Seven Hills Training

08/28/2024

07/17/2024

We like to copy and paste here.

06/22/2024

Anyone else enjoying this amazing by weather? We’re so happy to finally be able to hack out around the property and enjoy the wonderful track!

05/07/2024

“I regularly ride my dressage horses out on the trail.... You can use the energy and fresh air of the open country in your training to give your dressage horse motivation, strength, and expression when ridden in teh arena. Riding out will also benefit his composure and nerves. And riding on different surfaces—sand, grass; dry, muddy—will improve your horse’s balance and surefootedness. The hills undulations, hollows, and slopes can imrove your horse’s physical suppleness and use of his back.” Ingrid Klimke in her new book RIDING OUT, now available from TSB.​​ ❤️🐴📕

05/05/2024

As we prepare for the new arena mirrors to be installed we’ve been making bets on what horse will be this opinionated 😂.

Mares!! Gotta love them 😂❤️🐎

05/01/2024

Spring has sprung!

04/25/2024

Oops 😅

Us right now getting ready for Horse Expo 😂😂😂😂😂😂

04/25/2024

THM asked master trainer, Klaus Balkenhol - Why can’t the judges see what is correct and what is false?
“That is a big problem, the judges don’t judge what they see. If the horse is very up in front and not relaxed in the back and not swinging, and the hind leg is a little slower than the front one, the rhythm of the walk is broken, or the back is so tight that the walk is always short, they should mark down these things, but the big problem is that they do not.”
https://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2017/06/klaus-balkenhol-and-the-correct-way-of-training-a-horse/

04/15/2024

Yay! 😁

You asked, we answered:
We now carry Artimud! 🤩

This works great as a treatment, and even better as a preventative - even our own horse owning associates swear up and down by it!

04/11/2024

Such a true statement!

"If I had a horse buck with me now, I’m a little disappointed. It’s not the end of the world, but I’m a little disappointed if I couldn’t keep the horse out of trouble. Whereas it used to be a source of pride and now it’s sort of a source of shame if I let the horse get that lost." - Buck Brannaman.

Image of Buck is by Mindy Bower.

04/01/2024

🌟 Gratitude Post 🌟

A huge shoutout to Michelle Stupay for choosing us to handle the sale of Banker🐴! It's been a pleasure working with you every step of the way. Your trust means the world to us!

And a hearty congratulations to Joanna Tracy on the purchase of your new horse 🎉 We're thrilled to have been part of your journey to finding the perfect partner!

03/20/2024

🩺Tuesday Vet Tip 💡

Commercial feeds are deficient in iodine and salt as it will limit intake due to palatability. Forage is naturally low in iodine and salt as well.

Salt is critical for maintaining your horses’ hydration. Iodine is a vital part of thyroid function which includes cell regulation important for your horses’ metabolism and hoof growth.

A white salt block is a good option for summer months. However, not all horses prefer to lick a block. This time of year keeping a salt block can have the added difficulty of it melting 🫠.

Adding 2TBSP iodized salt 🧂 to your horses grain will meet the average horses salt and iodine requirements.

If you are using a white salt block, your horse should be consuming an ounce per day, roughly 2 lbs a month. Mark your calendar 📆 when you purchase a block and do the math that your horse is actually consuming the appropriate amount.

03/07/2024

A reader writes: “Do you prefer working with fresh-slate horses, or those who are somehow ‘spoiled’ and need restarts?”

***

Trainers definitely seem to fall into two camps, when presented with questions like the one above.

If a person is training commercially with an eye to competition, the first group of colts is, realistically, the only way to go. You’ll need specific bloodlines athletic enough to get the job done in your discipline. You’ll need that clean-slate, in order to absorb your training quickly and efficiently. You'll also need a stream of young horses coming in to fulfill your requirements for the futurities, whether or not we approve of such things!

Competition aside, time is money in the business of training horses, something that many people don’t understand. I tend to cut pro trainers a lot of slack when it comes to timesaving measures, for they, too, deserve to pay their bills and feed their families. There are many ethical trainers among the bad. For the most part, they do an amazing job of turning out consistent and uncomplicated horses for us to safely enjoy.

That leaves those of us who are willing to throw our leg over the horse with a stormy past.

These are not the horses who are going to be able to get by with a thirty, sixty or ninety-day re-start. Whether due to poor handling in the past, undiagnosed longstanding pain, or just a challenging personality—which is often confused with a lifetime of abuse—these horses will need a program with consistency that, over time, can reprogram neural pathways in the brain.

These horses really require a mixture of science and technically sound riding, along with good intentions.

This means performing a positive response hundreds of times, in order to erase the past history of life-altering, or inappropriate, former reactions. As Dr. Phil used to say, “It takes one thousand ‘attaboys’ to replace one negative, scarring comment”. All of this, without mindless drilling.

When we consider the training of spoiled, or abused, horses, this is sobering information.

I have made it my business to have at least one of these horses on my books, at all times. These horses may have had a bad start and have somehow fallen through the cracks. Maybe they were started fine but then lived through years of neglect. I have been surprised to find that teenaged horses learn every bit as well as the younger colts, with different pros and cons in their responses to my training.

I have also learned that all things being equal, the truly clean slate horse is far less complex to shape into an uncomplicated ‘going’ horse, than the one with a chequered past.

The chances of getting hurt on the latter also go way up, exponentially. While few horses go out of their way to hurt us, an older horse will have judgments about prior abuse and is not above doing what is necessary to protect itself. This is understandable. We are all wired to survive, horses especially.

I personally enjoy the problem-solving nature of restarting troubled horses. I have learned, the hard and heartbreaking way, that not all horses can be saved. This is an unpopular notion that is borne by real life experience, alas.

There are some horses who are so fundamentally damaged, or so wrongly wired neurologically, that they can never be asked to serve us as saddle horses or driving horses. I have had to learn this lesson, many times. It is still untenable to me… or perhaps more truthfully, to my ego.

There is a lot of ‘feelgood’ associated with giving horses a second chance. Being someone’s saviour can have a dangerous allure.

I try very hard to not tie my own self worth to the successes my horses have seen, or have failed to find, while in my tenure. I do know that to be offered a clean slate horse means that I will be afforded a wonderful period in my training program, something that I have learned to enjoy and value.

People might be surprised to know that the average mustang, or unhandled horse, is an easier prospect than the one who has been started, or handled, wrongly.

I’d like to point out that riding nothing but spoiled, or troubled, horses can have a negative effect on one’s technical riding, as well as one’s emotions. Like unsound horses, they can become a very heavy burden, if we are not careful. I always aim to have at least one advanced horse in my string, to keep my riding light and without habitual defensiveness.

It is all-too-easy to begin handling ‘problem’ horses with a chip on one’s shoulder. Instead, we have to constantly find the balance between softness and acceptance, with staying aware and ahead of the constant possibility of getting hurt. Many troubled horses have hurt people in the past. Though this is understandable, it is not a comfort when your own safety is on the line.

I never worry about whose fault it is, that a horse is now this way. Blame solves nothing. If I now have this horse in my care, moving forward is squarely up to me.

Bottom line, I appreciate all the trainers who have their horses’ best interests at heart. Whether they are starting with gifted, clean slates with all the world before them… or their equine students are working to overcome hard and desperate pasts, I salute the trainers who create consistently straightforward, happy horses.

It is both my constant goal and great honour to endeavour to ride among them.

Shown here, a wintry memory of Mike on the beautiful 13:3 pony, Chica d'Or. That she went on to a life of proud service as a children's riding pony, belies her rough start in life.

03/06/2024

Seven Hills Training has an opening at Woods Creek Training Center/Pegasus in Monroe! We develop balanced, engaged horses and riders using classical dressage principles and sound horsemanship while laying a solid foundation of biomechanics for both.

Facility Perks:
🌳 Daily turnout, either individually or in small groups
🏟️ Indoor arena for year-round training
🔵 Covered round pen
⏱️ 5/8-mile track for conditioning and exercise
🏋️‍♀️Covered Eurosizer to increase fitness
💆‍♀️ Theraplate to improve circulation, reduce inflammation
🎒 Client tack room
🚿 Hot/cold water wash rack for easy clean-up
🧺 On-site laundry and restrooms
🚗 Optional trailer parking (for a small fee)

02/18/2024

Seven Hills Training has an opening at Woods Creek Training Center/Pegasus in Monroe starting in March! We develop balanced, engaged horses and riders using classical dressage principles and sound horsemanship while laying a solid foundation of biomechanics for both.

Facility Perks:
🌳 Daily turnout, either individually or in small groups
🏟️ Indoor arena for year-round training
🔵 Covered round pen
⏱️ 5/8-mile track for conditioning and exercise
🏋️‍♀️Covered Eurosizer to increase fitness
💆‍♀️ Theraplate to improve circulation, reduce inflammation
🎒 Client tack room
🚿 Hot/cold water wash rack for easy clean-up
🧺 On-site laundry and restrooms
🚗 Optional trailer parking (for a small fee)

02/13/2024

THIS!!! I’ve been riding with my mentor for over a decade, first 3 years was the same lessons on repeat. A.) I was undoing a lot of trauma on my rescued mare, she is sensitive beyond belief and has taught me so much about how soft and quiet you can truly get. B.) I had to undo my own muscle memory, I couldn’t understand when I was picking up my inside rein because I wasn’t consciously doing it, it took a long time to make myself aware of the habit and faze it out.

Why do the basics take so long?

The basics actually don’t take much time at all. Teaching a horse and rider the building blocks of balance and relaxation is not that difficult or complicated, as long as both are a blank slate.

What takes so much time is undoing poor basics, undoing poor movement patterns, and letting go of the wrong muscle memories and building the right muscle groups.

I’ve been riding with my teacher for almost a decade now. The first few years I barely made any progress, not because the work wasn’t good, but because I didn’t understand what she was even talking about. It went right over my head, and every lesson I had we sort of repeated the work of the last. My poor teacher repeated herself over and over, but I rode with others who’s work undid what she was trying to do, and I just wasn’t ready to understand it yet.

Then, when it clicked for me, I was all in- but my muscle memories, habits and understanding was counter productive. It took a long time (and I’m still working on it) to let go of the habits I had that stood in the way of progress. Same for my horses - they had habits that weren’t helpful either, especially the habit of coming behind the bit: some of it wasn’t my fault, some of it was. This was a very lengthy, uncomfortable and downright yucky phase. There didn’t feel like there was a lot of winning. This is where most people quit - they find a new instructor because they aren’t getting anywhere, or bounce around to different “methods.”

Then the break through: I finally understood where she was coming from, what the benefits were, and my horses were starting to buy into it too. We were finding harmony, beautiful moments sprinkled in, and getting successes to keep us motivated. This phase required lots of vigilance from my teacher and myself to not revert to old habits when we were tired, distracted or learning something new.

After these new, more productive habits were better cemented, upward progress was possible. It took so long. Not because the learning itself is fated to be arduous, but because I was in my own way for much of the time.

So why does it take so long? It doesn’t. But we make it so- and there’s nothing wrong with that process, because as Ray Hunt said, “you’re not working on your horse, you’re working on yourself.”

02/05/2024

Steinbrecht told us:
“If the rider wants to move the weight of the forehand to the rear, the proper supports can only be the stronger hind legs…It is therefore quite a useless and unnatural undertaking if riders attempt to force their horses’ necks and heads into an elevated position before they are able to bring their hindlegs correspondingly under with their own legs. They will be forced to carry the lifted weight themselves, continuously support it themselves, that is continuously support it with their hands. They will not transfer the weight to the hindquarters, but only unnaturally bend their horses’ backs.
Follow the link for more pix of what we are looking to create:
https://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2022/11/the-most-influential-dressage-master-of-them-all-steinbrecht/

02/02/2024

Seven Hills Training has an opening at our Woods Creek Training Center in Monroe starting in March! We develop balanced, engaged horses and riders using classical dressage principles and sound horsemanship while laying a solid foundation of biomechanics for both.

Facility Perks:
🌳 Daily turnout, either individually or in small groups
🏟️ Indoor arena for year-round training
🔵 Covered round pen
⏱️ 5/8-mile track for conditioning and exercise
🏋️‍♀️Covered Eurosizer to increase fitness
💆‍♀️ Theraplate to improve circulation, reduce inflammation
🎒 Client tack room
🚿 Hot/cold water wash rack for easy clean-up
🧺 On-site laundry and restrooms
🚗 Optional trailer parking (for a small fee)

01/24/2024

01/13/2024

01/12/2024

"Watson has an important announcement! ❄️🐾 Move over muddy kisses, because frozen whisker kisses have been perfected! Watson wants everyone to experience the winter charm. Who else has a furry friend delivering chilly smooches? 😘

01/11/2024

Embracing the winter wonderland with a dusting of snow! ❄️ Don't forget to give your horses some warm-up time – 15-20 minutes of walking can make a world of difference. No heroics needed, just a little extra care. Consider a lunge line or the eurosizer to keep them moving and happy! 🐴

Also, a friendly reminder to add salt to your horse's diet – it helps keep them hydrated during colder days. Cheers to happy, healthy horses! 🥂

01/08/2024

Christoph Hess talks about the direction dressage should be heading:
“For me, it is wrong when the rider is coming with his upper body behind the vertical. For me, the advice to every rider, is rising trot and light seat in canter, do it like this, and when you do this, then as a rider you get another feeling. Looking from the biomechanics point of view, you get more the feeling to be with the horse.” Ingrid Klimke and Damon Hill demonstrate:
https://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2022/08/is-dressage-heading-in-the-right-direction/

01/06/2024

Gerd Heuschmann, German vet and author tells us:
“In my opinion a dressage saddle on a three-year-old’s back is nonsense, like a driver’s license for a five-year-old kid. Keep the back free, let them go forward, let’s develop the muscle systems. What we are usually doing is making a good looking outline, we produce that by using our hands, and with our new better bred horses with better conformation, this makes it easier. The dressage trainer of the Klimke family, General Paul Stecken said to me, ‘Gerd it is nice what you say, but how can you explain to our young riders that they can’t accept the wonderful necks we are producing on our young horses these days. They are not allowed to put them up and make them beautiful – they must first make them long and unspectacular…’ This is one of our biggest problems.”
https://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2017/02/gerd-heuschmann-in-australia/