Terrible Twos Tuesday Let your horse tell you when they are ready to move on to the next phase. Your horse will speak to you constantly, you just have to know how to listen to them. You need to listen with your eyes! Here is a short video showing two of my breakers. Bumble is totally not ready to move past this stage. Can you see the signs that he is unsure of what I am doing? He is lifting his head and looking around with wide eyes and turning his ears around to try and list

Collection When people start out wanting to collect their horses they focus on head set only. This results in a ‘false’ or ‘untrue’ collection where by the horse is overflexed at the poll causing an unnatural carriage. True collection is achieved by focusing on the horses body rather than the head placement. Once you get your horse working correctly through their body with impulsion, straightness, flexion, self carriage; only then can you get the horse to carry themselves in

My baby Bumble has his first lunging lesson today. This is a short snippet from the full video which can be found on our YouTube channel- just search Melissa’s Equestrian Academy. In the video I talk through each thing I am doing. A lot of young horses can end up with some bad habits of explosive behaviour to get away from aids and it’s important to take the right steps to ensure they learn how to react appropriately. Slow, Steady and Soft is the key when working with young h

This is all you need to remember when you are with your horse. Stop all the comparing and wishful thinking, you are only spoiling the moment you are having. When you are with your horse, make sure you are mindfully there 100% too. You don’t have to be famous or a world renowned rider to impress your horse. They will still love you and give you everything they have. Keep working towards your goals. Your horse will always have your back! #horse #horses #mondaymotivation #goals

Is your horse carrying enough weight? This diagram shows where subcutaneous fat is stored. (Subcutaneous fat is excess fat, a little is healthy but too much is unhealthy). Use this diagram alongside a body condition score to help analyse where your horses body condition is at. This drought that we are experiencing at the moment is horrendous and it is becoming harder to source good quality feeds. Benefits of adding a good fat source to your horses diet include: *Concentrated

One thing that I see all too often is people spending way too much money on ‘tools’ ‘tricks’ and ‘gimmicks’ only to be disappointed when they don’t work. Unfortunately horses don’t understand short cuts in training. What they do understand is clear communication with soft aids that have perfect timing. If you want to invest in your horses training you are better to put the money towards some lessons, books, and training courses to improve you and your horse together. #horse #

Fhelmen Response Now this is funny face that horses make is super cute and to a lot of people it looks as though the horse is laughing! You may be surprised to learn that this funny face actually has a purpose! The horse uses this procedure to take pheromones (smells) to the vomeronasal organ where they can ‘read’ the chemicals more accurately. They will tend to use this with unusual smells and tastes, like when we offer them new treats and foods. It also has a role with repr

Terrible Twos Tuesday Young horses are still learning, they will have moments that they have absolutely no idea what you want them to do. In these moments they may sometimes have outbursts of undesirable behaviours. Your job is to remain calm, get them refocused and do your best to break things down more so it is a smaller and simpler task that they will be able to understand. Once they understand that very first baby step and you are certain they are ready to move on you add