Starting Point Equestrian, Pittsboro NC

11/10/2025

These days, everybody seems to have grooms, but “R” judge and trainer Geoff Case thinks many riders are missing the quiet time spent simply doing for their horses. “Horsemanship doesn’t just happen in the saddle,” he said. “It’s everything you do around the horse that teaches you who they are.”

Case believes that the best riders, the ones who seem effortlessly in sync with their mounts, aren’t just great athletes. They’re great caretakers.

Case came up in a generation where riders did everything—groomed, bathed, wrapped, and tacked up their own horses. He still believes those habits are the foundation of success. “When you groom your horse, you start noticing things,” he said. “You feel the muscle tone. You feel if something’s tight. You learn their reactions.”

That kind of attention builds awareness and empathy, two things that can’t be taught in a lesson. “If you only ever show up to get on, you’re missing half the education,” he said. “It’s in the details. How they stand, how they breathe, how they look at you when you walk up with the halter.”

He encourages his students to spend as much time on the ground as they do in the saddle. “The more you do yourself, the more connected you are,” he said. “You start riding differently because you understand who’s under you.”

Case recalled working with Peter Wylde, who won the World Championship and an Olympic gold medal, but still did all his own care. “Peter was the perfect example,” Case said. “He could have had ten grooms if he wanted, but he still groomed, tacked, cooled out—everything. He knew every bump on those horses.”

That level of attention was about pride and partnership. “Peter didn’t separate the care from the riding,” Case said. “He knew they were part of the same thing.”

For Case, that mindset is what defines real horsemanship. “When you spend time doing the basics yourself, you stop thinking of the horse as a piece of equipment,” he said. “You start thinking of them as your teammate.”

📎 Continue reading this article at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2025/11/03/why-doing-the-basics-yourself-builds-better-riders/
📸 © The Plaid Horse

10/22/2025

Lungeline lessons ❤️🐴

10/17/2025

💡 A new study from Utrecht University has examined the effects of brief, friendly interactions with unfamiliar humans on the welfare of riding school horses.

The researchers measured changes in two important biomarkers found in the horses' saliva—oxytocin, which is often linked with bonding and positive social experiences, and cortisol, which is associated with stress—before and after ten minutes of standardised, gentle human-horse contact.

The findings reveal that this brief interaction with strangers did not produce significant changes in the horses' oxytocin or cortisol levels.

Behavioural observations also showed that the horses, who were already accustomed to daily handling by a variety of people, did not display any signs of distress or unusually positive responses during and after the interaction.

The authors suggest that these results indicate encounters with unfamiliar humans, when carried out in a calm and controlled manner, are typically neutral for horses regularly exposed to such situations in riding schools.

This study provides some reassurance that routine, friendly contact with strangers is unlikely to be harmful to the overall welfare of well-socialised horses in similar settings, although it likely does not provide any pronounced positive benefits either.

📖 Straight from the horse's mouth: Changes in salivary oxytocin, cortisol and behaviour in horses interacting with unfamiliar humans,
Chantal Maria Kapteijn, Claudia Maureen Vinke, Hein van Lith, Nienke Endenburg, T. Bas Rodenburg, Jean-Loup Rault

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2025.106826.

09/29/2025

Of all the things we need to do when teaching and working with our horses, our NUMBER ONE JOB is to increase their confidence as a learner.

09/24/2025

What if positive reinforcement was an inside job?

Last night, over in the membership group, someone asked about using positive reinforcement to help a horse with some issues. And I realised that what we mean when we use the term ‘positive reinforcement’ is a click and a treat. And it CAN be. That is one option.

We may also talk about giving a horse a scratch, or giving them a break, or some other palpable, demonstrable means of rewarding what we want. These are all ways to positively reinforce behaviour we are trying to train.

But what if we could positively reinforce things between us and a horse by offering them something good from our inside to their inside? What if the way we take action, and relate to them (or don’t take action and remove ourselves from them) could elicit good enough feelings that a horse just likes to be with you? And tries to work things out with you because you have shown them that you’re a cool human to hang out with. That we ourselves are the positive reinforcement.

Now the problem with this concept is it’s a bit like candy floss; you can’t really get a handle on it. It is hard to teach and a lifelong commitment to learn. And it usually takes a human who is prepared to take a long hard, look at themselves and sort their own sh*t out. It is not for everyone.

-You may have to go to counselling or get yourself some other kind of therapy (such fun!)
-You may have to take up some form of meditation even though you are really convinced you’re way too busy
- It may be a body based calling and a somatic practice is necessary
-You may be required to practice an entirely different way of being with horses, which goes against everything you find easy and ‘want’ to do
- Who knows, you may have to turn your whole life upside down in order to be a human a horse would like to hang out with

Because the thing about horses really, is most of us would like to be more like them. Living in our own skins with no desire to be anyone other than who we are. Understanding how to have relationships where boundaries are clear and compassionate. Loving to move and loving to rest, without guilt about either of those things. And these are all coming from the inside of a horse, and are felt by the inside of a human.

More and more I say to students that learning riding is not enough, that a horse wants more than technique and theory and you most likely need to get support from someone other than a riding instructor. And the beautiful thing is, in doing this for your horse, you are doing it for yourself.

Thank you to all the horses who positively reinforce us.

09/21/2025

09/16/2025

09/12/2025

Training while holding a tea-light candle, otherwise known as:

Going against the grain.

I truly don’t think I would ever have started my own business if I didn’t live in the location that I do. Isolation, combined with a healthy appetite for learning, the willingness to figure things out and take consistent action, and never really entertaining the thought that, well, I couldn’t, played not only a formative role in the creation of my business, but is also an essential ingredient in progressing with my horses in a way that feels natural and humane to us both.

We all know about the benefits of community, and the obvious advantages that this has. I’m not suggesting that friends aren’t important (they absolutely are), or that you don’t need a teacher or a mentor (you do), or a second pair of eyes when you get stuck (please definitely seek this out); what I am saying is that this needs to be balanced with alone time where you are free to bumble on and make mistakes.

Where you can figure out how to hold your hands and coordinate this part your body with that without referring or deferring to someone else.

Where you can let yourself learn, free of the lurgies of comparison or not-so-great-wonderings that accompany us when we are individually doing our best to figure things out in the context of a lots-of-opinions environment.

When I was first invited to speak within summit setting, I was launched into a container filled with other professionals much more skilled, more well-known, and more accomplished than myself.

I looked around and thought, I’m so glad it’s taken me so many years to get here. The a-few-years-earlier me would not have been deeply rooted enough in her own understandings. She would have spoken words that were yet to live in her heart, shared knowledge that lacked a point of difference or uniqueness.

And that’s totally ok. The a-few-years-earlier me needed more space, more time, to figure some stuff out. She needed to dive in to learn, to gather knowledge, and to listen to other people’s thoughts and understandings. And then she needed to retreat. To play; to practice. To get oh so many things wrong so she could maybe get a couple of things right.

A similar, slightly different situation:

Once, when I was on a training week for some horse bodywork, I went to a stable that was home to at least a hundred horses and then counting. I looked around, at the comings and the goings. I thought how difficult it must be to learn here, if what you are playing with is different, new, or against the grain. How you are always witnessed, always under the gaze of another person’s eyes.

And so, I say: new learnings, new understandings are like holding a tea-light candle. The flame needs protection to get big. Once it has; once it’s licking the ceiling and not easily extinguished, you can carry it around in all manner of weather and situations and it’s unlikely to go out.

But until then, it needs protection. The protection not only of people who are looking to also nurture the flame, but alone time where you get to stare at it, marvel at it, figure out how to make it grow.

My personal challenge is not so much alone time to play with new ideas, or space with my horses to apply new understandings, to figure out what goes where and how this connects with that. My challenge is community; the second eyes, the people around and on hand to help me out.

But if you find yourself in the context of many, YOUR creative challenge might look quite different. Because going against the grain, new learning, and the chance to apply what you have been told to the point where it has practical benefit means you must have time to think things through- alone.

You must have time to figure out how to figure it out in a way that lives in your body, which requires you go through the process of letting yourself learn.

At the end of the day, the ultimate in any learning situation is a balance, between mentorship and independent learning. Between opinions and the space to figure things out. Sticking to something you recognize is right for you or your horse but goes against the ‘most practiced and familiar’ can be tough, even when we know that it’s the right thing for us to do.

Protect your tea light candle insides until they’re a strong and solid flame. At that point, alone or in a group, the flame is sure enough of its own heat to not go out.

Onwards.

❤️ Jane

09/08/2025

💫 Vibrissae—the horse’s whiskers—are unlike any other type of hair, serving a crucial sensory function.

They are the only hairs on a horse that are not moulted or shed, and are rich with nerves that signal directly to specific areas of the brain for interpretation.

These specialised hairs are the very first to develop in the horse embryo and, compared to regular coat hair, are embedded much deeper in the skin.

Each vibrissa is housed in a small blood capsule that amplifies pressure, so even the slightest movement is perceived by sensory receptors. This allows the horse to process detailed information about size, texture, shape, and location.

Classified as low-threshold (high sensitivity) receptors, vibrissae respond to the smallest of stimuli.

At present, there’s no scientific data on whether horses prioritise vision, hearing, touch, or smell, unlike research available in other species such as rats and pigeons.

Gaining this knowledge would be invaluable in understanding what signals are most effective in horse training, such as comparing the speed of uptake between voice, visual, or tactile cues.

📚An excerpt from Modern Horse Training: Equitation Science Principles & Practice, Volume 2 by Andrew McLean

🛍️ Available to purchase at our website: https://www.esi-education.com/

08/22/2025

Dr Temple Grandin is one of the best known animal scientists in the world. She grew up in America, and she is autistic, which means her brain works a little differently to most people’s. She often says she “thinks in pictures.” This helps her notice tiny details about animals that others might miss.

Most of her career has been spent improving how cattle are handled on farms, making systems calmer and safer. (Which is why many farms have safe handing pens for cattle on farms today)But her ideas are just as useful when we think about horses.

Temple reminds us that animals don’t see the world the same way humans do. A shiny puddle, a flapping jacket, or a garden chair in the wrong place might look like danger to a horse. Horses are prey animals, always on the lookout for threats. What seems silly to us can feel very real to them.

As she explains: “Horses have to see the same object from all angles. They don’t automatically transfer learning from one side of their brain to the other.” In other words, a horse that walks calmly past a wheelbarrow on the left rein may still shy at it on the right.

For coaches and riders, this matters. If a horse spooks or refuses, it isn’t “naughty”, it is reacting in the only way it knows. Our job is to slow down, let the horse look, and give it time to learn.

Temple also talks about how animals respond to pressure. A gentle aid, released at the right moment, helps the horse to understand. But rough hands, loud voices, or constant pushing only build fear. As coaches, that means showing riders how to be clear but kind, guiding, not forcing.

And this links horse welfare with rider welfare. A calm horse gives the rider confidence. A frightened horse makes the rider nervous. By putting the horse’s feelings first, we create safer, happier lessons for both.

Temple Grandin may have made her name with cattle, but her lessons about patience, clear signals for animals are pure gold for anyone who works with horses. When we see the world through the horse’s eyes, we become better kinder horsemen.