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Today, our lives have adopted such a blurring pace that folks now outsource parts of their lives or just neglect them altogether. And horse owners are certainly not immune from this acceleration. But fortunately we have a quick remedy for these times where even reminders to brush our hair need to be written on a list, lest we forget. The local feed and tack store offers an injection of solace and simpler times unavailable to our non-horse counter-parts. I like to think of it as yes, a place that drains my bank account, but also a mental oasis.

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I’ve been kicking around a couple of common phrases from the English language lately wondering just what deceptive fool created them in the first place.

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This might negate any chances I have of being hip, but let me confess that I love country music. It’s a secret indulgence of mine, warming me from top to bottom and soothing me no matter if my mood is up or down.

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It’s not that a wild haircut or an armful of tattoos detracts from one’s competence to train a horse. Buthorse owners tend to think that. Which is pretty funny, since the horse world is mostly populated by free spirits. Nonetheless, when an owner seeks a trainer, he or she is typically drawn to a professional that is, well, clean-cut. Tidy. Smooth-talking.

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High Maintenance

High Maintenance

Without naming any particular facility, I will say that I found myself last week staring unabashedly at what can only be described as complete and utter disrepair. And, no, I was not at the county dump or the scene of an earthquake. Quite the contrary, I was at a place where folks pay big bucks to be. Or more accurately, they pay big bucks for their horses to be there.

http://wordpressdesignscentral.com/jecballoudressage/childhood/high-maintenance/

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Free Horses and Empty Wallets

Free Horses and Empty Wallets

Written by Jec Ballou on November 8, 2009 · 1 Comment

$10,000 is the amount I spent last year on a free horse. And hopefully you detect the irony in that sentence. Free and $10K don’t exactly belong together. But I ignored my own basic operating rules during a six month period of psychological weakness last summer and chose to wave off the age-old truth that there is no such thing as a free horse.

http://wordpressdesignscentral.com/jecballoudressage/free/free-horses-and-empty-wallets/

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For the sake of accurate riding it helps to have access to an arena with a fence or wall around the perimeter. These visible, solid corners give riders the target and boundaries needed to execute this pattern without morphing it into an entirely different shape, which often happens when riders have too much open space to work in

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For the sake of accurate riding it helps to have access to an arena with a fence or wall around the perimeter. These visible, solid corners give riders the target and boundaries needed to execute this pattern without morphing it into an entirely different shape, which often happens when riders have too much open space to work in

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A balanced and engaged horse should feel light on his feet, yet powerful, maneuverable, and super responsive. Above all, his body should feel supple and symmetrical enough that you can adjust his strides a number of ways in any given instant—go sideways, extend, collect. These adjustments should be smooth and effortless.

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Western Dressage Exercise – Alignment Snow Man

Western Dressage Exercise – Alignment Snow Man

article:

http://jecballou.com/horse-trainers/western-dressage-exercise-alignment-snow-man-2/

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Western Dressage Exercise – The Fan

Western Dressage Exercise – The Fan

Ahorse’s ability to use his hindquarters for engagement and propulsion depends not on his hind legs but on his front end. Before anyone gets quizzical about this assertion, let me remind them that the horse’s entire trunk is suspended in a hammock-like sling of muscles and connective tissue.

article:

http://jecballou.com/horse-trainers/western-dressage-exercise-the-fan/

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http://jecballou.com/students/delusions-of-grandeur/

When I moved to California as a young trainer, my initial concern was not how I would make a living but instead that there was something funny in the drinking water. Whatever substance or chemical it might be, it had the same effect on every novice equestrian: filling them with the belief that, with a little effort, they would end up in the Olympics.

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http://jecballou.com/uncategorized/placing-blame/

Learning any new sport brings its own challenges, but in terms of unusually large and sometimes cruel learning curves, horseback riding takes the top spot. Not only must a new student learn to wrangle her body into never-before-experienced poise and isolation but she also needs to simultaneously wrangle the 800-pound beast under her with polish and grace.

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What do You Mean By That?

What do You Mean By That?

Back in college philosophy class, we learned about the concept of relativism which basically states that truths and values are relative to the person holding them. Nothing is absolute or universally true. But college happened a long time ago and I hadn’t given much thought to philosophical truths– relative, absolute, or otherwise– until last weekend when receiving a real-life lesson on the fact that we all hold highly individual realities.

My problem arose from equestrians’ tendencies to use different terms to describe the same situation. For instance, some folks will call a horse that bucks, bolts, and rears “very broke” while I might choose to call him “a wild beast worth avoiding.” I’ve witnessed riders call their flighty, skittish mounts “bombproof” even while they’re spooking at the same spot in the arena for the umpteenth time. I choose to call the same horse “volatile and reactive.”

http://jecballou.com/uncategorized/what-do-you-mean-by-that/

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We Heart Horses

We Heart Horses

Back in the 1990s, Dr. Gary Chapman wrote a book titled The 5 Love Languages that indicates people express their love in five distinct ways, depending on the individual. Some folks use words of affirmation, others do acts of service, and so on. Since then, it’s become trendy to talk about languages of love, and not just in touchy feeling conversations but in everyday chatter on the sidewalk. It’s almost as commonplace as talking about the weather. Several other hardcover books have since been published on this topic. Likewise, weekend couples’ workshops charging hefty fees for love diagnoses are popping up around the country. Apparently, we humans are plenty eager to plunk down a big chunk of cash on products that promise to psychologically analyze how we treat people with whom we’re smitten.

article:

http://jecballou.com/equestrians/we-heart-horses/

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I just returned from visiting a breeding farm a few hours north of here. After trying out a few of the breeder’s horses as possible matches for students of mine, I was treated with the luxury to overnight in her darling guest cottage.

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Getting Too Comfortable

Getting Too Comfortable

My left hand stirred a bucket of soupy bran mash while also using the wooden spoon to swat at the growing population of barn flies. My right hand, meanwhile, grabbed my tuna sandwich from where it rested on a nearby filth-covered bucket. Ignoring the knowledge that mice frequently trotted across my lunch’s perch with their dirty feet, I blew off a cobweb and munched away. Then, in the middle of this unsanitary lunch situation, I paused to admit what an unfortunately familiar scene this had become.

click here:

http://jecballou.com/horse-people/getting-too-comfortable/