Assessing your tack—in terms of its condition, fit to the horse, and appropriateness for the horse’s discipline and level of training—should be ongoing, but doing a thorough assessment should happen at least once a year. For me, New Year’s Day is the time I like to plunge into my horse’s saddle fit, consider what goals […]
Q: How tight should I tighten my horse’s cinch—and what is the right process. I don’t want to hurt my horse and I want to make sure he never becomes cinchy. –Pam Friend, via e-mail A: How tight the cinch needs to be depends on the shape of the horse, the type of riding […]
Question: I work as a therapeutic riding instructor at a facility that has about 20+ horses. We have all types of horse behavior issues that creep up before we know it. I’ve seen a gelding go from being sweet and easy to handle to now sour and ready to bite his leaders. Another gelding we […]
This is the online streaming version of the video you can watch online or on any device! You will not receive a DVD with this purchase but you will be able to watch repeatedly with your online account. To opt for the DVD delivered by mail, click here to shop >> http://shopping.juliegoodnight.com/DVDs_c5.htm?page=all Whether your […]
When you saddle your horse, secure your horse saddle’s points of attachment in the proper order to keep the saddle in place. If your horse takes a step when the saddle isn’t properly secured, he may feel a shift or roll, and spook. If your horse becomes entangled in the saddle, he may develop a […]
Is your trail horse cinchy? That is, does he act up when you saddle him, even before you reach for the cinch or girth? (Generally the term “cinch” is used for a Western saddle and the term “girth” is used for an English one; these terms can be used interchangeably when discussing this behavioral issue.) […]
Dear Julie, My friends and I have a problem with our saddles rolling over to the side when we get on. My horse in particular has a flat broad back with wide withers. Any suggestions? I know we are cinching our western saddles up tight enough. Roly Poly Dear Roly, A round, mutton-withered horse is […]
Dear Julie, My new gelding has started lying down when I put his saddle on. When I first had him on his two-week trial, he was in poor physical condition—his ribs showed. He had been grazing on three sparse acres. He hadn’t been ridden or exercised in months. The vet said he also had some […]
While shooting a Horse Master episode on Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts I was introduced to a woman, Vickie Thurber, who had an accident with her young pinto eventing horse and wanted help introducing “Poco” to new possibly scary stimuli. She wanted to make sure he—and she—knew what to do if he spooked again. In their […]
Question Category: Issues from the Saddle Question: I ran across your website while searching for an answer for a behavior problem with my daughter’s 7 year old quarter horse mare. We have owned this mare about 2 1/2 years. The mare is very sweet and was well behaved when we first got her and would […]
Question Category: Issues from the Saddle Question: Julie, I hope you can help me with my horse. He is a 15 y/o gelding, I ride him hunt seat. He gets very irritated when I girth him up. Even before the girth has touched his belly (when I am attaching it to the saddle), he pins […]
Question Category: Issues from the Ground Question: Hello Julie, I recently purchased a 13 yr QH mare about six months ago. I had been riding her for about eight months with an additional two-month lease. I decided to purchase her. She is my first horse. She was formally a western barrel horse but we have […]
Question Category: Issues from the Ground Question: Desensitizing a Horse to Scary Stimuli Answer: These days, with military actions and war consistently in the headlines, thoughts of aggression and war are far too close at hand and it is easy to think of advance and retreat as an aggressive move. But in case of horse […]
Question Category: Talk about Tack Question: Dear Julie, My friends and I have a problem with our saddles rolling over to the side when we get on. My horse in particular has a flat broad back with wide withers. Any suggestions? I know we are cinching our western saddles up tight enough. Roly Poly Answer: […]
Good Day! Recently on Horse Master is an episode filmed in LA about a driving pony who was deathly afraid of anything plastic—bags, tarps and the like. Her owner, a very competent horsewoman who I have known from clinics, had been working for some time to desensitize the mare, but to no avail. Like many […]