Saying ‘Yes’ By Hans-Michael Schoebinger The validity of this statement is demonstrated best by a simple exercise: Standing to the left of the horse, with your left hand on the nose about halfway between where her nostrils and where her eyes are, softly get in touch with the nose, so that your index finger would …
Road Rage By Hans-Michael Schoebinger The Haflinger mare would avoid the jump and simply bypass it on the side. “She is definitely not your friend”, the riding instructor commented our third miss in a row. Accommodating his judgement regarding the personal relationship between the horse and myself I noticed that I increasingly felt having been …
The Still Surface of the Lake by Hans-Michael Schoebinger “THE ‘DELUDED MIND’ (…) IS THAT STATE IN WHICH A PERSON IS BOUND TO THE EGOCENTRIC MOVEMENT OF THE EMOTIONS, AND IS CAPTIVATED BY LOVE AND HATRED. WHEN IT IS AT WORK, NOTHING GOES RIGHT (…) WHETHER HE TRIES SWORDSMANSHIP, ARCHERY, OR HORSEBACK RIDING.” YASUO YUASA …
The Still Surface of the Lake by Hans-Michael Schoebinger Read More »
Trying Hard By Hans-Michael Schoebinger “She has to trot”, my trainer yelled, “It is all pointless if she does not trot. Trot, only then canter! So get yourself together and trot!” Two and a half hours into the lesson and trotting became ever more unlikely, as my mare and I approached the brink of total …
Being in Charge by Hans-Michael Schoebinger “Say to yourself, ‘This is my court.’ Pause for a moment (…) and let your eyes sweep over the entire area. As you do so, take ownership of everything involved in the game.” GEORGE LEONARD After saying this to myself, I would focus on recollecting the objects of special …
Steady Progress By Hans-Michael Schoebinger That’s a big one. For me it holds several important trains of thought. Firstly, “little by little” constitutes Atli Gudmundsson’s hands-on instruction of how to work with the horse. In fact, I have heard that statement from him so many times that I would call it the motto for his …
Paying Taxes By Hans-Michael Schoebinger For some years now the Austrian government keeps charging me taxes for a piece of land that I do not own. After their first claim had arrived, I protested, but to no avail, after the second claim I first yelled, then protested, again to no avail, after the third and …
Push Ups “IF YOU CAN’T DO IT FOR YOU, DO IT FOR YOUR HORSE” MARK RASHID by Hans-Michael Schoebinger Push-Ups used to be tough for me, but for a couple of reasons (that I will try to elaborate below) that’s no longer the case. On the contrary, the very thing Mark Rashid’s slogan deals with …
Immediate Reward by Hans-Michael Schoebinger “When your horse is leaning on you, imagine that you are a tree.” Picture the horse with her halter being tied to a fencepost or a tree. Ideally, she would accept the place where we put her and peacefully stay next to the tree. Should she pull, the tree will …
Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you’re right. By Amanda Barton I had a great day this week on a Rider Psychology for Coaches course at Wellington Riding with Flying Changes Coaching. This is really important training for coaches as this type of thinking puts the rider at the centre …
A few thoughts about mistakes, practice and stretch zones Read More »
