Creekside Equestrian

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.

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🧠 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.

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🐴 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.

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⚠️ 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.

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🔍 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.

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💬 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

14/03/2025

This is so well written, if a little ‘deep’ but the gist of it is “I’ll give you some time to understand what’s required of you and develop your trust but I will keep teaching you what I want until your No becomes a Yes!!”

In your effort to teach your horse that they have freedom to come and go, be careful you do not teach them to go, as a default.

It is very easy, to train a horse to Say No.

It is hard to earn a horses Yes.

Piggy backing on the most recent post about showing up for horses in our ability to allow them to disagree, I wish to add a very important element of nuance here. A nuance I think many modern horse people, almost wholesale, trip up on and have no idea.

Every single new thing we encounter causes discomfort. Discomfort is not distress. So if the term discomfort makes you distressed, I would like to gently affirm, that your understanding of discomfort may require some reflection and growth.

Present a horse a new thing. Something they have never seen before or done before. A horse who is confident in their handler will likely approach the new thing, while also being wary of the new thing. This is discomfort.

Discomfort is DRASTICALLY important to the brain. Without it, the brain actually atrophies. Discomfort is when the brain exits their comfort zone (things the brain knows and is familiar with) and begins to quickly lay down new connections. Like pouring concrete to make strong foundations. The more regular the neurological discomfort, the stronger the brain builds its wiring. You actually get smarter.

This comes up in horse training anytime we show a horse a new skill.

Let's take the mounting block for example. I am a big believer in raising green and inexperienced horses around trained horses. So that they can watch their buddies sidle up to a mounting block without drama or concern, and receive a rider, (of course if riding is appropriate). So when that horses turn comes to learn about the mounting block, they at least have seen it done before.

But imagine a horse who has never seen a mounting block, or never seen a horse mounted before. You are essentially introducing a totally alien procedure.

I would like you to imagine you have never seen a car before, or didn't know cars existed. And one day, someone puts you in the drivers seat. You don't have ANY CONCEPT about what comes next.

I want us to remember, that many horses HAVE NO CONCEPT about what is the next step in their training, even when you do.

So, we need to,

1. Introduce each new element in baby steps.
2. Offer plenty of processing time (but not too much, more on that in a moment).
3. Have a solid base the horse is comfortable with, and never hesitate to return to it if discomfort becomes distress.

The problem is, many horses, most horses, will reject new concepts. The more naturally embodied they are, the more likely their first answer- to everything -will be NO.

This is especially true for horses whom their first contact with people was violent.

They will say No to most if not ALL new concepts we introduce as a general rule.

If you take their No, and always say, OK. You teach them that No is the answer. Always. Yes, never becomes a concept. Ever.

And then we tell a story about consent.

Consent means: (Old French- Middle English) Con- together. Sentire- Feel. Together Feel.

So long as the horse is feeling together of and with you, and you are feeling together of and with the horse... proceed.

Horses absolutely will give us a No, often as an invitation to continue with more clarity. Often horses say NO to our trepidation and lack of confidence or our emotional blockages. And because we are not aware, we think they said NO to the task we asked them to try. They are likely willing to try the task, but would like it without second helpings of their handlers emotional projections.

I want people to know that consent in horsemanship is a nuanced field of study with many moving parts and complexities.

And for very good reasons, many of us have muddied the Consent-Based waters with Human-Centric issues of consent. Which are much more cut and dried. No is No. As a survivor myself of SA, I take human-world consent issues very seriously and unambiguously.

But a domestic horse is not a wild horse. They are not free to leave, entirely.

They are held to us for food.
Shelter.
Care.

They are held to us as stewards tasked with answering the on-going questions our horses have about domesticity.

And many elements of living in domesticity require the horses co-operation, even if they do not like doing the thing. This is an uncomfortable truth for many people today. A "Duh!" moment for many others, others who have no issue saying to a horse...

"My love, the decision has been made for you. We have to do this now. Let us feel-together with each other as we get this over and done with please".

The next level of nuance, WHAT is it, that we are asking them to do, is ACTUALLY a necessity?

You get to decide whats a necessity for your case.

And each concept you present to your horse may require different spectrums of consent conversations where differing levels of objection are taken into account. How much objection from the horse would be enough to de-rail the training and bring it to a halt? How much of the horses perceived objection, is not because they don't want to do it or don't like it, rather because they simply do not know it.

Remember: A horse that "Does Not Know The Thing", will behave in almost identical fashion to the horse that "Knows The Thing And Has Declined To Do The Thing".

And the horse in a declination state, can often be stuck there, until a trainer skilled enough in earning trust comes along, and has the confidence and staying power and horse-sense, to actually ask them to try it again, even in spite of themselves. To discover that they actually CAN do it. And DO like it... now. Even if they didn't like it before.

Remember folks, it is not simplistic stuff. Beware of simplistic notions around these subjects, it leads us to dead-end streets with Horsemanship labelled "Kind", when it is actually just a dysfunctional non-starter. Misguided and Idealistic notions from folks at sea on the realities at play.

19/02/2025

Tip of the Day:
The square and the circle:
At the bottom of these notes is a diagram which should make things clear.

If you ride a 20m square then you can fit a 20m circle within the square. The circle will touch each of the 4 sides of the square in the middle called tangent points.

Prelim level:

Walk the square riding each corner of the square like a corner of the school. Then pick one tangent point and ride onto the circle. Pick another tangent point and ride back onto the square. Have a walk stretch, change the rein and repeat.

Novice level:

Start off by doing the same as for Prelim level. Then walk the square, at a tangent point transition to trot onto the circle. Pick a different tangent point and downward transition to walk back onto the square.

Elementary level:

Start with the above. Then walk the square, walk to canter at a tangent point onto the circle. At a different tangent point trot and at another one walk and back onto the square.

Medium level:

Walk the square, ride the corners as quarter pirouettes, then at a tangent point walk to canter onto the circle then at a different tangent point canter to walk onto the square...

21/01/2025

Prerequisites for your horse before utilizing “Inside Leg to Outside Rein” connection!

(In no particular order and guys this is just a Facebook post- not a 1000 page
Riding manual. Please adjust expectations accordingly!)

1.) A hindquarter yield. If you can’t get the horse to move the b***y over, there’s absolutely no way you’re going to get inside leg to outside rein connection.
2.) Lateral poll flexion. If you cannot get the horse to bend both directions through the poll joint, consider in hand work.
3.) Responsiveness!  You can’t get your horse to move correctly if you can’t get your horse to move.
4.) A rudimentary leg yield.  This one might be confusing because you need good inside leg to outside rein connection to get a proper leg yield. But you need a rudimentary “move over” before you can get inside leg to outside rein. To get students started I will often have them bend towards the wall and leg yield down the rail nose out, tail in. As they start to get the idea, we do it a few meters away from the wall. 
5.) Two reins!!! Lol. What I mean by this is that you should be able to have a little connection in both hands traveling both directions. It’s very common for horses to completely avoid contact on one side.  You might feel like if you engage your outside rein at all, that you lose all bend to the inside, and/or that your horse completely shrinks their neck all up, affectively training you to not use that rein! 
6.) “Bend” (axial rotation) through the rib cage both directions.  Again, this becomes a chicken or egg conversation!  Many will say that inside leg to outside rein is how you get bend through the body, But if it’s a concept you are already sketchy on, and your horse is totally locked in his torso, you’re going to have to work on this ingredient by itself before you are going to be able to orchestrate multiple things happening together. That said your hind quarter yield and rudimentary leg yield will already be helping with this. But it’s important, so I’m also listing it separately.
I teach students to sit to the inside of the bend to help the horse swing through the rib cage. You should be able to step down into your inside stirrup and get the horse to swing the rib cage to the outside, which appears like bend through the torso.

18/01/2025

Totally just venting here- it makes me so sad how many instructors really have no idea why we do what we do, and therefore they just regurgitate things they’ve heard over the years. Aka- 20 years ago when they last took lessons (🙄) someone told them to keep their hands down, so now they teach their students to keep their hands down. But in relation to what?? And in what situation?? There are plenty of times that it makes sense to lift your hand, whether it be momentarily,  or because the student is carrying their hands too low. But no, the uneducated “teacher” just gives everyone the blanket instruction to “keep your hands down!” regardless of the situation. 😔

The one that annoys me the most (right now anyways) is “don’t pinch with the knees”. Back in the 80s, many show jumpers pitched forwards, rotating around the knee, like shown in the sketch.  Many phenomenal riders (think Ian Miller on Big Ben ) rode like this at the highest of levels, and managed to do quite well!  But since all of us had a subscription to Practical Horseman magazine, every month we were exposed to George Morris critiquing mostly good riders. EVERY SINGLE photo critique was over a jump!!! and one of his most common evaluations was that a rider was pinching with the knee. Oh, the horror! 😱
So obviously a bunch of instructors started repeating this instruction, and their students, now young instructors, also continued repeating it, having NO idea the original context! You have young kids riding around with their knee COMPLETELY off the saddle, because heaven forbid if they “pinch with the knee.” 🙄🤦‍♀️ This original instruction was given to people who could jump a 4 foot course without stirrups and not miss them!!  If you are in a dressage saddle, you also need to relax the thigh so that you can put more weight in your seat bones. But if you are teaching jumping, or even just jumping position, for the love of preventing concussions, please teach your riders to have a tight thigh!!!!!!
And if you don’t know when a rider should have a tight thigh and when they should have a relaxed thigh, maybe stop teaching lessons and start taking them! Yeah, I said it.

Same with heels down and bracing in the stirrup…. In the United States, most beginner barns are Huntseat barns. That was also true in the 80s. Back then there was no such thing as a heel that was too low. 😂 But then along came Sally Swift and Mary Wanless, teaching people how to move their hips and not brace in the stirrup…. Excellent advice!  This is how I teach. But then a bunch of uneducated nobodies started applying this advice to half seat and jumping position. 🤦‍♀️🫣.
So now we have a bunch of beginner barns where kids knees are sticking out and their feet are flat at best, and they have no security through their leg whatsoever. But they are in a Huntseat saddle with their stirrups set at jumping length, and they don’t know how to sit deep and move their hips like a dressage rider either. **internal screams**
Either teach a proper Huntseat position with a TIGHT thigh and heels jammed down, or teach a proper Dressage position with seat bones plugged in, draping thigh, supple swinging hips, and a strong core. Or you can be like me and teach both, but make sure your riders understand the difference between the two!!!
But don’t mince them together!!  If you are going to take away the tight thigh, and the deep heel, of a hunt seat student, then you better know how to teach an actual proper dressage seat, and put them in a saddle that supports that goal.
And if you don’t understand that the two seats are completely different, again, maybe stop teaching lessons and start taking them.