JAMES EQUESTRIAN

19/08/2025

Monday funny courtsey of JAMES EQUESTRIAN

30/07/2025

The greatest aid in horse training is the absence of force. 📚 Visit our bookshop: www.elaineheneybooks.com 🐴 Documentary: www.listeningtothehorse.com

30/07/2025

Don Stewart has trained hundreds of riders over his long and storied career—many of whom have gone on to dominate top hunter, jumper, and equitation rings. His longevity in the sport isn’t just about talent; it’s about his ability to evolve without abandoning the values that got him started.

“I think there’s a big difference in how we brought riders up 30 years ago,” Stewart said. “But I’m not here to say one way is better. I think we have to take the best of both.”

It’s this thoughtful mix of tradition and progress that has helped Stewart remain one of the most respected figures in the industry.

One of the biggest shifts Stewart has seen is in how young riders approach the barn and the sport as a whole.

“We used to be there all day, every day,” he recalled. “We cleaned stalls, we swept aisles, we watched every lesson whether we were riding or not. That’s how we learned.”

That “barn rat” mentality, Stewart believes, created a deeper level of horsemanship. “There’s something to be said for just being in the barn,” he said. “You can learn as much listening to a lesson as you can riding in one.”

Still, he understands that times have changed. “Kids today are busy. They’ve got school, they’ve got other responsibilities. I get it. But I do think we lose something when horses are just another activity on the schedule.”

While Stewart embraces evolution, he’s also not afraid to hold the line on certain standards.

“I still want horses to be turned out well. I still want kids to be polite. I still want them to walk the course and have a plan,” he said. “Those things never go out of style.”

He admits there are moments where he misses the old days. “We didn’t have phones in our hands all day. We talked to each other. We learned by watching. That sense of community in the barn—there’s nothing like it.”

But instead of lamenting what’s changed, Stewart focuses on what he can teach today’s riders through his example. “I don’t expect them to know everything right away. But I expect them to want to learn,” he said.

🔗 Read the full article at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2025/07/23/what-never-goes-out-of-style-don-stewarts-take-on-riding-respect-and-results/
📸 Courtesy of Don Stewart

28/07/2025

"'Running scared' is how I overheard a cowboy once characterize jumper horses. He criticized the discipline for forceful training, resulting in fearful horses that perform only out of stress, rather than a willing consent. I would have rolled my eyes at the western horseman who clearly spoke from a different riding universe, ignorant of our sophisticated industry, but I’d just witnessed him communicating with a horse in a manner I previously thought impossible.

The clinic demonstration began in a tight round pen shared by the cowboy and a tough, borderline dangerous, young mare. She matched the expression of a naively confident adolescent—slightly intimidating but obviously foolish. Her tense owner stood next to me, holding her breath, desperate for a breakthrough in her horse’s willingness to be handled. She watched with hope while I watched with the same arrogant skepticism the young mare displayed.

His first move looked ridiculous, as he obnoxiously flapped an orange flag attached to a dressage whip in order to encourage the mare to move around him. To my eyes, the interaction appeared chaotic—a frenzy of flapping, waving, and rapid trotting without aim. I couldn’t comprehend what he was accomplishing.

However, the chaos clarified with the cowboy’s calm narration. Through announcing the purpose of each small step and predicting every move she’d make next, I realized the chaos was more of a synchronized dance than a mess of motion. Every beat was a cue or a response. The partners moved deliberately, but the cowboy led the dance.

Randomly and suddenly (at least to my untrained eye), he set the flag down and leaned casually against the round pen fence. The mare fixed her eyes on him, but he kept his gaze low.

“I’m going to give her a minute to decide to come to me,” he explained. The hyper-focused arena crowd kept silent, as if something important were about to happen. Everyone was still. Several minutes passed but the mare’s stare never broke, and the cowboy didn’t move an inch nor lose his impressively secure patience.

The cowboy’s willingness to wait was commendable, but I was more impressed by the horse’s intellectual stamina. She stood thinking for several minutes, revealing an attention span I didn’t know horses were capable of. Maybe I wasn’t aware because I’d never allowed a horse indefinite, uninterrupted time to contemplate."

🔗 Read the full article by Elyse Schenk at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2020/05/21/from-the-ground-up-rethinking-the-relationship-with-your-horse/

📸 © The Plaid Horse

28/07/2025

We have had a lovely month of showing with the best team, so proud of the development of them all. We have a small spot left for campaigning for the next quarter starting with Tamworth Worldcup Show next month due to arrivals flights delayed.

0403599902

19/07/2025

12/07/2025

I found this quote pretty powerful: “ you cannot train a horse with shouting and expecting it to obey a whisper”

Horses don’t learn through force, they learn through feel…
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True connection comes from teaching your horse to trust your softness. That means being clear, fair, and consistent, not rushing, pushing, or overpowering.
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When you ride with patience and feel, your horse learns to listen, not just react. And that’s where the magic begins.
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✨ Quiet riding isn’t weak — it’s intentional.

09/07/2025

Touch Of Class with Conrad Homfeld at Lake Placid in 1982 where they won the I Love New York Grand Prix.

09/07/2025

08/07/2025

07/07/2025