Author: Richard Winters

The practice of hobbling has been around since humans began riding horses. For some horsemen hobbling is as common and comfortable as putting on a halter. For others, hobbling a horse seems intimidating and maybe even dangerous.

Round pens are very popular at stables and ranches across the country. Yet, I’m not sure that people always have a good plan on how they’re going to work their horse once inside the round pen. Any time we work with our horse, it’s important to have an objective and be able to clearly communicate our ideas in a way that our horses can understand.

I train horses in southern California. That means I have more riding days available to me than probably anywhere else in the United States. I was recently presenting at an expo in Wisconsin and realized that many of the attendees had not been able to ride for the last five months! Right about now, theses hardy mid-westerners will be getting out their horses to prepare for some spring and summer riding.

PERFORMANCE HORSEMANSHIP WITH RICHARD WINTERS   When riding, our reins are a direct...

Whether you are working on ground work with your horse, or riding exercises, it’s very important to keep him working equally well on both his left and right side. The first thing necessary to developing a balanced horse is to be aware that a horse’s brain is divided into two sections: left and right.