Posts by Stacy Westfall
Why lunge a horse before you ride?
The ability to lunging a horse has many uses. In this article, I’m going to focus on one area: prevention. One role that lunging, or groundwork, fills for me is prevention. Preventing the horse from getting into a habit that I might not enjoy now…or in the future. Have you ever seen someone mount up…
Read MoreEpisode 72: Why lunging horses? Benefits and warnings.
Question: You referenced lunging in your podcast and videos. I was hoping you could talk more about it. Perhaps elaborate on how you go about it and what you’re looking for and feeling for from the horse? Answer includes: Why lunge at all? Where it comes in useful. How to use it to teach rhythm.…
Read MoreMoon Blindness aka Equine Recurrent Uveitis (ERU) in Horses
Update: I recently met Endo the Blind and received an email from someone seeking more information on this subject. Please click on Endo’s photo to learn more about his amazing story and inspirational owner, Morgan. I’m also adding a question and my response below this original text. ———————————– Last summer while at a horse show…
Read MoreEpisode 71: Put yourself in the role of the horse
How are you doing? Before you answer that question, I’d like you to pretend that you are a horse. What’s the first image that comes to mind? An Arabian? A racehorse? An overworked driving horse? During this podcast, I share with you my idea that maybe it is helpful if we view our situations from…
Read MoreEpisode 70: Using more leg on hot horses
Q: After warming up and we’re beginning to work, I have a really hard time keeping his gait consistent, usually start out slow and easy. But as we continue on, he has a tendency to increase his speed and will tense up and occasionally throw his head. Whenever I ask for a change of gait,…
Read MoreEp 69: Training horses for others vs training your own.
Question: “I was wondering how you keep your motivation for riding your own horses when you are training other people’s horses. I feel like I have to have a lot of motivation for everyone else’s horses to keep them going and keep them working towards their goals. But I have a lot of trouble working…
Read MoreEpisode 68: How to teach a horse to spook
How to teach your horse to spook, in three easy steps! 1) start with a horse with lack of experience or holes in the training 2) try not rock the boat… 3) when the horse has doubts, reduce the pressure or request Thanks for humoring me there. Sometimes when I’m thinking about a subject…I try…
Read MoreEpisode 67: Teaching horses tricks…or problems?
Can training horses to do tricks like rearing, bowing or lying down cause problems? I answer this question by using examples of six different horses to illustrate my answer…which is sometimes yes and sometimes no. I also explain how I decide which horses are better candidates than others…and how timing does matter. I discuss a…
Read MoreEp 66 Q&A: 5 tips for trail riding young horses & goals during pregnancy
Today I answer two listener questions. Question #1- “My question for you is how you can tell when your horse is ready to go on its first trail ride. What kind of skills do you like to have in the arena? And then what do you practice on the first trail? Right. How do you…
Read MoreEpisode 65: The tipping point in horse training.
What is a tipping point in horse training? Why does it matter? How would it help with spooking? In today’s episode, I discuss the idea of tipping points and how they impact my outlook on training. I see smaller tipping points where the small day after day lessons finally result in a bigger change. I…
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