Newsletter Archives - Online Horse College

Have You Been Listening to This?

If you are interested in learning more about horses, have you been listening to the Equine Industry Experts on Horse Chats? Dr Andrew McLean discusses ten training principles for interactions with horses, based on his research and standing as non-negotiable obligations for trainers to maintain optimal welfare and optimal training efficiency in trained horses. Or his brother Jonna McLean giving a series on training foals from initial handling through to leading, loaning and stress free weaning . . . keep listening as he continues the series through to riding and training the competition horse. If you would like stories with a difference, learn how David Simons left school to work on a cattle station where he rode up to 12-14 hours a day, breaking in seven-year old horses and some … [Read more...]

What Do Vicki Roycroft, Monty Roberts and Dr Andrew McLean have in common?

If you guessed that they are all world class professional horse people, you are right! Vicki holds the record for the first female Olympic athlete to compete in both showjumping and eventing, Monty travels the world teaching his Join-Up method and Andrew is another international expert who has used evidence based scientific research to improve horse training and welfare. All are Equine Industry Experts and these three are all guests on the 'Horse Chats' podcast. If you would like free education from world class trainers, click on the link below and subscribe. https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/horse-chats/id1291293396?mt=2&i=1000392871574 Make sure you subscribe, there are more international experts coming your way! Happy Riding, Glenys :) … [Read more...]

Horse Steps, Strides, Gaits and Paces

Do you remember how complicated it was learning about horse steps, strides, paces and gaits? Just when you thought that horses could walk, run and gallop you learned that when horses ran it was called trot and somewhere in there was canter. Great, now you know the four natural gaits of the horse, or are they called paces? So you consult your trusty horse book only to find that horses have... wait a sec, the other trusty horse book said there were four natural paces of the horse and now this one has included stepping backwards. You read a little more and find that a horse has steps in the walk and trot and strides in the canter and gallop. Is that right? In human terms a step is putting one foot in front of the other and a stride is a longer decisive step. Yet the stride in horse … [Read more...]

Ten Reasons Why You Should Look Up When You Ride

There was an old poem that my grandmother used to tell me about holding my head high and always looking between the horse’s ears when I rode. While I can’t remember the poem (and I don’t agree with ALWAYS looking between the horse’s ears), I do agree that the habit of looking up is certainly one that will influence riding ability. Listed below are 10 reasons why looking up will positively influence your (or your students’) riding ability. To see other riders and horses Have you ever been at a competition or riding in a crowded area and had to avoid riders who are looking down. They are probably lucky that you have been considerate enough to avoid them, but watch for long enough and they will have a collision or near collision with another rider who is looking down. … [Read more...]

I Have a Good Excuse!

Do you have a good excuse why you didn’t win the last competition, or why you haven’t ridden lately? The thing is that everyone HAS a good excuse! No-one wins all the time. But those who win more often and progress to higher levels don’t dwell on their excuses! They work out what went wrong, how they can improve and get on with fixing things. We are all born into different situations, some brought up in families where they could choose what horse they rode, had the best instructors and started competing in big competitions at an early age. Then there are others who had to ride their bike for miles just to get to the nearest riding school. They would work all weekend and be rewarded with a short ride if it suited. It doesn’t matter where you started, it matters where you are … [Read more...]

Do you want a better horse or do you want to be a better rider?

Imagine this . . . you are out on a ride with some new friends and you are really enjoying your ride. They are all more experienced with horses than you, and you think you can learn a lot from them. You are happy they are including you in their ride and hope you will be invited again. As you ride, they show you a few new places to ride including a lovely sandy track where you can all ride along in pairs. Then there is a creek across the track and their horses all happily walk through, splashing and playing. You look in horror! Your horse hates water! What runs through your mind? Or what about this scenario . . . you are at a dressage competition that you know you should do well at. Your horse has either had a win or a place each time you have attended competitions at these … [Read more...]

Horses and Happiness

What type of horse does it take to make you happy? What has to happen to make you feel grateful for your horse? Second Horse To some one who learnt to ride on their first horse, happiness can be a younger, more energetic horse. Teenager To the teenager who has fast growing legs, happiness is a taller horse. Retired Stockman The old stockman who has spent many long days in the saddle when he was younger, happiness could be riding his favorite horse who has grown old with him. Competitor To some competitive riders, happiness could be a horse that was prettier, less resistant, straighter moving, had more collection, was more athletic, was a more accurate jumper or else was a faster, bolder horse. Dreamers While many people are searching for that special horse that will … [Read more...]

10 Tips To Improve Your Horse’s Results

There has been a lot of research about visualization to assist you to achieve better results in your horse competition and equine performance goals, but there is more to it than that. These tips will help you improve your own and therefore your horse’s behaviour and performance. While there might be some reference to competitions in the tips below, these tips can relate to other activities (either mounted or unmounted) with your horse. 1. Clear Picture of Horse’s Performance and Behaviour Is there a clear image in your mind where your horse is performing well? This would be some time in the future either at an event, a special place or at home. How does it feel? Have you made an emotional commitment and do you feel the emotional energy when you are in that picture? 2. … [Read more...]

Horse Vision – Interesting Facts that Affect Horse Behaviour

What it is about horses’ eyes? Your life can be in turmoil, full of stress and worries and then . . . you look into the eyes of a contented horse, really look into them, and it can have such an amazing effect on your day. A large eye has a much more powerful effect, and horses have eyes larger than any other land mammal. The more we understand the way that horses use their eyes, the easier they are to train and much of their natural behavior is related to their eyes. Blind Spots For instance, they have both monocular vision and binocular vision with a range vision of 350 degrees. Their ‘blind spots’ are just in front of their eyes and behind their head, over their back and their tail as shown in the image at right side*. When we are working around horses, we must … [Read more...]

The Horse’s Point of View

Sometimes you just need to look at things from the horse's point of view. "My horse just won't lead in the trot" Could be that he is happy to follow you in the walk because he is confident and there are no confusing messages. But then when you start pulling on his head and jumping up and down in front of him or waving your arms around, he gets worried about the extra pressure on his poll and mouth. He then has to put his head up in a defensive position so that your newly growing limbs won't hit him around his eyes. ---oooOOOooo--- "My horse just won't stand still when I mount" It may be that because he is not well balanced and well prepared he finds it easier to move his legs to counteract the weight as you scramble up. Other times it also could mean that as … [Read more...]

Starting a Horse Business is Not Just About the Money

Starting a horse business is not just about the money. Horse people understand that. If it was only about the money, there are lots of other types of businesses that have a better chance of providing a higher income, more sociable hours and better conditions. Who else but a horse person would slosh about in the mud putting on extra rugs, put their hard earned savings into their business to pay the astronomical bill for horse feed orstay up all night with a mare so they can witness the birth of a new born foal. Then be so excited that they don’t sleep for another 24 hours anyway! Horse people understand that having a horse business really is a labour of love that stems from that special connection between man and horse. But while starting a horse business in not just about … [Read more...]

Good Horsemen and Butchers

A friend of mine walked into a butcher shop in a small town on the way home from the National Dressage Finals. The butcher saw they were travelling with horses, and boasted that he used to ride when he was younger. There was a local pony club day on in the town that weekend and the butcher went on to complain that ‘riders these days’ don’t do anything, they just sit there and look pretty. He said that dressage riders were the worst. My friend was very excited! “Isn’t it wonderful that people think riders can sit there and look pretty while the horse does all the work? Ultimately, isn’t that what good horsemanship is all about?” A good horseperson works quietly with their horse, giving signals that only other good horse people recognize. They see potential problems with horses … [Read more...]

A Guard Dog Trainer Taught Me About Horses’ Eyes

The guard dog trainer was watching a young excitable horse who was being a bit cheeky while being lunged. The man had previously told me that he had very limited knowledge about horses so I was explained that the horse was not naughty, just being a bit fresh and playful. I explained that once the horse had the initial play then he would be fine to ride. The dog trainer replied “Yes, I can see that in his eyes”. I knew I should listen as I could learn from this man. He went on to explain that although all animals were different, they have very similar expressions in their eyes. He explained that he liked a soft kind eye, the type of dog who thinks that being a guard dog is a game. The type of dog that can play with the kids but on command can also be very protective of them. A mean … [Read more...]

5 Tips To Gain Confidence With Horses

Great horsemen through the ages are admired for their ability to ride spirited horses at speed, over fences and through difficult terrain. Even today we love our Olympians and their equine partners, and admire their ability to take calculated risks, brimming with confidence to make it all look so easy! Many people ask me about confidence, how to gain it back after a bad experience, a long period out of the saddle or even how to gain confidence initially. It takes persistence but if it makes you feel any better, even Olympians had to learn the basics. Despite the saying ‘they were born in the saddle’, every-one needs to learn how to rise to the trot, have their first canter and go over their first jump. These five tips (plus a bonus) below talk about the main situations where people … [Read more...]

Do You Want Your Riding School Business To Have a Higher Income?

You can create a higher income for your riding school without buying more horses, equipment or riding areas by simply filling in non-peak lesson time using the existing facilities. That itself is a fairly simple statement, but the real question is how do you fill in non-peak lesson time. Most riding schools are often quite busy on Saturdays, Sundays, after school as well as school holidays. If they have floodlights, these lessons can go on into the evening. During the day and during the week are usually the quieter times for a busy riding school. This is because traditionally the majority of riding school students arealso school students or people who work in a Monday to Friday job. You might need to think a little ‘out of the box’ to fill in those non-peak lesson times. What type … [Read more...]

What learning style do you use to learn more when learning about horses?

Finding the right horse-riding instructor Knowing and understanding your type of learning style is a great start to finding the right horse-riding instructor. When you find one who understands your learning style and adapts their lesson to match, they you can progress your understanding of horses and riding much quicker than having a horse-riding instructor who teaches uses different techniques to the way you learn best. Simple learning styles When we talk about learning styles and ways to process new information, we can use the simple terminology below. visual verbal (auditory) active (kinesthetic) We can even divide the visual learning style into pictures and words to provide a greater depth of understanding of the types of styles we can use to learn to actively ride and … [Read more...]

7 Tips For Teaching Beginners On The Lunge

People learn to ride in many ways and are instructors have developed many different routines and procedures to teach their beginner riders. The more experienced the instructor is the more the procedures are fine tuned so that the beginner rider remains safe while learning to ride in the most efficient manner. I am a strong believer in teaching beginners on the lunge. They can focus on gaining their balance and confidence while the instructor focuses on controlling the horse in a pace that is most beneficial to progress the skills of the rider. As soon as the beginner rider is able to walk and trot without balancing on the horses’ mouth and thumping them in the back then they can progress to the next stage of riding without the lunge in a confined area. When I teach instructors or … [Read more...]