Pony Paddock

Taking the Reins: Nonverbal Communication🐴✨️

This week, we’re highlighting nonverbal communication. Participants shared how they learned to feel what their horse was telling them through their movements. They also learned to use their bodies to communicate with horses without words.

Check out their reflections below to hear about nonverbal communication in their own words!

Photo 1: “A lot of horse riding is nonverbal communication. You use your arms and legs and body to tell the horse what you want him to do. Every horse is different, so you need to know your horse pretty well to ride him well.”

Photo 2: “This is a dressage lesson with Vespa, working on suppleness and lateral work at the trot.”

Photo 3: “Silently tacking up Roomie.”

Photo 4: “In the middle of the in and out, I tense my body to tell Percy to slow down a bit so we can make the jump instead of going too early or getting left behind on the jump.”

Photo 5: “Me and Strudel finishing up a great ride in the ring.”

PI: Caitlin Lunzmann





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Taking the Reins: Partnership🐴✨️

This week, we’re highlighting partnership. Participants shared how being a good partner requires working well together through good communication and trust. They described how it required the horse doing what they asked, but also that their horse trusted them.

Check out their reflections below to hear about partnership in their own words!

Photo 1: “Percy and I showed partnership by working together to get over a in and out, Percy is known to stop, and I haven’t jumped in a while, but we worked together to achieve the goal of getting over the jumps.”

Photo 2: “Tacking up Roomie.”

Photo 3: “This pony had never jumped before, and I took him to the show, and he did everything I asked.”

Photo 4: “Having a good partnership with my horse Grady is important. We can run good, fast times or we can miss a jump and miss out on getting the blue ribbon. He likes to work hard and go fast and so do I. It makes us good partners.”

Photo 5: “This is from a dressage lesson on Kirby, working on being able to collect and extend his trot.”

PI: Caitlin Lunzmann

Taking the Reins: Confidence 🐴✨️

This week, we’re highlighting confidence. Participants shared how their confidence is tied to achieving success with horses. They described how “horses gave them confidence” when they succeeded in achieving a new goal with a horse. They also wrote about how horses needed them to be confident in order for them to be successful.

Check out their reflections below to hear about confidence in their own words!

Photo 1: “This video was from the first time I’ve ever jumped 3’9”. It meant a lot because I hadn’t been able to jump over 3 feet in a long time.”

Photo 2: “I was doing cantering transitions, and I got my longest canter yet.”

Photo 3: “This is Harley and I schooling cross-country, which was a very fun experience and something I would love to do again.”

Photo 4: “This day I fell off when we refused an oxer on the practice jump for our jumping competition. In this picture we had just been disqualified for XC. He refused a jump. But we finished the course. We went back over to the jumping ring and did our course even though we were disqualified. I didn’t want to go home without having tried. He was just having a bad day. That happens sometimes. Confidence - being self assured in your own ability or qualities. I was not confident when I first jumped an oxer at my show and I fell off. So, I missed my jumping time. And went to my XC course. At my next lesson my trainer and I practiced oxers, and I kept trying until I was confident enough to jump oxers on my own.”

Photo 5: “This video shows Percy, a horse I’ve been helping learn to jump again. He’s known for stopping but he’s finally mustered up the confidence to jump over smaller jumps again.”

PI: Caitlin Lunzmann

15 year old pony mare looking for person. 13.2ish. Great ground manners, up to date on everything. Needs her own person as she is anxious with new riders. Not appropriate for lesson program. Great on trails, show miles in jumper ring, schooled cross country. Pm me for more information