Relaxed & Forward Blog

Nube: How a Horse Taught Me a Canter Cue

The short version is that my horse poked me in my sit bone, which isn’t possible, is it? But let’s...
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Forging a Path: What to Do Next With Your Horse.

It's that time of winter when you half-think spring isn't real. Are you frustrated with how you and your horse...
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The Problem with Pre-Corrections on Horses.

She enters the barn, looking left to right. What does she think her horse might be afraid of? First, let's...
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The Dynamic Power of Consistency

We would like consistent behavior from our horses. It would be good if they took each cue with light and...
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Book Release: Horse. Woman.

Book Release! Available Now! Horse. Woman. Poems from Our Lives "It was a tough life if you was useless.” -Leafa...
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Photo & Poem: Soundness

Centering myself behind the horse as he walks away, bent forward with my hands on my knees, staring his hips...
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Photo & Poem: Spine to Spine

His back is not solid, nerves run between banks of muscle, each vertebra linked to the next, from the base...
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Writing and Riding

Happy New Year. It's my ninth year of writing this blog about riding. Thank you for reading along, and I...
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Calming Signals Aren't Calming

Lots of the people who come to Calming Signals clinics are bright-eyed and hopeful that I have a signal to...
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Photo & Poem: Soft

Hands go soft, give him his head. The red gelding wants to be braver than he is, shaking his neck...
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Riding: If We Can’t Feel It, We Can’t Fix It.

    After the last blog, a friend/trainer thought legs should have been mentioned. Or as she put it, "'The...
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Riding: Feeling Every Stride, From Our Inside

This is the recurring nightmare. You're on a twisted version of Dancing with the Stars. There are glaring lights and...
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Riding the Middle: My Horse is Lazy.

My horse is lazy. He won't go forward. He doesn't listen to my legs no matter what. Do I need...
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Riding the Inside of Your Horse

When I was just a dressage-princess-wannabe, before I became a full-blown Dressage Queen, I thought dressage riders all wore a kind...
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Photo Challenge: Opposites.

  Stillness bounded by movement, offered without demand. Independent, connected, Cradled as close as skin, but set free. At peace...
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Reciprocity: A Softer Ask, a Softer Bend

I overheard some riders complaining like old campaigners. Asking a horse for bend sounded like the Hundred Years' War. They...
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How to Defuse a Horse Bomb

Maybe you're mentally arranging your to-do list, or rehashing an imaginary rant about something that happened at work, or just...
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Listening with Your Seat.

How's your derrière? Is posterior a more delicate word than rump? Our culture has a lot of fanny chatter: too...
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