#ThankfulGratefulBlessed: On Gratitude in Our Sport

Our sport is interesting in the sense that it’s not just a sport.  It’s also a lifestyle.  Horses, in addition to being our teammates, are also animals that require a significant amount of daily attention.  We spend so much time caring for our equine athletes, planning and training, traveling to and competing in horse shows, thinking about how we can improve our horses and our performance, worrying about and loving on our animals – the list goes on and on.  All that to say – this sport can become all consuming.

The sport is also peculiar in the sense that it’s essentially a microcosm of the world including only those who are in the top 10% of the population, income-wise.  It’s not news that this sport is expensive.  Keeping a horse requires a decent amount of disposable income.  Even just breaking in to the sport requires financial commitment, as riding lessons run higher than the average activity.  The point being, it’s a privilege to be able to ride horses.  But still, so often, we look around the horse show and see those with more than us.  We wish we had a fancier horse, or more horses to ride, or more chances to compete.  The list goes on and on.  We spend so much time in our little “horse world” that owning and riding horses becomes common.  Well, I’m here to bring a healthy dose of reality to both myself and others.  Newsflash: it’s not.

The opportunity to ride and compete horses is one that very few get.  I’m not saying that it’s wrong to aspire for more or to have goals that one is working toward.  But what I am saying is that the “horse world” is not the real world.  When we look around and see movie stars and billionaire’s daughters riding next to us in the schooling ring (many who have truly taken what they’ve been given and worked hard to earn their own place in the sport – but that’s a discussion for another day), it’s easy to feel like we don’t have enough.  But the reality is, there’s always going to be someone who has more than you.  More horses, more opportunities, more success.  That’s life, but that’s also the “horse world” in which we operate.  The thing is, though – there’s also always going to be someone who so desperately wishes they had what you currently have.  Someone who so badly wants to ride a horse, to own a horse, to compete locally, nationally, internationally, etc. etc.  While we’re so bogged down in this world, that’s a fact we often forget.  And when that happens, it means it’s time for a perspective shift.

The key to finding joy – both within the sport and in the grand scheme of life – is to be grateful for what we have in this moment.  To see the opportunities presented to us this very day and recognize the good things in our life.  Being thankful doesn’t mean one doesn’t have any wants or needs.  It’s a both/and situation.  We appreciate all that we have in the current moment while aspiring for more in the future.  For me, that means being grateful for the opportunity to work with horses on a daily basis, while continually working to grow both my business and my skill set.

Interestingly enough, not only is gratitude the key to a more permanent and lasting happiness – but it’s also a key component of success.  There are studies that show people who are more grateful are overall more successful and more productive.  I’m not exactly sure why, but I think a part of that is because when we’re grateful we see the events of our life as opportunities as opposed to things that “happen to us.”  Gratitude creates a mind shift from simply going through the motions to actively seeing and acknowledging the good things that are continually coming our way.  And, my friend, the opportunity to ride a horse is most certainly a good thing. 

I’m not here to shame anyone for wishing he or she had more.  I’ve done it too, and most certainly will do it again.  But this Thanksgiving season, I’m inviting all my equestrian friends to take a moment to recognize how incredibly lucky we are to be able to spend a good portion of our lives on the back of a horse.  And then go beyond that.  Every time you get on your horse – take a second or two to reflect on how lucky you are to have the privilege to ride on that given day.  It’s an opportunity that not everyone gets to realize.  When you pause and think about that fact, it’ll for sure change your ride, and hopefully your whole perspective.

Better, Faster, Stronger: A Case for Cross-Training

It’s been a hot minute since I’ve done a blog post.  Oops!  But we’re back and I’m looking forward to talking about one of my favorite things: cross-training!  One of the things we focus on in our program is preserving the longevity of the equine athletes in our care.  Of course, that’s achieved through a combination of factors, including but not limited to: diet, preventative and proactive veterinary care, supplemental therapies, careful show schedule planning, and a thoughtful approach to building and maintaining fitness.  That said, the latter is what I’m excited to talk about today!

The dictionary defines cross-training as engaging “in various sports or exercises especially for well-rounded health and muscular development.”[1]  I like the use of the word well-rounded in this definition because when done correctly, cross-training helps to increase fitness and boost athletic performance, sure.  But, by implementing workouts that support and complement each other, it also helps to reduce the stress on singular muscle groups and specific joints by distributing this demand in a more balanced way.  When done correctly, a cross-training program helps to reduce injury and promote longevity – both in human and equine athletes.  

Here’s the thing though – not all workouts in a cross-training regimen need to be high intensity.  For instance, I view daily turnout as an important component of our horses’ programs, mentally and physically.  I also think trail rides constitute as cross training, and there are days where I’ll just take some of the horses for a long walk and trot on the trails.  It’s ok, and even beneficial to incorporate some lower intensity days into our horses’ training and fitness programs.  But that just can’t be every day.  There’s a balance between drilling horses daily with the goal of achieving “fitness” and working the horses lightly every day and then expecting them to be fit and ready to jump around at the horse show.  

So, without further ado, I give you a list of some of my favorite ways to mix up our horses’ training programs.  Some of these things we do daily in addition to riding, like turn-out and some type of carrot stretches.  Others, we might implement a couple of times a week depending on each horses’ specific needs.  The point is, 1) we make a concerted effort to vary the work we do with each horse from day to day, and 2) we create a program for each individual horse based on our goals for them and where they’re at mentally and physically.

1.     Turn-Out

Barring an injury, bad weather, or any other extenuating circumstance, all of our horses get turned out daily.  Most go out on grass, some others will go out in the limestone all-weather paddocks.  But I think it’s so important to allow horses time to just be horses.  To graze, to roll, to move around freely without a rider on their backs.  Not only is turn-out time important for horses mentally, but it’s also significant from an evolutionary and biological standpoint, as horses were designed to be moving in some capacity the majority of the day.  Studies show that horses who are turned out on pasture have improved bone density and higher levels of fitness than those who are simply ridden and then spend the rest of their time in a stall.[2]  So, I view that as a win all around! 

2.     Working On Different Surfaces

I’ve talked about this on social media before, but I’m a firm believer in working horses on different types of surfaces.  Of course, this needs to be within reason – I’m not saying to go gallop on pavement or through deep mud.  But – walking and trotting down a dirt road, riding on grass, on sand, or on a fiber blend type footing all places slightly different demands on soft tissue, joints, and bone.  And the best way (really the only way) to strengthen any of those things is stress it in a way that causes the body to adapt, rebuild, and get stronger.  Harder footing stresses the body differently than softer footing, just like grass footing impacts the body slightly differently than sand does.  Therefore, one of the best ways to help develop a resilient equine athlete is to judiciously expose them to different types of surfaces so that their bodies can adapt and get stronger under different types of circumstances.

3.     Hill Work

Hills aren’t always easy to come by in Illinois, but I’m always on the lookout!  Hill work is one of the oldest “tricks” in the book when it comes to cross-training, and for good reason.  Everyone always thinks about the benefits of working up a hill – developing a strong hind end, and when done at a trot or a canter, increasing cardiovascular fitness.  However, working both up and down hills encourages horses to engage their core, helps to build their topline, and strengthens joints – even when done at the walk.  

4.     Trail Riding

I love taking the horses out on trails for a number of reasons, first and foremost being that it’s fun for both horse and rider!  But – it also can be a valuable addition to any training program as it often combines the notion of working on varied surfaces and hill work to some degree.  Coupled with the added mental benefits for the horse, it’s one of my favorite ways to work the horses.

5.     Pole Work

Poles are super useful for encouraging the horses to be aware of where they’re placing their feet and where their bodies are in space and time (proprioception).  They’re also a great way to practice “jumping” without actually having to jump any real jumps.  Poles are a great tool when it comes to working on pace and stride awareness, rideability, and to practicing tidier turns, among other things, all without creating additional wear and tear on our horses’ bodies.  While the idea of working over poles might seem easy, make no mistake.  Pole work can be challenging for both horse and rider, and can make a big impact both on horse and rider in a short amount of time.

6.     Lower-Level Dressage Movements

I had a trainer once tell me that, “jumper riders work on lateral movement not to perfect going sideways, but rather to create straightness.”  Which I love!  I’m never going to be a dressage queen, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t implement dressage movements like leg yield, half-pass, shoulder-in, and haunches-in into our flatwork.  When done correctly, it helps to create suppleness, balance, and evenness from one side to another.  That, in turn, helps to create straightness when jumping.

7.     Treadmill or Walker

The treadmill is one of my favorite tools when it comes to creating a fitness program for our horses.  It has so many applications, from aiding with rehabilitation, to helping to develop muscle, to improving fitness.  It’s also a great way to vary a workout on a rainy day or a day when you’re pressed for time.  Most treadmills these days allow you to adjust not just the speed, but also the incline, so essentially, you’re creating a hill for your horse in a controlled environment.  We’re lucky enough to have a treadmill at our home base in Illinois.  For some horses, I’ll use it a few times a week in addition to riding, if I’m trying to increase that horse’s fitness.  With other horses, I’ll use the treadmill occasionally instead of a ride – putting them on a program where they’re walking up and down an incline at a nice brisk walk.  

8.     Time Over Intensity Workouts

While quicker bursts of higher intensity exercise are helpful when it comes to increasing cardiovascular fitness, workouts that focus on time over intensity help to create endurance.  When it comes to this type of workout – I like to think long, low, and slow.  Usually walking or trotting, letting the horse stretch long and low, and focusing on sustaining a nice stretchy trot, for example, over a specific amount of time instead of doing quicker bursts of a higher intensity work.  Which leads me to my next point…

9.     High Intensity, Shorter Duration Workouts

There’s definitely a time and place for high intensity exercise.  For instance – for a jumper to be able to perform their best not only in the first round, but also in the jump off, cardiovascular fitness is an important component of that.  I try and think of this as HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) for horses – short bursts of work that is more demanding on the cardiovascular system.  In layman’s terms – gallop (or a brisk canter) sets.  While we’re not training for a Three-Day Event, so we don’t implement this as much as an Eventer might, shorter gallop sets of a few minutes definitely have a place in some of our jumper’s programs.

10.  Stretching/Ground Exercises

This has been a game changer for our horses.  Most of our horses do some type of carrot stretches and/or balance exercises daily after their ride.  In addition to the basic carrot stretches (bending to either side, and between the legs) our vet, Dr. Paige Billek, will give us specific exercises to work on in order to improve the balance, proprioception, and flexibility of each individual horse.  It’s not an overnight thing – consistency is key with these.  But over time, these stretches and exercises have a big impact on the overall wellness and athletic performance of our horses.

11.  Lunging With The Equiband Equicore System

 I’m a big fan of this tool.  I used to occasionally use other devices when I would lunge the horses, but I’ve switched to using the Equicore system more often than not because I like how it encourages the horses to focus more on engaging their hind end and using their core, as opposed to focusing on head placement.  This is another thing that I’ll do once a week or so for some horses instead of a ride.  I like how the Equiband encourages horses to have an awareness of their own body, and in my experience, it’s another great tool for helping them to develop their own self-carriage.  I can feel the difference when I hop on a horse the day after they’ve been worked in this set-up.  They have an improved awareness and connection to their bodies, and are quicker to engage themselves right away from the beginning of the ride.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it’s definitely some of my favorite ways to mix it up with our horses.  Of course, none of our horses do all of these things each and every week, and I wouldn’t recommend that anyone try that!  That said, our horses have all benefitted both mentally and physically from a program that incorporates cross-training and varied workouts.  Start slow by switching up your ride one day a week, or adding in some type of stretches after your ride, and I bet you won’t be disappointed.  Let me know in the comments below if you do!

[1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cross-train

[2] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0737080612007356

Hey Look Ma, I Made It! A Young Professional’s Perspective

You know when you’re a kid and you imagine what it’s like to be 16 and get your driver’s license?  Like it seems so far away, and you can’t imagine ever being old enough to drive a car all by yourself, and you think about how different you’ll feel once you reach that milestone?  Then all of a sudden when you’re 16 and driving and life carries on as it always has?  Or how when you’re 16 and you romanticize graduating from college, being a “grown up”, and living in the “real world”, like one day you automatically hit adulthood and all of a sudden, you’ve arrived?  Only to realize that you still don’t know how to fold a fitted sheet, still aren’t totally sure when to use a semicolon, and definitely don’t have your life entirely figured out?  Yeah.  Same, same. 

That was the same way I approached thinking about that “one day” when I would become a professional.  And the “someday” when I would open my own business.  Ever since I can remember, I knew I wanted to work with horses.  As soon as I realized that I could make a career out of training horses and riders, I was sold.  The thing is – as a kid and a teenager, turning “professional” or running my own business always seemed so far down the road.  Surely, by then, I thought, I would have accomplished all I wanted to accomplish as a rider, know everything there is to know about training horses and riders, and well, everything else, while we’re at it.  That’s funny, considering I’ve been at it a while now, and spoiler alert:  I don’t even come close to knowing everything.  I probably never will. 

The thing is – I think if you asked someone who’s been in this industry forever, they would tell you the same thing.  At least, anyone who is worth their salt would.  Horses are all so unique that it would be impossible to ever know all there is to know about every single horse.  And honestly, the second someone presumes to know everything is when things get a little sketchy.  But still, as it came close to the time to check that little box on USEF that allows you to declare professional status, or to officially launch my business (in the middle of a pandemic no less), I was struck with the overwhelming feeling that I wasn’t ready.  

I’d be lying if I didn’t say that the thought that maybe if I wait just one more year, I’ll reach the point of “knowing enough” or being “experienced enough” hadn’t crossed my mind on more than one occasion.  Which is interesting because I was confident in my knowledge base and my abilities until I started to look around and compare myself to others who had more experience, more results, more years in the industry than I did.  The problem with the comparison game, though, is that it takes focus away from what one can control (i.e. yourself and your actions) and opens up the door for self-doubt, among other things.  Not to mention, it’s unrealistic.  Like I said, no one ever said that being a professional or a business owner means you know everything.  It simply means that you ride horses and train horses and riders for a living.  You don’t just wake up one day having “arrived” and reached the threshold of knowledge, time, or experience required to allow you to check that box marked “professional”.  We’re all on a constant learning journey – it’s an inevitable and unavoidable part of working in this industry.

I’ve been lucky to have a lot of wise people in my corner who have encouraged me along the way.  One of the things that I’ve been periodically reminded of is that even those at the top of the sport all started somewhere and gradually built up their skill set and knowledge base.  No one is magically born knowing all there is to know about training and managing horses.  Sure, certain people are born with a greater natural ability.  But even still, skills are honed and refined through years of experience, trial and error, mentorship, and education.  And yes, there are some who haven’t put in the time or don’t have the experience.  However, most young professionals in my position really do have the knowledge and ability, yet for some reason still find it intimidating to break in to the industry.  But, if the next generation of professionals is too afraid to even begin their careers and start their businesses, there won’t be anyone to take over the sport down the road as the older generation begins to step down.  Which is an important reminder for someone who is a part of a generation plagued by analysis paralysis – to stop sitting on the sidelines and apologizing for your lack of experience, and get in the game.  Even to this day, I have to remind myself to stop apologizing for the fact that I’m a new business owner or that the number of years I’ve worked in this industry is half that of some of those around me.  That’s just math.  It’s not mathematically possible for me to have worked with horses for forty years when I haven’t even been alive that long.  Unless you buy into the whole Interstellar “time is relative and merely a construct” thing which is too far above my head.  Hit me up if you care to explain that to me in very small words. 

As a trainer and as a business owner, I can promise you three things:  

1)    I’ve dedicated my life to developing the knowledge base and skill set required to help horses and riders meet their goals.  I’ve spent countless hours in the saddle on too many horses to count, and even more hours in and the barn and at the horse show.  But…

2)    That doesn’t mean I have all the answers.  That said…

3)    I vow to never stop learning and never stop my own education journey as a horse woman.  As I said before, this sport is constantly evolving.  The only way to stay relevant is to be perpetual student.

 I never want to be the person who is too proud to admit when she needs to phone a friend.  Because at the end of the day, the only ones who suffer then are the horses and the clients.  I understand why that happens.  As professionals, we position ourselves as so-called experts in our field.  Therefore, it is intimidating to admit when we might not have the answer for something.  It’s scary to think about losing a client to someone who maybe does have an immediate solution for that particular horse or rider.  However, I grew up in a house that stressed that business has to be continually earned, and as a business proprietor, you never own the “rights” to your clients just because they’re currently in your barn.  One of the ways we continue to earn our clients’ business is by actively seeking out information and resources on their behalf.  That’s also one of the ways I can provide value to my clients – I’m able to adapt, find solutions for, and work with each horse and rider as an individual.  I also firmly believe that long-term, transparency, openness, and a growth-mindset retains and earns far more clients than offering a quick fix or being a know-it-all.  Perhaps that’s idealistic, but I’m sticking with it.

 Sooooo yeah.  There you have it and here we are.  A little insight into the mind of a young professional.  I’m sure there are those who haven’t felt this way.  But I’m even more sure that I’m not the only one who has.  So, my fellow overthinkers, over analyzers, and overachievers: can we all make a pact to stop holding ourselves back by telling ourselves that we aren’t enough?  Moving forward I’m vowing to embrace my youth and relative newness in the industry.  It means I can offer a fresh perspective, have desire to learn, and that I have many years ahead of me.  Anyone with me?

This One’s For the Girls: What Riding Teaches Young Women

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about this sport and the lessons I’ve learned from it.  Lessons I’ve learned from the horses.  Lessons I’ve learned from being in the barn.  Lessons I’ve learned from being at the horse show.  Lessons I’ve learned from the people I met through horses.  I credit a lot of who I am to these animals and to this sport.  I credit the woman I am today in great part to my experiences in this space.

The thing is – it hasn’t been all rainbows and butterflies and ponies and blue ribbons.  I never want to paint that picture.  The reality is that this sport is a tough one.  As much as it can add to our lives, it also has the possibility to take away, too.  Countless hours, money, emotional energy, broken bones, and sometimes, broken dreams.  But even so, through all the ups and downs, I’m still here.  Willingly, I might add.  Because the good outweighs the bad, and because this sport has done so much for me as a person and as a girl growing up.  Horses ignited a passion inside of me.  A desire to learn more, to work harder, to own my own successes and failures.  They taught me the value of patience.  The ups and downs of horse ownership and horse shows cultivated resilience within me.  I’m grateful to have had my character shaped and developed in all these ways and more.

Horses were the vehicle for life lessons and the catalyst for character development.  I developed my voice thanks in part to the confidence fostered by my countless hours at the stable.  I developed independence in part due to the fact that as soon as I was old enough to drive, I was following the horse trailer to horse shows, staying in hotel rooms by myself, getting up and getting myself to the horse show on time, etc.  I developed the ability to problem solve courtesy of difficult horses.  I’ll always be grateful for these and the countless other lessons I learned because of my involvement with this sport.  

Most of what I’m saying, though, isn’t new.  Not that it’s not important to reiterate, but we’ve already seen this written by countless others.  You see, the idea for this blog post popped in my head on International Women’s Day, as I started to think about how valuable this sport has been for my development as a young woman.  And I began to list everything that I’ve gained from my time at the barn and in the saddle.  What I kept coming back to, and what isn’t discussed as much, is this notion of the balance between grit and grace.  As a young woman, I think this balance is something that our society unfortunately misses these days.  I’m no expert on feminism by any means, so please don’t come after me with torches and pitch forks.  But, I think in an effort to assert our power, we’ve lost sight of the importance of also possessing a degree of softness.  It’s as if the pendulum has swung so far in the direction of strength that women sometimes don’t feel permitted to tap into a gentler side, too.

(Disclaimer: At the risk of being cancelled, I’m not saying that men can’t or don’t possess both of these qualities, too.  I’m simply speaking from my experience as a woman and as an equestrian.)

The thing with softness is that it isn’t weakness.  It’s strategic.  It’s a quiet confidence.  It’s knowing how and when to pick and choose your battles.  It’s an embodiment of the old adage “you catch more bees with honey than you do with vinegar.”  Being tactful doesn’t mean you aren’t also capable of being strong – it’s simple knowing when to use that strength versus when to employ other methods.  As a woman who has grown up in an era of female empowerment – which I’m all for – what I’ve seen it this: While we’ve been so busy reminding everyone that we’re strong too, we have forgotten that there is value in balancing that strength with finesse.

 What’s interesting about riding horses though is that both strength and tact are required in order to get anywhere.  Sometimes, you have to dig in and get the job done.  That’s where the grit comes in.  Other times, you get further with a little finesse.  That’s grace.  The beauty with this sport is that it leaves room for both and they don’t have to be mutually exclusive.  There’s a time to be soft and a time to be strong, and sometimes, the two working in concert bring about the best results.  It’s a great reminder in a world where young women are being encouraged to own their power – which is so important, but isn’t necessarily the full picture.  This sport gives girls permission to embrace their strength, both physical and mental, but also empowers them to retain a degree of softness from which women are sometimes discouraged in society today.

 It’s one of the reasons I’m so passionate about this sport.  As I mentioned before – it’s a tough one. And one that requires a lot more resources than your typical soccer or piano lessons.  But the way it empowers young women, the lessons it imparts, the lasting impact it creates are second to none.  And that, my friends, is generation after generation, what keeps us coming back for more.

Don’t Call it a Comeback: Lilly, Part One

I mean this literally.  We’re not going to call it a comeback just yet, because we don’t even know what going to happen.  But, here I am today sharing Lilly’s story with you all and taking you along for the ride!  Why am I making such a big deal about the fact that my mom’s unbroke five-year-old filly is down here in Florida and is finally ready to get started under saddle, you might ask?  In order to understand, we’re going to have to dive into a bit of the back story.  And boy, it is a doozy.  Oh, Lilly.  Where do I even begin?

Lilly Pulitzer, the horse, was born on March 16th 2016.  I know this because she was born four days before both my brother’s and my dad’s birthday.  Born during an “L” year for the KWPN registry, and in keeping with the tradition on her mother’s side of naming horses after designers, Lilly Pulitzer was the natural choice.  (Side note: Lilly Pulitzer, the designer label – if you’re interested in sponsoring a horse named after your founder – hit me up!).  Lilly was born via embryo transfer and is out of my first really good Amateur Owner jumper, Donna Karan, (who also went on to be super competitive with my mom in the adult jumper ring).  Her sire is Rodrigoo VDL (Indoctro) who unfortunately got hurt as a young horse but showed huge scope and talent and has thrown some nice babies both here and in Europe.  Not only are both of her parents talented, but they both have really good brains.  Rodrigo was the type of stallion that you could stable and crosstie next to mares without a problem, and Donna was the type of horse who could show in the High A/O Jumpers one day, and then do the lead line class with a small child the next.  So, even though we knew that breeding can essentially be a crapshoot, and that so many things can go wrong before the horse even sets foot in the show ring, we were excited about the possibilities.

The first six or so months of Lilly’s life were rather uneventful.  Her surrogate was a maiden mare, meaning this was her first baby, so out of an abundance of caution, we had her foal out up at Wisconsin Equine.  Lilly was a healthy foal, and the surrogate mare who carried her was a great mom.  Little did we know that these six months would be the only “easy” part of her life up until this point.  Think I’m being dramatic?  The following is the list of events that have occurred in Lilly’s relatively short life since then:

1)    Shortly after weaning, we noticed that she was beginning to look a little “clubby” in both of her front feet.  We tried for a while to use corrective trimming to mitigate the problem, but soon we determined that her case was significant enough to require surgery.  Her surgery went well and her recovery time was quick.  We followed up with corrective shoeing and trimming.  A couple of months later, we took a new set of radiographs to make sure everything looked as good internally as we thought it did externally, as to the naked eye there was little to no evidence that she had ever been moderately “clubby” in both of her front legs.  As Lilly’s luck would have it, her vet said she had healed even better than he had thought she would, and that she was well within the range of normal.  After a better-than-expected outcome, Lilly went back to her life of hanging outside all day with her friends.  

2)    A significant coffin bone fracture at age two, that, after failing to initially be properly stabilized, ended up taking almost two years to heal.  During this time Lilly was exclusively on stall rest, with the exception of monthly trips up to Wisconsin Equine for rechecks and corrective shoeing the last eight months of her healing process.  Due to the fact that the fracture wasn’t as stable as we would have hoped initially, and that its really hard to keep a young horse quiet on stall rest for that long of a period of time, we were told by multiple vets that it was likely that scar tissue had formed within the fracture line, and that the fracture line would likely never fill in.  In January 2021, we took radiographs to see how the foot was looking, and as Lilly’s luck would have it, the field vet who took the images thought she had the wrong leg at first because she couldn’t find any evidence of a fracture.  That’s because, against all odds, the fracture line is now completely filled in and there is no radiographic evidence of her ever having broken her coffin bone.

3)    While en route to one of her monthly recheck appointments up at Wisconsin Equine in early 2020, the two horse trailer Lilly was in hit a patch of black ice (the roads were fine when the driver left in the morning in Illinois, but as he got closer to the clinic, the roads got worse).  The driver was able to control the vehicle and eventually came to a stop on the side of the road.  However, during the process, the escape door on the driver’s side of trailer became dislodged and Lilly somehow managed to break free of her quick release cross-tie and walk right out the people door.  Mind you, Lilly had at this point been on stall rest for 16 months.  Upon escaping through the people door, Lilly found herself walking around on a frozen, moderately busy Wisconsin road.  The key word here being walking.  The horse who hadn’t been outside in over a year, and hadn’t been anywhere in her life took a leisurely stroll down the road and back before walking up to her groom.  As Lilly’s luck would have it, both horse and driver came away from the accident unscathed, save for a small cut on Lilly’s forehead (presumably from walking through a door designed for people and not horses).  We rescheduled her appointment at the clinic for the next week and they confirmed – Both Lilly and her healing coffin bone were unaffected by the accident.

4)    In the middle of 2020, Lilly was a few months in to finally being able to be turned out again.  After returning to “real life” like a champ, she came in from turnout one day with a couple inch long laceration on her hind fetlock.  And there was blood – like a lot of blood – because she had nicked the corner of an artery.  Our vet came out, examined it and warned us that because of its location, there was the potential that she had either damaged some of the significant soft tissue structures in the area, or perhaps compromised the integrity of the joint capsule.  She advised that we might consider bringing her into a clinic in case she needed to be put under and have the joint capsule flushed (due to infection or perhaps a foreign body like a splinter being stuck in there somehow).  However, we decided to stitch her up at home, and both put her on IV antibiotics and perform regional limb profusions every other day for the next ten days.  And again, as Lilly’s luck would have it, the wound healed beautifully, never caused any issues within the joint capsule or the other soft tissue structures, and a few weeks later, Lilly returned to normal life.  Shoutout here to Dr. Paige Billek, because there’s no doubt that we owe Lilly’s relatively easy recovery from a serious wound to both her flawless sutures and amazing aftercare.

5)    After spending a few months back in Illinois this winter, Lilly got the invite to join the Glenwood Farm team down in Florida to officially start her under saddle career.  When she got the all clear to start going outside again in 2020, our vet suggested that we wait to get on her until 2021 to give her the opportunity to regain some of the muscle and body awareness that she had lost being stuck in a stall for so long.  So in the fall of 2020, we started to work Lilly on the lunge line with the saddle on, teaching her basic verbal commands like “woah” and the cluck.  But that’s about as far as we got before we left for Florida.  Anyway… Lilly arrived down in Florida on February 1st, and for a horse who had only been to a handful of placed in her life, Lilly walked off the trailer like a pro the morning that she arrived.  It was such a beautiful day, and since she was settling in so well, we decided to let her have a short turnout in the afternoon.  She calmly walked around her turnout for a few minutes before deciding to roll.  Before we could stop her, she had laid down, rolled all the way over, and got herself cast in the paddock fence.  To her credit, as soon as she realized she was stuck, she stayed frozen like a statue as we ran up to her and worked to free her front and hind leg from the fence.  

Once we got her free and got her inside, we noticed a small cut on her front leg at the back of her knee.  You know the drill – we had the vet out, she determined that it didn’t look serious but needed a couple (READ: TWO) sutures, and we put her on oral anti-inflammatories and antibiotics.  Everything looked great for a few days until the leg blew up.  We had the vet back out, and she threw the ultrasound probe on the leg just to make sure there wasn’t anything more serious going on.  On ultrasound, it looked just like she thought – that it was a subcutaneous wound that didn’t affect any other structures.  However, her serum amyloid a (a marker of inflammation that when elevated often indicates the body is fighting an active infection) was elevated so we made the decision to switch her to a different, stronger antibiotic.  Again, everything looked good for a few days, and then the leg blew up again.  At this point, we decided to get a surgeon involved because there was concern that the wound had somehow had compromised the carpal canal and therefore the joint itself might be infected.  We took Lilly into the clinic, and using contrast to allow them to better visualize the area on imaging, they determined that the carpal canal wasn’t affected, but that this small wound went all the way down to the bone and also had created a channel that went all the way down the back of the leg.  Again – this is after our vet had looked at the leg on ultrasound a few days after she got injured, and saw no indication of this, so thankfully we took her into the clinic where they were able to use contrast to see what we otherwise wouldn’t have been able to diagnose.  As Lilly’s luck would have it, again, there was no involvement of the carpal canal and all soft tissue structures remained intact.  She had just developed a significant case of cellulitis which required a more specific antibiotic, a Fura-Zone/DMSO sweat (don’t @ me, I know Fura-Zone is toxic and we use it very infrequently), and a few day stint in the clinic for monitoring.  A few days (and a couple thousand dollars) later, Lilly arrived back home, well on her way to recovery and no worse for the wear.

So yeah, I think that’s pretty much it.  Is your mind blown after reading all this?!  I with 100% seriousness say she’s the luckiest unlucky horse I’ve ever known.  She’s had an abundance of relatively major injuries and accidents, all of which have had just about the best-case scenario outcome up until this point.  Which is why we’re now going to call her #LuckyLilly, and why I’ve decided to bring you guys in to her story.  So here we are, giving that small cut on the back of her leg a few more days to heal before we begin to start her under saddle career.  She’s stubborn like her momma, but also is a smarty pants, so I think as long as she uses her powers for good and not for evil, we should be good.  But, I honestly don’t know what’s going to happen, if she’ll hold up, and if she does, if she’ll even be any good.  And that’s part of the fun (and also slightly terrifying) part of it.  So, all that to say, stay tuned for #LuckyLilly Part 2, coming soon to a computer or smartphone near you. 

A New Perspective: Our Approach to Feeding the Modern Sport Horse

As the health and wellness space continues to grow, people are beginning to understand that what we put into our bodies comes down to so much more than just calories and macronutrients.  Food supplies our bodies with the building blocks and nutrients it needs to either contribute toward health resilience or toward deterioration and dysfunction.  It’s the same reason you wouldn’t choose to build the frame of a house with rotting wood or wouldn’t put old, cheap gas in a high-end car.  What we choose to fuel our bodies with affects how we think, feel, and perform.  

I got a crash course in this a few years ago when, after struggling for years to manage an autoimmune disease, I made the decision to significantly change my diet.  As I began to research, I learned how certain foods that we eat can trigger inflammation in the body, and that by removing those foods, many people see a decrease in their autoimmune symptoms.  This is because autoimmune diseases are driven by chronic, persistent inflammation, and by removing some of the inflammatory triggers that are in many of the foods we commonly eat as a part of the Standard American Diet (gluten, conventionally raised dairy, refined sugar and oils, soy, corn, etc.), I stopped adding additional fuel to the internal fire.  

It took a while, but after a little bit of time, I started to notice that I felt better and better.  Not only did my autoimmune disease symptoms get better, but I noticed that my head felt clearer and sharper, my body felt less puffy and sluggish, and that I was able to push myself more both in the saddle and in the gym.  This led me down a whole another rabbit hole in which I began to understand how chronic inflammation actually affects cognition and inhibits the recovery and repair process in our bodies, among other things.

Before I continue, it’s important to understand that inflammation isn’t inherently bad.  It’s super helpful in an acute phase.  Say you slice your finger open.  That triggers an inflammatory response where all sorts of immune cells, proteins, and antibodies flood to the area in order to begin the healing process.  Your finger might get a little warm, red, and puffy.  But (within reason) that’s good news, because it means the body is working to help heal the cut.  Inflammation only becomes a problem when it lingers in the body for too long.  This can be caused by a combination of a lot of different things – a chronic infection, poor diet, lack of quality sleep, toxicities, chemicals, stress, etc.

Some of these inflammatory triggers, we can address (like diet) and other things (like air quality) are out of our immediate jurisdiction.  Which is why it’s important to dial in on the factors over which we do have control.  Ongoing chronic, systemic inflammation predisposes us to disease - both chronic and acute.  But equally of interest – chronic inflammation also prevents our bodies from being able to heal and repair themselves efficiently.  It slows the body down mentally and physically.  And when the body is constantly putting out “fires” in the way of chronic inflammation, that leaves it with less time to repair and rebuild itself.  Understandably, this all can hinder athletic performance as well as recovery.  This is where our feeding philosophy for the horses comes in.

Our feeding program stems from the strong belief that our horses (whether children’s ponies or Grand Prix horses) are athletes and should be treated as such.  When it comes to feeding our horses, we have a couple of priorities.  Most important, we want to make sure to meet and optimize the nutritional requirements of each animal.  We also want to feed in a way that is conducive to the health of the gut and of the gut microbiome.  Equally essential, we aim to feed our horses a diet that is as anti-inflammatory as possible, and sometimes incorporate specific nutraceuticals and supplements that help to keep the body functioning optimally while mitigating chronic and systemic inflammation.  

These three main objectives are achieved by feeding according to the following principals: 

1)    Prioritize High Quality Forage

At the forefront of our feeding program is consistent access to high quality hay.  This it not only a crucial component when it comes to meeting the nutritional requirements of the horse, but also is one of the most significant things we can do to facilitate gut and gut microbiome health.  We feed our horses a mixture of grass and alfalfa hay.  Some horse people are concerned about feeding alfalfa, but the reality is that as long as the horse tolerates it well and doesn’t have a history of a metabolic disorder (and even sometimes if they do, depending on the horse) alfalfa is a great, nutrient dense source of forage for horses.  Alfalfa hay is also a better source of protein than just straight grass hay, something which is important to both muscle building and recovery in sport horses.  

As I mentioned before, a diet consisting primarily of continuous access to good hay is also vital for the health of horse’s digestive system and the gut microbiome.  The reason being that horses are grazers by design, meaning their digestive systems are built to be eating and digesting small amounts of food (either grass or hay) the majority of the day.  Horses are also hindgut fermenters which means that the bacteria in a horse’s cecum and large intestine are responsible for taking the indigestible part of the fibrous foods a horse grazes on (cellulose) and digesting them.  In the process, these bacteria metabolize and synthesize various fatty acids and vitamins.  

Understanding how a horse’s digestive system works and feeding accordingly is key for a few reasons.  One, because allowing horses to eat small amounts of hay (or pasture grass) throughout the day helps to reduce the risk of colic by stimulating peristalsis (the involuntary contraction of muscles that helps to move food along the digestive tract).  Two, this also helps keep stomach ulcers at bay because the food in the stomach (especially alfalfa hay which is richer in calcium) serves as a natural buffer for acid.  And, three, it reduces the need for excessive vitamin supplementation and huge amounts of grain concentrates (more on this below), because high-quality hay is a good source of most essential nutrients. This also provides the bacteria in the large intestine with the raw materials they need to synthesize other vitamins and fatty acids.  This all might seem like basic horsemanship and not specific to performance horses.  And that might be true.  But I would argue that in order for an equine athlete to perform at his best, his overall health and well-being must first be addressed and dialed in.  And simply put, feeding a good quality hay throughout the day is one of the key things we can do nutritionally to optimize the health of the horses in our care.

2)    Top Off With a Minimally Processed Grain

This is a point of contention for many horse people.  Some can’t fathom not including a concentrated feed in their horses’ diets, and some on the other side will argue that when fed a diet of high-quality hay and pasture, horses don’t need the addition of grain.  I agree that grain often makes up a disproportionate percentage of our horses’ diets.  And I also agree that many horses don’t need the additional calories and energy that grain provides if they’re getting all the essential nutrients from a good quality mixed hay.  For those horses, I would use an alfalfa or an alfalfa/timothy pellet to administer any supplements and also to make it so that they don’t feel “left out” at meal times.

However, I would argue that being athletes, many sport horses benefit from the additional macro and micronutrients that a high quality and minimally processed feed provides.  Especially, the additional protein and carbohydrates.  But that doesn’t mean I want my horses to get their protein from soybean meal and their carbohydrates from refined grain by-products.  (Side note: I recognize that soybean meal is a complete protein and on paper should be an excellent source of this macronutrient.  Still, I’m concerned about the fact that soybeans are one of the most commonly genetically modified foods in this country, and that they have a high concentration of phytoestrogens (plant compounds that are similar to the hormone estrogen.)  Until research shows me that soy is definitively safe, I choose to stay away from it when possible.)

One of my favorite feeds is Crypto Aero’s Whole Food horse feed.  (I’m not sponsored, I just genuinely love their products!)  Crypto Aero’s feed is a whole oat-based feed (oats are a great source of fermentable fibers like beta-glucans which contribute toward gut health) and also includes a whole food source of protein, peas, which have a complete amino acid profile that contributes to the building of healthy muscle tissue.  This feed also boasts a small but solid list of other beneficial ingredients specifically and intentionally formulated to contribute to health from the inside out.  It’s also a concentrate – so that means we feed less than we would with a grain that has lower quality and less nutrient dense ingredients.  

Contrary to the common misconception, whole oats won’t actually make a horse any hotter.  They’re a good source of resistant starch (which isn’t digested in the small intestine, therefore making them lower on the glycemic index) – meaning they’re not going to spike the horse’s blood sugar in the way that processed wheat, corn, and other common grain ingredients would.  They actually provide a more sustainable, longer lasting source of energy for horses without putting them on the blood sugar roller coaster that horse people often attribute to excessive energy, irritability, or spookiness.

Also, contrary to another big myth perpetuated by both the human food industry and the animal feed industry, food doesn’t need to be fortified with synthetic vitamins if you’re feeding an appropriate, nutrient dense diet of real, whole foods.  I’m going to say that louder again for the people in the back.  A diet filled with quality, nutrient dense, minimally processed foods provides all the necessary nutrients for optimal health and doesn’t need to be fortified with cheap, synthetic vitamins.  Do we sometimes need targeted supplementation to optimize a horse’s health or help to address a specific deficiency?  Yes, but that’s on a case-by-case basis and tailored according to the individual needs of each horse.  Further, what’s super cool is that by reducing inflammatory, processed feeds and feeding in a way that supports gut health, we’re actually reducing inflammation in the digestive tract.  This makes for an increased absorption of nutrients, as intestinal inflammation actually hinders nutrient assimilation.  Knowing this, one can see how a cycle begins.  When we feed high volumes of a grain with nutrient poor, inflammatory ingredients (many of which are just highly processed filler ingredients in the first place) this not only fails to provide the body with adequate nutrients, but also the inflammation it precipitates hinders a horse from absorbing what is being ingested.  Which then necessitates increased supplementation or feeding of fortified grain products because the horse isn’t absorbing nutrients properly.  And thus continues the cycle…  I’ve found for our horses that it’s more efficient and that we have better outcomes when we choose to feed minimally processed and higher quality feeds.

Then we have huge feed companies coming and saying “your horse isn’t going to get adequate nutrients if you’re not feeding a fortified grain…” when in actuality, it’s products like theirs that are contributing to the problem in the first place.

 3)    Optimize Performance and Health With Naturally-Derived Supplements as Necessary  

Supplements can be a super useful tool when it comes to optimizing the equine athlete’s performance.  That said – there’s not a one size fits all supplement that works for every horse.  In my opinion, the exception to that is free choice access to a mineral salt lick, which is in every one of our horses’ stalls.  Some hardly touch theirs, and others go through them more quickly, but it’s important that all horses have the ability to replenish the salt and trace minerals that are lost through daily activities and especially through sweat. 

With that exception, supplements should be tailored to the needs of the individual horse, oftentimes in conjunction with your veterinarian.  Bloodwork can be a valuable tool, but so can close and careful observation of the horse both in the barn and under saddle.  If I have a horse that is a little tight and jumpy after treating for or ruling out ulcers, I’ll consider magnesium supplementation, especially because magnesium[1] isn’t as prevalent in our soil, and therefore, in the horses’ hay these days.  If we have a horse struggling with immune issues or going through a stressful time we might consider supplementing with a water-soluble natural form of Vitamin E.  A mare that is manageable but gets uncomfortable when she comes into season?  A natural hormone support (like Equine Elixir’s Positude) can be really helpful.  A horse that comes out a little stiff or who has elevated inflammatory markers on his bloodwork?  A curcumin and Boswellia based supplement (which are both natural anti-inflammatories) like CurOST’s EQ Plus Performance can make a huge difference in their comfort levels.  What’s beneficial about using naturally derived supplements is that they tend to have a better bioavailability (ability to be absorbed and used by the body) because they are in a form that the body recognizes.  Plant and herb-based supplements also have the potential to work synergistically in a way that synthetic ingredients don’t.

Further, when used appropriately, certain supplement and ingredients can also sometimes help to reduce usage and dependency on medications like NSAIDS and PPIs (like omeprazole).  Not saying that there’s not a place for things like that, because there absolutely is.  But oftentimes, after using specific pharmaceuticals to help treat the acute problem, natural ingredients can be a great way maintain and contribute to health long term without the same side effect profile.  For example, let’s compare the use of NSAIDS like bute and banamine with anti-inflammatory herbs I mentioned above, curcumin and Boswellia.  NSAIDS work by inhibiting the COX-1 and COX-2 enzymes.  These enzymes promote the formation of prostaglandins that contribute to pain and inflammation in the body, and they are extremely helpful in the short term.  However, they also reduce the prostaglandins that help to protect the digestive tract, which is why excessive NSAID use can contribute to ulcers in horses.  

To a lesser degree, curcumin also works to inhibit the COX-1 and COX-2 enzymes, but also has been shown to be protective against ulcers.  Additionally, curcumin[2] and Boswellia[3] each inhibit additional inflammatory pathways in the body (I won’t bore you with all the details), which means that they work to mitigate inflammation in ways NSAIDS don’t target.  Obviously, nutraceuticals like this aren’t meant to replace pharmaceuticals, and they oftentimes don’t have as strong or as immediate effect as medications. But, they excel at providing more long-term benefits, typically with a more benign (or nonexistent) side-effect profile. And that’s what helps to give horses an edge in the ring!

For the purpose of trying not to let this blog post get any longer than it already is, I’m not going to delve into all the specific supplements I use and why.  We’ll save that for another day.  But I will say that there are more and more companies coming up that are bringing excellent, high quality, naturally derived supplements to the market.  Companies like Equine Elixirs, CurOST*, Crypto Aero, and BioStar US* (which is newer to me, but has a great line of products) are doing an excellent job of bringing natural, effective, and research based, to the equine world.  Again, I’m not sponsored by any of these companies, but have been impressed by their products, and think it’s important to support companies whose values align with my own and whose products have contributed to the health and success of our equine athletes.

*While all of Equine Elixirs’ products, and as far as I know all of Crypto Aero’s equine products are USEF and FEI legal, CurOST and BioStar US do carry some products that have illegal ingredients, so be sure to read the labels.

So, here we are at over 2,700 words, and if you’re still reading, I applaud you.  You might gather that this is something I’m really passionate (and kind of nerdy) about.  And while I may have taken a lot of words to get here, in the end, our feeding philosophy is actually pretty simple.  Feed the horses according to the way that their bodies were designed to function, try not to add to their inflammatory burden with less than stellar ingredients, and supplement as needed to optimize performance.  When we support the horses’ bodies in this way, it not only contributes to their overall health, but also frees the body up to better deal with the inflammation and necessary repair processes that result as a part of everyday life, and as a part of being an athlete.  It also decreases the measures we need to take to mitigate inflammation through supplementation, medication, injections, and other channels.  So, what might seem like a lot at first actually, truly does simplify things in the end.  And any way we can help make things less complicated in this sport helps, am I right?!

I’m sure post is going to create some strong opinions.  Questions?  Comments?  Let me know your thoughts below!  

[1] https://horseandrider.com/horse-health-care/vitamins-and-minerals-for-horses

[2] https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12970-014-0066-3

 [3] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19374837/

Nothing in this post constitutes as medical or nutritional advice. As always, be sure to consult with your veterinarian before making changes to your horses feed or supplement program.

You Can’t Always Get What You Want: A Rider and Trainer’s Perspective on Dealing with Failure in a Productive Way

Our sport is a tough one.  Day in and day out, we choose to participate in competitions where our partner is another animal – one that has his own good days and bad days, thoughts, and sometimes, agenda.  The fact that our partner is another sentient being makes for a huge amount of variables and possibilities for the unpredictable.  Add that with the fact that we, as riders, are human, and therefore are subject to experiencing our own ups and downs in the sport, and it can really make things interesting.  No matter what ring you’re choosing to compete in, at the end of the day, there can only be one winner.  Unless they split the class, then there’s two.  But you get my point!  With class sizes sometimes nearing the triple digits, that makes for a lot of people walking home empty handed.

Sometimes this can be discouraging.  We put so much effort, time, and energy into our riding, our horses, and our sport.  When things don’t go according to plan, it can be easy to get in our own heads.  Because riding can be such a mental game, it’s important to be able to reframe perceived failure in a way that is conducive to growth.  When we’re able to perceive our mistakes as simply information and view our errors as learning opportunities, it sets us up to create a constructive experience from an unfavorable outcome.  As someone who is a Type A overthinker and overachiever, this has been a game changer not only for my own riding, but the following perspective shifts have helped me to better help my students as well.  Keep reading below for some of my favorite mindset shifts that have proved invaluable.

Redefining Identity:  This might seem a bit counterintuitive at first, so bear with me.  This sport can be all-consuming.  From the countless hours spent in the saddle and at the barn, to the huge financial commitment, it takes up a big part of our lives.  Which is great!  Having a passion, a drive to succeed, and a competitive nature are all good things.  Where it becomes problematic, however, is when we tie our value as human beings to our competitive successes, athletic performance, and what we do (either professionally or recreationally) without a grounded perspective of who we are apart from all of that.  

When we define ourselves by what we do, it’s all great when things are going well.  But what happens when we have a bad day, month, or year?  Or when we are hurt or sick and can’t compete for an extended period of time?  This is when it can be helpful to recognize that riding is something that we do – but it’s not who we are.  True, we are horsemen and horsewomen, and that’s an important component of our lives.  However, our worth as individuals is inherent in the fact that we are valuable, unique, human beings and isn’t tied to any sort of achievement or failure.  This is important to understand in life, in general, but also when trying to interpret our successes and failures.  When we’re able to separate what we do from who we are - it allows us to separate failure from our identity.  Which has two major benefits.  One, it softens the blow of failure because it’s not a personal attack on our value as human beings.  And two, it frees us up to try new things, make mistakes, all without the outcome becoming part of how we define ourselves.  This is the only way we can learn – to try, fail, try again, and hopefully continue to grow along the process.

Reexamining Thoughts:  Did you know that experts estimate that the human brain thinks between 70,000 and 80,000 thoughts a day?  Which is incredible.  The problem with that is – not all of those thoughts are true and accurate.   However, sometimes we think that just because a thought crosses out mind, we have to believe it.  Which – spoiler alert, is not the case.  Just because we think something doesn’t mean its accurate.   

An important part of this sport is being able to stop the internal chatter, or to spin it in a more constructive manor.  When we have a bad day, it’s not uncommon for self-doubt to creep into our minds.  It happens to everyone.  But those who are most successful in this sport know not to give those thoughts the time of day.  We all have bad days.  It’s a total normal part of the sport and of being human.  And, unfortunately, when things don’t go our way, its easy to latch onto one of the negative thoughts passing through our brain and let it spiral out of control.  It’s a mental discipline to not give discouraging thoughts a place to land, but one that’s so invaluable to both our success and our mental health as competitors.  When I catch myself giving way to unconstructive thoughts, I first make a conscious effort to tell myself to knock it off.  No joke!  Like I said, this is a mental discipline, and sometimes that means that it’s hard work.   

Then I force myself to think on some constructive ideas in their place.  Instead of the thought, “I failed at X, Y, or Z…” or “Maybe you’re not good enough…”, I’ll remind myself of the times I did something well, or think of the positive aspects of said round (more on that below!), or consider ways that I could train differently at home to be better prepared for the next time.  This not only stops the negative internal chatter, but it also puts me back in a position of power in the sense that 1) I am in control of my thoughts, and 2) with I am in control of what I do in the future to prepare for next time.  When training, I also talk students through this whole process.  It takes some practice, but the ability to take control of our thoughts, and choose which ones to believe and which to let go is a key component to resilience, and ultimately longevity and growth in the sport.

Reframing Mistakes:  Ever heard the phrase, “if you don’t win, you learn?”  It’s so true.  And, I would argue that even when we do win, there’s always something to be learned from each and every round.  But for the sake of this post, let’s focus on the times that things don’t exactly go according to plan.  When that happens, before even discussing what went wrong, I have my students tell me one thing they liked about their round. Even if it’s something small – that puts us in a positive frame of mind to talk about the rest of the course.  Then we go on to discuss what we didn’t like.  And the lens through which we look at mishaps is as follows: How about we stop looking at all of our mistakes as failures, and instead looked at them as simply information?  Perhaps we chipped at the long run to the single oxer across the diagonal.  Did we get excited and change our pace as we got closer to the jump?  Or was our horse behind our leg the whole course and it just caught up to us there?  That’s information on something we can work on for next time!

Often we can have a shortsighted perspective when it comes to our mistakes.  We dwell on the mishap and what happened as opposed to what that tells us we need to work on for next time.  Horse shows, in addition to being a competition, and to being an enjoyable way to spend a week or weekend, can also serve as a measure of progress.  That means, they can function as a good means to gauge how well we have been doing our homework at home based on what we learned we needed to work on at the previous horse show.  When we view our errors as learning opportunities as opposed to failures we open up the possibility for growth with each and every round.  After all, as the song goes, “You can’t always get what you want.  But if you try sometimes, well, you just might find…You get what you need.”

Do you have any other tips for dealing with mishaps in the show ring?  Let us know in the comments!

What a Feeling! Teaching Kinesthetic Learners

Have you, as a rider, ever felt stuck when trying to learn something?  Then, one day you miraculously understand how that something is supposed to feel, and all of a sudden you’re better able to replicate it?  Or, if you’re a trainer – have you ever had a student who struggles with, say, keeping his lower leg on the horse? And then, you play the “dollar bill game” one day, and all of a sudden he understands where his leg needs to be?  Of course – a breakthrough like this doesn’t instantly mean that the #positiongoals are achieved.  But what is important to note is that in both of these instances, replicating whatever is being taught in a tactile way gave the riders a physical understanding how to practice and therefore create muscle memory.

 (Side note: My last two blog posts have accidentally incorporated song titles or lyrics.  Should this be a thing from now on?!)

I’m all about teaching according to clients’ different learning styles.  This is something that is not often discussed amongst professionals – the fact that different individuals learn in different ways.  And when it is discussed, we talk a lot about visual learners (those who learn by watching) and auditory learners (those who learn by listening), and occasionally verbal learners (those who learn by writing and by verbally processing), but we don’t talk a lot about kinesthetic learners (those who learn by feeling and doing).

 When it comes to something like riding, most of us learn through repetition, so to some degree, we’re all kinesthetic learners.  That said, those whose primary style of learning is more tactile sometimes struggle with translating what they see they’re supposed to be doing or what they hear their trainer telling them to do into the actual execution of said task.  But often in these cases, the creative use of a training aid to help them put their body into the correct position can be a game changer.  

 One of the most well-known examples of this is EquiFit’s Shoulder’s Back device, which helps riders get used to the feeling of keeping the shoulders – well, for lack of a better word – down and back.  Where an auditory learner might respond to the verbal cue to, “sit up straight” or a visual learner might see a video of himself with rounded shoulders and make an adjustment to his position based off of that, kinesthetic learners might have trouble connecting the dots until they’re made aware of what the correct position feels like.  Tools like this are helpful in the sense that they are quick to remind riders (in the form of pressure from the elastic bands) the second their shoulders start to come forward.  This prompts the rider to make an adjustment to sit up straight, and bring the shoulders down and back on his or her own, thus relieving the pressure from the device, and over time building up muscle memory for the correct position.

 Perhaps one of the greatest opportunities to use a kinesthetic approach to teaching is when teaching riders to follow the horse’s mouth.  There are so many ways to help a rider physically understand this sensation.  One of the oldest tricks – having riders grip their reins like a driving rein – makes it harder to have tension through the arm and essentially forces the rider to follow the mouth.  The idea being, that once riders understand that sensation, they can work on replicating it once they return to holding their reins in a normal fashion.  Other examples of kinesthetic tools and tricks that can help with a following arm are:

1)    Holding the hands wide to make it harder to brace against the horse’s mouth (this is helpful for teaching an automatic release, as well.)

2)    Using twine for reins (with the real leather reins still attached to the bit and tied in a knot for safety) to help encourage light, consistent contact.

3)    Using elastic reins to help encourage elastic contact.

4)    Holding a stick or whip in both hands perpendicular to the neck to encourage the rider to carry his hands while following the horse’s mouth.

I’m sure there are many other tools that I am not thinking of at the moment, too.  But you get the idea.  Tactics like these can be super helpful when a student is “stuck” and having trouble making a breakthrough.  There can be many reasons for this, but sometimes that’s simply because we as trainers aren’t teaching the way in which the student best understands.  This can be tough for us, too, because we so desperately want for our students to succeed!  However, I believe this presents trainers with an opportunity to get creative.  If a rider is struggling with your verbal and visual instruction, see if there’s a way to help her physically create your desired result so she can understand what it’s supposed to feel like. 

It also presents riders with an opportunity in the sense that each individual can take ownership of his riding education by determining the way in which he learns best.  If you determine that you might be a tactile learner, this opens up the door for a productive conversation with your trainer on the ways in which we can help you to learn the best.  Ask your trainer if he or she has any ideas on ways to create a bodily understanding of whatever it is you’re trying to achieve.  Awareness is the first part of creating change.  Once we’re cognizant of what we need to change, and have an understanding of what it feels like when it’s right, we can begin to work on creating that muscle memory to sustain that change.

 Any other ideas for tactile learners or kinesthetic teaching aids?  Leave a comment!

The Final Countdown: What We Do the Week Before a Horse Show

Have you noticed that there’s been a lot of articles written on equine fitness and what type of programs different top riders implement with their horses recently?  I love reading these pieces.  It’s fascinating to learn what accomplished riders do to build and maintain their horses’ fitness and all that goes in to helping these equine athletes peak at the right time.  I always think it’s fun to get a small glimpse at what makes them so successful in the show ring.  What’s interesting, though, is that while we talk about programs for our horses in a broad sense, we don’t often talk about what we do from a training standpoint the week ahead of a horse show to make sure our horses are ready to perform at their best.

 I was thinking about this while riding earlier this week (and preparing for a horse show next week).  Over the last few years, I’ve gradually started to implement a pretty consistent system in the week leading up to a horse show.  At first it was subconscious, but I’ve become more cognizant of it recently, especially since I’ve started writing down aspects of every horse’s training in a calendar.  I’ve found more often than not it allows our horses to arrive at the horse show with a good balance of preparedness, soundness, and mental freshness.  Of course, horses can be unpredictable, and sometimes even with the best of preparation, things don’t go as planned.  But a consistent system leading up to the horse show helps to remove some of the many variables that come with riding and showing horses, which is definitely helpful in and of itself!

 There are three things I focus on the week leading up to a horse show.  First, I want to make sure the horse is mentally and physically prepared for whatever classes he will be showing in the next week.  Second, I want to ensure that our preparation that week leaves the horse comfortable and physically feeling good.  Third, I want to be sure to incorporate variety into the week’s rides to keep the horses mentally fresh and happy to work.

 When we’re showing a fair amount – like we do Florida, we often won’t even jump the horses during their week off between shows.  That is, unless there’s something specific that the horse or rider needs to work on, or if the rider feels he or she needs more practice.  The same thing applies during the summer if we have just a week between competitions.  If we have a longer period of time between horse shows, I’ll usually plan for the horses to school twice the week before we leave.  Once, usually earlier in the week, over a course appropriate to the classes the horse and rider team plan to show in the following week.  That doesn’t always mean that we jump a huge, long course, but I do want to make sure that the horse has seen something similar to what he will jump the following week during his school.  If horse and rider feel good after this, we’ll often take the horses through some sort of gymnastic later on in the week.  They might only pop through an exercise a handful of times here, but I like to have the last few jumps a horse jumps before heading to a competition be something that leaves them thinking about their parts.  This also gives us an opportunity to re-enforce any sort of jumping technique or rider position tweaks we’ve been working on in the weeks prior.

 If possible, I try and get the jump schools in by Saturday, so that the horses can have a day to hack out and stretch before getting on the trailer.  It’s important to me that the horses have a recovery day before making any sort of trip.  In a similar vein, we’re also careful not to over train this week, either.  If you look at human athletes – take a marathon runner, for example – most aren’t running a practice marathon the week before they run the real marathon.  They’re also not still working on building their fitness in this final week, as they’ve done all the necessary preparation in the weeks prior.  This is because top athletes recognize that the body needs time to recover, and can’t be asked to be operating at 100% all the time.  The same goes for horses.  If they’re ridden too hard the week before they show, they’re likely to be a little body sore, tired, and perhaps not quite at their peak.  Obviously, we have great therapeutic tools as well as care providers like equine chiropractors, acupuncturists, and massage therapists that can help with that.  But a good way to prevent overtraining induced discomfort from affecting performance is to try not to get there in the first place.

 Last but not least, in the midst of all our pre-show preparations, I’m always intentional about getting our horses outside the ring.  Sometimes, we as riders can get so hyper focused on getting ready for the horse show that we create for our horses a sort of merry-go-round monotony of riding around and around in a ring.  This can leave horses feeling fried, bored, and unenthusiastic about their job – which is the last thing we want when preparing to go into the show ring!  With that in mind, I always try to intersperse our schooling and training with a few trail rides, walks down the road, or nice trots on the path around the farm.  Not only is this fun for the horses – but it’s a good way for the riders to decompress and enjoy their horses as well.  I’ve found that doing this balances out the other preparation work that we’ve been doing throughout the week, and leaves our horses happy, mentally fresh, and ready to do their jobs the following week.

 This combination of training, recovery, and variety has created a system that works well for us, and is something that can be tailored to work for just about any horse.  Does anyone else have a specific routine prior to leaving for the horse show?  I’m sure I’m not the only one who has a “pre-show” program of sorts.  If so, let me know in the comments!

What’s In a Name?

Coming up with a name for a business is a big undertaking.  It’s a first impression for the organization - the initial thing people see or hear.  You want it to be unique and memorable - but also relevant.  It also can set the tone for the entire brand, serving as the key initial step to creating the ethos you strive to embody as a business, and be a launching point for your logo, branding materials, etc.  All that to say – it’s kind of a big deal.

 When I began the process of choosing a name for our farm, I was initially trying to come up with a name for an LLC under which our horses would be owned.  Even still, I knew wanted something with personal meaning.  So, I started to think of names that had some sort of familial significance.  One day I came across an envelope with a letter from my Grandma.  In the top left hand corner I noticed the return address.  Glenwood Drive… the name of the street on which my grandmother lives, which consequently is also the same street and house in which my Dad grew up.  Glenwood Farm sounded nice – and no one in the area had a similar name.  And so it became the name of our first equine LLC.

 Years later, as I began going through the steps of setting up our business, I began to think about the name Glenwood Farm as it relates to our core values.  I realized just how perfect of a fit this name is for what we represent as a brand.  Our name was born out of a desire to acknowledge our roots, and alludes to the importance of holding space for the things that have shaped who we are.  It is my hope that the name Glenwood Farm reflects the importance we place on remembering our foundation in this sport.  This sentiment carries over into not just our training philosophy, but also the way our business is run today.  We place a strong emphasis on a proper foundation in the saddle – good horsemanship, correct flatwork, and a thorough understanding of how to communicate with the horse through clear aids.  And while we are committed to the success of our clients, adopting a forward-thinking, collaborative, and goal-oriented approach to our training, our operation is very much rooted in and centered around the reason everyone initially became involved with the sport - a love of the horse.

 Our logo reflects this notion as well with the tree imagery.  Our trees are firmly grounded, but growing tall and flourishing out of that solid foundation.  Just as we, as an organization, are rooted in tradition, but always aspire to be reaching for new heights – growing, learning, ever expanding.  As a business and as a trainer and horseperson, I never want us to remain stagnant.  I firmly believe we can be successful in this space, help our clients accomplish their goals, continue to bring in new information and innovation into our equine management, all while enjoying the process and never losing sight of the deep appreciation for the animal that was the catalyst behind this whole deal.  Perhaps I’m being naïve - but I truly believe that’s what this sport is all about.