What are the opening hours?

Tuesday 9am - 5pm Wednesday 9am - 5pm Thursday 9am - 5pm Friday 9am - 5pm Saturday 9am - 5pm

Johnson Equine

A boutique riding lesson program with a CHA Certified Riding Instructor. English and western lessons.

02/01/2025

Saturdays are for pony hugs.

01/13/2025

SENSORY HAIRS

The FEI has determined that any measures to trim or shave off a horse's sensory hairs, including whiskers, eyelashes and the hairs of the inner ear, is not permitted and shall lead to an elimination of the combination for the competition's duration.

Sensory hairs are of extreme importance for proprioception for the horse. They aid the horse's ability to judge distance and navigate in the dark. It has been shown that trimming or shaving these hairs leads to increased susceptibility to injury.

01/10/2025

And that’s why I teach core engagement 🤝

12/22/2024

😢

12/17/2024

Let's talk balance!
Every single run Kassie Mowry made at the NFR I commented on her balance. She remains so perfectly aligned with Jarvis's center of gravity that they just move together as a seamless team.

Now, that's not always a reality for all of us, so let's talk about center of gravity and how we can work toward remaining balanced over our equine athletes.

The center of gravity (CG) in humans is generally located slightly behind our bellybutton when standing. It typically lies around 54% to 56% of the body height from the ground, depending on factors such as gender and body composition. For men, it is usually higher (closer to 56%) than for women (closer to 54%) due to anatomical differences like muscle distribution and hip structure.

The horse’s COG is roughly located level with its heart, below the withers and centrally from a sagittal view. The COG shifts depending on the horse's conformation, head position, hoof angles, and motion.

Maintaining alignment with the horse's CG at all speeds and positions is key to effective riding and minimizing strain on both horse and rider.

This is particularly difficult in barrel racing with the rapid speed changes, direction changes, and acceleration around the barrel.

That's why Kassie's ability stands out so clearly- it seems effortless for her (even in the look on her face).

Developing body awareness of your own center of gravity comes first. That's why an athletic person is often a multi-sport athlete, or why athletes can often pick up horseback riding more naturally than those who don't do sports.

1) 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙨𝙞𝙘𝙨. Build strength in your muscles and improve the communication between your brain and your muscles. Use it or lose it.
That way, when you horse moves forward, your core muscles can stabilize you to keep your center of Gravity over his. When he stops, your back muscles can stabilize you to do the same.

Sign up for our free Advent Calendar Challenge which features 23 days of easy deep core strengthening exercises at www.solidinthesaddle.com/advent .

2) 𝘼𝙙𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙗𝙖𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜. The best way to improve your ability to affect your center of gravity is to practice it. Balance training shows improvements really quickly, so you won't have to wait long to see results. I have a webinar on balance training- if you comment " balance" I'll dig it up.

3) 𝘼𝙜𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜. This one is a no-brainer. The faster your muscles can react to compensate for a change in the horse's center of gravity (say, to the left, to the right, or forward), the faster you will regain your seat and be centered over your horse again. Comment "agility" for a free agility workout PDF.

4) 𝙃𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨 𝙧𝙞𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙨. Each horse has a slightly different COG and one of the fastest ways to get truly good at matching it is to ride a ton of different horses. Bonus hack- have someone video your riding! Notice if you put more weight to one side, if you look tipped forward, or if you're constantly riding in an "armchair" position.
Comment "balance" for a 4 exercise PDF you can do horseback to get a better feel for their center of gravity (leader required).

5) 𝙂𝙚𝙩 𝙖 𝙨𝙖𝙙𝙙𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙛𝙞𝙩𝙨. If your saddle is too small, your center of gravity will be too far forward and you'll feel pitched forward. You'll have difficulty transitioning downward in speed. If it's too big, your center of gravity will be too far backward and you'll feel like you're always getting left behind.

Kassie has been a career futurity trainer and has probably ridden thousands of horses at this point. We should each be striving for new opportunities to expand our riding horizons to tune in our own bodies at finding that perfect balance point.

I know this was a long post, but I am so inspired by Kassie as I know many of you are, and I wanted to give you some actionable tips to get started improving your riding balance.

If you found this valuable, feel free to share or tag a fellow horseback rider who may be able to use these tips too.

Sincerely,
Dr. Aleisha
Founder, Solid in the Saddle

Clayton, H.M., MacKechnie-Guire, R. and Hobbs, S.J. (2023). Riders’ Effects on Horses—Biomechanical Principles with Examples from the Literature. Animals : an Open Access Journal from MDPI, [online] 13(24), p.3854. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13243854.

12/13/2024

🎉National Day of the Horse🎉

12/12/2024

Caring is sharing 😆

12/09/2024

𝗪𝗘𝗟𝗙𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗪𝗘𝗗𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗗𝗔𝗬: 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗱-𝗡𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘁 𝗕𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗘𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗗𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗛𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲𝘀

A recent study by K. Kienapfel et all (2024) investigated the relationship between head-neck positions (HNPs), conflict behaviour (CB), and judging scores in elite dressage horses. The study examined how these factors align with the animal welfare principles and competition rules established by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI).

𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀:
• Conflict behaviour increases with lower nasal plane angles in elite dressage horses.
• Relationship found between head-neck positions and conflict behaviour.
• Surprising rule contradiction: tests with small poll angles received high scores.
• Urgent need to address animal welfare and enhance solutions in dressage sport.

𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗱𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆:
The study observed 49 horses participating in the Grand Prix Special (CDIO5*) at CHIO Aachen in 2018 and 2019. Researchers analysed video footage of warm-up and competition phases, measuring HNPs (angle at the vertical, poll angle, and shoulder angle) and recording instances of conflict behaviour. These were evaluated against judges' scores.

The results showed that:

▪️ The nasal plane was behind the vertical more frequently during warm-up than in competition (-11° vs. -5°).
▪️ Poll angles were larger in competition (28°) than in warm-up (24°).
▪️ No significant differences were found in shoulder angles between warm-up and competition phases.

Conflict behaviours, including unusual oral movements, occurred more often during warm-up than in competition. Tail swishing was not affected by the nasal plane’s angle.

𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘀' 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀
The study authors concluded that the findings raise concerns about the welfare of elite dressage horses and the application of FEI rules. According to the authors, horses showing restrictive HNPs—such as nasal planes behind the vertical—exhibited more conflict behaviours, yet these positions were not penalised during scoring and, in some cases, correlated with higher scores.

The authors emphasised the importance of addressing these discrepancies to ensure that dressage practices align more closely with established rules and prioritise horse welfare.

12/08/2024

Agree or Disagree ☺️

12/04/2024

Learning never ends with horses. The more you understand the horse’s internal workings, the better horse person you become. A great observational post on skeletal indicators📓

Address

Timberline
Fort Collins, CO
80525

Opening Hours

Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm
Saturday	9am - 5pm

Website

https://www.johnsonequinemarket.com/

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Videos

Blanca did *not* do this. I confirmed.

It’s Blanca’s world, we’re just living in it 💁‍♀️😌 (out of sight is the new bale, don’t worry, Frosty had full access to a fresh meal)

Can I chew on it: cones

On thsi mornings edition of: Can I chew on this? The princess gives a monch to a cone. Results showed 9/10 would monch 😌

My Little Pony 🥰

“If at first you don’t succeed…..that’s pretty normal.” That’s why we practice 😁

This made me laugh because, yeah.

Can I Chew On This: boots

On this mornings episode of “can I chew on this”, Blanca tries the texture of my boots. (Ignore my bridle set up, couldn’t find my chain and all I had was a hanger for a spare headstall lol)

When your arena helpers are 24 and 7. Heather Martin Cavan

Mmmhmmm.

She’s a strong napper that one.

😂

He was sleeping in my flyboots 🥹🥰 (although he’s not mine, I appreciate him very much)