This year I have had an opportunity to train with high caliber individuals in a more consistent routine than I ever have.
A former me was fighting for her life to just get ANY lessons. They were not always productive, and I was limited in the trainers available; location but also money. I worked for lessons because even $45 was out of reach financially. For a long time I stayed in a program that wasn’t right for me because I didn’t know any better…I didn’t love it but I felt stuck and didn’t know what else I could do.
Last year we had the blessing of bringing Andrea Waldo to our farm monthly for lessons. They were always productive, confidence building, and challenging. If I could, I would have Andrea with us even more often, but the distance can be limiting.
In February I took a HUGE leap and invested in myself and my learning. I brough Stanley to Aiken, SC for a few weeks and got a condensed dose of training with Andrea. Stanley and I both came back completely different, we had more fitness. More confidence. More competence. When riding with friends they could SEE the change in how we rode and approached jumps. (Updates From Aiken; Exploring Aiken’s Dining and Horse Centric Town and Focusing on Growth, and Aiken: Week Two)
This year we haven’t been as lucky to get Andrea to us as regularly…our barn has been quite busy and everyone’s schedules are everywhere. We have also begun bringing in new (to us) local trainers.
*On a side note, I’ve been riding pretty consistently with my dressage trainer for a while and LOVE her, I am mostly focusing on jumping and eventing in this article*
I know that I am starting to find the right program when the multiple trainers I have ridden with have given me similar feedback. Each person has grown my riding skills while complementing the other trainers. This can be a hard thing to do…sometimes different trainers can be counterproductive because they have different methods and viewpoints. In my case I am relieved to say it’s worked out for once.
I’ve been riding more regularly with my new eventing trainer, Kristal. I’ve been wanting to ride with her for years, but the timing never seemed to work out in the past. With her coming to our farm now I get fairly consistent lessons and solid growth. I’ve also ventured to Vermont to get some time in with Andrea. We’ve traveled to Larkin Hill for some training with Margie. I’ve also been lucky to have a lesson with Marcia Kulak.
This past week we attended a clinic Margie was hosting at Larkin Hill. We were able to go together with Suzanne and Tiger…furthering our journey in working through Stanley’s emotional challenges with his buddy sourness (See last week’s article Solving Stanley’s Emotional Needs: Our Mission To Support Stanley’s Innate Needs While Working Away From Home).
We began our lesson with Margie in the outdoor ring. Margie watched our warmup and homed in on our weaknesses. She reminded us of our three responsibilities as riders…Track, Rhythm, and Balance. We practiced over some stadium jumps before warming up over some starter logs in the field.
As the lesson progressed Margie brought us to the cross country fields. We were able to work on our track, rhythm, and balance over some terrain. Terrain is a limiting factor in my program because the farm we’re at is surprisingly flat. I also fell and got hurt on a downhill slop at this very farm. Trotting and cantering downhill slowly gets less scary every time I do it, and this day was no exception. After our warmup I looked at the exact hill I had my injury…and for the first time in 3 years I didn’t have a visceral reaction to it. It suddenly didn’t look so steep and threatening. I didn’t ride down it, but I would have if the lesson went that way.
Margie then had us approach jumps that were “away from home” and also towards the busy highway at the end of the property. The interstate 90 thruway borders this farm and you can see cars and semi-trucks blowing by at 70mph through the treeline. These two elements can be distracting and slow a horse down from wanting to move forward. Stanley and I jumped the beginner novice palisade a couple times.
Something that really clicked with me came from the beginning of this lesson. Margie wanted me to improve my core strength and posture. She told me “give him a back to ride in front of.” In other words, hold myself up better and solidify my core/back. Be less sloppy. I think when I’m not 100% certain of the jump I begin to ride smaller and slump back a bit, when Stanley needs me to ride confidently and forward.
I told Margie that I wanted to continue our mission to get through the water “cold turkey.” He’s never refused it and never takes a step backwards, but he likes to stop and look first. I don’t mind at all…I’m not worried about time…but eventually I want him to the point that he can confidently listen to me and go right in without any further questions. I know that this only comes with consistency and practice, and also good water complexes giving him good experiences.
We cantered up to the water, as we approached, he spotted it he threw on the breaks. I legged him on, but he still felt the need to stop for a split second. He paused, and walked right in, and trotted out. Every time we approach water cold turkey his stop and pause gets shorter and shorter, his confidence grows, and he’s more willing to move forward back out of the water. This is WONDERFUL progress!
We turned around and approached the water again from the other direction. Upon our second approach he cantered in like a champion. We went around again and did it twice. When we returned to the group Margie told me we were actually too fast for the beginner novice level; we had been going at the pace of training level through it. That said he was moving forward but never running, anxious, or out of balance. We felt confident and connected and I was over the moon that he was so confident on our second approach. In competition there’s no doubt I’ll allow him to move slower, but I’m just so grateful for how far we’ve come.
We put the water together with a white beginner novice coop and a faux ditch. The coop gave me pause…I thought it was novice at first and I was worried Stanley would look at it especially with it next to the thru way. He never questioned it and it rode well!
We finally made out way into the back field and worked on banks. We went up and down the bank. Stanley understood the question in both directions and responded perfectly. He doesn’t overjump them or worry about them. This can confuse or worry some horses and I’m amazed at how smart Stanley proves himself to be every time we ride.
Throughout our lesson I was able to use my Insta 360 (Check out my review The Sunday Review: Insta 360 Go Ultra Camera) to get fun point of view angles. The camera is so fun and easy to use and the image quality and stability is phenomenal. It was my impulse Black Friday purchase in 2025 and I am so glad I did it!
In all we had a fantastic outing to add to this year’s growth. I began the morning with some worry about the day. Although no bad experiences have happened since our last training the lizard brain still kicks in and makes me think I can’t jump beginner novice jumps. Once I was on and doing it I realized that yes, I CAN do this and I AM ready for our official beginner novice debut next month!
And also…there is HOPE for us that Stanley and Tiger can go places and all four of us can have a good positive ride!
The consistency from this year is beginning to show…and I am here for it.
The Green Horseman 
Leave a comment