Forrest Hill Farm & Kaiser Dressage

12/09/2024

Raeagn and her Foray, good productive ride. Straightness and strength building.

12/09/2024

Camilla and FHF Thelina learning new exercises to improve obedience and suppleness.

12/09/2024

Grace having a great ride on Nancy's mare Oralee FHF

12/09/2024

Patti concentrating on her good guy FHF Emerson

12/09/2024

Illaria's Re*****on, he's a cool pony, coming back stronger and ready to learn more.

12/09/2024

Holly and the youngster Peyton FHF . Her first ride with him and she had great success! Andrea and Diesel showed good work!

12/09/2024

Two beautiful weekend days for lessons and quality riding time! Andrea and the lovely FHF Roulee, Holly and the attractive mare Phancy, Grace and her super Bob and Grace with Emily's Augie. Joy with her Jackson FF half passing!

12/04/2024

Today we watched 8 horses go in a variety of bits, one right after another. All similar style bits but each had differences that the horses could feel. The horses all relaxed, lengthened their necks and stepped better up into the hand when they were comfortable in "their" bit. We shivered and whined about how cold it was, but at the end of the day, it was worth it. Thank you Horse By Horse and Stephanie Brown-Beamer for you time and expertise. Four more horses tomorrow 9am to 3pm , we welcome auditors if you would like to see how the horses choose the bits they are comfortable in.

12/03/2024

12/01/2024

More on the German phrase that says “riding is only learned by sweeping.”

I remember an example of this one night, about 40 years ago, when I was spending a month at Walter Christensen’s dressage training stable, Stal Tasdorf, in Tasdorf, Germany. (photo of Walter teaching)

Walter’s main barn had a cobblestone type of floor, hard to keep clean because of all the indentations, and in various corners were funny little Hansel and Gretel type brooms, straight handles with what looked like a bunch of twigs wired to one end.

Everyone had left, all the working students, all the riders, and here was the master, then coach of the Swedish Olympic dressage team, vigorously giving the aisle one last cleanup before turning out the lights.

In the great scheme of things, why would it matter one iota whether the aisle was immaculate? Early next morning, when all the horses were being fed, hay and straw would get spilled all around, and who was going to see that floor in the middle of the night?

But that’s not the point, is it? And for those who do see the point, they probably would have been at one end of the broom. And for those who can’t grasp why it mattered to Walter, they’d have left it as it was.

To what extent can pride in a way of doing things be taught? Because that’s what’s at play here, I think.

And pride in one detail spills over into pride about other details, until it creates a mindset, a way of being. Or not---And in that way, sweeping teaches riding, tenuous as the connection might seem.

11/28/2024

Emma had fun on our 4-year-old Peyton FHF, they got along very well.

11/28/2024

Grace with her Bob. He's catching on to things quickly!

11/28/2024

Oralee FHF with Grace, this mare is learning so fast .

11/28/2024

I know Mary Jo is thankful for all her lessons on FHF Cruisewood!

11/28/2024

Laura and her Diablo, working on the pirouettes