Bob Wood Horses For Life

12/05/2025

If you are in Florida, please share this post to support the growth of this new show series that is more affordable and very educational.

Tampa riders, it’s time to enter for the UDJC show NEXT weekend! ⏰
Our first Florida show last month was incredible, and we can’t wait to see how much everyone has improved. ❤️

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📸 Karinda K.

12/05/2025

Sorry this is long, it has to be - There are three levels of relationship between a horse in training and the trainer. They are partnership, leadership and domination. I realize in today's socially correct, Disneyfied horse world many people believe that domination should be banned, but it's not the humans who determine these three levels. It's the horses, and I am not sure how we would get horses to ban domination..

A fundamental part of horse training is developing the ability to read these relationship levels as the change in a horse. Most importantly, horse trainers need to develop an understanding of where the lines are between the levels for each horse. As a horse moves between these levels, a trainer must be able to anticipate a prospect's move from one level to another in order to stay safe and in control of the training process. Horses cross the lines between partnership and leadership all the time. One minute they are acting out of partnership and then suddenly they are imposing their leadership on the trainer, for example.

The same is true of the line between leadership and domination. You can establish your leadership with a horse in training and then something you do provokes them into wanting to dominate you in response to your leadership. In these moments of change from one level to another, we learn where their lines or thresholds are. Our job as trainers is to discover these lines and to change them to a more functional level and ultimately to partnership.

With a new prospect I will provoke them intentionally into showing me where their escalation lines are between partnership and leadership and between leadership and domination. Because every horse is different, I vary my provocations depending on my experienced guesses as to what they will do if I do "X". I start by exploring their resistance. For example, if I am leading a horse that resists being led, I might do something startling while I lead them to see if I get fight or flight as a result?

A trainer pushing back against a prospect's resistance is a typical context for a provocation to see where they go. Be careful when exploring with provocations with unknown horses. Some will go immediately to fight and domination. Learning the safe degree of provocation for each horse becomes art. You don't want to provoke an escalating move from a horse from one level to a higher level. You only want to know where their line is.

The Left image of partnership is a polo player reaching for a shot. The horse and polo player have done this many times before and the horse understands that as the player leans over to reach for the shot and then swings his mallet with great force, that she (most polo horses are mares) has to maintain her balance and direction separately as the forces from the rider's movements intensify and change. Polo horses that have played for years are the best partners. The horse and rider must act differently, but together, to accomplish each move in the game. This is a rarified version of unity in my experience.

The middle picture is leadership of the rider. Teaching horses to do drops like that can be very difficult. Teaching drops is done in stages that build trust in the rider from the horse. Getting a horse to do huge drops like the one pictured is tricky. Training mistakes can destroy all trust and partnership that sometimes cannot be restored.

The right image shows someone using their hand to twitch a horse's nose. This is a signal to the horse that the trainer knows a horse's points of vulnerability, which is not domination but rather a signal of it and that there is more to come if the horse continues to escalate and attempt to dominate the trainer. If the horse does not deescalate after the nose twitch, the trainer might add a hand ear twitch that is another signal of the trainer's ability to oppose the horse's attempt at domination.

The next action a trainer who is opposing a domination attempt might do is sliding their hand up the nose and pinching the nostrils. This cuts off a horse's breathing because horses can't breathe through their mouths as we do. Closing off a horse's airway with a pinch demonstrates the trainer's ability to dominate without pain but rather knowledge of a horse's vulnerabilities.

I must include a "don't try this at home" disclaimer about this. Some horses will meet this human domination tactic with their own forms of domination that can be dangerous. If you try this, stand to the horse's side, keep your head out of the way and don't cut off the air for too long. Briefly closing off air is one example of many nonviolent "reminder" acts of domination that demonstrate that while the horse might be bigger and stronger, an experienced horse trainer is a lot smarter and that the trainer can maintain control of the level of relationship during the training process.

Until you discover a prospect's lines between the levels of relationship, partnership, leadership and dominance, you are in the dark as to what will happen next in training and that is dangerous. Start to learn a horse's relationship thresholds by carefully provoking against the horse's resistance. Don't try to sweetie pie them past their resistance. That only convinces them that they are the leader or dominant being because then they become convinced of their leadership or domination and that you are subordinate.

12/04/2025

I get asked why I write my page, do horsemanship discussion groups and otherwise give my energy to horses in other ways. The answer is simple, horses have made my life at its worst livable and at its best joyful and I want to preserve the opportunity to have horses in the lives for future generations. Life can be very challenging, painfully so, and horses can make living those parts of life easier to endure. And when life is not painful, horses are one of the deepest sources of happiness.

But now access to horses is being threatened by people and organizations like PETA, who want to "free horses from human slavery". PETA is gaining ground, especially with urban and suburban people who know nothing about horses and horsemanship. Peta is not making up stories of equine abuse because there are many real examples of normalized abuse in several large disciplines. PETA is leveraging this normalized abuse against all disciplines and getting more and more traction.

The image lists four disciplines that have normalized different forms of abuse. Modern dressage is at the top of my list of abusers. Since Anky and Rollkur, physical force has replaced finesse and encouraged balance. Modern dressage horses are heavily spurred forward while being cranked down with extreme use of reins and bits. This is nothing more than an abuse of "between the aids", not to mention that it is contrary to everything that is true about authentic dressage.

Hunter Jumpers, particularly show Hunters by now rewards off balance forward, stylized poses that make being ridden more difficult for the horses. In addition to this, the Hunter culture has become so detached from the reality of the horse with its robotic displays of "horsemanship" so as to make the horses intentionally dull. And the horses that refuse to become dull are drugged with "calming supplements" and injections until their lives become a blurred stupor.

Western Pleasure is perhaps the most bizarre form of normalized equine abuse with their insanely off balance "head sets" and gaits that mimic lameness and crippled movement.

Reining with its spins and 30 to 40 foot slides, that have no origins or roots in western ranch riding, breakdown leg joints to the point that four and five year old reining horses require hock injections. Reining horses are the most disposable horses of all the disciplines.

All of the above are examples of human entitlement, selfishness and meanness. Who is opposing this? The USEF? USHJA? USDF? Who? I will tell you who. It's the UDJClub that is combining two of the most abusive disciplines, dressage and jumping, and transforming them into an integrated ecosystem of education with their new show series, their sensible judging system, their educational materials and with their certifications and badges. The UDJClub's focus is on the horses, their effectiveness and their well being while they work to return authentic horsemanship to America.

Get involved. UDJC links -

United Dressage & Jumping Club upcoming show schedule -Load up and go ride in a show. www.udjc.org/upcoming-showsUnited

Dressage & Jumping Club membership sign up page -Join. www.udjc.org/membershipsUnited

Dressage & Jumping Club page-Like and follow. UDJClub

United Dressage & Jumping Club website - www.udjc.org

12/03/2025

Today many riders are fearful of leaving the arena. Fewer still are willing to ride outside an arena in the winter. The top center pictures are of me giving lessons during a typical Pennsylvania winter. The motto at my barn was "It's a sport, not a hobby" and winter riding outside an arena is one of the differences between a hobby rider and a rider who rides for sport.

This post is for riders who are thinking of moving on from hobby riding to year around sport riding. Why do I recommend this? First of all, your horses will love it. Horses get bored and eventually dull from doing the same thing over and over again. Nothing is better for a horse than cross training and winter provides a great opportunity to cross train doing new things on new footing when the temperature drops.

Yes, winter footing can be a little slippy slidey, but horses can handle that IF you don't throw them off balance. Winter riding will make you a better, more aware rider, not to mention give you a greater range of riding opportunities. Winter riding in climates with snow and frozen ground is not as challenging as most ring riders think. Like anything else, it's a learning process and the learning is about defensive riding.

Pictured on the left are shoes with Borium, which is tungsten carbide in brass melted onto shoes. There is also Drill Tec, a branded name for the same thing at a higher cost. Borium shoes provide greater traction on frozen ground and icy conditions, as well as on pavement. How much Borium a farrier puts on the shoes and the pattern of it on the shoes is up to you. The pictured pattern is common. I do not recommend big build ups of it to the point that the Borium acts almost like spikes. More isn't better.

On the right are snow pads that push the snow off the bottom of the hoof as the bubble in the center of the pad compresses and expands with each foot fall. There are also other types of snow pads. The type shown are time tested. The Cavalry used wagon axle grease on the soles to do the same thing. I have tried that and the pads are better.

At bottom we see a winter fox hunt. Fall hunting can be slow due to the number of people out hunting and the brush. But when it starts to snow and the ground freezes, the number of field riders thins out and for me that makes hunting a lot more fun. I will write a couple posts about winter hunting. I grew up in upstate New York and New Hampshire. As a result, winters for me are a different kind of fun. I highly recommend it. All you have to do is dress in practical layers.

12/02/2025

Dressage is fun. It's the basics like learning you colors and shapes in kindergarten. It is what we all need to learn and use. If you are jumping and you never learned Dressage principles, you are doing it the hard way.

12/02/2025

This is a simple exercise to lighten a horse trotting in a bend. It can be done in either direction using the set up in the image. The ground poles are set up in a bend being 4 feet (1.2 meters) apart at the center and 6 feet (1.8 meters) apart at one end.

The rider enters the ground poles perpendicular to the first pole and they apply the leg aids to create a bend. The inside leg is on the girth and the outside leg behind the girth, squeezing the horse forward. The horse is supported between the inside leg between and combined with the outside rein, and between the outside leg and inside rein as they turn their belt buckle in the direction of the turn.

There is a link to a video of this exercise in the comments.

It is best to begin on the centerline of the poles and then take different lines through the poles to the outside of the centerline and to the inside of the centerline. This changes the length of the stride in the bends, which encourages flexibility in the horse.

To see the video go to you tube and enter or click on the direct video link in the comments.

The rider is Megan, a member of our training crew, riding Millie, a young green TB Irish cross. In the video of Megan and Millie going through the poles, Megan makes it look easier than it is. When you first try this exercise do not become frustrated if it gets a little messy at first.

Please Like and Subscribe to my u tube channel. I post videos there in advance of FB posts and you will be notified early if you subscribe.

12/01/2025

My mental health equine therapy program in a locked facility for boys was patented after an early US Cavalry model. In the top image you see me with four boys mounted. A Cavalry Troop had 32 Troopers that made up of eight 4 man squads. The boys in this forty three bed facility had to apply to join the Mounted Service School (original name for the school at Fort Riley) program.

After residents applied for a new squad, four boys were selected to be recruits. They had to pass physical and written tests to be accepted as a probational member. As it was in the old Cavalry, a Trooper's success or failure depended on the overall squad's performance. For example, to leave the facility for a ride in a park or game lands, all four squad members had to have earned the required points to leave the campus.

Meeting the squad's standards and requirements together built teamwork and the group's pride. The program had special shirts that are pictured. Troopers and recruits wore bright yellow shirts, and the Staff wore gray shirts. The bright yellow helped find a boy who might have gotten lost or run off for fun during an off campus ride. I always rode my fastest horse on these rides because occasionally a boy was overcome with the freedom of the open space of a large park and he would gallop off. The boys who were the biggest risk rode the slowest horses.

Also, as it was in the old Cavalry, we trained our own horses, usually purchased at auctions. I usually selected troubled, abused horses that the boys could relate to, because such horses had a lot of traits in common with them like defiance, fear and being dangerous. We trained every auction prospect and sold them at a profit to help fund the program.

The program was a significant clinical success, but the administration was always on us because they felt it was a costly program to operate because of the horses. But the structure of the squads and the difficult horses added up to something special for the boys who were very committed to the program. Thai is what made it work.

All staff and residents agreed that the boy on my right in the picture, Bruno, was the most difficult, violent boy in the facility. He was kicked out of the MSS program three times even after achieving the rank of sergeant, but each time he reapplied and started again as a recruit. He became the most committed boy in the program.

It was assumed that Bruno, when he aged out of the youth facility, would go directly to a locked facility for men, but before he turned 18, he was released at a halfway house facility and avoided the adult facility. From the horses he had learned self control and respect for authority that allowed him to move on to a better residential program with more freedom.

I will write a post about Bruno someday. He had such a connection with horses. Bruno grew up on the street, never having attended school until the police picked him up on a city sidewalk at eight years old and asked him where he went to school. He said he never. had been to school. Bruno could not read or write.

If there is a mental health program out there that would like to learn more about this program, I would like to explain more of it to them.

11/29/2025

UDJClub is changing showing in the US. It's affordable, educational and more fun.

11/28/2025

The new video is of Matilda or Tilly a Thoroughbred filly in training with the Horses For Life crew. Tilly is very self confident. This new short video shows the first step in the process of backing a young horse in a stall. If you have questions or comments please post them on YouTube.

In the video I'm teaching Tilly to circle the stall on the wall using voice commands. I use voice as a primary communication tool when training young ones. Having a young horse respond to voice commands is essential in backing and for the steps to follow.

The next step is to have a small person lay across their spine. After that, when it is safe, the person lays along the spine hugging the neck, and eventually they sit up holding mane. I hold the lead rope in each step and often the person's leg in the first step. We try not to use a tool to motivate the young horse during the backing steps because it could startle the horse. Voice is safer. All this is done at a walk in both directions in the stall.

In time, we will pony her off a seasoned horse where voice commands are extremely helpful. After that we will ride her ba****ck with snap reins on her halter in the round pen. Again, voice commands are very useful then. Starting a horse ba****ck teaches them to pay attention to the rider's seat bones.

My voice is strong for clarity. The filly is learning two things at once, how to circle the stall properly for backing, which also helps later when cleaning stalls, and the horse learns to better respond to voice commands. The tool is a 1/2 inch PVC electrical conduit.

You can see this new short video by going to YouTube and entering to get to my channel, or the direct link is in the comments. The link is in the comments because Facebook severely limits the reach of any post with a YouTube link.

11/27/2025

Today is a day we give thanks. Those of us who love horses give thanks for them in our lives. But today I want to address the people who say they love horses and when it comes down to it, they don't. What they love is thinking about themselves as the protectors of horses and how special they are to do that.

They come on my page and say I am cruel because I will use a wiffle ball bat on a horse in training. That's a kid's toy that can't hurt them, but I am cruel for training horses, so they become safe and useful. These are the people who stop Bureau of Land Management (BLM) horse roundups with lawsuits because they love horses more than anyone else does. Watch this 10 minute video. It's about these people and how they really love horses. It's hard to watch.

Because Facebook intensely restricts the reach of any post with a YouTube link in it, please share it so people who love horses can see where we have come. And share it so people who have a sense of reason and ethics can learn what loving horses really is. Thank you.

Welcome to the first episode of our Love to Death series, where we bring you inside the western rangelands through the voices of the people who live and work...

11/26/2025

Conformation is the science of body types. The word comes from "conform" and its meaning relates to how well or not a horse conforms to the proportions of the ideal horse. But there is more to it because the ideal horse for polo is very different from the ideal of a Grand Prix jumper. One main difference in this example is the length of the back.

The two lower images are of long backed horses. The left picture shows a horse jumping a high spread or oxer jump with the horse's back rounded in what we call a bascule, which translates to seesaw. In order to jump the challenging jump, the horse must round its back such that the apex or top of the jump arc is high enough to clear both top rails during the seesaw of the upward and downward arcs of the jumps path.

Imagine a horse with a very short back achieving the necessary bascule over this pictured jump. With a shorter back a horse will have greater difficulty smoothly arcing over a difficult jump than the long backed horse in the picture. Therefore, one element of overall conformation for a jumping horse to consider is the length of the back.

Similarly, but different, when you need a horse for a sport that requires lightning quick agility on the ground for gaming, working cattle or polo, a long back will slow the ex*****on of quick movements. For agility on the ground, a shot back is an advantage. I will put a link at the bottom about a short backed horse.

Conformation is science directly related to biomechanics. But due to all the variations in the ratios between parts of the horse, like leg length to back length to neck length, understanding and using conformation when selecting a horse is also art in addition to being science. The art is in predicting how the horse will move as it develops based on its conformation. Understanding conformation is a practical skill more than an academic exercise. People who fail to study conformation regularly make poor choices when purchasing horses.

11/25/2025

It doesn't matter if you are starting a young prospect or training a horse in the canter pirouette, the horse in training determines the type of training they require. There are three approaches or types, Partnership, Leadership and Supremacy.

Before I get into these types, I want to be clear that bribing horses with treats is not a horse training method. While countless social media "experts" advocate for various forms of treat training, the truth is using treats to train creates a barrier or obstacle between the trainer and the horse.

Riding or driving horses requires a physical connection that in its highest form is unity of balance and motion. We don't have that when training dogs or other animals. Treat based training can be effective with many animals but not with horses because the treats become a distraction from the training process. The treats become an intermediary between the trainer and the horse when an intermediary of any kind, including the intense use of whips, etc. work to separate, not unify the relationship between the horse and the trainer.

Of the three types of training approaches, Partnership, Leadership and Supremacy, we begin applying the principles of Partnership. Horses, being herd animals, have an impulse to be part of a group. To accomplish Partnership, we access this herd impulse that horses can have between us and them. We access this by developing our own "horseness" while we subordinate our human impulses. We create a herd of two, us and the horse.

Developing our "horseness" means thinking and feeling like a horse. Horses have far fewer emotional or intellectual impulses compared to humans, so we limit these impulses in ourselves to meet them where they are. For example, we are not a horse's "mom" or any other human concept of human relationship. Instead we must become like them, physically centered.

This means subordinating our illusions of how horses relate. They don't want or need to be your child. They need instead to be taught to understand where they are in the pecking order of the herd. In a herd of horses teaching includes kicks, bites, threats and intimidating looks or sounds from fellow herd members.

In spite of these equine physical teaching methods, the herd remains unified for mutual protection from predators. Many amateur horse trainers reject the physicality of how horses teach other horses as being cruel. This rejection is a form of humans anthropomorphizing horses. Horses that are bitten or kicked into respecting the herd order do not pout and leave the herd. They stay and accept their position or rank in the herd according to the rules of horseness.

But not every horse that finds themself in a herd with a human trainer accepts the human as the leader. Many horses are genetically programmed to be the herd leader. They believe that you, the trainer as leader is incorrect. They believe they are the leader of the Partnership. With these kinds of horses, the focus of training must shift from establishing a partner relationship to a relationship of clear Leadership by the human trainer. And to be the leader of a herd of horses, you must have sufficient horseness in order to lead effectively.

Once leadership is established and accepted by the horse in training, we can return to a more partnership, fellow herd member connection.

Lastly, some horses are firmly committed to being the leader in their herd of horses and in the human-horse herd of two. What results, as in the pictures of the horses pictured at the bottom, is a contest of Supremacy of leadership. In my first paid training job, the head trainer, Chris Heinrich, told me never get into a fight with a horse that you cannot win. Losing that contest only teaches the horse to become a better fighter.

Most amateur horse trainers don't have enough hoarseness to win a contest of leadership using Supremacy. They shouldn't try. I am not going to explain this level of training except to say that the trainer must control the context of the training. And it doesn't hurt to know how to use a wiffle ball bat, a harmless child's toy, in training.

I hope that if you think this is a useful post you will share it. The quality of horse training is in decline as more people relate to horses primarily projecting human concepts of relationship onto horses. It doesn't occur to them that we must relate to horses as they are, not as what we imagine them to be.