Balanced Horse Training

12/19/2025

12/18/2025

Tips from great rider and trainer, Kyra Kyrklund:
“In former times, horses were used for warfare, so the rider’s welfare depended on how well the horses were trained. Now it’s only our ego that takes a bash if the horses don’t do what we want them to do.”
“if you squeeze too much in the middle it’s a bit like a sausage and both ends go ‘blehhch’. Riders “sit in a hole” in the middle of the horse, driving down, It is uncomfortable to sit in a hole in the back. We need the under-line of the horse shorter so the over-line gets longer; an arch bridge instead of a hanging bridge.”
“You need to think about his tummy muscles, not his legs, until you have something to sit on, there is no point asking him to piaffe - or any other movement.”
Want more Tips from Kyra? Go to:
https://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2018/06/kyra-takes-a-master-class/

12/18/2025

Seeing the anatomy of the neck and some impacts of this form of riding.

12/06/2025

Choose The Easiest Horse You Can.

There appears to be a certain shame in saying you have an easy horse. For instance, several members of the S & S group have mountain horses and have sometimes been dismissed for having ‘an easy breed’. Typically, those mountain horses are quiet, sweet natured, keen to get along and with a smooth easy-to-ride gait. They are kind of ‘easy’; it’s true. Good. More reason to be proud of yourself and your excellent choices.

Because the truth is riding with quality is hard. Like, really hard. It takes every ounce of thought, commitment, practice, patience, body awareness, feel, timing and balance you can muster. And that’s before you get to the actual act of trying to school a horse to do anything interesting. Like any art or science, it requires a lot from us.

With all of that being the truth (and if you choose to ride without vast amounts of equipment and force, using your brain rather than your strength, then it is going to be the truth) then at least get the easiest horse you can. It is not shameful, it is highly sensible.

Most of us do not need large moving, high octaine sports horses. Most of us do not need a horse over 16.2hh (honestly, you don’t). Most of us do not need a young, fizzy horse to ride on as a just backed 4 year old (with your eyes closed and your heart in your mouth). While rehabs and project horses are enticing, with so much feel-good possibility drawing us in (I know, I’ve been there), experience shows most of them stay as rehabs or project horses. It’s relatively rare to get a dream riding horse out of that situation.

With the act of riding being hard - and schooling a horse incredibly taxing – at least get a horse with a good brain and body, and a willingness to give things a go. And one whose gaits you can ride and whose speed doesn’t worry you. Easy is not a shameful choice, it’s an ethical one.

I rarely take my own advice, but when I went on my most recent Portuguese horse shopping trip I knew good temperament and ease of handling were a priority. When I was in the process of buying Des (my first Lusitano) over a decade ago, someone said to me, “Oh, you buy the crazy one?!?’. And they weren’t wrong. That golden wonder was too much horse for me. and for the first 5 years together. I knew I had hugely over-horsed myself. We both suffered as a result.

This time, I wanted the good vibes and easy character I thought I saw in Rural when I met him. Yeah, there have been a few ups and downs since he arrived, but fundamentally he has been easy - in the context of being a young, just imported, recently gelded Lusitano. Happy go lucky, in the main very reasonable responses, leadable from about day 3 with piece of bailer twine around his neck. He will never have the electricity and pizzaz Des has, and what I say to that, is ‘Thank goodness’. His breeder said, ‘People don’t need bull fighting horses, they need leisure horses. The Rural, he is a leisure horse’. Hooray for leisure.

Riding is hard enough without adding any more complications than are entirely necessary. Choose easy every time.

Photo shows my own 50% Mountain horse, good looks an added bonus in his case.

12/03/2025

Seat. Rein effects. Process. Feel. None of this comes easily, particularly the last, but if we want the thrill and satisfaction of a truly safe and trustworthy partnership, we must develop ourselves and our fluency with these concepts. And always ask our horse questions: “How do you feel today… Can you do this… And this…?” And always vary our asks without being boring with our laziness or abusive with drilling our goals for them without any for ourselves.

The End is Not the Means

Or

You can’t ride the horse you have today like the horse you hope they’ll be tomorrow

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Years ago, I gave a talk and mentioned the principle of "The End is not the Means". Someone in the audience said this was a lightbulb moment for her. It had never occurred to her (and why would it?) that riding from your seat, with low still hands, and softly draped legs, might not be where you start. That this ideal ‘end’ might only be achieved by showing your horse the way – using the 'means' needed right then and there. This might require you to do many messy, big, less than subtle things to provide your horse with what they need in any given moment.

You don’t dispense with your dream end goal, and every single initial offer you make to your horse has built into it this feeling (touch each horse like they’re the best schooled horse in the world). However, if right now, today, your horse can’t meet you there, then the immediate means must be in the horses favour. If you want to ride from your seat, but you get on your horse and they’re dashing off and out of balance regardless of what you do with your body; then you are going to have to teach them to ‘refer to your seat’ rather than just hoping they’ll work it out. You can spend a long time with horses dashing off and out of balance if you’re leaving it to them to work out. They weren’t designed to carry us after all.

If you would like the ‘end’ to be a horse who is in self-carriage, softly at the end of the reins with a mobile jaw - but right now they’re dumping half a tonne onto the bit, or going around with their ears 3 foot about yours , then riding around with low, still hands isn’t going to get either of you anywhere fast. This is where learning to use your hands in an educated fashion (up, sideways, or forwards, never back or down) is essential right now. In the moment, the means may look messy and gross (ever seen anyone doing action-reaction in canter?) but it’s what your horse needs right now that matters. The end will come when the horse understands and can offer it. Dreaming of the end, without providing the means, rarely works out in the horses best interest.

This weekend I taught a novice rider on a big weak, ISH. We could all see that this horse would benefit from having a longer spine and releasing tension through his back. Having this horse in a free moving neck extension is without doubt the end goal we’re looking for. But right now, this horse is so weak, with a rider who can’t easily balance him. If he was allowed even a smidgen too long (the ‘end’ we’re seeking) he would stumble and trip. Today, prioritising his balance had to come first, and this meant keeping him in a less attractive but far more functional medium position. A halfway house which provided the means for both him and the rider to find their balance and gain confidence in movement. Tomorrow will come when it comes.

The means often looks messy, even ugly. We don’t like this phase, the 'right-now-what-does-your-horse-need' means. We want the polished end. We want it to feel good to us (and if we’re honest, look good to others). But what horses want is help right now, in this moment. They don’t care how it looks; they just want to understand the assignment and feel better in their body and minds stride to stride. The end will come when the horse is ready.

I have found, constantly remembering that the means is not the end. is one of the most helpful things I can bring to my horsemanship.

In this photo my hands are very hight as my young, big moving horse needs the bit clearly in the corners of his lips in order that he doesn't feel constrained from going forward. This also means he can use his JCB bucket like head to balance. In the 'end' my hands will be much lower, but right now, keeping his tongue, neck and front end free are far more important than how it looks to onlookers.

11/25/2025

In light of the current EHV-1 outbreak, the AAEP and the Equine Disease Communication Center (EDCC) have organized a horse owner education webinar to bring you the most up to date information on this issue.

Next Tuesday, join specialists Lewis R. “Bud” Dinges (Texas Animal Health Commission Executive Director and Texas State Veterinarian), Dr. Krista Estell (AAEP/EDCC) and Dr. Katie Flynn (USEF) for an informative discussion about what EHV-1 is, how to recognize it, and most importantly, how to prevent its spread.

This webinar is FREE, but registration is required. Register here: https://events.zoom.us/ev/AnIoJrASj0vuX7Q_K87mKEjg5bxeMAkqp7fpSoOgVtVm_Zgo1g5m~AiiV7ZQ3bbmlEW2iSkeRTSAfMCYf2QhFMoprr7WRbM_MsiJRcBGT1oLj0Q

*PLEASE NOTE: the attendee limit for this session is capped at 1,000. However, all who register will be emailed a link to an on-demand recording that will become available 24 hours after the live session ends.

11/17/2025

This resonates well regarding the journey of a rider, or what it should strive for.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/12G57NJ5fRA/?mibextid=wwXIfr

The Student says: “My horse is tense.”
The Master says: “His body remembers storms I have not yet learned to calm.”

The Student says: “He’s behind the leg.”
The Master says: “The forward lives in him, I’m just remembering where the key fits.”

The Student says: “Half halt.”
The Master says: “A whisper that asks time to wait for us.”

The Student says: “He isn’t understanding.”
The Master says: “I’ve asked a question in a language I haven’t learned to pronounce.”

The Student says: “I need more softness.”
The Master says: “I’m trying to melt the armor I didn’t know I was wearing.”

The Student says : “He’s resisting.”
The Master says: “He’s handing me a map of where he hurts.”

The Student says: “We’re working through some issues.”
The Master says: “We’re untangling the knots we tied on days I wasn't listening.”

The Student says: “I need to be more patient.”
The Master says: “Time only opens its hands when I unclench mine.”

09/27/2025

I rarely see this quality of riding: balance, lightness, soundness, strength, stamina, and lack of force with rider's aids emanating quietly outward from the seat. For me, being able to sit on, work towards and experience this quality of ride is both grounding and exalting.

09/26/2025

DO HORSES REALLY ENJOY BEING TOUCHED, OR JUST TOLERATE IT?

Touch is part of almost every interaction we have with horses – grooming, routine handling, tacking-up, vet visits, even a pat after a ride. Touch is also a routine feature of equine-assisted services, yet surprisingly little is known about how horses themselves experience it. Do they actually enjoy it, or does their experience depend on having the choice to engage – the freedom to say yes, or no?

A recent study compared two situations using therapy horses who were regularly involved in equine-assisted services. In the ‘forced touch’ condition, horses were tied up and touched continuously on different body areas (neck/shoulder, body, hindquarters) using patting, stroking, or scratching. In the ‘free-choice’ condition, horses were loose in a round pen and could only be touched if they chose to come close enough.

The results showed clear differences. Horses showed more stress-linked behaviours – oral movements, restlessness, and tail swishing – when touched without the option to move away. When free to choose, they often carried their heads lower (a sign of relaxation) and spent over half of the session out of arm’s reach. Stroking was more often linked with relaxed, low head carriage than scratching or patting, and touches on the hindquarters produced fewer stress responses than touches on the neck or body.

The researchers also looked at how the horses responded to different kinds of people. Around experienced handlers, horses were more likely to hold their heads high and showed lower heart-rate variability – signs of vigilance or anticipation, perhaps expecting work. In contrast, their responses with less experienced people were generally more relaxed.

Touches on the hindquarters were linked with fewer stress behaviours, while touches on the neck and body produced more tail swishing and less relaxed postures. Horses were also more likely to lower their heads – a calmer signal – when touched on the body or hindquarters than on the neck.

Why does this matter? Horses in all kinds of contexts – riding schools, competition yards, therapy programmes, or leisure homes – are routinely touched and handled. These findings show that the manner of touch, the part of the body involved, and above all the horse’s ability to choose whether to participate all shape how she/he/they experience the interaction.

The welfare implications are clear: allowing horses more agency in how and when we touch them may reduce stress, strengthen trust, and make interactions safer and more positive for everyone.

For me, the sad part of these findings is that horses are rarely given a choice about when or how they are touched. And many people don’t recognise when touch is causing the horse stress.

Study: Sarrafchi, A., Lassallette, E., & Merkies, K. (2025). The effect of choice on horse behaviour, heart rate and heart rate variability during human–horse touch interactions. Applied Animal Behaviour Science

09/16/2025

Are you familiar with the term “load transfer”?

Load Transfer: The Invisible System That Keeps Horses Sound (Until We Break It)

(This is probably the most significant blog I have written to date...and I am deadly serious.)

1️⃣ Why We Miss the Point

Most riders and owners look at legs, joints, or hooves when a horse goes lame. We obsess over hock injections, tendon scans, or shoeing tweaks.

But here’s the blind spot: horses aren’t Lego sets where you can just swap out a dodgy block and keep stacking. They’re whole systems where forces - rider weight, ground impact, propulsion - have to be absorbed, stabilised, and passed on like the world’s most complicated game of pass-the-parcel. That process is called load transfer.

If load transfer works, the horse moves fluidly, distributes force safely, and stays sound. If it doesn’t, the wrong bit cops the pressure - joints, tendons, ligaments - until it breaks. Cue “mystery lameness” and your savings account crying into a feed bucket.

2️⃣ What Load Transfer Actually Is

Load transfer is the art of sharing forces across the horse’s whole body:
- Hooves = shock absorbers (your horse’s Nike Airs).
- Tendons and ligaments = springs (boing, boing).
- Core and spine = suspension bridge (though honestly, comparing a living, moving horse to a bridge bolted to the ground is a bit crap - sorry Tami, I’ll get to you in a second and anyone else having a fit over my analogies :P ).
- Hindquarters = the engine room.
- Trunk = the bridge deck, carrying weight forward.
- Nervous system = Wi-Fi (sometimes 5G, sometimes “buffering…”).

It’s not one joint or one leg doing the work - it’s a team effort. And when one player drops the ball, the others cover… until they tear something.

3️⃣ How It Gets Compromised in Domestication

Here’s the catch: our horses don’t live or move the way evolution intended. Instead, we’ve gifted them the equine version of late-stage capitalism:
- Sedentary living → Wild horses walk 20 km a day. Ours do laps of a 20 x 60 and then slouch around on the couch bingeing Netflix. Fascia weakens, cores collapse, proprioception clocks off.
- Gut health issues → Ulcers, acidosis, restricted forage. Imagine doing Pilates with chronic indigestion. Goodbye stabilisers, hello bracing.
- Rider influence → Saddles, weight, wobbly balance. A hollow back under a rider = hocks and forelimbs eating all the force. “Congratulations, you’re now a wheelbarrow.”

And then we act shocked when the “bridge” collapses and the legs file for workers’ comp.

4️⃣ Why This Explains Early Breakdowns

A horse with poor load transfer isn’t just inefficient - it’s a ticking time bomb.
- Hock arthritis by six.
- Suspensory tears that never heal.
- Kissing spine in a horse that never learned to lift.

This isn’t bad luck. It’s physics. And yes, physics is painful. But so is paying vet bills the size of your mortgage repayments.

Once you see it, the endless cycle of injections and rehab isn’t fate — it’s the logical result of pretending your horse is four pogo sticks with ears instead of a system that has to share the damn load.

5️⃣ Why Talking About This Will Probably Annoy You

Here’s the thing: people who really understand the sheer magnitude of load transfer will most likely confuse you… or offend you.

My good friend Tami Elkayam is the one responsible for hammering this into my thick skull. And I’ll be honest: it took four clinics and two years of friendship before the penny really dropped. She will read this and her hair will stand on end, because load transfer and how the body works is far more interconnected and complex than I’ve made it here.

Because here’s the reality: there is a reason your six-year-old has the joints of a 27-year-old, or why your horse developed kissing spine. And while I’m pretty good at spotting when dysfunctional load transfer has already chewed through a part of the horse… my bigger mission now is to spread the word before more horses — and bank accounts — get wrecked.😎

It may sound like physics, and physics isn’t sexy. But this is physics that explains your vet bills, your training plateaus, your horse’s “difficult” behaviour, and that nagging sense of “not quite right.”

6️⃣ What We Need to Do About It

Instead of obsessing over the parts, we need to step back and care for the system:
- Movement lifestyle → Turnout, hills, hacking, grazing posture. (Not “arena prison with cardio punishment.”)
- Gut health → Forage first, low starch, fewer ulcers. (Because no one engages their core mid-stomach cramp...and that's not even mentioning how digestion impacts the whole things - that blog is for another day)
- Training for posture → Lift the back, wake up the core, balance the bridge. (“More forward” and "rounder" isn’t a strategy, in fact saying those things can be part of the problem...)
Rider responsibility → Balanced seat, good saddle fit, some self-awareness. (Yes, because we have a massive impact on load transfer and how dysfunctional we make it...but let's get the idea in our heads before we beat ourselves up.)
Preventive care → Conditioning, fascia release, thoughtful management. (“Wait for it to break, then panic” is not a plan.)

7️⃣. Closing

Load transfer is the invisible system that keeps horses sound. When it fails, the legs, joints, and tendons take the hit - and horses “mysteriously” break down.

The tragedy isn’t that we can’t prevent it. It’s that we’re too busy staring at hooves or arguing on social media about everything from bits to barefoot to notice the actual system collapsing under our noses.

Once you understand load transfer, you can’t unsee it. And once you can’t unsee it, you’ll never settle for patching symptoms again. You’ll start caring for the whole horse - because that’s the only way to keep the bridge standing, the system working, and your horse sound.

This is Collectable Advice 17/365 of my notebook challenge.

❤Please share this if it made you think. But don’t copy-paste it and slap your name on it - that’s the intellectual equivalent of turning up to an office party with a packet of Tim Tams and calling it “homemade.” This is my work, my study, my sweat, and my own years of training horses (and myself) before figuring this out (well with Tami Elkayam's patience too). Share it, spread it, argue with it - but don’t steal it.