Posts by Stacy Westfall
Episode 188: Moving faster or slower than your horse; physically and mentally
Are you willing to be out of sync with your horse to make progress? In this podcast, I talk about the idea of moving faster or slower than your horse as a concept that exists both physically, and mentally. When physically riding a horse, it makes sense that you could be ’ahead’ of the horse’s…
Read MoreEpisode 187: The backward cycle of learning; after, during, before
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just read a book or see a demonstration once…and just do the new thing with ease? The reality is often quite different. I would even go as far as saying that the process is backward from what we desire. Take the example of changing a current habit, where…
Read MoreEpisode 186- Specific vs. non-specific riding
This podcast was recorded while I was on a long, ‘non’ specific ride. I categorize riding sessions into four different types to increase my awareness and effectiveness. I often teach students how to do short, very specific rides. You’ll hear why in the podcast. This could be a pep talk for how to ride for…
Read MoreEpisode 185- How to determine if your self concept is slowing you down.
Self-concept is how you perceive your behaviors and abilities. It affects your motivation, attitude, and behavior. It is possible that your self concept is slowing you down more than your technical skills. Signs your self concept might need an upgrade: -You have trouble staying motivated to work with your horse. -When you do work with…
Read MoreEpisode 184-The benefits and challenges of learning to evaluate your ride
Have you developed the skill of evaluating your rides? The skill of evaluating yourself is highly valuable. It improves your ability to be fully present during your ride, it makes you more coachable when you receive instruction, and you get results faster. If all this is true…why do people resist evaluating themselves? The main reason…
Read MoreEpisode 183-Creating building blocks or rearranging the blocks you have to create something new.
A listener asks a question about changing her horse’s pushy, fidgety behavior on the ground. She asks, “How can I deconstruct a behavior or a reaction and rebuild a more favorable behavior?” This podcast discusses the difference between training (or retraining) and deconstructing or rebuilding. During training or retraining, the horse is often learning the…
Read MoreEpisode 182-How to deal with a mouthy horse and prevent biting.
A listener asks how to correct her mouthy horse and how to keep mouthiness or biting from happening in the first place. In this podcast, I explain why biting happens, the most common problem I see people making, and I give actionable instructions on how to be more engaging, interesting and clear. Learning how to…
Read MoreEpisode 181- Three reasons it can be challenging to sit a horses lope
A listener asks how she can sit the lope or canter without popping out of the saddle. She says, “I seem to pop out of the saddle quite a bit…Some people ride so quiet in a saddle, others seem to come up out of the saddle as their horse moves. I can’t seem to sit…
Read MoreEpisode 180: Help, my horse started laying down while riding
What would you do if your horse started to lie down while you were riding? Here are some reasons a horse might try to lay down when riding: Horse is interested in rolling in water, mud or sand. Horse is itchy from sweat or bugs. Horse is colicky. Horse has discovered that laying down is…
Read MoreEpisode 179: Getting forward motion from a horse without negative tension.
A listener calls in, “My question is about how to create forward without creating negative tension.” This starts a discussion on how riders often bring tension to the session, including both their worry about causing tension AND in their cue system application. I discuss how my cue system changes between colt starting and more advanced…
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