Adamo Equestrian

01/06/2026

The basics of Riding can never be too perfectly executed

01/06/2026

Forget the Wind and Ride the Horse

I was tired from my first lesson. I was out of riding shape, having significantly less riding hours than I used to, and my back and core were screaming at me from the intensive focus and work I'd just done. I saddled up my thoroughbred for the second lesson when the wind picked up.

A tarp suddenly blew in from who knows where - causing him to dance sideways. As my most sensitive horse with the most anxiety, this was pretty poor timing for the wind to be howling.

I secured the tarp and mounted, but he shied at the side of the arena the tarp came from with each pass - tightening up, balking, and threatening to blow.

My teacher reminded me steadily with each pass of the circle to keep him aligned and focus on a steady tempo. "A horse in a balance finds calm in his body and worries less about the environment," she said. I know this to be true - I say this to my students all the time - but I could feel a storm around me and under me brewing, and my focus constantly being pulled by flapping blankets on fencelines threatening to jump out at us, dogs moving in and out of the scene, horses running in pastures - the perfect storm for a Thoroughbred to come unglued.

I checked my seat constantly under her direction and reminded myself to stay here with my horse - he needed me here, not thinking anywhere else.

"You know he's going to balk on that side," she said, "Get there ahead of time and be there for him - align and tempo, align and tempo." And then, the dreaded, "Release the reins forward! Don't bottle him up!"

To soften your seat into a chaotic back and give the reins forward to a horse threatening to come unglued takes an act of God. This isn't my first rodeo, figurately and literally speaking, but it is still hard to remember when the stakes are high. I believe in the message - but I know that one little mistake of my attention risks us both.

"Now channel that to a trot," she says. A trot feels insane - but I know deep down that movement is calming, and bottling him up will make him half crazy. I make myself trust it, and we trot.

Surely, piece by piece, he relaxes his neck, begins blowing out, and bends around the circle. I forget about the wind, the dogs, the blankets, the pivo that is spinning in the wind, and ride my horse - and wouldn't you know it, he forgets the environment too. Together inside of a wind storm we find our peace together.

Alignment, rhythm, tempo - The test of any method is how it works in less than ideal situations. And the more I see it work, the more I trust it like my life depends on it - because sometimes it truly does.

01/04/2026

01/04/2026

A Good Trainer Spends Most of Their Time Waiting

Waiting for stiffness to release.
Waiting for the horse to grow strong enough.
Waiting for the horse to become supple enough.
Waiting for the horse to find balance.
Waiting for the horse to understand.
Waiting for the exercise to do its work.
Waiting for the right moment to ask.

But...

If you simply sit on your horse and wait, you’ll be waiting forever.

Good trainers don’t wait passively — they actively wait.

Active waiting means you are present, connected, and engaged. You are feeling each stride, listening to the horse, and ready at any moment to adjust the aids — either to help in the moment you’re in, or to prepare for the moment that’s coming next.

Waiting is not doing nothing.
Waiting is listening.

If this resonates with you, revisit the post from a few days ago titled “Take Time — But Don’t Waste Time.” These two ideas belong together.

01/01/2026

⭐️Beginning the search for client's first horse⭐️
Must haves:
•8-15yrs old
•14.2-16HH
•SAFE SAFE SAFE
•Stellar mind and temperament
•Quality gaits for dressage(no dressage training is preferred)
•Trail experience
•Some minor maintenance is ok
•Budget under 15k

This horse will be for BEGINNER riders in a full training program with the absolute best care, love, and attention.

12/19/2025

12/13/2025

You can train one horse at a time… or you can develop into the rider who improves them all.
When your balance improves, when your aids get lighter, when your timing sharpens - horses feel it instantly.
That’s why the most powerful work we ever do isn’t on the horse.
It’s in ourselves.

12/13/2025

12/08/2025

Just a little food for thought:
You can't expect your horse to be more emotionally regulated than yourself

12/02/2025

11/23/2025