King Equestrian

20/08/2023

So fun! Thanks Sandhills Equestrian Magazine

Many SEQM readers admire Ziggy the thoroughbred, proudly featured on our first cover. Ziggy's unique story can be read on page 22 of the July-August magazine. As a follow-up to our story, we sat down with one of Ziggy's riders, Rachel King, to discuss her partnership with this impressive horse, their incredible journey to the FEI Grand Prix, and the hard work and support of local trainers to make their dream of the USDF Gold medal come true!

https://sandhillseqm.com/online-exclusive

photo: Hightime photography

20/08/2023

Some ways to tell if a kid is truly interested in learning how to ride---

1, Does she/he volunteer to set fences in jump sets so she/he can watch?

2. Does she/he then pay attention, or does she/he keep looking at her/his phone?

3. Does the rider take on practicing working on her/his seat by dropping the stirrups and sitting the trot without having to be told to?

4. In a jumping barn, has the rider memorized the basic distances between jumps in in-and-out lines?

5. Has the rider practiced walking those distances to have an accurate stride?

These are simple examples. There's a saying that you can make someone DO something by promise of sufficient reward, or by threat of sufficient punishment, but it is impossible to make someone WANT something.

Wanting comes from within. A teacher told me years ago something along these lines---"The kids who are going to get good, you can't stop them no matter what. The kids who are not, you can give them everything, and they still won't."

So it begins more with creating motivation than actual instruction. Figure out how to do that and the rest gets easy.

27/10/2022

I have come across this too. Clear boundaries help the horses feel more secure and can prevent dangerous habits from forming.

There is a dangerous ongoing trend culturally that is bleeding into our horsemanship, and that is the avoidance of any discomfort

I will say firstly, that everything must come with a balance. It is not the first time in history the pendulum has swung from one extreme to the other- and it won’t be the last.

When I was a kid (puts on grandma hat) we learned to ride with thumb tacks on our saddle, stirrups taken away and you knew you were on the right track when you just stopped hearing the screaming of your instructor. Obviously I’m not saying this is the way we should teach-

But one of the biggest reasons I got out of teaching kids myself was parents hovering, arguing over why I wasn’t letting their kid do x,y,z fun, or wanting to know why I was making their kid do something uncomfortable. Parents refused to let their kids be uncomfortable and wrong, and because of that, their horsemanship was seriously affected. They didn’t learn to put the horse first- little Susie wants to jump, sorry! No rehab program for Susie’s horse. Bobby’s friends are going to a show, so if he isn’t cantering soon we’re going to another instructor. The short term loss is that the kids don’t learn good basics, but the long term result is the kids don’t ever learn how to learn- how to be uncomfortable until you get through to the other side- how to regulate their emotions- how to put an animal in their care before their own needs.

Similarly, it is happening in our stewardship of the horse. People have become averse to their horse being uncomfortable, which is very good in many ways, but- sometimes there is a short term discomfort in the long scheme of learning to be more comfortable. A clarification that can happen once and lead to a better life overall. This can be the trade off of a moment of discomfort leading to clarify and calm, versus the unhappiness and discomfort of wallowing around in lack of clarity for a lifetime. Horses who are not allowed to be uncomfortable now here and there are uncomfortable for a lifetime: unprepared for life, stressed, dangerous to themselves and others.

It is not ethical to allow ourselves and those in our care the avoidance of discomfort. That’s not to say we need to create so much trouble as was normal before, but there is a center- and good horsemanship always seeks to find the center- we can’t allow our own bad experiences to make us run to the opposite, and dangerous extreme- for the good of ourselves and the good of the horse, who we are stewards of.

11/09/2022

Great article highlighting the differences as you progress up the levels in your riding.

This article, by Asia Thayer, a USPC National Examiner, walks rider through the progression through USPC riding test expectations, with a focus on developing seat position. This article was originally featured in the Summer 2022 issue of Discover USPC.
Read the article here: bit.ly/developing-rider-position

03/09/2022

Alison Edgerly

02/06/2022

This is so important...
https://www.facebook.com/109161715946/posts/10158288669815947/

Standing like a rock at the mounting block is something that almost any horse can be taught, but we have to be vigilant EVERY time, and quietly correct the horse if he moves off.

Face facts, if Mike Plumb can get badly hurt while mounting, we lesser riders can, too.

I have been sloppy about this in the past, and I watch about a jillion people let their horses start walking away while they are still half-way aboard, but I have reformed, and I have come to recognize that the moments of mounting and dismounting are two of our most vulnerable times.

It might take a while to teach this to a horse that’s used to moving off, but it can be done. It also might help, at first, to have a ground person---.

20/05/2022

WHAT A GREAT IDEA! https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=571127767709048&id=100044354889772&sfnsn=mo