Trail Clearing: an under-appreciated skill set
On March 22, 2024 by Erika EckstromOf all of the skills that students regularly want to learn, the one that nobody ever mentions is “Mounted Trail Clearing.” And quite frankly it’s also the skill set I find that, in a pinch, most people are incredibly lacking. There has yet to be an EquiTravel trip where we haven’t ended up on a
Buying a Horse 101: the ins and outs of the purchasing decision
On January 3, 2023 by Erika EckstromSo you are thinking about buying a horse? Here is my unbridled advice for the novice horse shopper. THE CHALLENGE OF BUYING A HORSE I often say that it’s actually a lot easier to buy 10 horses than to buy 1. When you buy 10, your odds of liking at least one of them goes
New Horses: Environment & Circumstance Matters
On December 31, 2022 by Erika EckstromA horse that is “perfect” while at one farm may change at another farm. People like to blame it on “scam” or horses “being drugged” but the truth is: Circumstance matters. It could be a settling in period or it could be that the new environment is just not as well adapted for them. When
Horse Training = Mundane Baby Steps
On September 28, 2022 by Erika EckstromEveryone envisions horse training as a series of problem solving and corrections, but it’s really just climbing a pyramid repetitive foundations over and over again. It’s baby steps up the mountain not giant leaps of accomplishments.
Spooks
On September 4, 2022 by Erika EckstromI have a theory that you can’t teach a horse HOW they spook, you can only get them to spook less often and less dramatic. As I see it, there’s a couple types of spook types: 1. Freezers, 2. Tap Dancers, 3. Teleporters, 4. Spinners, 5. Jumpers, 6. Bolters. There’s no such thing as a
The Role of the Riding Instruction Professional
On May 22, 2022 by Erika EckstromWhat is the job of the horse professional when working with riding clients? Our job is simple: care for, protect, advocate for and ensure the comfort and wellbeing of the horses in our care in spite of and because of the work we are asking horses to do on humans’ behalf. What this means is
Grooming for your Horse
On April 5, 2021 by Erika EckstromThere is this human-centric belief that “horses love to be groomed” – but it really isn’t the case. It has been found that most horses studied did NOT like being groomed. It can be a disrespectful invasion of their personal space. MANY of our horses who work with the public are kinda “over it” when
Business Relief Plans with the CARE act
On April 3, 2020 by Erika EckstromALL OF THE PROGRAMS AVAILABLE TO SMALL BUSINESSES! I just got off the line with Congressman Tom Reed and members of his office. Here is the lowdown of what I have gathered for small business funding initiatives: PAYROLL PROTECTION PROGRAM:Apply directly through your SBA Lending financial institution. If you maintain employee numbers you should be
Muscle Conditioning
On March 7, 2020 by Erika EckstromI was once told by a wise woman that “as a horse trainer, you are paid for what you don’t do as much as what you are paid to do” Nothing could be more true. Not only do horses need emotional time to digest, they also need time to recover from the exercise and weight
Horse Use Statistics: tracking how often your horse works
On January 6, 2020 by Erika EckstromDo you keep track of how often you ride your horses? Because WE DO! Every time our horse is ridden we track the minutes used and how they were used (trail ride, trail guide, lesson, lesson demo, schooling, groundwork or recreation ride). Knowing how many times a horse is used, how many minutes, if most
Drinking on Trail
On October 23, 2019 by Erika EckstromDo you let your horse drink on trail? Contrary to popular belief, letting a horse drink when it is exercising or hot does not make them ill or colicky. Too many generations have watched “Black Beauty” and come out with the wrong conclusions. It wasn’t the water – it was locking him up in the
More Whoa than Go
On July 7, 2019 by Erika EckstromWhen describing a “slower moving” horse as having no gas or throttle… “No throttle or YOU can’t find the gear?!” People seem to have way more trouble with slow horses than fast horses. Reasons There’s only a couple reasons that horses are slow and they are mostly the human’s fault: 1) The human isn’t worth
Age is just a Number: Lifelong Riding
On June 27, 2019 by Erika EckstromHorses are a lifelong devotion. This is just a handful of our ladies that make up our “Mature Ladies Ride” with an age range from 63 to 81 years old. This spirited gang of women have been riding with me every other week in fair weather seasons for over a decade. We take strolls through
Large Herd Turnout
On June 7, 2019 by Erika EckstromTurnout: what’s your preference? There is so much debate on how to set up a farm for turnout and how to create the best environment for your horse. Some advocate for solo or pair turnout, others for large herd turn out. Some so a sex divide by mares and geldings. I am a huge proponent