Julie Goodnight's Horse Master Academy

Helping Horses, One Human at a Time

Help! My Horse Won’t Stay on the Rail

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Horses are smarter than we give them credit for and any horse that’s been around an arena more than once, has figured out that it’s a much shorter distance around when they cut corners and leak in off the rail. No horse stays glued to the arena fence unless he is well-trained and obedient. All horses feel the pull of “gate gravity” or “barn gravity,” but only the horses that … [Read more...]

Explosive Canter Departures: Learning to let go and allow the horse to move forward

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I've learned to recognize the signs of the horse who's afraid of the canter departure. I've seen it many times throughout my career: A "forward" horse (with too much go) works just fine with the rider at the walk and trot, but when cued to canter throws a wall-eyed fit.  To me, an "explosive" canter departure is one where the horse--when cued to canter--throws his head up in … [Read more...]

A Safe Handle On The Reins

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A Safe Handle on the Reins   By Heidi Nyland Melocco with Julie Goodnight   Learn how to safely use your reins on the trail with top trainer/clinician Julie Goodnight. She’ll explain how to hold and use both rope and split reins, plus how to stop and ground-tie.   When you’re on a long trail ride, you want comfortable and functional reins to … [Read more...]

In-Depth Thoughts On The Combination Bit

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Why would you use a rawhide nose band to achieve results with a lighter touch? Why not just do the training to have the horse understand the lighter pressure with a softer nose band? Rawhide is tough and rough and hurts. A: Just like with a bit in the mouth, it is only rough and tough in the wrong hands. To me, the horse will actually be lighter in the rawhide and you will … [Read more...]