Inside Track Training, LLC

12/20/2025

I’ll always choose the barn.
Not because it’s easy.
Not because it fits neatly into a busy life.
But because it’s the one place that has always felt honest to me.

The barn doesn’t ask me to be anything
other than who I am in that moment.
It doesn’t care how productive my day was,
how put together I look,
or how heavy my heart feels.

It just lets me arrive as I am.

When life feels loud,
the barn feels steady.
When the world pulls me in a hundred directions,
the barn pulls me back to myself.

There’s something about the rhythm of it all—
the feeding,
the brushing,
the quiet chores done without rushing—
that reminds me life doesn’t have to move so fast
to be meaningful.

I’ll always choose the barn
because it teaches me patience
when I want control,
softness
when I’m tempted to harden,
and presence
when my mind wants to live everywhere but here.

The barn has held me
through becoming.
Through joy.
Through heartbreak.
Through seasons when I wasn’t sure
who I was anymore.

It has never asked for explanations.
It has never rushed my healing.
It has simply offered space—
space to breathe,
to feel,
to remember what matters.

I’ll always choose the barn
because horses don’t just take up space in my life—
they shape the way I live it.
They teach me to listen more than I speak.
To lead with intention.
To trust slowly and love deeply.

The barn reminds me
that strength doesn’t have to be loud.
That peace can be quiet.
That joy can live in the simplest moments—
a soft nicker,
a warm breath,
the sound of hooves on dirt at the end of the day.

I know this life isn’t for everyone.
The early mornings.
The dirt under your nails.
The sacrifices no one sees.

But for those of us who understand…
the barn isn’t just a place.
It’s a feeling.
A refuge.
A home.

So yes—
when given the choice,
I’ll always choose the barn.

Because it’s where my heart feels most like itself.

Is the barn your go-to place?

12/19/2025

12/17/2025

Another of my favorites!! I try to do this at the walk on a 10m figure 8… holding the bend so one circle is shoulder-in and the other in haunches-in. Then I reverse the bend and do a few more figure 8’s.

Training Tip Tuesday. Another fun exercise to help the horse with lateral movement specifically when learning the haunches in (travers). In this exercise, we ride a 10 or 20 meter circle (pictured) and alternate between shoulder in and haunches in. This helps the horse to develop lateral suppleness, as well as, his body awareness. Shoulder in should be approximately 30 degrees off the line of travel. Haunches in is around 35 degrees. This will alternate between the inside hind and the outside hind leg stepping under the body thus increase strength, flexibility, balance, coordination and collection to name a few.

12/15/2025

Please never forget
How brave it is
To continue to show up
In a story
that looks so
Different than what
You thought it’d be.

Please never forget
How brave it is
To dream up next chapters
While honoring the ones
That closed so painfully.

Please never forget
How brave it is,
To continue
To explore next pages
Despite feeling
Fear and anxiety.

Please never forget
How brave it is,
To hope and dream
Amidst the uncertainty.

-Liz Newman

12/14/2025

What a fun “in house” dressage show today! We had everything from Amy in her first Fourth-1 test to Sarah doing an in-hand version of Intro A with her lovely yearling! Everyone did such a great job showing off their skills! These shows are just so fun and encouraging! We hope to hold them consistently every few months, so watch for details!

12/13/2025

If lateral work feels like a brain teaser on horseback, you’re not alone.

Most riders have heard things like:

“Bend… no, not in the neck!”
“Shoulders in, ribcage yielded, hindquarters straight — nope, now you've lost the shoulders!”
“Forward… but sideways… but don’t lose the rhythm!”

And at some point your brain just says:
“I’m sorry… you want me to coordinate what??”

The truth is, lateral movements are incredibly powerful tools for improving the horse’s balance, straightness, and rideability — but only when we understand what we’re asking for.

So today I want to break down a few of these movements in simple, rider-friendly terms you can take straight into your next ride.

⭐ Leg Yield — Where it All Begins

Form: Slight flexion away from the direction of travel, moving forward and sideways.
Function: Teaches the horse to move off your leg and keeps the body mostly straight.
Feeling: Like the horse is “gliding” sideways with soft ribs.
Why it matters: This is the foundation of all bending and straightening work.

⭐ Shoulder-In — The Engagement Builder

Form: Slight inside bend, shoulders brought just to the inside on three tracks.
Function: Encourages the inside hind to step under and carry more weight.
Feeling: The horse feels “wrapped” around your inside leg, with lifted shoulders.
Why it matters: This movement improves almost everything — straightness, strength, balance, suppleness.

⭐ Travers (Haunches-In) — Teaching the Horse to Sit

Form: Bend around the inside leg, hindquarters step inward.
Function: Builds hindquarter strength and prepares for half pass.
Feeling: The inside hind steps more underneath your seat with a soft, even curve.
Why it matters: Essential for developing collection and power.

⭐ Half Pass — The Diagonal Dance

Form: Like travers but on the diagonal, with bend in the direction of travel.
Function: Combines strength, balance, bend, and coordination.
Feeling: Like the horse is carrying you diagonally uphill.
Why it matters: This is advanced work, but it grows out of all the basics above.

⭐ So What Do Lateral Movements Do as a Whole?

Regardless of discipline — dressage, eventing, hunters, western, trail — lateral work makes your horse:

More balanced

Straighter

Softer in the body

More adjustable

More responsive to leg, seat, and rein

More confident carrying weight from behind

And they help you, the rider:

Coordinate your aids

Feel correct bend

Influence shoulders and hindquarters separately

Develop timing and body awareness

Build a more educated seat

Understand when the horse is truly straight and connected

When riders truly “get” lateral work, everything else becomes easier:
Transitions, circles, straight lines, jumping, even hacking out.

If lateral movements have ever felt complicated or overwhelming, I promise—they don’t have to.

I’ve put together a resource that breaks down each movement into:
Form • Function • Feeling • Rider Aids
…in simple, rider-friendly language you can instantly apply.

The link is in the first comment if you want it.
But whether or not you grab it, I hope this explanation helps something click in your next ride. 💛

12/10/2025

This is why they are always set up in the rings