From Issue 116 Many if not all of us would see our horsemanship as well as our lives go to a new level if we would learn to be more intentional in the things we do. Most of us do the same thing we’ve always done. We eat the same things, walk the same way, […]
From Issue 115 What “Do The Work” means to me: “Do The Work” means firstly that getting good with horses or making a good horse is going to take a lot of work. And by work, I mean dirty, tiring, physically challenging, mentally exhausting WORK. I believe that there is no substitute for this Work. […]
From Issue 114 Have you ever gotten unsolicited advice from a fellow horse person? Have you ever sat in the audience at a clinic or at a horse show and all you could hear was “arm chair quarter-backing” from your fellow spectators? Ever been on one of those horsey discussion groups and read pages and […]
From Issue No.78 Sitting on the berm watching a magnificent horse and its rider schooling the grand-prix inspired me to write about the importance of the human-horse partnership in relation to the quality of gaits. My life’s passion is to blend the education of dressage biomechanics while still nurturing the relationship between the horse and […]
From issue No.111 There’s this thing about working with horses… it’s one of those things that is responsible for making working with horses difficult, soul-shattering hard work. And I don’t want to be a Debbie Downer here, but it’s one of those kind of hard-to-swallow universal truths about horses that we sometimes really wish wasn’t […]
This article originally appeared in Eclectic Horseman Issue No.73 When I meet someone for the first time I like to form my own impressions, based on my own sense of the person. I really try not to let any preconceived notions other people might have about them influence me. I want the chance to get […]
Written by Jec Ballou The development of dressage horses falls more or less into two camps, with a lively debate dividing them over the proper foundation and training progression. For example, should a horse in the early work achieve precise and stable longitudinal balance prior to developing the motion of his gaits? Or, should the […]
Written by Linda Turner This article originally appeared in Eclectic Horseman Issue No.71 Early Californios Skills of the Rancho held in Santa Ynez February 8th-10th was the realization of Bruce Sandifer’s dream to form an organization where the Californio traditions could be studied, taught, and kept alive. The non-profit Californio Bridlehorse Association (CBA) became that […]
Written by Chuck Stormes This article originally appeared in Eclectic Horseman Issue No.69 About forty years ago I started hearing stories about Ray Hunt and his clinics. Usually, the account came from a wide-eyed cowboy who had witnessed twenty or thirty “colts” turned loose in a pen, saddled and ridden but with nothing on their […]
Written by Buster McLaury This article originally appeared in Eclectic Horseman Issue No.69 I rarely saddle an older horse that is tied up, and I never saddle a young horse that is tied up. I think too much of my horses. Let’s give a little thought (Ray would be proud) to a scenario that could happen; […]