Posts by Stacy Westfall
10 tips to keep horses drinking while on the road
Presto just made his first 1,000 mile journey from Ohio to Maine and many of you had questions. Here are a few: “Any tips to keep horses drinking while on the road? And when you get to your destination? I have one that is doesn’t like to drink strange water and sometimes won’t drink for…
Read MoreEpisode 94-Reducing anxiety during trail rides
A listener asks for some advice on how to reduce her horse’s anxiety…and hers…when out on the trails. The discussion includes riding reactively vs planning, analyzing your thought patterns, changing your muscle habits, and the idea that horses notice patterns. Episode 94-Reducing anxiety during trail rides.mp3: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix Episode 94-Reducing anxiety during…
Read MoreEpisode 93: When horses freak out at the idea of trail riding.
In this podcast, I list the three steps I use for building a horse’s confidence and discuss the words ‘composure’ and ‘pressure’. I also discuss a listener question, “How you go about getting your horse to trail ride alone? I’ve always wanted to disappear into the woods, have a blast, me and my horse… and…
Read MoreHorses & cats…friends?
?Presto is curious about everything…including our cat, Marble. ? I love watching horses interacting with other horses, but I also love watching horse interacting with other animals. ?The relationship between Presto and Marble is slowly developing. Presto has a tendency to approach very strong…with horses, people, cats, etc. Marble used to run when he did…
Read MoreEpisode 92: Building a horses confidence on the trails
How do horses develop confidence on the trails? Does confidence come from riding with another confident horse? Are some horses just born confident and others will always struggle? Can confidence be trained? I answer this listener question while out riding on the trails. Episode 92-Building a horses confidence on the trails.mp3: Audio automatically transcribed…
Read MorePresto: 50 miles on the trails!
It seems like it took forever to get to the point where I believed that Presto was ready to go riding on the trails…and then I blinked and we had logged 50 miles! I had no specific milage goals when I started but I have been keeping track for fun. Here are some of my…
Read MoreEpisode 91: The most common MISTAKE people make trail riding
Take a moment and think about what YOU think might be the biggest problem or most common mistake you see when out trail riding. Visualize the problem. Here are some common problems that I see as symptoms: Head tossing, rushing up hills, refusing to move forward (maybe mud or water) rushing down hills, dragging riders…
Read MorePresto’s first trail ride
For Presto’s first trail ride, I asked my husband, Jesse, to ride my mare Willow ahead of Presto. I’ve ‘ponied’ Presto from Willow before so they are both comfortable with being close to each other. Willow was both a calm influence and in case of emergency I could have used her as a wall to…
Read MoreEpisode 90: Trail riding vs arena riding: advantages and disadvantages
Trail riding vs arena riding. They both come with advantages and disadvantages which is why I find a combination of both beneficial. In this podcast I discuss why some horses seem resistant to arena work, letting the horse make decisions on the trail, how to know if you are letting the horse make too many…
Read MoreEp 89- Getting Started in the Horse Industry-a conversation with Molly Wagner
Today, I’m talking with Molly Wagner about getting started as a professional in the horse industry. Together, we are going to tackle two voicemails that came in. Some of the topics we discuss include: What can I do to gain reputation and experience? The challenge of family and work goals. Gaining confidence, making mistakes, learning…
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