Blog

You know deworming your horse is important for their health and wellbeing, but do you know why spring and fall are the best seasons to tackle this essential part of horse care?

Proper care is key in maintaining the durability, appearance, and performance of leather tack. When you give your leather tack a little TLC, you’ll be poised to enjoy it for years to come.

Horseback riding and saddle pad selection go hand in hand. One of the top things to keep in mind when selecting the best saddle pad is the pad’s ability to effectively absorb and dissipate shock. A shock-absorbing saddle pad helps protect both horse and rider from the impact of the animal’s movement.

Keeping your horse cinch clean is an important part of your horse care routine. Both your horse’s comfort and your horse cinch’s longevity can depend on it! Experts recommend cleaning your horse’s cinch whenever it gets dirty or at least once every two months for lighter soil.

When horse riding, it's important to create control with your seat and legs. Your hands are the most aggressive tools you have so it's important to work toward using them the least. Your horse's bit should be used as much as needed, but not more. Ideally, your seat and legs should be used as the FIRST cue with the horse bit only used as an enforcer when necessary.

The diameter or thickness of a rope halter has an impact on its fit, durability, and the amount of pressure applied to your horse’s head.

Let’s take a look at sweat patterns and what they may be telling you about your horse’s saddle fit. You can glean valuable information about how your horse’s back is interacting with the saddle by regularly checking sweat patterns after rides.

If you have a fearful or anxious horse, it’s important for you to respond with patience, understanding and a willingness to work at your horse’s pace. Since horses are prey animals in nature, they have developed strong protective instincts as an ingrained part of their equine behavior.

You’re passionate about building a relationship of trust with your horse. When you embark on your next horse riding session, try a few of Ken McNabb’s tried-and-true techniques to improve communication with your horse and advance in your horsemanship journey.

Have you ever heard of the saying, “Built from the ground up.”? Essentially, the same goes for horses. Groundwork is an important aspect of training and working with horses. It can enhance your relationship, communication, and trust between you and your horse. Here are some reasons why groundwork is an important element for any level.

In 2021 I competed at Road to the Horse, which was actually held in Texas instead of its typical location in Lexington, Kentucky due to the Covid outbreak. For the competition, I chose a 6666 Ranch red roan colt, which I later named Dandy. After the 2021 competition, I then got the opportunity to purchase Dandy and have continued his training at home. This month I wanted to share an exercise for consideration in your colt starting program at home.

Development. You know this is a great word that suites horse training! Honestly, that is what we are doing; taking a raw lump of clay and developing it into something we want it to be. If you are building hunter jumpers, cutters, ranch horses, trail horses, or just a horse you have fun on- you are developing what you want this horse to be.