Trainer’s Corner

Find Your Body, Find Your Horse by Shelbie Fredenhagen   proprioception pro·pri·o·cep·tion (prō’prē-ō-sěp’shən) n. The unconscious perception of movement and spatial orientation arising from stimuli within the body itself. The American Heritage® Stedman’s Medical Dictionary Riding demands that we tie our awareness into our horse and ourselves. Riding is all about expanding …

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3 Body-Awareness Exercises by Shelbie Fredenhagen   “Movement is a medicine for creating change in a person’s physical, emotional, and mental state.” Carol Welch The first step to an effective leg while riding is to create body awareness and relaxed control. Without this, we either consciously or subconsciously block and hold …

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Understand How Mules Think by Ty Evans   Have you ever heard the term stubborn as a mule? As a clinician who specializes in mules, I hear people talk about how stubborn mules can be and how difficult they are to work with. Usually these stories are told by someone …

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Correct Position Controls the Cow in Working Cow Horse by Al Dunning   Working cow horse tests the agility, speed, and courage of a stock horse. In working cow horse classes, the horse must first hold the cow at one end of the arena, then run it down the fence …

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Performance Horse Health and Well-being by Al Dunning   Nothing is more important for my horse than his health and welfare. I want to share my appreciation for all the horse has done for me by taking the best possible care of him. Most of the things I do to …

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Selecting a Saddle by Al Dunning     Al Dunning has been in the horse business for over 50 years and has seen all kinds of saddles. Some are very functional, some are beautifully made, some are built to fit the horse properly, and others he calls ridiculous. The options …

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Part 2 of 3: Uncover Your Core Values by: Jen Verharen   Last month we discussed creating a vision for your business, your riding, or any other aspect of your life. Because each part in this series builds on the last one, you might want to review last month’s article. …

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Part 1 of 3: Create a Vision by Jen Verharen   I recently had a client say to me, “Everything on my vision board has come true this year. I can’t believe it!” Huh? Believe me, if the logical, left side of your brain is going, “Yeah, right,” you’re not …

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