STL - Equestrian Coaching

02/03/2025

01/03/2025

“Horses regularly trained with ground work are more relaxed when ridden”

A recent study of dressage horses in Germany that looked at rein length and tension revealed a surprising finding: horses who were regularly trained in ground work/in-hand work had lower heart rates during ridden work than all of the other participating horses. This wasn’t what the researchers were investigating, but it was clear in the results. From this, the researchers concluded that, “Perhaps horses trained in ground work had more trust in their rider.”

So why would it be true that horses who regularly learn via ground work/in-hand work are more relaxed? There are a few possibilities.

1) Horses trained regularly with ground work are more relaxed because their trainers are more relaxed. It’s possible that humans who take the time to teach their horses from the ground are less goal oriented and more concerned with the process. They may be more relaxed in general and foster this same relaxation in their horses. As you are, so is your horse.

2) Horses trained regularly with ground work have trainers who are more educated about a horse’s balance.

Their horses learn to move in correct balance which allows them to be healthy and sound in their bodies and, therefore, more relaxed. Physical balance is emotional balance.

3) Horses trained regularly with ground work understand the trainer’s criteria better. They have mastered the response to an aid before the rider mounts and know the “right answer” already once under saddle. They don’t experience any conflict when the rider asks for a behavior because the neural pathway has already been installed. They are more relaxed about being ridden because it rarely has caused confusion for them.

For us highly visual humans I think that ground work is often a better way to begin exercises because we are much better at seeing our horse doing the right thing than feeling it from the saddle. Often, my feel in the saddle is enhanced by the fact that I have watched my horse perform an exercise over and over in our in-hand work. It feels how it looks. In-hand work is also a good way to teach our horses because our own bodies are often more in balance when we are walking beside our horses. With the ground under our feet we are able to be more relaxed if something goes wrong and less likely to be so busy wrapped up in our own balance that we give our horses conflicting or confusing aids. It’s a good place to figure things out. I am a huge fan of in-hand work.

I’m glad to learn research revealed ground work is good for horses. Horses with a low heart rate are relaxed and relaxed horses perform better and live longer. In this day and age of people starting horses under saddle in under an hour and increasing monetary rewards for the “young horse dressage program“, everything seems to be done in a hurry. The entire horse culture seems to privilege “getting up there and riding your horse”. But as one of my favorite writers and accomplished horsewoman, Teresa Tsimmu Martino writes, “In today’s horse culture there are clinics that brag about starting a c**t in a day, as if the quickness of it was the miracle. But old horse people know it takes years to create art. Horses as great masterpieces are not created in a day. An artist does not need to rush.” We need more scientific studies like this one to encourage us to slow down and take our time with our horses.

So why were the horses in the study more relaxed? Likely it was a combination of all three factors – a relaxed trainer, better overall balance and clear understanding of criteria.

These are things that matter to your horse, and yes, will allow him to trust you when you ride. Take some time to slow down and work from the ground, learn a bit more about equine balance and teach new things in-hand before asking for them under saddle. You can take your riding to a whole new level and help your horse become more healthy and relaxed in the process.” - from the article by Jen of Spellbound Horses https://spellboundhorses.com/2013/03/07/horses-regularly-trained-with-ground-work-are-more-relaxed-when-ridden/

01/03/2025

So today I had planned to be doing a cool video on how Ru and I have progressed our flag work both on ground and ridden….
Sometimes even if you DO put in all the time, effort and hard work… it still doesn’t work out 😞
We are a week into foot soaks and poulticing after Ru managed to puncture his foot and cause himself a very painful, nasty abscess.
I’m not convinced it has all drained out even though I’m not getting much out now as it’s still quite hot and puffy around fetlock, so I’ve no idea when he will be back to work
At the moment it feels like 2 months bringing back to fitness down the drain… again 🙈🙄

I’m now trying to just keep it dry and clean and see what happens next week 🤞
But my gut is telling me this isn’t over and there is something else going on in there. 😞

To anyone wondering, I would not recommend horses for your mental health or bank balance 🙈
The anxiety this horse causes me on an almost weekly basis is quite astonishing!
Horses, who’d have em!

28/02/2025

Using a cone wheel/20m circle ⭕️
For serpentines on the circle and to support the inner or outside of the circle

I love using poles and cones for focus and accuracy during schooling sessions/lessons.

Riding a slalom pattern around the cones on a circle is a great suppling exercise.

Cones on a circle are good for helping with accuracy of size and shape of circles but also for helping to create bend

Riding with the cones on the outside of the circle helps frame your horse from the outside and supports the outside leg and rein.
Really useful if your horse tends to fall out through the shoulder on circles

You can then leg yield out between cones and ride a circle on the outside of the cones.
Riding with the cones on the inside of the horse/rider is a really good way to encourage more bend and keep your circles round throughout.
Riding on the outside of the cones supports your inside aids.

To add to this you can use the circle of cones to leg yield to the inside and outside and you can leg yield away from cones to enlarge the circle further. Focus on not losing the bend while you leg yield out and enlarge the circle. And then the same leg yielding back in 👍

Here you can see Donk is going very nicely on the inside of the cones. But the suppleness, relaxation is lost slightly when he leg yields out to the outside of the cone circle.

27/02/2025

Maddie and Charlotte having their first little ride down the drive and back.
Small steps all add up!
Maddie has been unridden for nearly 3 years but careful prep has set her up to feel confident with accepting a rider back in the saddle, ready to start short rides out. 👏

We’re continuing with her groundwork poles but she is now ready to start short hacks which is so exciting! 😃
Happy hacking Charlotte and Maddie!

26/02/2025

Some of my junior riders this week having absolutely brilliant sessions 👏

Sadie and Popsical- working on correct and secure riding position and working on Halt/walk/trot (or jog 😉) transitions!

Harriet and Lilly - split session into lunging and ridden. And ⭐️ effort for lunge work 🙌 a huge improvement in both Harriet’s confidence, aids and positioning and in Lilly’s way of going, some of the nicest and most effective lunging I’ve seen in a long time. 👏
And then some ridden polework and cone exercises.

21/02/2025

This is why we won’t all look the same, even if/when we are correct or to our best ability of correct.
It is never one size fits all.
I can relate to this so much being a long bodied - short armed person, also with short legs! 🦖

19/02/2025

8 months working closely with Euro Vet Physio for hands on physio and progressive pole plans.
And today Charlotte had her first sit back in the saddle 🙌 after over two years off. Massive well done 👏
Charlotte has been dedicated throughout in getting Maddie into better health physically but also working with a few mental/emotional hang ups that made communication with Maddie extremely difficult in the beginning.

We will continue to progress Maddie through her polework in the school but we can also now start the rebacking/training process for ridden work too! How exciting!
So pleased for Charlotte, she deserves every bit of success and fun to come after all her hard work! ⭐️🤩🙌

16/02/2025

11/02/2025

Sometimes the best thing you can do for you horse is to GET OFF.
How do you make a good hacking horse?
Get off and lead them
How do you make a horse brave?
Get off and lead them
How can you feel braver/more confident in certain situations?
Get off! It will often help your horse too!

This year so far has been about building Rus fitness again after a winter and young horse 6-7 week break.
And most of what we’re doing is hacking and a few groundwork sessions in the school with walk poles.

Ru is only 4 and he’s an ex racehorse so previous to me he would never have been worked alone, always with horse company.

Ru hacks alone! And for the most part he is exceptional! 🙌 calm, relaxed, and enjoys going out.

But how did we get there?
Today we passed another rider and I had jumped off as Ru could hear another horse coming and had a bit of a freeze response.
As the lady came round the corner all she sees a calm horse stood with me at his side.
She commented on how patient I was for jumping off to help him settle, then jumping back on again before we went on our way.

This made my day.
As years ago getting off your horse was frowned upon! A very out dated belief if you ask me.

So why do I do it?
The day Ru is pushed too far they can opt for bucking/rearing/bolting…
Once a horse has been made to take that action, the chance of them taking that action again increases, as it becomes a learned response. They learn to be fearful and react.

By getting off and helping him to be calmer, he is not getting to a point he needs to think about any other response other than “go with mum- feel better.”
Today I got off and got back on again twice on our ride. And I don’t think much of it.
If I think he needs help, I get off and help him.

Horse and rider can both benefit from being able to get off and get back on again off any accommodating object (fence, walk, grass bank…)
A skill Ru is now very well trained in!

So how did we make such a young brave hacking horse?
-Months of hand walking. Gradually increasing distance and time away from home. Stopping for frequent grass snack breaks. If it’s a good time for them they are far more likely to want to go again.
-some long reining on the roads(this is a process!)
It helps them feel confident without you at their head but you are still on the ground if they need you
- walk out - ride back. (Or the other way round if your horse is keen coming home)
- ride but get off for anything that may be too scary.

My best advice is - Avoid arguments.
We are thinking. They are feeling.

I don’t always need to jump off to rescue him but i will if he needs me.
He is a braver horse the next time.
Today he surprised me with how brave he can be for such a young horse, as we were trotting up the road there was a loose sheep on the road, I just let him carry on as he didn’t back off and he bravely trotted past the sheep with minimal side eye 👁️ on the way past and carried on up the road in a happy little jog.

Things like that make me so proud of him and how far he’s come. And I realise how much good the work I’ve put in to him has done.

People comment on how well behaved my ex racehorses have been, but I do my absolute best NOT to get into arguments with them or put them in situations where they have to say no.

Always try to set your horse up to say “YES”.
Even if that means getting off.

10/02/2025

05/02/2025

The lovely Hattie after his groundwork session and pre ride warm up.
Was really good to get back out to teaching/training today.
If your horse is this interested and engaging with you after your groundwork session, your probably doing something right 👍

We did a little work on changing his mindset about lunging, some poles and some balance and matching steps/energy work in hand.

Hattie has been described as being slow and disinterested, but does he look disinterested here?
Train your horses mind, not just their body. 🙌

29/01/2025

The best contribution we can make to our horses' fitness is consistency. Far more important than a new workout or secret shortcut is the not-so-exciting work of showing up every day and putting in the work. Sometimes, it will not feel valuable. Other times, it will be downright boring. But for long-term soundness, it's absolutely important. Day by day. Do the work.

29/01/2025

How to- First ride with the flag 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

This is how I prepped and did our first ride with the flag. However previous to this we have over the last 6 months had several ground sessions with the flag. This was just how I then take this training to the first ride in the saddle.

Before introducing a flag it may be worth checking out this post :
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/15fZUofg62/?mibextid=wwXIfr
On how your horse chooses to interact with new/spooky things.
Then you can adapt your training to suit.

It is so important with this and any training that you go at your horses pace and do not be tempted to rush to the next step if your horse is showing signs of being uncomfortable or unsure.

This video shows my step by step to introducing a simple pattern of riding around the bins with a flag.

-How we approach and handle the flag from the start on the ground
-leading with the flag ahead of us, this is really important for the horse as the flag moves “away” while they walk towards it. Really clever way to help them be more confident with new things.
- leading with the flag along side the horse
- riding the pattern without the flag
- picking up and putting down
- and then being able to ride a simple there and back pattern carrying the flag for the first time
- and the all important rewards! +

I’m so proud of young Ru! He is 5 in April and our retraining has been slow but things like this make me so proud of him, he’s a little braveheart 🩵

28/01/2025

Coming tomorrow:
Full video edited with how I helped Ru with his first ride carrying the flag 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿