legs longer than her torso length. This automatically lowers her center of balance in the saddle compared to the rider on the right who has a longer torso compared to the length of her legs, which results in the rider being "top heavy" in the saddle.

This is a simple interaction of rider body mass placement in the saddle and gravity. The longer legs place more of the rider's body mass below the saddle whereas the longer torso rider proportionally places more body mass above the saddle.

The result often is that the rider with the longer torso on the right will tend to balance more in the seat than in their legs and seat, which is a challenge. In an extreme situation a rider with a longer torso can look like the Pillsbury Dough Boy rolling around on their butt in the saddle while they constantly unbalance their horse.

When teaching riding, the instructor of a longer legged rider only needs to tell the student to relax and let the legs fall naturally down to the stirrups. However, the trainer teaching the short legged, long torso person must tell this student to balance more using their feet in the stirrups.

When I get a student with shorter legs that torso, who is top heavy in the saddle, I temporally shorten their stirrups. This places their feet closer to the stirrups. Once the stirrups are raised and are more available for the rider, students usually begin balance more using their feet in the stirrups. In time, after they are regularly using their feet to balance, I lengthen their stirrups to help them lower their center of balance.

Teaching riding is more than yelling "heels down" to a class of students. Effective teaching includes assessing how a student's body type helps or hurts their ability to balance. We need to help riding students optimize the use of their body.

04/02/2026

01/30/2026

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DT26jRmkhvl/?igsh=eXcwOXEyM2Rtazlt

01/28/2026

After some serious consideration, we decided that our schedule does not allow time to host a horse camp this summer. Please contact me if you would like information regarding other horse programs. Thank you!

01/06/2026

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DS6aUcQjFUy/?igsh=MTYyN3ZrYWVzMmwxeQ==

01/01/2026

Happy 2026! Even if it’s a chestnut mare of a year!

As excited as I am for the ‘Year of the Horse,’ I wish the zodiac calendar could tell us what kind of horse is coming our way.

I will just be over here praying it rides more like a calm bay gelding instead of a spicy chestnut mare…

If you’ve been lucky enough to own one, you know what I am talking about!

Happy New Year!

Dr. DeBoer

12/30/2025

Edited January 8, all spots are filled and registration has been closed.

Please help spread the word on our region's Hobby Horse Rally, Saturday January 10th
https://facebook.com/events/s/pnw-hobby-horse-rally/851922767241202/

11/29/2025

🤣

11/26/2025

Something worth trying?