Posts from April 2012

by Lori Albrough

I find the subject of happiness endlessly fascinating.

I love to reflect on what makes people happy, why we think some things will make us happy, but then they don’t, and some of the apparent paradoxes of happiness, such as how taking on a new challenge can cause a lot of discomfort — both mental and physical — in the short- and medium-term and then subsequently a lot of happiness once you’ve met the challenge, risen above, and mastered it.

In fact, over fifteen years ago, we named our Fjordhorse farm after the bird which is the symbol of happiness in poetry and song, the Eastern Bluebird. Bluebird Lane, and the Fjords which live here, have been a very big source of happiness and purpose in my life.

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by Lori Albrough

Prisco was a very influential horse in my life. I bought him in the summer of 2000 when he was five years old, from my friend Julia (Julie) Will.

Julie imported Prisco from Holland in 1996 as a yearling, when she was over there looking at horses with Vivian Creigh. Julie had been looking for a junior stallion prospect who had the ability to sire grey offspring. At the time her senior stallion was the grey, MVF Erlend. Julie was hoping to find a high quality colt that they could breed Erlend daughters to.

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by Lori Albrough

How do you build a strong foundation for your position so that you aren’t moved one little bit if your horse spooks or stumbles or even TRIES to pull you out of the tack? Where do you start with strengthening your body so that you can be that unshakeable in the saddle while offering your horse a soft, steady, sympathetic connection with your hands, without gripping, pulling, or tightening up?

The answer lies in core strengthening! But it’s not just about getting six pack abs like Brad Pitt flaunted in Fight Club. For a rider, or any athlete in a functional sport, training the core involves working ALL the muscles around the torso. Weak lower back muscles are often paired with weak abs, so this back extension exercise is a great place to start your core conditioning.

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by Lori Albrough

Do you ever wonder if you are getting in your own way? You know, wonder if you’re actually making things harder than they need to be?

Could you unconsciously be pushing your own success away, by expecting things to be hard (so they are)? Or maybe by needing to be in control of every little detail every step of the way before you allow things to happen (so they never do)?

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by Lori Albrough

No matter what discipline you ride in or what level you ride at, your horse needs to go forward willingly from light leg aids. If you need to use strong leg aids to get your horse to go, or to keep him going, eventually you are going to be working harder than he is! When that happens, riding becomes more like work, and less like fun.

We call this phenomenon, when the horse does not respond immediately to a light driving aid, “behind the leg”. When your horse is behind the leg, you don’t have true influence over him, because he is deciding for himself whether or not he is going to respond, when, and how much.

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