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"To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often." ~Winston Churchill This quote can feel like the exact opposite of horse training. There are lots of teachings that thrive on consistency, routine, and repetition. Repeating cues, drilling patterns, and practicing maneuvers over and over. But there is a dangerous trap in mindless repetition. If the exact same approach is repeated with a frustrated horse, he's not learning - it could be just drilling more resistance i

Horses simply need the right experiences. I know exactly what I want these maneuvers to look like. I want them to be consistent for every rider who ever sits on my horses. My goal is to teach each horse to perform the maneuver correctly without needing much help from the rider - even if that rider doesn't have a deep understanding of the maneuver or of reining itself. If an absolute novice can get the maneuver done correctly, that's a great thing. The challenge, however, is h

We are days away from our first Team WPH circuit show of the season. There is excitement in the air and our Team has been practicing hard in preparation. You’ve maybe read the quote by Bobby Knight which states, “The will to win is not nearly so important as the will to prepare to win.” Have you read the rest of that quote? “Everyone wants to win but not everyone wants to prepare to win. Preparing to win is where the determination that you will win is made. Once the game or

The sun has been out a few days this week and it’s appearing the beginning of spring is near, which is ushering in feelings of excitement and preparations for the coming horse show season. When the sun is up, we feel good. When our horses behave, we feel good. When our show shirts fit after a long pandemic gorging ourselves, we will feel good. So then, let’s talk about mindset, because it goes beyond feeling good. My wife coaches girls’ volleyball and she often ask her teams

Rollbacks that are performed in the finals of big reining classes can excite us! Everyone wants that spectacular, deep, super physical, snappy 180. Rollbacks seem easy enough, but there are some intricacies to understand that will make practicing rollbacks worthwhile. I feel like rollbacks are kind of an afterthought. After seeing a big stop and slide, the details of why a rollback was good or bad can be overlooked. I use an approach to teaching and practicing rollbacks tha

Resistance in horses can be a habit of poor behavior. Your horse may not be intentionally resistant or ignoring your commands. It doesn't matter what event or activity you're engaged in, if you feel like your horse is locked into a line you don't like or going a direction you haven't asked for, it's time to get busy. Get him busy with a productive distraction. Change something. Change everything. I love to slow things down (in this type of situation) and start turning usin

It takes a while to develop the stop. Here, I will detail some elements I use when training horses and focusing on developing the stop. The exercise in the video I do with almost all reining horses I have in training (and to some degree with any horse) - young and old. What changes from horse to horse is my expectation. I am always working towards the perfect stop, every time. Developing Patience For the Stop I walk out to check my horse's response to the word "whoa".

What happens when you head out for a training session or a ride and your horse says NO? It’s a common thing among many riders, even myself, as a trainer. Some days I expect the ride to go smoothly, with a finished head nod from my horse thanking me for providing a further education for him. LOL Right. I am a horse trainer because the horse needs instruction. From my point of view as a trainer, what do I do when a horse says NO to learning what is on my agenda list for h

I mention building your tool box, often. What does this mean? It's not just physical equipment. I have options when I'm training horses, because I understand how the bridle and reins work, how to use my body (legs, hands, weight, positioning), timing of when and what to do, and feeling for that timing. This list can be broken down into hundreds of options, or tools, that I can access during training sessions. As a horse trainer, I am teaching and giving my horses tools t

Here is an approach to schooling spins. This is for the horse that has some experience, not the younger horse still figuring out foot work and staying in the turn on his own. This is to brighten up the broker horse’s spin by working on the startup, body position in the spin, speed, and the shut off. It is kind of simple, but there is a lot going on to be aware of. Get your horse trotting on a loose rein. It makes it easier if you are two-handed, but a horse that is reall

I wish we had taken some longer video as the end of this one couldn't be edited, however there is some useful information in it to share. I hope you can take some details from it and put them into practice with your own horse. Trotting is a great tool to use that offers a training option with less stress on the horse. I use trotting as another way to instill correct repetition of a training technique, and it’s easier on the horse mentally than loping during similar exerci

#keeppushing #keephammering #keeppracticing #keepfighting #fillintheblank The hashtags can #keepgoing and going to help keep us going. Reading social media posts with hashtags that influence us to push through obstacles is both motivating and an awareness that we are not alone. People, everywhere, are experiencing trials, disappointments, failures, and proud moments from #keepingonkeepingon. Get through and past an obstacle, learn and grow from it, build from it, and keep

There is something to be said on the metaphor of “passing the torch”. Not just the act (in itself), but to whom the torch is passed can hold a sentiment worth noting. This very occasion occurred at Wilson Performance Horses one Saturday, in May. A horse that had become part of the family to Team WPH member, Julie, and who was her steadfast guide into the reining arena, became the “torch” handed off to another generation. Julie experienced many successes with her pal, Luke

Horses, like people, have strengths and weaknesses. To utilize your horse's strengths in the show pen, a lot has to happen. To put it simply, you have to "know your horse." I don't mean whether or not he likes his skid boots or head stall, or if the music or bleachers bother him. Those things shouldn't really be noticed by your horse or even by you. In a perfect world, you would walk into the show pen, your horse's head would be down, and he'd be focused. Your head woul

Balance is a common word with horse trainers. Most of the time it’s used when referring to how a horse can use their body most efficiently. I think it can go further into the training aspect, as well as, the horseman and showman side of having a balanced and complete program. I start with a balanced feed and farrier program that I have confidence in. Both are equally important to me. The quality of the feed will help to balance a horse’s overall look, the way they act, a

Being a horse trainer, I get questions often. I had an inquiry, recently, on my opinion about horses that rear. Normal responses to this, and maybe for a lot of people, are to think about a horse’s teeth, back, feet, or anything else being sore, maybe even trying a different bit. All those things could be true. I’ve heard of many things about similar issues. Some ideas people come up with can be entertaining, like, different feed or supplement products, the time of day,

Many times bobbles happen when working on spins. They happen with broker horses, but are very common in young horses learning the maneuver. In this video is a two year old colt still early on in his training. I've had him just over 7 months and he is a really nice horse by Walla Walla Whiz. The response to these bobbles can be similar at most training levels. This is a quick video, but I'll go over some things that I want you to notice and see. I'm working on footwork an

I made this post on social media during the summer, but wanted to share it on the blog to reiterate daily training aspects that can get misplaced when we are looking too far ahead to a desired outcome. Horses are individual beings. Because of that, though they are not human, they do fully function and make decisions based on their own well-being, which is sometimes not along our same ideas and goals. Learning to work with the horse and develop a relationship is the key to b