Creekside Equestrian

25/08/2025

🐴DRESSAGE SOLUTIONS🐴 Improve Rein Connection

To improve your rein connection ...

Imagine your point of contact with the bit is in your elbows, triceps and back, and that your arms, wrists and hands are just extensions of the reins. This allows the connection to be held in your body rather than your hands and allows the hands and arms to be soft.
~ Jessica Miller

🎨 Sandy Rabinowitz

08/08/2025

HANDS DO NOT PULL BACK - HAVE "FEELING FINGERS"

Remember, you are holding a piece of metal that's inside your horse's mouth. If you pull back on the reins or jiggle your hands around, your horse will likely shorten his neck, stiffen through his back, hollow away from your seat, lift his head above the bit, and/or come against/behind the contact.

Pulling back on the reins can also encourage your horse to get stronger in the contact, as he, too, will pull against the pressure. This often leads to a tug-of-war scenario that sends many riders down the rabbit hole of using stronger rein aids and bits.

The rein length should be held by your thumb pressing on top of your index finger. The rest of your fingers should be light and supple so you can give subtle communication aids down the reins. If your fingers are gripping the reins tightly, then any light communication down the rein will be blocked. Therefore, if you want to give your horse an aid, you will need to grip even tighter or pull backward on the reins, which is not good.

Keep your elbows, wrists, hands, and fingers supple, and allow them to "breathe" with your horse's movement, rather than remaining fixed and rigid. The aim is to have "feeling fingers" which open and close to give your horse the required aids. It may only be a slight movement, but trust us, your horse can feel it.

25/07/2025

This image shows how even slight misalignment in your seat, hands, or legs can send your horse off balance! 🚲

On the left: the rider treats the horse like a bicycle, steering with their hands and turning their body, causing crookedness and uneven pressure. Look how the horse’s body twists out of alignment as a result.

On the right: the rider is centred, balanced, and riding with even contact. Their aids are aligned with the horse’s body, leading to straightness, relaxation, and connection through the back.

💡 Your horse mirrors your position.
Ride in harmony not control. The goal isn’t to steer like handlebars, but to guide from your core and seat.

( image found off pinterest )

20/07/2025

Never exercise🐎 or transport your equine on an empty stomach. Fiber creates a mat, which prevents acid from splashing💦 in the stomach. An empty stomach allows accumulated unbuffered gastric acid to slosh and bathe its lining😧.

🛻Transport is an extended isometric exercise - requiring your equine friend to constantly balance by engaging the abdominal muscles. Contraction of the abdominal muscles forces acidic gastric juices up into the non-glandular (upper) region of the equine stomach.

Learn more interesting facts about equine gastric acid👉 https://www.thehaypillow.com/blogs/news/equine-gastric-acid-12-facts-you-may-not-know

29/06/2025

Things your riding instructor wants you to know:
1. This sport is hard. You don't get to bypass the hard…..every good rider has gone through it. You make progress, then you don't, and then you make progress again. Your riding instructor can coach you through it, but they cannot make it easy.

2. You're going to ride horses you don't want to ride. If you're teachable, you will learn from every horse you ride. Each horse in the barn can teach you if you let them. IF YOU LET THEM. Which leads me to…

3. You MUST be teachable to succeed in this sport. You must be teachable to succeed at anything, but that is another conversation. Being teachable often means going back to basics time and time and time again. If you find basics boring, then your not looking at them as an opportunity to learn. Which brings me to…..

4. This sport is a COMMITMENT. Read that, then read it again. Every sport is a commitment, but in this sport your teammate weighs 1200 lbs and speaks a different language. Good riders don't get good by riding every once in awhile….they improve because they make riding a priority and give themsevles opportunity to practice.

5. EVERY RIDE IS AN OPPORTUNITY. Even the walk ones. Even the hard ones. Every. Single. Ride. Remember when you just wished someone would lead you around on a horse? Find the happiness in just being able to RIDE. If you make every ride about what your AREN'T doing, you take the fun out of the experience for yourself, your horse, and your instructor. Just enjoy the process. Which brings me to...

6. Riding should be fun. It is work. and work isn't always fun.....but if you (or your rider) are consistently choosing other activities or find yourself not looking forward to lessons, it's time to take a break. The horses already know you don't want to be here, and you set yourself up for failure if you are already dreading the lesson before you get here.

7. You'll learn more about horses from the ground than you ever will while riding. That's why ground lessons are important, too. If you're skipping ground lessons (or the part of your lesson that takes place on the ground), you're missing out on the most important parts of the lesson. You spend far more time on the ground with horses than you do in the saddle.

8. Ask questions and communicate. If you're wondering why your coach is having you ride a particular horse or do an exercise, ask them. Then listen to their answer and refer to #3 above.

9. We are human beings. We make decisions (some of them life and death ones) every day. We balance learning for students with workloads for horses and carry the bulk of this business on our shoulders. A little courtesy goes a long way.

Of all the sports your child will try through their school years, riding is one of 3 that they may continue regularly as adults (golf and skiing are the others). People who coach riding spend the better part of their free time and much of their disposable income trying to improve their own riding and caring for the horses who help teach your child. They love this sport and teaching others…..but they all have their limits. Not all good riders are good coaches, but all good coaches will tell you that the process to get good is not an easy one.

📝 Kimberley Reynolds

📸 Max & Maxwell: Equestrian Photography

18/06/2025

There’s a growing fad in the horse world right now that I think we need to take a serious and honest look at. I’m talking about the trend of going completely bitless—not just as an occasional option or for a specific situation, but as a blanket philosophy that a bit should never be used on a horse. It’s being promoted as a more humane, kinder, gentler approach to horsemanship.

Now, I want to start by saying this: I’m not against riding bitless in the right context. I’ve done it myself. A good horseman should be able to ride a horse in a halter, a bridle, a piece of baling twine—or nothing at all—if the foundation is there. The bit itself isn’t what makes a horse soft, responsive, or correct in their movement. That comes from training, timing, and feel.

But here’s the problem:

Going bitless exclusively—as a philosophy rather than a tool—can lead to a number of problems, and I’ve seen them firsthand. The bit is not an instrument of cruelty unless it's used cruelly. Just like spurs, ropes, or even our own hands, it’s not the tool—it’s the hand behind it that matters.

When we take the bit completely off the table, we’re giving up one of the most effective and fair ways to communicate with the horse. We lose precision in lateral flexion, collection, and vertical softness. And more importantly, we often lose the ability to help the horse use their body correctly.

And that’s where real issues start to surface.

---

🧠 What Many Don’t Realize...

Many riders who go bitless because it “feels nicer” don’t actually realize what they’re giving up in terms of biomechanics. They don’t know what they don’t know.

They’re not seeing the subtle changes in posture. The dropped back. The strung-out hindquarters. The braced jaw. The hollow frame. The lack of engagement. The imbalance. The unsoundness that creeps in over time.

These aren’t just little cosmetic issues—this is the kind of stuff that leads to sore backs, hock and stifle problems, uneven hoof wear, and even long-term lameness. But because the horse is quiet or obedient—or just not outright saying “no”—they think everything is fine.

I’ve had horses come in for training or rehab that have been ridden exclusively bitless, and the moment I pick them up with even a soft feel on a snaffle, they’re lost. Not because they’re being mistreated, but because they simply don’t have the body education to understand what’s being asked. They’ve never been helped to move correctly. And you know what? That’s not the horse’s fault.

---

🐴 The Horse Deserves More Than Our Good Intentions

The truth is, there’s a big difference between doing what feels good to us as riders… and doing what is actually good for the horse.

We all want to feel like we’re doing right by our horses. That’s noble. That’s the kind of heart I respect. But good intentions alone don’t build a sound, confident, correct horse. Knowledge, experience, and proper education do.

There is nothing inherently cruel about using a bit. In fact, when used with skill and timing, a bit can allow us to communicate with greater subtlety and support the horse in achieving true balance and lightness. I would even argue that, when used properly, a bit is often the kindest option—because it allows for clearer, lighter, more effective communication.

---

⚠️ Be Cautious of Absolutes

The horse world has always been full of trends and movements. And any time we start hearing “always” and “never” attached to tools like bits or spurs, we need to pause and think critically. Absolutes usually point to ideology, not horsemanship.

I’ve ridden horses bitless. I’ve also ridden with snaffles, hackamores, correction bits, and more. Each one is a tool, and each one has a time and place depending on the horse’s level, physical condition, goals, and mental state.

If your horse is truly soft, collected, and balanced in a bitless headstall—great. But if the only reason you’re avoiding a bit is because someone told you it’s “mean,” you may be doing your horse a long-term disservice without even knowing it.

---

🔍 What Should We Be Asking?

Instead of asking, “What kind of gear makes me feel better about myself?” … maybe we should be asking:

“Is my horse moving in a way that promotes soundness and longevity?”

“Does my horse understand how to carry themselves in balance?”

“Can I ride my horse in a bit and have them respond calmly and willingly?”

“Am I avoiding the bit because I lack the knowledge to use it properly?”

If we answer those questions honestly, we’ll be doing far more for our horse’s well-being than we ever could by following trends or trying to “out-kind” one another online.

---

💬 Let’s Keep the Conversation Respectful

I know posts like this can ruffle some feathers. That’s not my goal. I’m not here to shame anyone or say there’s only one “right” way to ride. What I am here to do is to encourage people to think a little deeper, look a little harder at their horse’s movement and well-being, and not get swept up in feel-good fads without understanding the long-term consequences.

The horse deserves better than that.

If you’ve been curious about this topic or even struggling with it, I’m happy to have a respectful conversation. Drop a comment or send a message. The door’s always open.

Let’s keep learning, keep improving, and—most importantly—keep putting the horse first.

— Tim Anderson Horse Training

18/06/2025

🐴DRESSAGE SOLUTIONS!🐴 How To Know If Your Inside Leg Is Effective?

To help you determine if your inside leg is effective in sending energy to the outside rein …

Imagine that, as a result of using the inside leg, the outside of your horse’s neck seems like a balloon filling with air and the outside rein feels like a bungee cord with positive tension and an elastic connection.
— Martin Kuhn

🎨 Sandy Rabinowitz

13/06/2025

Trainers: Athletic and Brave vs. Skilled and Educated

In the United States, there is no formal industry standard for horse trainers. This is both a blessing and a curse.

The blessing is that trainers are free to develop their own methods that best serve their horses and students. And with the wide variety of disciplines we have — at least four major western disciplines, three major English ones, plus dozens of other specialties and countless breed registries — it's nearly impossible to apply a one-size-fits-all system.

The curse, however, is that anyone can call themselves a trainer.

This is why it's so important for owners to carefully evaluate a trainer before committing. Visit their facility. Watch them work with both young, green horses and more advanced horses they have developed. The facility doesn’t need to be fancy, but it should be well-maintained, and the horses should look healthy, content, and well-cared for.

There are essentially two types of trainers you will encounter:
The Athletic and Brave vs. The Skilled and Educated.

The Athletic and Brave Trainer
These trainers rely on their physical ability, grit, and bravery. They often approach young horses through force and endurance, outlasting the horse’s resistance until the animal gives up—not because it’s truly trained, but because it’s exhausted, sore, or fearful. The horse learns to comply because resistance becomes too costly.

Many of these trainers even thrive on the fight — the adrenaline of being bucked off and getting back on fuels their approach. The result is a horse that functions under pressure but never truly understands or trusts the process.

This becomes a problem when that horse is sent home to an amateur owner. The owner cannot (and should not) ride the horse as hard or as aggressively 5-6 days a week. Without constant heavy work, the horse recovers physically, regains its energy, and soon discovers that the rider lacks the same level of force they once faced. Before long, old behaviors resurface, and it appears as if the horse was never trained at all.

The Skilled and Educated Trainer
In contrast, skilled trainers understand how to educate the horse — mentally and physically. They are students of biomechanics, equine psychology, and learning theory. These trainers know how to read a horse's body language, assess physical tension, and adapt their work to keep the horse both engaged and comfortable.

They know when to push, when to wait, when to back off, and when to rest. They build trust, confidence, and understanding. The horse learns to carry itself properly, not from fear or exhaustion, but from thoughtful, correct work that develops balance, strength, and mental clarity.

Because these horses are given the time and guidance to process what they’re learning, they retain their education even when their schedule or environment changes. The training "sticks" because the horse understands it, rather than merely submitting to it.

The Bottom Line
The brave trainer uses a hammer.
The skilled trainer uses a scalpel.

Many horses — and their owners — end up frustrated, confused, or even injured because their trainer's toolbox is limited. True horsemanship is not about who can stay on the longest or dominate the hardest; it’s about developing the horse thoughtfully, with respect for both its body and its mind.

11/06/2025

01/06/2025

In the last couple of weeks, we've found ourselves reaching for jumpers or turning heaters on. It's definitely a sign that Winter is on the way, and it's time to get prepared.

But, our horses might not be feeling the same as we are. Our Thermoneutral Zone is a much smaller range than theirs (and we're even worse without clothing!).

Horses, generally, are very capable of maintaining their body temperature with minimal effort. Their coats are designed to trap warm air, close to their bodies, by fluffing up - similar to our own 'goosebumps'.
In most cases they can manage just fine in temperatures right down to 0°c, especially if they have shelter, feed and are in a healthy condition.

Of course, not all horses are the same. Horses that are in poor condition, sickly, older, clipped or thin coated, or in heavy work, can need a little extra help keeping warm.
Rain and wind can also be huge factors, and additional protection from the elements can be needed.

For weather similar to what we are experiencing in Victoria currently (cold nights, mild days, no rain) a light layer overnight will be suitable to keep the chill off their backs.

30/05/2025

10/04/2025

Three Important Exercises