Amy Skinner Horsemanship

02/12/2025

Good riding is twelve steps ahead of your horse

One of the reasons why riding well is so tricky is that it is essentially the act of spinning plates. Initially you spin three plates: track of travel, rhythm, and tempo.

Then you begin adding in bending and flexion, inside and outside aids- coordinating it all without getting tight or in the horses way. 

When done well, to the outside eye appears as if almost nothing is happening. When done poorly, you can see every little aid: an inside leg scrunching or too heavy a half halt or grinding and bumping and other such unpleasant sights.

The rider who seemingly floats along is usually working very hard mentally: feeling imbalances as they shape and fixing or redirecting them- not waiting until the horse is very crooked to then be met with overuse of the leg and rein. They are riding stride for stride without micromanaging , but not waiting for the horse to fall apart only to be over corrected either.

It’s true that training and retraining will not always look perfect. The rider doesn’t serve the horse by keeping perfectly still on a green horse who needs assistance- but very often, we could use far less aids by thinking ahead. If you know the horse is going to fall in the corner, don’t wait to fix it after the fact- shape it up to prevent it in the first place.

Ride twelve steps ahead for a happier horse, quieter hands, softer legs and a more beautiful ride.

02/12/2025

Today I was on my way to a lesson when I recieved a phone call informing me that my student, Michelle, had passed.

She had been battling cancer for some time, but I still was in shock at the call.

I know that when someone passes, people forget anything bad about someone - but I can't think of one single bad thing to say about Michelle. She was positive, funny, dedicated, and always an eager learner. She loved asking questions and asked so many good ones.

She was extremely committed to the betterment of her two mares, and worked very hard to give them the best quality of life. Her mustang, Grace, and her paint mare, Halo, were lucky enough to be loved and improved by her. I loved our lessons together too - watching Michelle shine brightly and gain confidence in her own ability.

Even when she got her cancer diagnosis, she kept taking lessons. Once it was too painful to ride, she did in hand lessons. She was really amazing, funny and light hearted through all her treatment. The last I heard from her, she said she was doing well, and her chemo treatment trips were giving her "an opportunity to travel."

I miss her dearly. I know many of my students loved her too: It wasn't hard to do.

30/11/2025

Why is the horse struggling?

The horse could have a physical issue. It could be a genetic condition - that is becoming increasingly common, sadly, due to unscrupulous breeding practices.

But, sometimes, the most simple answer is the correct answer.

A few occasions that illustrate this point well:

-A horse who was being investigated by vets, saddle fitters, and other trainers to see if they could discover the reason the horse was "off." The saddle fitters tried six, seven, eight saddles on him in one session. He became irritated and reluctant to go forward, pinning his ears. Is this because the saddles became increasingly worse in fit, or due to the irration of constantly being stopped, messed with, fiddled with, and being asked to ride one sloppy lap with little direction before the next saddle fit change?

Several riders, possessing two very different styles of riding, tried this same horse. One found him to go fine after a bit of redirection of attention from the saddle fitting pandemonium. The other found the horse resistant, unsteerable, incapable of moving forward.

Is this a sign of lameness, or a confused irritated horse tired of being "tried" by everyone?

As you can see, diagnostics are not that simple. Even as this horse went on to veterinary diagnostics, x rays revealing not much, a vet lunging a horse on a circle possesses different lunging abilities than an accomplished and trained rider. Is the horse crooked and lame, or is the horse being lunged crooked and completely out of rhythm? Assessment is not as simple as it would seem.

Another occasion:

-a frustrated horse owner posts on a biomechanics group that her horse will not lunge to the right. She shares photos of the horse being lunged: counter bent, pulling to the outside. And photos of the horse free lunging with no tack: better alignment, happier expression. The comments explore every option: have you had her x rayed? Have you tried this bit, that trainer's methods, have you considered this or that supplement? Test for this, could be EPM, and so on. And yet, upon inspection of the photo, it is quite easy to see the horse's equipment is attached in a way that the line is pulling the horse to the outside, hence why the horse lunges fine loose and not well attached to equipment.

Does this horse have physical issues? it's possible ,but it's quite likely this moment is easily fixed by a tack adjustment.

In no way am I saying investigation is not necessary. But let's not forget skill, tact, good equipment and good use of said equipment, understanding how to use the seat and aids well, and so on. I can't tell you how many "lame" horses I've met who were in fact not lame at all, hence why they were not responding to treatments - what they needed was better, more correct riding, or a few little adjustments in management, and so on.

So in seeking how to help horses, keeping a well rounded view is essential. Don't toss out your diagnostics when you need them, and keep considering what could be lurking deeper - but don't lose sight of feel, good handling, good riding, and common sense as our first line of defense against lameness.

29/11/2025

At the core of their being, horses are experts at responding to weight aids and the changes of our position as relates to them and their body. They are masterful at communicating through feel.
There are many methods to training, and thankfully, a horse is intelligent enough to figure out what we want with enough repetition and motivational tools. You can teach a horse that left leg forward means go right, you can teach a horse that right leg forward means go right. You can teach a horse to obey voice commands. You can teach a horse that a spur means go, or a spur means stop. You can teach them to move to a target to receive a treat.
But when it comes to working with our body positioning, weight aids, and communicating directly in the language a horse is born knowing: feel, we can’t go wrong. This is an inherent understanding every horse possesses.
Horses are born sensitive to these subtle communications. It’s humans and their ways of communicating with the horse that creates dullness and lack of responsiveness, because we ask them to ignore their nature repeatedly and conform to our understanding of communication.

29/11/2025

A pitfall of learning better ways is becoming the savior of the world

It can begin in good intentions: a desire to help others “see the light” can very quickly lead to division between us and the proclaimed “others,” and push those who we seek to help farther away.

Once we learn what we wish we’d known before, it’s easy to forget we used to live in darkness too. Impatience, judgment and frustration comes quickly to those who resist our advice or help. This mindset inherently tells us we are still in darkness anyway -

We forget that we, too, resisted until the perfect moment- a time when we were receptive enough to take it in, and be changed. We forget that we don’t decide the journeys of others- we don’t know what missing ingredients lay ahead of them to be primed. We don’t know what learning comes first and how important those lessons in order might be.

We have to learn to swim before jumping in the ocean, and once we can swim, we must be cautious not to shove fragile swimmers face down into the water.

There is a time for everything and everyone. And in our desire to help, let’s take caution not to become self righteous - as this energy steals away from our ability to see each other as fellow travelers on a road - and we can never help someone we can’t understand, or see ourselves in.

28/11/2025

Starting Young Horses Later?

Wherever you stand on the debate about appropriate age to start a young horse - one thing is important to understand.

Strength does not appear by just existing and waiting for a certain age.

Of course, a young horse can be weaker than a more developed, older horse -

But the danger for many in throwing the baby out with the bathwater here is waiting around til the horse is old enough to be driving their own kids to school to teach them anything of import.

I hear so often from folks concern and alarm about young horses lunging or doing in hand work. Waiting is best, they often say - and I am not here to address this complex topic of appropriate age to start a horse, but to say - strength does not just come in the mail on their 8th birthday, like a membership to AARP card. While you may not be riding your young horse, it's wise to remember that moving the shoulders upward is a result of training and conditioning. Going from no weight on the back to 150 lbs or more overnight is not suddenly better simply because they've aged - while their growth plates might be closed, if they have no training, no muscular development or experiences to support this sudden abrupt change, are we really benefitting them?

Most of us don't have the benefit of hundreds of acres for muscular and atheltic development. Most of us, especially out east, are dealing with flat paddocks, pastures, or maybe even stalls. It is essential to get our youngsters moving over a variety of terrain if at all possible, and developing the strength and coordination needed to carry a rider.

Appropriate in hand work for the horse's age solves this issue. Working through the gaits on the ground to develop stability and stamina. Carrying a saddle in good positions and frames helps develop the strength to resist gravity by lifting the back against a weight. My teacher even had me attach sand bags in incremental weights to horses being prepared to start. One day this weight will be you.

Don't just wait for physical strength to come to you - you have to actively develop it. Not only are you developing this strenght, you're giving the horse tools to manage learning, life, resilience, and a lifetime of health and wellness.

Do you want to ride a young horse who doesn’t weight the hind legs? 🫣🎢

27/11/2025

I woke before sunrise this morning, spurred awake by my son’s wiggling little legs. Unable to fall back asleep, I slipped outside to feed early.

In the cold morning dark, the little tomcat trailed me along the fenceline, frost clinging to his whiskers. My stallion snored from his pile of straw, and the horses stirred, their breath rising in soft, foggy clouds beneath the starlit sky.

This life—both sharp and soft at once—this work of art I get to walk through, I realized, is the culmination of a kaleidoscope of people and horses. I am more wholly myself than ever, my mind stitched together from small pieces of every person I’ve known, every interaction I’ve been lucky enough to have.

And what a gift that is. The learning, the growth, the unexpected lessons tucked into every exchange. Because of you—readers, students, teachers, horses, friends, and fleeting connections—I have become who I am.

I toss hay over the fenceline, surrounded by nature’s quiet masterpieces: horses chewing softly in the chilly dark, illuminated only by starlight and God’s steady gaze. And as I stand there, full of years of lessons and stories and shared moments, all I can think is how deeply grateful I am—how small the word grateful feels in the face of it all.

I wish you a peaceful day of giving thanks, and all the gratitude in the world.

26/11/2025

26/11/2025

You are an athlete.

You might say dismissive things like "I just trail ride," or "I just want to have fun with horses, nothing fancy."

Of course, you may not desire to be an olympic level rider, which would certainly amplify the athletic requirements, but the minute you step into the space of a 1200 pound flight animal, your athletic requirements begin. There is no real escape of this reality without consequences.

There are many skills required simultaneously for interacting with horses, on any level.

1- Spatial awareness: the ability to read an animal's intent and next steps, in response to your own body and the environment at large.

Many people struggle to take their awareness of their task at hand (opening the gate) into the environment at large (seeing the horses preparing to slip out that gate), but this is a muscle that can be exercised like any other.

At one end, this skill prevents injury and worse, keeps us safe and the environment productive and peaceful. At the other end you have mastery: the ability to use space and prediction of the horse's desires to shape a situation into a peaceful, productive and even artful expression of energy. If you have ever seen a masterful horseman working this way, it is almost as if they barely lift a finger to move a horse, but it's not magic: it's mastery of space and energy.

2- Coordination.

Any horse person from beginner to advanced has to be able to coordinate their own body, their gear, and the horse's body simultaneously. To manage the line, the horse attached to it, and your own feet requires some skill and practice - To be able to post without the hands coming up and blocking the horse's forward movement, and to a higher level comes the coordination of our legs, hands, seats and the horse's body to create very artful movements.

All the relationship training in the world will not prevent an uncoordinated person from blocking or damaging their horse in some small way, albeit accidental - pulling on a mouth is still pulling on a mouth, and so coordination is an essential skill. Many people overlook or discount this one: "I dropped my whip because it was too much for me," "I just went back to the halter because the bit was hard to put on," and so on. Of course I'm not advocating for using these things without skill - but avoiding developing the skill is a problem.

and or course, the most obvious:

3- stamina and strength:

In hand work and groundwork require some degree of fitness. When I work with horses, especially rehabs or greenies, I'm on my feet a long. Ten thousand steps is a very low end for me when working with a few horses: Lunging, walking, and so on requires your own stamina and ability to stay physically up with a horse.

Then as the horse develops under saddle, they require more cardiovascular fitness and core stability from us. It is not uncommon for a student to drop out of a trot when the horse was *just* on the cusp of letting go of their back due to their own fatigue. This lack of fitness here does harm the horse, because it causes us to not be able to support them in the way they need here.

Riding is a sport - and if we think of it that way, we will stop dismissing our needs as athletes. Most of us go above and beyond for our horses: great diets, bodywork, turnout time, exercise. What about you?

Your wellbeing matters too, very much. Your ability here helps your horse - and keeps you safe and happy. You deserve at least the same as your horse, to be a happy athlete, and enjoy a good quality of life.

Photo by Jessie Cardew

26/11/2025

24/11/2025