Table of contents for Practical Horseman Extra Volume 20 in Practical Horseman

Remarkable 54 and I won the freestyle class of the Retired Racehorse Project’s 2015 Thoroughbred Makeover (see below). I explained some of the training concepts I followed to accomplish that goal in Practical Horseman’s February 2015 issue. Here, I’ll describe some techniques in more detail. Like any other areas of horsemanship, these ground skills take years to learn—in fact, the learning never ends. Besides being just plain fun, they develop your relationship with your horse and establish your role as his teacher and mentor. This, in turn, will benefit every other activity you do with him, either on the ground or in the saddle. The better a teacher you are, the better your results will be. Communicate Being a good teacher requires communication and motivation. On the ground, you communicate…

I watch the trainers I admire and I reflect on why I respect them. Why am I drawn to them? Although technique is my starting point, it always has to do with something more than just technical skill, something deeper in the soul. It’s the same with horses. Most of us strive, on a day-to-day basis, to be good horsemen. But Jonathan Field, a natural horsemanship clinician and educator from British Columbia, is what Jonathan’s company logo says we all should be: “inspired by horses.” Jonathan has made several home study DVD series that offer instruction on becoming your horse’s leader, developing a great riding horse, teaching lead changes and more. But look at the videos more closely: Watch his body language and vocabulary and, especially, the attitude he brings…