horsemanship Archives - Adaptive Development EQ

When to Start Young Horses

June 29, 2021

If you’re questioning the timing of when to start your young horse, read on! Working with young horses can be among the most wonderful and enriching experiences in a horseman’s career. It’s not only a joyful time (healthy young horses are innocent, playful and fun-loving), but it’s also an important time in terms of physical and mental development. Working with young horses will give you an opportunity to experience the earliest days of the athletic development process, and a firm…

Example: Weight Aid and Development of the Hand

June 9, 2021

Euki Binns

Horse Training, Riding Technique

Though this post is dedicated to development of the hand, I often pull this photo of Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith aboard 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify when teaching. It is a brilliant example of the effect of correct weight aid and a beautiful hand made more clear to the eye due to the extreme of the rider’s seat, the type of request, and the horse’s speed. Weight The first thing that catches my eye is that Mike wishes…

The Canter Departure

August 12, 2019

Euki Binns

Horse Training, Riding Technique

Canter Aids: Driving Forward or Striking-off? It is possible to achieve an organic canter strike off (left-lead exampled below) with either the weight to the inside OR the outside hip. To learn more about the seat aids, see my two-part article, Fundamentals: On the Seat. The following explanation outlines what happens in each scenario: Method A – Imbalance and Drive Forward Our first example is through the weight to the inside hip. This is a strike off that achieves its aim…

The Invisible Line: Obedience vs Partnership

July 22, 2019

Euki Binns

Horse Training

Obedience vs Partnership Obedience is required of our horses…in our dressage tests, our jumping classes, and our daily routine whether that routine is to safely cross a street, or simply lifting a hoof to be picked. We obtain it by rote; through repetition and a series of varying degrees of praise or correction, depending on the task at hand. In fact, obedience is a wonderful thing, and when we train for obedience in conjunction with an agenda that is geared…

Fundamentals: On The Seat (Part 2 of 2)

June 19, 2019

Euki Binns

Riding Technique

This article is part 2 of 2, of Adaptive Development EQ’s Fundamentals Series, Fundamentals: On The Seat. To read Part 1, see: Fundamentals: On The Seat (Part 1 of 2). EXECUTION OF THE SEAT AIDS In Part 1 of this article, we have discovered the horse’s center of gravity, aligned with it, and disturb it as little as possible. Let us now move on to how we use our seat through manipulation of our weight in order to communicate our desires.…

Fundamentals: On The Seat (Part 1 of 2)

May 8, 2019

Euki Binns

Riding Technique

This article is part 1 of 2, of Adaptive Development EQ’s Fundamentals Series, Fundamentals: On The Seat. To read Part 2, see: Fundamentals: On The Seat (Part 2 of 2). THE SEAT It is with the seat and legs that we obtain the greatest influence in communicating with our horses. Of primary importance, we use our seat to anchor ourselves, and remain in balance with (and aligned to) the horse’s center of gravity. We also use the seat as an aid…

Fundamentals: On The Leg (Part 2 of 2)

April 12, 2019

Euki Binns

Riding Technique

This article is part 2 of 2, of Adaptive Development EQ’s Fundamentals Series, Fundamentals: On The Leg. Here’s the first part if you missed it: Fundamentals: On The Leg (Part 1 of 2). BUILDING STRENGTH If you have a very good leg but still struggle to be quiet and supportive, it is likely that you are simply not yet strong enough. We see this most often in riders who have had some years away from the saddle, infrequent riders, young…

Fundamentals: On The Leg (Part 1 of 2)

March 20, 2019

Euki Binns

Riding Technique

This article is part 1 of 2, of Adaptive Development EQ’s Fundamentals Series, Fundamentals: On The Leg. To read Part 2, see: Fundamentals: On The Leg (Part 2 of 2). THE LEG At its most basic, the leg is one of the fundamental aids of riding (along with the rider’s weight, seat and hands) and their function is to queue forward and lateral movement. As the rider advances in skill, so too does the rider’s repertoire in the number of…

In Defense of the Average Horse

February 26, 2019

Euki Binns

Horse Training

THE AVERAGE HORSE Background: Over the years, I’ve looked at a lot of horses (and dogs, cats, birds…the list is endless, yes?) from kill-lots, rescues, or being given away for free, and one thing is clear: I’ve seen a lot of average horses that I would be glad to train, because even though they don’t look like something special right now (they’re run down, or they’re too skinny, or they’ve just simply been out of work for years and have…