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Truck pulling a horse trailer.
Horse Goals or Bust Part 6: Your Trailer FAQs Answered
It’s been a lot of fun to hear about the goals, skill assessments, and training plans that we’ve all been working on this year in our Horse Goals or Bust! endeavors. Hopefully
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Julie grooming her horse, Annie.
Horse Goals or Bust Part 5: Grooming Tips from the Trail to the Arena
Whether your horsemanship goals for this year involve gaining confidence, an overnight trail ride, or competing in any given discipline, your horse’s appearance speaks volumes. Not only is grooming another
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Horse Goals or Bust! Part 4: Rider Skill Assessment & Training Plan
We are now four months into Horse Goals or Bust!, and we still have half a year left to fulfill our dreams and achieve our equestrian aspirations! Last month, we
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Horse Goals or Bust! Part 3: Rider Fitness & Conditioning Plan
We are three months into Horse Goals or Bust!—my nine-month plan to help you accomplish your horsemanship goals and live your dreams. Many of you have jumped onboard for this
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Horse looking down a long trail
Horse Goals or Bust! Ready, Set, Go!
It’s that time of year to hit the reset button, look forward, and set new, impactful goals for yourself. We started this journey last month in my blog and podcast,
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Check Your Rearview Before You Get in Gear Next Year
It’s true. The older you get, the faster the time goes by. The past few years have been topsy-turvy, and a roller-coaster ride of emotions. During this time, three friends
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Julie training on a horse in English tack.
What Does it Mean to Have “Realistic” Training Expectations?
Whether your young horse is ready for saddle training, or your adult horse needs to be restarted, has developed undesirable behaviors, or is ready for a higher level of training,
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Artificial Aids: Training Tool or Crutch?
Horses are amazingly adaptable creatures, and over thousands of years they have partnered with us and found ways to make themselves invaluable to human society. Since before horses were even
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Foal meeting the farrier
How to Get a 5-Star Rating From Your Farrier
As a kid, I rode show hunters, and back then most of them were off-the-track Thoroughbreds–notorious for their shelly, thin feet and the tendency to lose a shoe right before
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Free Articles

May 2023 Horse Report

It was disappointing to find out that my beloved mare Annie did not settle into pregnancy after her second round of breeding and a month at the mare-care facility about
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Truck pulling a horse trailer.

Horse Goals or Bust Part 6: Your Trailer FAQs Answered

It’s been a lot of fun to hear about the goals, skill assessments, and training plans that we’ve all been working on this year in our Horse Goals or Bust! endeavors. Hopefully
Read More
closeup of Annie's face

April Horse Report

I was planning to write a much different report this month, hoping to announce the pregnancy of my sweet mare, Annie. Instead, I am reminded that nothing worthwhile is ever
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Julie grooming her horse, Annie.

Horse Goals or Bust Part 5: Grooming Tips from the Trail to the Arena

Whether your horsemanship goals for this year involve gaining confidence, an overnight trail ride, or competing in any given discipline, your horse’s appearance speaks volumes. Not only is grooming another
Read More

March 2023 Horse Report

With any luck, my sweet little mare, Annie, will soon be living her dream. If you’ve been following along with Horse Goals or Bust, you already know that I made
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julie-riding-horse

Horse Goals or Bust! Part 4: Rider Skill Assessment & Training Plan

We are now four months into Horse Goals or Bust!, and we still have half a year left to fulfill our dreams and achieve our equestrian aspirations! Last month, we
Read More

February 2023 Horse Report

I am happy to report that my plans for breeding Annie this year are well underway! So far (*knock on wood*) everything is going according to plan. Annie hasn’t figured
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Horse Goals or Bust! Part 3: Rider Fitness & Conditioning Plan

We are three months into Horse Goals or Bust!—my nine-month plan to help you accomplish your horsemanship goals and live your dreams. Many of you have jumped onboard for this
Read More
Annie in the barn

January 2023 Horse Report

This year, my horse life is taking an abrupt turn in a direction that surprised even me⁠—and it all started with a piece of paper. A year ago, when my
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Training Articles

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Behavior Bummers
Does your trail horse paw, walk off when you mount up, or go at an inconsistent speed? Correct these behavioral woes with these techniques from top trainer/clinician Julie Goodnight. BY
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Julie Goodnight Q&A: Bit Tips
Question: I just purchased a seven-year-old gelding. The previous owner was riding him in a single-jointed snaffle bit. Now, I’m looking for a bit for him and he has responded
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Stop In An Emergency
    The Trail Rider ~ May/June 2016 Riding Right   Stop in an Emergency The one-rein stop is often taught as the go-to aid for slowing and stopping a
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The Pully-Rein Stop
The Trail Rider ~ May 2016 Ride Right with Julie Goodnight   To watch Julie Goodnight demonstrate how to perform the pulley-rein stop, go to TrailRiderMag.com.   The Pulley-Rein Stop
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Q & A – How To Introduce Kids To Horses And Riding
Q: What are safe tips to introduce my kids to horses and riding? I want them to love riding but don’t want to do too much too soon and end
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Q & A – How To Make Picking Hooves Easier
Q: Sometimes when I’m picking out my horse’s hooves, she pulls it down onto the floor. If I hold it tightly, she tries to jerk it away. How can I
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Extended Trot Instead Of Canter Cue
Julie Goodnight Q&A Q: How do I get my horse to move out at the trot without breaking into a lope? He’s a western horse learning dressage and the extended
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Cinching Up Just Enough – Julie Goodnight Q & A
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
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My Horse Consistently Breaks Gait From A Lope To A Jog On The Right Lead. Q & A
Q: My horse consistently breaks gait from a lope to a jog on the right lead. What may be causing this? –Haley White A: This is an interesting question—and I
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