Wild Springs Farm

10/15/2026

We love our Dads💙.

10/14/2026

https://www.instagram.com/p/DeYKOTZlhrb/?img_index=2&psln=MWM1dGlvMTI5b2RudQ==

10/11/2026

Put in the effort EVERY ride! Be consistent! If you aren’t asking correctly, you cannot get the right response. Your horse gets frustrated and confused… creating problems that never existed.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DeUyQBZgZ31/?img_index=4&vrfl=MW92ZmQ3bGI1eXA2ag==

10/11/2026

Our horses are not machines. Sometimes we have to consider their perspective. Put yourself in their “hooves”.

This is a welfare conversation.
That’s why it’s happening on my page.

Im seeing this come up again in other channels that are not handling it with any kindness or empathy and that’s not a welfare discussion, sometimes that’s just bullying. So we are going to have the conversation here.

This isn’t about male vs female. This isn’t about shaming bodies.

This is about load.

There is a welfare limit when it comes to what a horse can comfortably and safely carry, and pretending that limit doesn’t exist doesn’t help anyone, especially not the horse.

If I could bold this line I would:

Horses don’t owe us riding.

And I think that’s where a lot of this gets blurred.

A number that gets thrown around a lot is the “20% rule”. That a horse can carry 20% of their body weight.

But what often gets left out is that this guideline is based on a fit, conditioned horse, with appropriate muscling, soundness, and management.

Not a deconditioned horse.
Not a young horse.
Not a horse coming back into work.
Not a horse with any limitations.

And it also includes EVERYTHING.
Rider, saddle, tack.

So even that number isn’t a “free pass”. It’s a BEST case scenario.

I say this as someone who was almost 100 lbs heavier and chose to stop riding at my heaviest.

This isn’t coming from judgment. It’s coming from experience and from having to look at things honestly.

There’s also this belief that if someone wants to ride, they should be able to. But horses aren’t equipment. They’re living beings with physical limits.

And those limits don’t change based on how much we want something.

I understand that horses can be incredibly important for people, including for therapeutic reasons.

But that does NOT have to involve riding.

Connection, groundwork, relationship building, time spent with them. Those things can be just as therapeutic as riding, bring around horses in itself is therapeutic.

This needs to be a conversation about welfare as a whole, not a targeted one about individuals.

Not an excuse to shame people.
Not something to turn into bullying.

But also not something we get to ignore because it’s uncomfortable.

10/06/2026

09/28/2026

If you aren’t going to do the work, don’t expect to see results. Strength and suppleness are brought to the table, not created there!

I feel like I have had this conversation until I am blue in the face: riders should exercise outside of the tack, Laura Crump Anderson writes. With top athletes like McClain Ward and Boyd Martin exercising regularly outside of the tack, it’s clear that fitness will improve your riding. Exercise outside of riding isn’t just for the elite; rider fitness has a huge impact on every rider’s success in the saddle.

While unmounted exercise is important, time spent in the tack is the best way to improve your riding. The sport-specific skill you develop in your seat/core, legs, arms, and hands cannot be recreated by any exercise program. Correct timing and knowing when to reward and when to push is not going to come from box jumps. As a lifelong equestrian, my timing and feel is not something I have developed in the gym.

Exercising outside of the tack can reduce your chance of injury. Strengthening muscles that are not worked during riding creates a healthier, more stable body. Working out can improve your ability to tell where you are in space, improve your body composition, improve your mobility, and even help fight depression and anxiety. Exercise can also improve your sleep, which is an essential part of rest and recovery.

I am a lifelong equestrian. I started riding ba****ck on the trails on my Shetland Miniature cross. I got into a hunter jumper barn when I was eight and have competed locally and well as at a few rated shows like Upperville. I found the sport of eventing when I was 12 years old and have been hooked ever since. That has not stopped me from working in grand prix dressage and showjumping barns as well. I believe that in this sport, you can always be learning.

📎 Continue reading this article at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2024/08/16/why-riders-need-to-exercise/
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