LBM Equestrian

What constitutes a circle? It’s probably the most mis understood, over done and poorly executed exercise in the mainstream horse world

A poorly done circle is a wet noodle flopping around, a disconnected body with a nose pointed onto a figure, while the hind legs flail around and the rib cage collapses.
A poorly done circle is a plywood board that someone is attempting to pound softness into, by pulling pieces and parts around

A well done circle is a masterpiece, a thing of beauty
A well connected body, straight on a curve

But the horse has to know how to turn with the shoulders, and to keep the hind legs behind them
A horse has to learn how to keep their neck center
A horse has to know how to expand the rib cage to the outside
A horse has to know how to stretch the outside of the body

That’s no small feat, and it’s quite the athletic endeavor, not to be taken lightly, and nothing to flop around on mindlessly

A circle deserves our respect, awareness, and time put in to develop it well

Trainer Tuesday: It is not your trainer’s job to… - The Plaid Horse Magazine Welcome to Trainer Tuesday! Each week we ask trainers a question and gather their answers for you. These trainers have a range of experience, backgrounds, and focus points of their programs, so the answers have as much variation as you would expect and also probably much more similarity. This week....

Have you ever just come to the abrupt realization that you don't see anything the same anymore?

The two year old that you once would have approved of starting under saddle now looks like an incredibly immature baby that you can't imagine asking to carry a load.

Physical issues that lead to training and performance issues you no longer view as the problem but perhaps the solution to the actual problem.

All of the things you would have considered behavioral issues you can now see as the balance issues that they are. You no longer want to address the behavior but instead the reason for the behavior.

You are no longer fooled by words. Anyone can say anything about their training and approach...but the horse will tell you a lot about whether the words match the action, if you're educated enough to see it. Some things are debatable...other things definitely aren't.

You now recognize that you are a nervous system and your horse is a nervous system...and that the priority is to keep you upright and alive. That matters, A LOT.

You recognize that developing a horse is an endeavor that takes years. YEARS. Years of a lot of time and a lot of commitment. There's truly no substitute.

You also realize that getting here has meant admitting that there were times when you were wrong. That there were times when you did harm with the best of your intentions. That you had to walk away from circles of people whose beliefs and approach no longer lined up with what you now know...or maybe they walked away from you? Either way, it's hard to stand alone sometimes.

You realize you've had to become a beginner a thousand times over...and you'll continue to find yourself in that spot a thousand more times in the future, plus some. Maybe even at some point today.

You realize that even when it feels like you haven't grown at all...you actually have. That growth is something to be proud of, no matter where you're at on your journey.

- Terra