Hoof to Heart , LLC & H2H VETS INC

26/01/2025

Signs of Spring!

© Emily Cole Illustrations

25/01/2025

Not so much the equipment. ON the horse.

But more so when remember your “triangle” as the horse circles “around you”

23/01/2025

21/01/2025

Some good info

Prerequisites for your horse before utilizing “Inside Leg to Outside Rein” connection!

(In no particular order and guys this is just a Facebook post- not a 1000 page
Riding manual. Please adjust expectations accordingly!)

1.) A hindquarter yield. If you can’t get the horse to move the b***y over, there’s absolutely no way you’re going to get inside leg to outside rein connection.
2.) Lateral poll flexion. If you cannot get the horse to bend both directions through the poll joint, consider in hand work.
3.) Responsiveness!  You can’t get your horse to move correctly if you can’t get your horse to move.
4.) A rudimentary leg yield.  This one might be confusing because you need good inside leg to outside rein connection to get a proper leg yield. But you need a rudimentary “move over” before you can get inside leg to outside rein. To get students started I will often have them bend towards the wall and leg yield down the rail nose out, tail in. As they start to get the idea, we do it a few meters away from the wall. 
5.) Two reins!!! Lol. What I mean by this is that you should be able to have a little connection in both hands traveling both directions. It’s very common for horses to completely avoid contact on one side.  You might feel like if you engage your outside rein at all, that you lose all bend to the inside, and/or that your horse completely shrinks their neck all up, affectively training you to not use that rein! 
6.) “Bend” (axial rotation) through the rib cage both directions.  Again, this becomes a chicken or egg conversation!  Many will say that inside leg to outside rein is how you get bend through the body, But if it’s a concept you are already sketchy on, and your horse is totally locked in his torso, you’re going to have to work on this ingredient by itself before you are going to be able to orchestrate multiple things happening together. That said your hind quarter yield and rudimentary leg yield will already be helping with this. But it’s important, so I’m also listing it separately.
I teach students to sit to the inside of the bend to help the horse swing through the rib cage. You should be able to step down into your inside stirrup and get the horse to swing the rib cage to the outside, which appears like bend through the torso.

16/01/2025

The selfie queens 🤣 💗🔮💗🔮

13/01/2025

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.

10/01/2025

08/01/2025

I have two openings for riding lessons. Possible on farm half lease option as well. PM for more I for

08/01/2025

Don't Leave Points In The Ring Tip of the Day:

Time for you to become the STUDENT.

My two most important watch words for Western Dressage are Grounding and Support. These 2 words and their concepts have helped many people to better understand Western Dressage and the riders place in that all important partnership leading to better harmony and thus better scores.

GROUNDING – In any partnership or team the closer the team works together the better the overall performance. Grounding is to ride as close as possible to your horse’s center of gravity. To literally GROUND yourself into your horse. To FEEL the movements your horse makes and become one with your horse through those movements. To work WITH your horse and assist them to a better frame, to have more subtle cues, to actually work with you as one, in Harmony.

SUPPORT through the bridle. I keep reading about people’s confusion about constant contact through the bridle. That contact is actually SUPPORTING your horse through the bridle to help maintain their frame and to support them through their bends, and advanced maneuvers. I have a student who asked me “Why does it feel like I am constantly pulling on my horse?”. I asked her “Is your horse pulling back? Are you in a tug of war?” She said “NO, She actually goes better for me and seems happier.” There is the support. The assistance your horse loves so that they can do their job better, to work better with you.

To better understand and apply these principles get out of the arena or where ever you normally work your horse. Where you are in charge and your horse is always the student. Get out on the trail, or out in the field and now become the student. Play with your cues and actually “ASK” your horse to teach you more effective cues. Subtly play with your leg position, your hip position and see what your horse does. Slow down, speed up, move sideways, extend, collect.

Think constantly about grounding yourself into your horse’s center of gravity, about supporting them through the bridle. Become more respectful in how you ask and allow them to be more respectful in how they work with you. Truly become the Student and allow your horse to teach you how to work better with them.

Horses are incredible beings and are truly our mirrors. Does your horse look forward to working with you? Does your horse treat you with respect? On the other side of the coin are you being respectful of your horse? Spend a week working on your relationship with your horse. Learning how to truly work with them.

This will be the best time you ever spend with your horse and will be the beginning of an incredible future.

08/01/2025

How to train with minimal time:

I’m of the mind that quality, consistent work ten minutes here and there is far better than an hour or two on the weekend. Everybody’s schedules are crazy, everybody has stuff going on, and probably everybody feels guilty all the time for what they’re not doing.

I have a busy life too. It can be hard to prioritize my own horses, but I’ve had several teachers essentially grab me by my shirt collar and emphasize with gusto how important my own horses training is- and so I present to you my secret plan for short sessions with quality

1- have a plan going in. I don’t mean decide exactly what you’re gonna do, because life happens and you have to work with the horse you have in front of you. But have a plan to give this session your all- to be 110% present for ten, fifteen minutes. No distractions. And calm. If you shoot for 110%, you might hit 70%, and that would be a great success. Get your head on straight, then go in to the pasture.

2- focus on quality in everything. How much care can you invest in putting the halter on? How did your horse feel? How nicely did they lead? How much attention can you give to brushing in a way your horse likes? How well did they stand at the mounting block, how much attention to detail did you give picking up their feet with softness? These things matter, and add up.

3- focus on being smooth and rhythmic. The more I can get me and my horse moving in a smooth, rhythmic way, the sooner the distractions fall away, the sooner my horse breathes and calms, the sooner every thing gets awesome. So get that rhythm!

4- if things go wrong, as they can do, backtrack to something easy. Spend your time building successes, so find something you can do well and quit on without eating up your whole evening being frustrated.

5- be happy with less. Don’t expect flying changes in ten minutes- be happy with breathing, be happy with standing still, be happy with moving nicely, be happy with moving at all. If you have minimal time, your expectations should fit the bill: small and simple, and learn to get happy with less. Resist the urge to do it one more time, keep that greed monster away and accept what is fair to accept.

If
You’re in the video library community, join us for a haltering with excellence challenge!

Photo by Jasmine Cope

06/01/2025