Training for Optimal Balance

15/12/2024

141: Our Horse's Thoracic Sling
There is a lot of chatter about our horse's thoracic sling on social media and people are starting to recognize it as part of all those dropped, popped and moving horse shoulder issues. In this podcast Deb and I discuss what it is, how it works and why it tends to get so darn tight in our horses.

Special therapies that help loosen our horse's thoracic sling of muscles around both of the front legs seems to be gaining a lot of traction. Groups and post...

03/12/2024

The December newsletter is all about what the goals are for Optimal Balance. It is an excerpt from the new book I am working on, Optimal Balance Essentials, which hopefully will be available soon on my website at least! Hope you find these defined concepts about balance in the mind and body, in us and our horse, helpful in your journey.

I am a professional horse trainer and developer of the program, Training for Optimal Balance. I share information that helps horse owners train their own horses, or helps horse professionals find a new perspective on training - and personal development is the number one side effect of authentically....

02/12/2024

140: Can Horses Self-Regulate Behavior?
short answer, yes they can when they feel safe doing what they are doing. Learning how to help our horse feel safe from the inside out is how we get back the behavior we love from our horse.

Instead of spending a lot of time working on conditioned responses or desensitizing our horses over and over, it becomes much more efficient to help our hors...

17/11/2024

139: Instability is a Big Deal for Horses
We may not realize just how unstable our horse feels internally when we ride. We may just think our horse is wiggly, lazy or just likes to go really fast all the time. But when horses are not skeletally stable, then the only options for stability are to resist moving as much as possible or speed up, using momentum as a stabilizing force. Skeletal instability also makes our horse feel unsafe inside, which can also manifest as various "behavioral issues" that we can seem to resolve.

Discussion about how our stability and our horse's stability - or lack of it - is fundamental to functional use and balance. A loss of stability can create f...

10/11/2024

Lucy takes ballet lessons from a very strict instructor! Now Streaming on Paramount+Where to watch: para.mt/ilovelucy

03/11/2024

This month's newsletter is about how we can learn to manage stress and find balance despite the crazy world around us. Also included is a featured video for helping female riders learn how to gain a very stable seat in the saddle. Enjoy!

I am a professional horse trainer and developer of the program, Training for Optimal Balance. I share information that helps horse owners train their own horses, or helps horse professionals find a new perspective on training - and personal development is the number one side effect of authentically....

29/10/2024

138: Tasks Don't Teach Balance
How we do anything is how we do everything. If our horse performs any task while in a dysfunctional skeletal coordination, then all we have done is reinforce the same dysfunctional skeletal coordination. Improving coordination and posture is how our horse is able to perform tasks with more ease, not the other way around.

If teaching through tasks, such as riding maneuvers, patterns or navigating obstacles, actually taught horses and riders to balance as a side effect, then we...

24/10/2024

137: Strategies for Learning, about Horses of course!

How we learn is just as important as what we learn. Being methodical about learning is always the fastest path to progress.

A chat about learning in general, whether we are the one learning or we are the one trying to help our horse learn. The three basic strategies that help faci...

16/10/2024

136: Tensegrity, What? and Why!
If you have no idea what tensegrity is, then have a listen. Tensegrity is a structural model that helps us understand how everything in the body is connected. The root cause of our horse horse going lame on the left front leg might be a problem of restriction related to the right hind leg. Understanding tensegrity helps us see the whole body system and how the weakest or most overused parts of the body are the ones that develop pathology first but might not be the root of the issue.

Discussion about what tensegrity is, how it works and why it is important for us to understand as a structural model for living bodies. Taking a deeper look ...

10/10/2024

All people and critters are safe and fine here. No structure damage just a lot of tree branches. No power right now but we were ready for that! Have lots of water on hand for horses and people and plenty of ice for the coolers. Hopefully power is restored soon! But all is well at Wexford Farm and I feel pretty lucky overall!
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01/10/2024

Below is a link to my October newsletter, with a featured article called, "Your Horse is NOT Lazy" If you often refer to your horse as lazy, too slow all the time, or crazy, too fast all the time, then you might find this month's newsletter helpful for turning things around. Enjoy!

I am a professional horse trainer and developer of the program, Training for Optimal Balance. I share information that helps horse owners train their own horses, or helps horse professionals find a new perspective on training - and personal development is the number one side effect of authentically....

25/09/2024

Horse Geeks Podcast 135: Horse Problems Are Imbalances

Turning our thoughts and language around is part of shifting our objectives from task oriented training into mastering balance. Qualities are neither good or...

16/09/2024

Horse Geeks Podcast 134: The Horse Posture of Basic Balance.

Defining what the horse posture of Basic Balance looks like, as a long but balanced frame, but more importantly what Basic Balance feels like when the coordi...

10/09/2024

Horse Geeks Podcast 133: Rehabbing Aggressive Horses

Horses that lean into the fight defensive strategy as a means for expressing fear, uncertainty or instability suffer the most in our horse world because they...

07/09/2024

Had to share on my page too. Love this video!

03/09/2024

The September newsletter, with Becoming a Horse Whisperer...

I am a professional horse trainer and developer of the program, Training for Optimal Balance. I share information that helps horse owners train their own horses, or helps horse professionals find a new perspective on training - and personal development is the number one side effect of authentically....

02/09/2024

Horse Geeks Podcast 132: Balance For All Bodies

Discussing what balance means on a practical level and why we make it our goal. Before talking about a horse posture called basic balance, we take a moment t...