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Know Your Horse
Build a written baseline of this horse's normal habits and behavior, so a change stands out the day it happens.
See what's insideA module in The Old-School Horseman
Feel Your Horse
What you feel from the saddle is information. This module is about learning to read it: through your hands, the reins, the horse's movement and his reactions.
Derek rode races professionally for 25 years and has worked as an exercise rider since 2005. Every horse he got on felt a little different, and noticing that difference was part of the job. Feel Your Horse is about building the same attention, whether you ride on a racetrack, in an arena or down a trail.
What you'll learn
- What your hands and the reins tell you about the horse on the other end
- How this particular horse moves on a normal day, at every gait
- Reading reactions: what changed, what set it off, and what it might mean
- Why two horses of the same type won't ride the same, and how to adjust to the one under you
- Keeping a simple ride log, so how he felt today has something to compare to
What's inside
- Ride logA short entry after each ride: how he moved, how he felt in your hands, anything new.
- "How did he feel today" notes sheetPrompts that help you put a feeling into words you can compare later.
To add: confirm the final list of worksheets and trackers in this download.
Why feel matters
Plenty of problems show up under saddle before they show up anywhere else. A horse that feels shorter on one side, heavier in one rein or quicker to react than usual is telling you something. You'll only hear it if you know how he usually feels.
Safety comes first. If a horse feels wrong under you, get off and get help. Nothing here replaces a qualified trainer or instructor.
Where it came from
Recorded conversations with Derek about what he feels when he gets on a horse, from 25 years as a jockey and two decades as an exercise rider.
To add: Add when and where this module's recording happened, and a short line from Derek in his own words.
Who it's for
Riders of every kind: exercise riders, pleasure riders, people competing and people just getting back in the saddle.
From Derek's barn
The gear that goes with this lesson, each with Derek's reason. See the whole Tack Room.
Tack and riding
To add: A bit or bridle he likes, and the kind of horse it suits
Tack and riding
To add: Riding gear he wouldn't get on a horse without
More from The Old-School Horseman
Derek's nose-to-tail walk-through: what he looks at before a horse goes to work, and how knowing its normal gives you something to compare against.
See what's insideUnderstand why everything in the feed bucket is there, write the program down, and build it around this horse instead of copying someone else's.
See what's inside