In eventing, bravery has a particular look. It can be the decision to keep riding after a poor dressage mark, to trust a horse through a complicated…
Posts
The Difference Between Riding Bold And Riding Reckless
Why I Book a Massage After a Major Horse Trial
After a big event, I am usually tired in a way that goes beyond sore muscles. My body has spent days absorbing the movement of the horse, the pressure of the…
What a broken stirrup leather taught me about preparation
There are horse-trial days when the plan unravels before the first bell. A horse warms up differently than expected, the weather changes, or a rider discovers…
The Value Of A Mentor Who Believes In You
Eventing has a way of making confidence feel temporary. A good dressage test can leave you floating until one missed transition replays in your mind. A careful…
How to Read Your Horse Before the Jump
A jump rarely surprises a horse as much as it surprises a rider. Long before the front feet leave the ground, the horse has usually offered clues through the…
Why I practice emergency dismounts regularly
There is a particular kind of confidence that comes from knowing how to leave a horse safely when a ride has gone wrong. It is not the dramatic confidence of…
What It Takes to Event a Horse You Raised Yourself
Raising a horse from the beginning gives an event rider an unusually close view of how a partnership develops. You remember the awkward youngster, the first…
The gear that changed how I ride
There are plenty of purchases in eventing that feel important at the time. A new saddle can make a horse feel wonderfully free through the shoulder. A smart…
Staying Warm at a Cold-Weather Horse Event
Cold-weather horse events ask for a different kind of preparation. The schedule may look familiar—arrival, tack-up, warm-up, competition, untacking, and the…
The Day I Stopped Forcing the Partnership
There was no dramatic fall, no refusal that sent me flying, and no single disastrous competition that made everything obvious. The realization arrived quietly,…