See Me at November's Western States Horse Expo!

I am delighted to announce that I have been invited to participate as a clinician at this November's Western States Horse Expo in Pomona, California. It is such a great honor to be asked to return as a presenter. I'll be in the Spirit Arena at 9:15 on Saturday morning and again at 10:45 on Sunday. This is a well organized event full of a variety of presentations and excellent shopping opportunities. 

Come and watch!

​I'm actually sitting down (not in a saddle, in a chair!) working on my Western States Horse Expo presentations. I thought I'd share a sneak peek with you.

The concept is imagining what picture frame your horse should be able to fit nicely into depending on their stage of training. Here, I'll show two extremes of development: a Grand Prix horse in piaffe and a very green OTTB in trot.

​For the Grand Prix horse you should imagine a circle or a portrait style frame. 

Imagine riding with a circle around you and your horse, and you would be in the correct upper level frame.

A square style is also a good image to carry with you.

For the Training Level and First Level horse, you can imagine a landscape  or rectangular frame. 

Nicely stretching the topline into the connection for this green training level OTTB mare by her junior rider.

She fits into this landscape rectangular frame well.

Here she is in a square frame. You can see that she is not yet ready to imagine a square frame. Putting the frame around her shows that she's not quite in front of her rider's leg enough to push the balance uphill. . The picture frame gives you more information and a better image to reach for in your next ride.

I've been thinking about this concept and working on it with my clients. It's really helping them to understand the importance of keeping the frame to develop the horse's topline and self carriage. Let me know in the comments what frame you're riding your horse in and whether this idea helps you.