Equestrian Skill Builders

06/11/2025

‘We understand this is controversial’: national federation bans certain safety stirrups to avoid injuries. Read more below

03/11/2025

Working Equitation has been on my radar for a few years now and it is gaining traction for good reason. It combines the precision, beauty and partnership of dressage and the purpose of a “working horse”. And you know what? It’s fun. I travelled to the East Coast Working Equitation Symposium and shadowed Working Equitation Judge Lise Leblanc to get a better understanding of Working Equitation and to become a recognized judge for East Coast Working Equitation....

Working Equitation has been on my radar for a few years now and it is gaining traction for good reason. It combines the precision, beauty and partnership of dressage and the purpose of a “working h…

03/11/2025

After many years of keeping my own journal, I've "put my money where my mouth is", and designed and published a HORSE RIDING JOURNAL to help you keep your riding on track as well.
I ordered some proof copies (seen here) and it looks wonderful.

After many years of keeping my own journal, I’ve “put my money where my mouth is”, and designed and published a HORSE RIDING JOURNAL to help you keep your riding on track as well.…

03/11/2025

Me putting my money where my mouth is. After telling people to keep a riding journal I’ve finally designed and published one and it’s available on Amazon.
Horse Riding Journal: Because keeping track of your riding matters
Every rider knows how easy it is for training days to blend together. One week you’re working on transitions or bending, the next you’re preparing for a show or trail challenge — and suddenly you can’t remember when your horse last had a farrier visit or what your coach suggested last lesson.

This journal helps you:

bring clarity to your riding routine.
It allows you to see patterns in your training,
identify what works best for your horse, and
keep on top of farrier, veterinary, and expense records.
By writing it down, you turn your riding goals into real progress.
:

25/10/2025

You can tell a professional by how much time they spend updating and training to improve their skills. They know what they don't know. And They continue to develop. Cheslyn Rise, horses (riding). album: by museumofnewzealand is licensed under CC-CC0 1.0 It's "you think you know" or "you don't know that you don't know", then "you think you don't know" but you really do know,...

You can tell a professional by how much time they spend updating and training to improve their skills. They know what they don’t know. And They continue to develop. Cheslyn Rise, horses (ridi…

25/10/2025

So grateful to be living here and seeing these beautiful sun rises

07/10/2025

What happens when you do a roll back with out an outside balancing rein/leg?
You’ll add, chip and miss your fence.

Welcome to Trainer Tuesday! Each week we ask trainers a question and gather their answers for you. These trainers have a range of experience, backgrounds, and focus points of their programs, so the answers have as much variation as you would expect and also probably much more similarity. This week....

07/10/2025

Enhance your riding skills with the advanced Dressage Pro horse simulator, soon to be available at Willow & Withers Stables. Perfect for riders aiming to improve balance, position, and aids.

07/10/2025

Riding a horse simulator may not be your thing, HOWEVER, it is a great opportunity to develop and perfect your skills.
With in depth analysis You can improve your your riding faster with great efficiency because, each “horse movement” is the same.
There is no concern about the horse, or whether you are doing it wrong so you can practice what you need to practice correctly, so you can make leaps in your improvement.

Book a session and find out for yourself the benefits of riding a simulator.

Enhance your riding skills with the advanced Dressage Pro horse simulator, soon to be available at Willow & Withers Stables. Perfect for riders aiming to improve balance, position, and aids.

20/09/2025

In an industry full of stronger bits, training gadgets, and hours-long schooling sessions, it’s easy to believe that more is always better. But Geoff Teall argues the opposite: when it comes to good riding, less is almost always more. He outlines why the simplest solutions create the best results for both horse and rider.

Many riders turn to equipment or extra work as the first answer to a training problem. A horse feels heavy? Put in a stronger bit. Is the horse too fresh? Add more lunging. A horse isn’t responding? Try another gadget.

Teall cautions that these quick fixes don’t actually solve the issue. At best, they mask symptoms for a short while; at worst, they create new problems. As he explains, “All the bits in the world won’t make an unbalanced horse move correctly. The best they will do is mask the problem for a time.”

Instead of asking, “What equipment will fix this?” Teall encourages riders to ask, “Why is this happening?”

Take the example of a horse that leans heavily on the bit. The heaviness isn’t the real problem. It’s just a symptom. The root cause is often a lack of balance and engagement from the hind end.

The solution isn’t to pull the head up with leverage. It’s to go back to the basics: teach the horse to move forward from the leg, carry more weight behind, and balance himself properly. Only then will he feel lighter in the rider’s hands.

Simplicity doesn’t stop at tack. Teall also urges riders to rethink how much they drill their horses before stepping into the show ring. Too often, riders spend hours in the schooling area, jumping fence after fence until both horse and rider are exhausted before the class even starts.

Teall takes a different approach. “If your horse knows what is expected of him, he doesn’t need a lot of warming up,” he explains. A few well-placed jumps are enough to get a feel for the venue and fine-tune the ride. That means fewer takeoffs on the horse’s legs, less wear and tear, and a fresher horse who walks into the ring ready to perform.

Another common mistake is assuming more time equals better results. Teall describes a horse he inherited that was worked into the ground by his previous owners, who thought more riding would eventually make him quiet. Instead, the horse just became harder to manage.

Teall flipped the approach. He set strict, short schooling sessions that ended on time no matter how the horse went. Within weeks, the horse settled because he knew his workload was never endless. Instead of being drilled, he was trained, and that made all the difference.

📎 Continue reading this article at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2025/09/17/less-is-more-why-simplicity-beats-quick-fixes-in-riding/
📸 © Heather N. Photography

15/09/2025

A lot of people are asking about nutrition. Take a listen to these

Sep 30, 2024 | Dr. Clair Thunes, Equine Nutrition, Forage, Horse Nutrition Basics, Horse Topline, Horse Weight, Podcast, Senior Horse, Supplements

11/09/2025

Shout out to Laura Kelland May – a boarder here at W&W Stables, who is currently at the National Coaching Symposium & Leadership Meetings in Calgary. https://albertaequestrian.com/calgary-set-to-host-2025-national-coaching-symposium-leadership-meetings/

We can't wait to hear what you are learning. Laura is an Equestrian Canada Senior Judge (Ju,Hu,Eq,Hack) and Steward, FEI STEWARD and EC Steward, and Certified Comp. Coach Specialist, High Performance Trained. You can learn more about Laura here https://laurakellandmay.com/about/