Why Do You Change Bits?
Written by Martin Black Why do we change from one bit to another on our horses? This can tell us something about our horsemanship and ourselves. Sounds like one of those dreaded self-evaluations? — “It’s …
Martin Black
Memories of Ray Hunt
Martin Black In the early 70s, I would go to Nevada and help Bill Van Norman start the ranches’ colts in the winter. He had recently married Ray’s oldest daughter, Geri, and having had the …
Backing Up a Hill
Written by Martin Black This article originally appeared in Eclectic Horseman Issue No.46 If your horse doesn’t back up very well, you might find this exercise helpful. If you think your horse backs up well, try …
Desensitizing – How much is enough?
Written by Martin Black This article originally appeared in Eclectic Horseman Issue No.45 There is a lot of hype about “desensitizing” among horse people and some clinicians these days. They get the horse completely desensitized, …
Flight or Fight? Yield or Resist?
Written by Martin Black We have all heard it said that “A horse’s first means of defense is flight, and his second means of defense is to fight.” Then we hear: “It’s natural for a horse …
What is our Horse Telling Us?
Written by Martin Black This article originally appeared in Eclectic Horseman Issue No.43 Why do some horses have more trouble with their head position than others? This is commonly an issue with horse people, regardless of …
Speed Regulation
Written by Martin Black This article originally appeared in Eclectic Horseman Issue No.42 While visiting an 84-year-old buckaroo friend of mine recently, he made the comment that “A man is as close to heaven as …
Where are those feet going?
Written by Martin Black This article originally appeared in Eclectic Horseman Issue No.41 If we don’t have jobs for our horse we need to create some. A horse seems to do better in his learning if …
What Makes Horses Unresponsive
Written by Martin Black This article originally appeared in Eclectic Horseman Issue No.40 The answer: Boiled frogs. Our horses are extremely sensitive animals. They can also be very trainable. That is what makes them such …
Problem Solving
Written by Martin Black This article originally appeared in Eclectic Horseman Issue No.39 There are various ways to deal with the problems which we encounter with our horses. Many times, people turn to instructional videos …
