not getting desperate

I’m currently reading listening to How Trust Works by Peter H. Kim, PhD, who draws on decades of research in behavioral psychology and social sciences to explore how trust is built, broken and repaired. It’s an interesting read listen if you’re into that sort of thing!

pics are unrelated today bc we’re still doing the same stuff except even less now bc the world is apparently on fire…

I’ve read some of the books he mentions, and so was already familiar with a classic research study he cites, the “Good Samaritan” experiment from the 70s. 

The gist is: Seminary students participating in the study were sent across campus to give a talk (the topic varied, but for some was the parable of the Good Samaritan). On the way, they would encounter a stranger slumped on the ground, in obvious distress. In some cases, the stranger was quite literally blocking the seminarian’s path. 

The study’s striking result was that whether the seminarians stopped to help the stranger was most strongly predicted by how much time pressure they felt. Those who were told to get across campus ASAP were far less likely to stop (in some cases, they even stepped over the stranger to get to their sermon on the Good Samaritan, #irony), whereas participants who’d been told they had plenty of time helped more often than not. 

“stop making me look fat in pictures :’( ” — my plushly upholstered princess in our last session before the apocalypse
related — i’ll have a post up later this week with her current meal plan for those curious

It’s obviously a fascinating and famous study for a lot of reasons, and is referenced in a ton of books on behavioral and social sciences. 

Kim’s finding from this study is that specific features of a situation can influence how we choose to act more so than any individual personality traits. Or, more bluntly, it’s not only possible but easy to get ‘good’ people to behave ‘badly’ with the right situational conditions. 

He concludes that as situational forces grow stronger, our “individualistic” forces grow weaker, and therefore the notion that our characters alone will dictate how we act is simply wrong.

it was another good ride tho <3

Which… Ya know… Is maybe worth mulling over in a variety of contexts — as Kim does in his book on trust. For OUR purposes, however, I had a more topical framing in mind while listening to that chapter on the way to the barn. 

I’m always interested in trying to adapt or apply findings from behavioral sciences to my horsey pursuits. We all know riding is just plain hard, and for a lot of different reasons. And particularly, sometimes it feels like there’s this gaping chasm between how well I might understand a thing, compared to how reliably I can do it. Everyone has a plan until you get punched in the mouth your horse bolts sideways bc #bunnies, right??

So I’m always looking for little hacks, insights, little tweaks or changes to my approach that make it easier to get the outcomes I’m looking for, to establish consistency and reproducibility. To improve the quality of our routine practice etc.

but then… the apocalypse …. oof. no worries, tho, i’m sure more tariffs will fix it! 

So this chapter in Kim’s book caught my attention, specifically within the context of the key commandment that came up again and again across ALL the sessions at the Windurra camp: Don’t get desperate. 

Kim’s conclusions add an interesting nuance to that mantra, right? Which, in case you didn’t read my lengthy posts (lol), came up in multiple sessions including the sports psychology keynote with Natalie Hummel, the dressage demo with Silva Martin and Laura Graves, and the show jump course walk lecture with Peter Wylde. 

Each, in their own way, cautioned riders against getting too sucked into the drama of the moment, letting things escalate or snowball to the point of sacrificing position, precision or intention. Instead, they wanted riders to recognize those moments, take a beat to reset and try again.

 

at least the smoke seems to cut the heat dome humidity??

What the study’s conclusions clarify for me, tho, is that “getting desperate” is generally a function of specific situational circumstances rather than just a lapse in our individual skills or abilities. It’s not that “I suck under pressure,” it’s that pressure — especially time pressure — is a strong enough force to override all my good intentions. 

So learning to recognize that external pressure (time-related or otherwise) in the moment is key. And to take it a step further, it’s worth examining that pressure itself — how much of it is real vs basically self-imposed? Is there a way to consciously design or structure our environments to counteract negative pressure or actually create positive pressure?

Instead of consistently struggling in a given scenario and feeling like, ‘what is wrong with me?’ — maybe it’d be more productive / useful to reframe, asking, ‘what is it about this scenario that’s making things harder?’

For example, I’m a little-too-type-A about all things clocks and timing. Especially when paired with my “overthinking” and “trying to control everything” habits. One of my personality, uh, charms is that I’m kinda always watching the clock, estimating how much time a thing should take, setting expectations etc.

we can still engage the mind with in-hand activities while protecting the lungs!

Just the other day I was literally being an INSANE person overthinking my interval timer app. It’s programmed to ding every 2min for about 35 minutes, and I use it to provide structure and keep track of minutes trotting. 

I was torturing myself tho bc our round pen sessions are ~15min, and the riding session is usually 20-35min… Plus there’s the ‘intermission’ for leaving the round pen, getting on, riding up to the arena, doing a couple laps to settle in, etc… 

And I was going around and around in my head calculating exactly when to pause / resume / optimize this scenario to fully leverage the 35min program, without a lot of fussing with my phone or putting unnecessary pressure on Doozy by thinking that “once I press Resume we have to Go Right Now!!”… 

When… it hit me… Emma. WTF chill out, stop making everything a math problem— re program the app to go for like 60 or 90 minutes and call. it. a. day, dear lord LOL.

pictured: enrichment lol

Ahem. Cough cough. Moving on!

Insanity aside, tho, that realization was a little bit of an “Aha! for Dummies” moment lol. Bc that whole “external forces can overpower our normal inclinations, especially when time pressure is involved” thing works both ways, right? 

Reprogramming the app literally reversed the effect it was having on me — from making me hyper-fixate on ‘optimizing each moment’ to… just taking advantage of the intervals in whatever way worked for us in that moment, bc “we have plenty of time!”

It’s sounds so obvious, like such a no-brainer, and maybe it is. But to me, it was the perfect demonstration of an environment design choice that helps facilitate my best possible decision making and actions. 

we did beautification activities too!!

In the same vein, Peter Wylde suggested using strategically located cones to cue riders for a downward transition mid-course — to enforce a reminder to breathe and reset. 

Matt Brown talked about this in our last lesson, too — that flatwork can be so tricky bc of the *absence* of physical landmarks like an actual literal jump. Which, ya know, is maybe actually why dressage uses ring letters lol.

To me, the idea of deliberately designing our environments to support better behaviors is super appealing. And maybe kinda what last year’s Brit Bot was helping to accomplish too. 

“nbd, some of us were born breathing fire!!” — doozy, unfazed by the haze!

A way to use external signals to help me stay proactive vs reactive, while also explicitly cuing exactly the reminders I know I need. A way to reinforce good choices and make executing on my intentions easier, without needing to rely solely on memory, instincts, willpower or discipline.

Obviously, we can’t avoid negative pressure forever — especially in competitions, when it’s time, it’s time. But we have a lot more control over the circumstances of our everyday practice. So the idea, I think, is to structure practice as well as we can, and use the resources we have available to make a positive experience always the likeliest outcome.

Or ya know. At least until the next rabbit jumps out at us lol….

spin class

Doozy’s recovery from the April Trashcan Incident continues to go as smoothly as any of us could reasonably hope. She’s been very sound, plus the leg has stabilized into normalcy since returning to regular turnout. 

anybody interested in a dozen variations of the same pic???

Building back up to “full work” has been a slow process so far, tho. I feel very tentative, and am especially reluctant to lay out any kind of time frame or expectation, esp re: being “ready” for jumps etc. 

welcome to our farm’s humble round pen. there is a strong history of horses jumping out of it LOL

Mostly because to be perfectly honest, it’s been very challenging to stick with the normal incremental, one-minute-at-a-time progressive plan. 

Where Doozy is concerned, if she can trot, she might as well canter! And where *I* am concerned, when I didn’t feel like cantering was a good or appropriate idea, I therefore concluded that attempting to “just trot” was equally unwise.

doozy is suspicious of the chickens

So we have followed a slightly unconventional path to this point — lots and lots and LOTS of long slow hacks and walking rides, then increasing the small bursts of activity (trot and canter alike) little bits at a time, with as minimal drama as possible.

not, uh, loving the way that saddle is shifting around up there
(in my defense, it’s a loose girth with a riser half pad doing what riser half pads do)

After recommendations from a few different (trusted / solicited / professional) corners, tho, last week we started integrating a little free lunging in the round pen. And it’s been super interesting! (To me, at least LOL…)

“in *my* defense, maybe i’d be quieter if you used quieter tack. just saying!” — doozy, opinionated

I’ve done little bits of ground work somewhat regularly with Doozy ever since bringing her home in 2023, tho with only a very little bit on the lunge. And even then, the purpose has always been communication, aid+response, pressure+release type work rather than just moving her out. 

signs of summer: sweaty soggy everything

And that’s the point of this round pen work too. I’m basically trying to simplify the equation, separate the signal from the noise, so that Doozy and I can communicate more clearly with less chaos and escalation. And, natch, while we’re at it, find a way to start the clock ticking like one would in a more ‘typical’ rehab plan.

another sign of summer: blargh

So far, the basic gist is: getting fully dressed to ride, but then going to the round pen first. We walk a lap or so together to start, during which Doozy is more or less free to stop and smell the roses, gaze longingly out the window, or whatever, ya know? No muss, no fuss. 

same shit, different day. different saddle too, tho!

I eventually peel off toward the center of the pen, encouraging her to keep moving around for the first 5 or so minutes, including practicing a change or two of direction. The practice naturally being as much for me as for her — just figuring it out, together.

roughly 12min out of 16 in our session is spent doing exactly this. boring is our goal!

My interval timer app is programmed to chime after 5 minutes, and then every 2 minutes after that. So more or less, we do our low key wander for the first 5, then maybe more specifically active and continuous walking 2 minutes in each direction, and then it’s trot time!

“fucking chickens tho” — doozy, 100%

My whole goal here is “boring.” I want Doozy to be unhurried and unbothered. Just jog on around. And as such, I am trying to develop (and stick to) a consistent predictable sequence of the absolute minimum aid required to get a response, with a consistent pattern of escalation.

proof: she CAN jiggity jog around like a fat lazy school pony!!

So maybe it starts with a verbal cue — the same one I can use under saddle too — then maybe escalates to a kiss, then a cluck, then maybe tossing the end of the lunge rope onto the ground. And Doozy trots! Lazily!! And then usually breaks back to walk pretty quickly, omg!!

plenty to like in her more normal gait tho!!

And ya know, I let her LOL. Because actually, ymmv, but at this moment in time, I see more value in getting lots of repetitions in asking her to go forward, compared to how our rides have mostly been — ie, constantly trying to slow her down. 

As Sharon White would say, ‘no drama, just clarity!’

lol she practices her own forward and back transitions…

We keep that going for about 2 minutes, then walk quietly and calmly again for two minutes — changing directions etc. Then another 2min cycle of trot, followed by another 2min of walk. Always ending with an intentional active cycle of walk, bc again my whole purpose here is the relaxation first and foremost. 

baaaaaaasically the same thing, right??? hahaha…

We’ll probably increase the number of trot intervals in the round pen too, as well as maybe doing some light experimentation with side reins, but so far we’ve stuck with a simple session of about 15ish minutes, give or take, with 4min total of trot.

“brb, gotta go check on those chickens tho!”

After which, naturally, it’s time to ride!! We finish up with the round pen, then transition back out to the outdoor ring just like we would for any normal ride — with the free lunge serving hopefully as both a physical and mental warm up session. 

“CLUCK CLUCK, MOTHER FUCKERS!!!” — doozy, obsessed

And it’s been super interesting to see how Doozy feels after that. Like, her tension is deeply rooted and associative. This has been true for her since the day I brought her home: when she gets somewhere, she expects something to happen. So she gets to the outdoor and immediately anticipates. 

anyway. there’s a point to all this madness:: civilized trotting under saddle

But so far, so good — our rides so far using this new round-pen-integrated approach have been solid, with the mare able to accomplish another couple of 2min intervals at trot even while going large around the full ring. 

I don’t know why exactly she can suddenly maintain her gait after what is an undeniably basic ground work session. And who knows, maybe it isn’t the ground work at all but rather just a coincidence, the natural consequence of getting back into the habit, back in practice? 

“fiiiiine, i guess i can” ….. “but only if there are cookies involved!!” — doozy, negotiating

And sure, she still occasionally sneaks in some canter — but following our lesson with Matt, and also the conversation with Steph, I’ve let her just go with it. Large around the ring tho, rather than the small circles we worked on with Matt. Mostly bc.. Well.. Doozy can canter a very small circle, which… I’d rather not do a ton of at this moment in time. 

But also, more to the underlying point: forward is fine too.

rinse repeat, forever

Which, realistically, is mostly an issue of framing for me, and not the horse. On one hand, yes I want to be careful and conservative while moving Doozy thru this rehab phase. But ultimately the end goal is still to gallop across an open field on a soft contact, right?? 

And Doozy is actually a trained and capable horse at this point too. Chaotic and occasionally unhinged, obvi, but she does actually know things. So I’m feeling hopeful that we might finally be graduating to a more predictable (and measurable) phase of the rehab, finally able to track the minute markers and improve confidence around deciding when to go to the next step. 

Everything will be easier when she’s free to run and jump around like a lunatic haha, but for now it’s one light spin class at a time lol.

windurra camp: dressage

The last major focal area for the camp was certainly not the least — in fact there was probably more dressage action than anything else. 

Each clinic participant had two dressage lessons, one with Silva Martin and one with Australian Olympian Brett Parbery. Plus US Olympian Laura Graves did a demo with Silva, and also taught lessons for a small contingent of pure dressage clinic participants — most of whom were working on the FEI levels.

nbd just Silva Martin and Laura Graves doin’ a dressage demo!

It was kinda funny too, bc at one point they actually had the pure dressage FEI horses riding with Laura in the same ring as the BN eventers riding with Brett… And obvi it’s natural to be drawn into watching the big fancy impressive moving warmbloods doing fancy upper level stuff vs the scrawny TB learning a leg yield lol… 

But realistically there are always more direct and tactical takeaways from auditing the lessons working at my own level, right? Real talk, tho, I kept trying to find a horse among the various groups that went most like Doozy, so that I could try to follow them around and see how the clinicians handled them… Except, joke’s on me — none of the horses went like Doozy, bc maybe most people are smart enough not to take that kind of hot mess out in public, LOL!

Laura on one of Silva’s horses

Ahem, cough cough, Moving On! Let’s start with the demo, wherein Silva and Laura shared high level thoughts on their approach and training philosophies — while simultaneously floating and flitting hither and yon on extremely fancy creatures, as one does.

They both emphasized the importance of intentional careful practice, of confronting the details right away, every day. Whether that be in developing our strength in our position, or the quality of a gait, or execution of a movement.

Laura in particular noted that she often sees people “get desperate” — a similar theme that Peter brought up in his show jumping lessons too. She said you’re always better off just taking a break, a circle, a breather, regrouping to try again, rather than getting desperate and maybe teaching the horse the wrong thing, or sacrificing positioning etc.

Silva demonstrating a variation of the exercise she coached in many of the lessons

She advised riders to “get out of a movement before failure, even as you work on pushing the boundary.”

Which is when Silva chimed in with the note I shared in an earlier post, that you have to let the horse do things he’s good at too, to help them like it and give you a reason to praise them.

The example she used was teaching eventing horses the changes — she’ll often halt straight and do a rein back after a bad change, NOT because the rein back is punishment for the bad change, but rather bc the horse can easily and correctly answer that question and then she can praise it right away for that, then go back and try the change again. Her point was that the horse can’t be scared of doing the wrong thing.

A lot of hotness in the horses comes from that insecurity (Editor’s note: Uh, **noted**); and while Laura pointed out that some positive tension is required in order to go forward and have energy, we want to avoid it bubbling over, avoid the desperation.

clinic riders did two dressage lessons — one with Silva

The warm up for the eventing groups was remarkably similar to the xc warm up, which was itself remarkably similar to the show jumping warm up. Are you sensing a theme here??

Silva started her groups moving immediately into trot / canter transitions, with changes of direction, to get everyone moving forward right away. From the more forward gait, she then asked riders to zero in on shoulder control, and particularly straightening on the outside rein. 

After a couple transitions between gaits, next came transitions within gaits — first in trot: forward and back in trot, almost walking then trotting forward, with changes of direction. Then in canter — lengthen first, then come back. Riders could use the ring geometry to help, like lengthening down the long side, closing into the corner. 

In one large circle, she wanted to see riders able to execute quiet smooth transitions every quarter — bring back, then normal, bring back, then normal. Again and again and again.

and another lesson with Australian Olympic dressage rider Brett Parbery

Laura kept a similar theme even in her lessons with the pure dressage horses. She noted in particular that riders and horses alike can make mistakes in these exercises — but that by finding that edge, that boundary, then you know where it is and can work on it. The key is being fair when there’s a mistake. 

Tho she noted, we can’t have greater expectations of the horse than the structure we provide. Our aids are only correct when the horse gives the right response (in other words, the horse hasn’t read the textbook, right?). The point of a correction to a mistake is to help the horse understand the original aid, not to have the correction itself become the aid.

Laura also taught lessons for the pure dressage participants

Especially when it came to quality of gaits, adjustability and transitions within the gaits, Laura was constantly asking her students: do you like this walk? Is this the trot you wanted? If not, does the horse know that? In her words, riders need to “make up your mind and act” bc the horse will only know what we tell them.

Possibly the most interesting thing Laura did with each lesson related to that overarching theme of finding forward first and always: Many of her clinic participants would come in wanting to work on a specific movement, two examples were pirouette and half pass zig-zag. Almost invariably, after they’d do the movement once (and thus demonstrate why it was an issue for them), Laura would break it down in the same way. 

She’d have the rider focus solely on establishing the pace and positioning for the movement — be that piro canter or half pass bend — but then just ride forward down the quarter line instead of turning into the movement itself. And it quite literally broke a few brains — even as it made her point crystal clear: so often, our tendency is to get wrapped up in the desperation of the full movement, that we sacrifice the fundamental components (ie, forward). But if you can’t hold the preliminary positioning on a straight line, maybe that’s actually the underlying issue?

nbd just super fancy and inspiring!

Anyway, tho, as fascinating as that was, it’s maybe a little less directly or tangibly applicable to me lol. Well. Except for the mantra of remembering the “forward and straight first” part!

Brett’s lessons with the eventing groups, however, continued to bring those same concepts to life in more relatable ways — particularly with some exercises I hope to repeat at home as Doozy continues in her rehab. 

He had riders working on the same transitions between and within gaits — that’s clearly just something that maybe everybody in the whole wide world is doing all day, every day, and I just forget to even think about it…? But he also introduced more complicated transitions too. 

it was amazing how many threads carried through all three clinician’s sessions

For one of the BN/N groups that had three very different horses, he had them all do the exact same exercise of a small-ish (think ~5m) figure-8 at walk, then after a circuit or two, as you change the bend do a walk-canter transition. Carry on in canter on a circle for as long as you can hold the organization and control the shoulder, then back to walk, regroup, repeat. 

The objective of this exercise is to help the horse arrive in a smaller canter right away, to help set the horse up for the organization, not try to impose organization after the fact. And it was interesting to see how well it worked for each of the horses — the behind-the-leg horse got more prompt, the overly-forward rushing horse got less strung out. Definitely something to try!

every individual horse and rider pair was so different, but they all benefited from the same simple classic exercises 

Tho Brett advised that it’s really all about slowing down the placement of aids — getting acceptance of each component, one step at a time. Prompting each moment of action without panic or desperation, without sacrificing correct posture and positioning. 

Something that will be important for me to remember with Doozy: It’s not just one big movement, it’s actually several smaller aids and steps and moments that each need their own breathing room. And that is what becomes the schooling, becomes the acceptance of independent aids.

Overall, lots to chew on, lots of food for thought, and a LOT of ideas I’m eager to start weaving into our daily practice — especially since a lot of this seems fairly rehab-friendly, too. 

Hopefully there are some good ideas or thoughts or takeaways in there for you all too, and the notes actually make some semblance to sense beyond just a massive download from hours and hours of auditing and lecture LOL! Or maybe some of this is already a major feature of your regular work?

trying out the 2026 tests

It’s honestly so great having a regular schedule with dressage trainer C this year. We found a mutually convenient bi-weekly time (that I suspect will be even more convenient when the horses switch to summer hours), and I’ve got my calendar blocked in perpetuity. 

Perfect!

tyrannical red mare scatters her pony friends like pins in a bowling alley!

Well. Ok, haha, mostly perfect…. Since it’s still horses, after all! We missed last week’s lesson bc of Doozy’s lost shoe. Tho, fortunately with the bi-weekly routine we could make it up this week instead, and then hopefully get right back onto the normal cadence again next week. Love. 

well. she tries LOL

Normally I like to just let trainer C have her way with us. She has so many students, has been teaching for so long in general, and teaching me in particular for more than a decade now… It’s easy to trust the direction of her coaching. But she’s exceptionally good at teaching ring craft and test practice too — so that’s what we did this week, with the new 2026 BN-A test!

perfectly pleasant for hill hacks tho!

Obviously basically all of low level eventing tests are some variation of training level dressage… Basically just showing your gaits in both directions on simple large figures and patterns. 

They aren’t the most exciting or inspired patterns, and in fact often give the impression of being almost a bit of a formality anyway — like the test designers are trying to see how quickly they can check all the boxes to get horses in and out of the ring.

literally eating…. trash?

That’s great if you’re riding a half asleep school master who could do the low levels backwards on three legs… But actually can produce a slightly hectic choppy and frazzled tempo to the tests for our slightly, er, less established horse and rider partnerships. Like, ahem, me and Doozy!

anyway. cats. 

The BN A test is plain enough on paper — enter using that weird broken center line so you don’t have to aim straight at the Judge’s Booth of Doom. Trot your circle basically immediately tho. 

Trainer C’s sage advice: ride that first corner after the broken center line extra deep, then as you start your circle at C it’s easier to show a difference in your track. Same idea reversed for the final quadrant of the circle and the following corner, really taking advantage of making a first impression when you’re right in front of the judge.

absolute hooligan, squeakiest of ink blots, purveyor of random creepy lost baby cat teeth

Then it’s right into a circle at your middle letter — developing your canter on the circle sorta like in the Intro C test. Except after years of eventing tests using this transition point to send you on 1.5 rotations of the circle (one full lap at canter), the BN A test says, “ain’t nobody got time for all that! (and may dog have mercy on your soul if you misfire leads!)” and keeps the rotation at 1.0, sending you right back down the long side toward A, transitioning to trot before the corner.

ok ok, back to the horse!!

Then there’s actually a nice little breather for us, using the short end at A to hopefully get our shit together if the canter got us strung out, then crossing the diagonal, hopefully again utilizing necessary changes of bend etc to stay organized. Right into another trot circle in front of the judge at C — again with the strategic use of corners, showing a difference in track / line of travel.

handsome doozy, ready to ride some dressage!

Then, at least for me and Doozy, things get… potentially more hectic. We are already notorious for getting increasingly strung out as we go, but then we repeat again the same canter pattern — picking it up on the circle but only doing exactly 1.0 rotations before continuing toward A. 

Except — sweet mother of jesus, you better be ready to trot asap, bc then you’re walking in the corner after A, then free walking the long diagonal, then trotting again by the time you are past the judge, trotting straight down the whoooooole long side toward A (and, presumably, toward the promised land, given how most shows are laid out), before whipping back up the center line to halt, salute.

aaaaaand back on the cats again… this time with denizens of the barn!

Doozy was actually quite good for the whole lesson, and particularly the test practice. Tho, interestingly, not “good” in like a classically supple soft round way… But an entirely new type of good for us: the kind of workmanlike good where she sorta kinda phoned it in, like “Yea yea I know my job, whatever,” but… actually did just go about doing her job. Which like… Cool? 

Honestly, I appreciate that Doozy is such an overachiever most of the time, but that’s also a big part of her explosive energy and frequent tension. If she wants to show up to an actual competition and just be like, “Siiiigh, this again!” I’d be toooootally fine with that!

OG: *literally growling*
Pebbles: *blissfully ignorant!*

I digress, tho. Anyway — yes she was perfectly fine for this lesson, but the test definitely feels a little rapid fire for us, particularly that second canter into free walk, into exit. All the transitions feel kinda stacked on top of each other, especially given that we tend to be more in the “slow to develop” category for down transitions. 

“I told him not to touch my butt… so we compromised and he’s touching my butt.”
(the deep sigh of resignation at the end kills me LOL)

In a weird way, tho, maybe the test will suit us? My habit so often is to kinda shift into survival mode and sorta whip us through the pattern… But maybe this new version will force me to stay more present and ride more proactively? 

Doozy seems to prefer the proactive approach, it keeps her more calm and relaxed to be constantly given clear directions vs sorta left an ambiguity. I’ve known this from the beginning, but the Brit Bot definitely confirmed it, and even Dan pointed it out in our last lesson. 

So ya know. I just gotta remember that. And, ahem, cough cough, execute on that… A girl can dream, right?

Performance Riders Blueprint

Performance Riders, based in Australia, hosted a free live web session with Boyd Martin, Peter Wylde, Lillian Heard Wood, and Brett Parbery to promote their subscription online training module. As such, it was a hybrid sales pitch + teaser of what to expect from the program.

I knew from touring Windurra with Boyd years ago that this man has zero chill with sharing his opinions, approaches, methods, perspectives on literally everything he does with a horse – at a pace that makes you wish you’d hit “record.”

True story: he spat out so much rapid-fire detail on that tour about conditioning upper-level horses – how often they’re ridden, the focus of each ride, how intensity progresses – I literally couldn’t write fast enough, and most of those details blew over my head like dust in the wind.

Not this time, tho! I knew what to expect and was ready to go lol.

that time i fauxto-shopped boyd onto the legend himself, charles <3

So! Here are my notes:

The agenda was to basically create a ‘blueprint’ for our 2026 plans (that presumably you’d start executing by signing up for the program).

Boyd advises creating two sets of plans, one for the horse and one for the rider. Naturally, horses being horses, we should map a plan but keep it adjustable.

For the rider, however, Boyd was more strict: he urged us to evolve as riders, to be really really honest with ourselves about where we are, what’s coming up short, and where we want to go.

He said it’s easy to practice what we’re good at – but that’s not going to help us with…. anything else. Boyd’s personal goal examples included working on flying changes and addressing the ‘stiffness’ that’s creeping into his seat and position as he ages. 

Especially this time of year, it’s easy to talk ourselves out of practicing intentionally. But before we know it, it could be March and he won’t have sat the trot in months.

pictured: a man who is willing and eager to tell you everything he knows, no matter who you are!

For the horse, Boyd’s approach to goal setting was maybe… less relatable to my personal reality. Planning for Kentucky or Burghley obviously requires significantly more logistical resources than Area II champs an hour and a half down the road.

I’ll share his insights anyway, tho:

Boyd starts by picking his big events for his upper-level horses for the year – maybe one in spring, one in fall – then works backward to reverse engineer the steps to get there.

For example:

• Three or four weeks before a 5*, he’ll aim for a 4*-S or Advanced where he can give it a proper physical push – letting the horse go forward at speed across the country
• Before that, he’ll aim for 1-2 easier competitions as lead up events – maybe down a level to the 3* or even Prelim/2* for the veterans to get them started for the year
• Intermingled with that trajectory, he’ll do some show jump rounds as “training days” to get the horses into big rings, big tracks – maybe down in Florida.
• He’ll also pick out a couple dressage shows
• (Editor’s Note: “bite-sized outings!”)

Boyd & Tsetserleg in the MDHT 3* leading up to the Pan American games in 2019

Peter, an Olympian and one of Boyd’s coaches, further emphasized going to the show jumping events to practice, just to take the edge and jitters off. Like literally down to specifically wearing polo shirts and tan pants – just getting horse and rider into the ring, getting comfortable, putting in the reps, since eventers do so relatively few actual rounds.

Peter advised focusing on two main attributes in show jumping practice:

1. Rideability: We want our horses lovely and polite to ride – round, supple, light, not completely closed in the neck, a lighter more ‘up’ frame.
• In our exercises at home, he said to include course work that focuses on the horse staying lovely and nice around the course. It’s not about being a perfectionist, but rather being diligent in insisting that we do things well. Don’t just hop on and fly over the jumps (Ed. Note: me, this is me 100%) – but work on repeatability.
• He suggested using ground pole courses too, and Boyd offered a nugget that he uses with one of his hotter horses Luke: do a trot transition halfway across the course, or add a couple bounces in the middle.
2. Repeatability: Horses are happier when things are consistent. Peter suggested thinking about it like a “recipe.” Try to be consistent, try to figure out what formula you do with the horse for each event, each practice session – what gets the horse the best feeling so that you can make a plan for that.
• The most successful way to train horses and riders is to set up a plan then tailor that plan for approaching each event.
• That way, if the plan doesn’t work, you’ve got a blueprint for making tweaks or changes.

pictured: me and Charlie figuring out what not to do in a show jump schooling round at Plantation, naturally with a somewhat intimidating audience… 

Related to that ‘recipe,’ Boyd gave the following example of tailoring his show jumping warm up at an event:

• Start flatting about 12 horses to go (~24min from ride time)
• Start jumping 6 horses out (~12 min to go)
• Start with a vertical, focusing on rideability and discipline, and do a walk transition on landing to help the horse think ‘slow’
• (Ed. Note: interesting that the practice at home includes more course work, and the warm up includes more “one at a time” jumping)
• Put the vertical up, then go to an oxer
• About 2 horses out (~4min), he hops off the horse to reset the saddle (even if it doesn’t need it) and take 30seconds to exhale
• This gives the horse a minute to take a breath and calm down
• (Ed. Note: Could this be the silver lining to being our own jump crew while schooling at home??)
• Jump your last fence as the rider ahead is on jump 2 or 3 – set it to a tall vertical to get the horse jumping up

His point is to create a predictable routine system. Vertical, land, walk. Vertical, land, walk. Show the horse the routine, use body language to calm everything down, and help the horse recognize the pattern.

Ultimately, the mega goal is success at the one big event, with a game plan to use lead up outings as schooling and prep.

Boyd & On Cue at the Plantation 3* in 2020

Fitness and conditioning are obviously also key components. Boyd outlined the following schema for Kentucky prep:

• December is dedicated to long, slow dedicated flatwork – horse “yoga” vs test riding.
• January introduces long slow stamina work
• February will see the first couple events, again at lower levels and slower still speeds
• March is when more speed and hill work starts, with the goal of eventually hitting 14 hill gallops before the spring 5*

He encouraged us to observe what works for successful people, and adapt it to our programs, recognizing that things go wrong all the time. The people at the top of the sport aren’t doing some sort of magical riding. It’s not like they aren’t facing setbacks too. Rather, it’s the small fundamental details that make the biggest difference.

Boyd really emphasized that riding goals are not negotiable. Especially this time of year, he’s not just going to toddle around in the indoor arena or go for a hack. It’s too easy to just go through the motions (Ed. Note: Ahem, guilty as charged!) – but to improve, you have to go after it.

The rate of improvement is very minute, mayyybe 0.1% a week. Day to day, you won’t feel like you’re getting anywhere – it can be frustrating to put in a huge amount of effort every ride for a minuscule or nearly undetectable reward. But that’s what it takes, and you must be relentless, disciplined, committed.

pictured: me and charlie demonstrating the sometimes frustratingly slow path to improvement at a tricky water question, natch with Boyd again watching (and waiting for us to finish) from the truck 

There are only so many jumps a horse can jump, obviously he acknowledged it’s a luxury to practice on so many different horses. But for each horse, each session has to count. You can’t just whiz them around – you have to be clear minded and committed that your sessions have purpose – that everything you do with your horse has a purpose.

Doing more of it badly won’t make you better. We’ve all fallen into that trap of basically being an ‘exercise rider’ just spinning them around, vs intentionally training every ride (Ed. Note: Hi, yes, the problem is me!).

The true champions still ride their horses with the same window of time, but are more engaged with their sessions, staying true to the real goal.

Brett, an Olympic dressage rider based in Australia, chimed in to observe that a high performance mindset is a mindset of detail. Working on the simple things and getting them right.

He said there are five critical steps to achieving your goals:

• Today, today, today, today, today

It’s what you do today that puts you in place tomorrow. And we need to take the time, break things down, create structure for how to improve skillsets, understanding and knowledge. Horses crave structure in their preparation and development, and it’s our job to provide it.

making the rounds at our local club’s recognized event

Obviously this session was intended to get riders jazzed up enough to enroll in the program (“Today!”), but for me, there’s still a lot of utility and truth in what’s written above. Especially as it relates to engaging more deeply in each session.

With Doozy, it’s always been true that I need to find ways to engage positively with her tension, without indulging in the drama. Staying proactive and mindful in each ride (like with my Brit Bot app!) is a big part of that, and something I shouldn’t abandon entirely even when relegated to dusty laps in the indoor or sharing space with lessons.

Also, it reinforced the importance of preparing through “bite-sized outings,” something that should definitely be part of my plan this year too.

What about you, any big takeaways? Or anything that can be adapted for your own off season work?