Training for Optimal Balance

26/03/2025

oooo... this is a good one for all horse owners. So many horses labeled with behavior problems are often suffering chronic inflammation and very often the source of that inflammation is the diet.

Although Deb and I are not experts in this field, we share our experiences of how inflammation has become a training issue in different horses we have worked...

18/03/2025

Let's face it, we all have to deal with our horses getting stressed out at least once in a while if not regularly. How we handle those episodes of stress can make all the difference to our horse.

How we manage ourselves can make us part of a solution or part of a problem we are having with our horse. Learning how to redirect our own thoughts can help ...

02/03/2025

The first step to working through fear issues and stress is recognizing fear and stress when we see it. Stress physiologically inhibits learning and conscious control of the self. When we try to push through fears or ignore escalations of stress, then we also stop progressing with our horses.

146: Recognizing Stress in Horses and Riders

Stress responses are trigged in different individuals by very different things. What causes a stress response can be related to thoughts, emotions, physical ...

23/02/2025

I know... it is not exactly the right time of year for this podcast episode to hit facebook, but I am a bit behind in sharing them here. At least as we start coming into warmer weather in the northern hemisphere we can be prepared and maybe this podcast is helpful right away for those in the southern hemisphere!

145: Avoiding Heat Stress in Horses

Learning to pay attention to our horse's breathing is the main way we know if our horse is getting too stressed physically - whether it is from hard work or ...

17/02/2025

Warm ups do not always have to include trot and canter. Warming up the right muscles for improving balance can be more helpful done slowly at the walk rather than warming up muscles that support imbalances at faster speeds. The coordination of the skeleton is what dictates which muscles are actually being warmed up.

144: Warming Up Horses in Different Ways

Muscles support movement of the skeleton. When the skeleton is in poor coordination then the muscles that support poor movement are worked during a warm up s...

01/02/2025

Art of the Horseman Online Horse Fair 2025 is February 22-23, and I am presenting along with about 50 others! Hope you can join us.

FREE TICKET LINK:

The Horse Fair Experience from the Comfort of Home! World-Class Horseman ~ Step-by-step lessons ~ Hours of Premium Video. ON Demand and FREE! Be informed, inspired, and empowered with the latest insights about horse training, health, and wellness by leading experts you can trust.

01/02/2025

143: The Point of Balance, It's a Thing
Whether we know it or not, there is an invisible instant center of rotation in our body and in our horse's body. This central axis point, where all three planes of a three dimensional body intersect, is how we rapidly adjust overall coordination. It how we manage to balance enough to not fall over and it can be consciously guided in order to improve coordination without so much darn effort!

The point of balance is near the center of mass, but is also different. While the center of mass or center of gravity is a static location in a three dimensi...

20/01/2025

142: Training Horses with Long Reins
A discussion about using long reins or long lines as a tool for training horses and how well they work for rehab training, especially with horses that are in poor shape or have lameness issues.

The long reins, as a very traditional ground work technique, can be done many different ways. This discussion is about how to use long reins a little differe...

15/12/2024

141: Our Horse's Thoracic Sling
There is a lot of chatter about our horse's thoracic sling on social media and people are starting to recognize it as part of all those dropped, popped and moving horse shoulder issues. In this podcast Deb and I discuss what it is, how it works and why it tends to get so darn tight in our horses.

Special therapies that help loosen our horse's thoracic sling of muscles around both of the front legs seems to be gaining a lot of traction. Groups and post...

03/12/2024

The December newsletter is all about what the goals are for Optimal Balance. It is an excerpt from the new book I am working on, Optimal Balance Essentials, which hopefully will be available soon on my website at least! Hope you find these defined concepts about balance in the mind and body, in us and our horse, helpful in your journey.

I am a professional horse trainer and developer of the program, Training for Optimal Balance. I share information that helps horse owners train their own horses, or helps horse professionals find a new perspective on training - and personal development is the number one side effect of authentically....

02/12/2024

140: Can Horses Self-Regulate Behavior?
short answer, yes they can when they feel safe doing what they are doing. Learning how to help our horse feel safe from the inside out is how we get back the behavior we love from our horse.

Instead of spending a lot of time working on conditioned responses or desensitizing our horses over and over, it becomes much more efficient to help our hors...

17/11/2024

139: Instability is a Big Deal for Horses
We may not realize just how unstable our horse feels internally when we ride. We may just think our horse is wiggly, lazy or just likes to go really fast all the time. But when horses are not skeletally stable, then the only options for stability are to resist moving as much as possible or speed up, using momentum as a stabilizing force. Skeletal instability also makes our horse feel unsafe inside, which can also manifest as various "behavioral issues" that we can seem to resolve.

Discussion about how our stability and our horse's stability - or lack of it - is fundamental to functional use and balance. A loss of stability can create f...

10/11/2024

Lucy takes ballet lessons from a very strict instructor! Now Streaming on Paramount+Where to watch: para.mt/ilovelucy

03/11/2024

This month's newsletter is about how we can learn to manage stress and find balance despite the crazy world around us. Also included is a featured video for helping female riders learn how to gain a very stable seat in the saddle. Enjoy!

I am a professional horse trainer and developer of the program, Training for Optimal Balance. I share information that helps horse owners train their own horses, or helps horse professionals find a new perspective on training - and personal development is the number one side effect of authentically....

29/10/2024

138: Tasks Don't Teach Balance
How we do anything is how we do everything. If our horse performs any task while in a dysfunctional skeletal coordination, then all we have done is reinforce the same dysfunctional skeletal coordination. Improving coordination and posture is how our horse is able to perform tasks with more ease, not the other way around.

If teaching through tasks, such as riding maneuvers, patterns or navigating obstacles, actually taught horses and riders to balance as a side effect, then we...

24/10/2024

137: Strategies for Learning, about Horses of course!

How we learn is just as important as what we learn. Being methodical about learning is always the fastest path to progress.

A chat about learning in general, whether we are the one learning or we are the one trying to help our horse learn. The three basic strategies that help faci...

16/10/2024

136: Tensegrity, What? and Why!
If you have no idea what tensegrity is, then have a listen. Tensegrity is a structural model that helps us understand how everything in the body is connected. The root cause of our horse horse going lame on the left front leg might be a problem of restriction related to the right hind leg. Understanding tensegrity helps us see the whole body system and how the weakest or most overused parts of the body are the ones that develop pathology first but might not be the root of the issue.

Discussion about what tensegrity is, how it works and why it is important for us to understand as a structural model for living bodies. Taking a deeper look ...