Mindfully Mounted & Fit

08/07/2026

This is the mantra of MM&F!!!

Are you in need of this help? We all are?

If you are, contact me for your first session!!

08/05/2026

Read past the title before you comment.

Listen to the horse and they will tell you what they need.

08/04/2026

ANYONE who rides needs to pay particular attention to their own body balance and health.

Ask yourself honestly, do you have the capability to do good work and cause NO harm to the horse?

If a No, then do some work. You both deserve to feel the results.

Riding and in-hand work are athletic pursuits. That means you are an athlete.

Maybe you don’t aspire to compete at the Olympics. Maybe your dream is simply to enjoy trail riding, ride a beautiful Training Level test, or spend quiet afternoons with your horse. Whatever your goals, your sport still asks for balance, coordination, stabilization, stamina, mobility, and strength.

Athletes respect their bodies and minds because they know those are the tools they rely on. Yet horseback riding is one of the few sports where people regularly dismiss their own physical abilities as though they don’t matter.

“Oh, I just trail ride.”

“I’m not very balanced, but my horse puts up with me.”

I don’t believe you need to spend hours in the gym to become a good rider. And I certainly don’t believe that disabilities or physical limitations prevent someone from riding well.

But I do believe this:

You deserve to feel good on your horse.

You deserve to feel safe, stable, supple, mobile, and confident in the saddle. You deserve to enjoy moving with your horse instead of simply hanging on.

And you’re the only person who can give yourself that gift.

As an athlete, your job is to build the team that helps you thrive. Find a good coach. Work with a bodyworker or physical therapist if you need one. Cross-train in ways you genuinely enjoy—walking, yoga, strength training, Pilates, swimming, dancing, whatever helps you move well and feel capable. Care for your mind, too, through meditation or any practice that helps you become calmer, more focused, and more present.

None of this is just about becoming a better rider.

It’s about building a body and mind that let you enjoy your horse—and your life—with greater ease.

So stop brushing yourself aside with the word “just.”

You’re not just a trail rider.
You’re not just a hobby rider.
You’re not just anything.

You’re an athlete.

And your body and mind deserve the same care, respect, and attention as the horse you’re asking to carry you.

Photo by Jasmine Cope

08/03/2026

Contact is connection to the body not pulling the body to the rider

On the Bit... Or Lost in Translation?🔥

One of the most influential phrases in English-speaking horse world may also be one of its least helpful:

*"On the bit."*

Harry Boldt and Steffen Peters have both argued that this German-to-English translation is wrong. One of them suggested that something closer to “muscle the horse up” would better describe what is actually meant.

It sounds less elegant, admittedly. More gym membership than Grand Prix.😬

But it directs our attention towards the whole horse rather than the small piece of metal in its mouth.

German horse training language contains highly descriptive concepts that do not always translate neatly into English. When those ideas are reduced to phrases such as “on the bit,” “frame” or “outline,” much of the original meaning can be lost.

And where does the English phrase direct the rider’s attention?

To the bit.

Then the mouth.

Then the head and neck.

So we begin trying to create with our hands what should be developed through the horse’s ENTIRE body.

The head does not necessarily create the posture. It reflects it❗️

Functional posture develops when the horse understands the bit and aids, feels physically comfortable, and can coordinate its body so forces travel efficiently from the hindquarters through the trunk, back, thoracic sling and neck.

The contact is the communication we feel through the reins.✅

The connection is the whole-body organisation behind it.♻

When a rider tries to manufacture the appearance with the reins, the horse may brace, shorten its neck or adopt a false frame. When the horse is confused, threatened, sore or compensating for balance or weakness, it may also protect itself through tension. The resulting contact problem is often treated as a mouth or rein problem, even though its cause may lie elsewhere.

Perhaps the useful question is no longer:

*"Is the horse on the bit?"*

It is:

*"Does the horse understand the aids, feel comfortable, and have the physical organisation required to carry the rider well?"*

Not to mention - *"Am I being a balanced load for the horse to carry"*‼️

Sometimes the head is not the problem.

It is simply where the problem becomes visible.

Collectable Advice 263/365. Is this made sense to you, please hit SHARE or SAVE.❤

I've put together a stack of resources that unpack contact and connection without the mystery, mythology or magical thinking. I'll pop the links in the first comment.
Fair warning: once you understand what's actually happening, you'll never be able to unsee pictures like this again. ⬇️🫣

08/03/2026

Horses can be brutally honest.😎

Not in a "Dear Human, I think we should see other people" sort of way. They're generally less dramatic than that.

But if you're confusing, they'll tell you.

If you're inconsistent, they'll tell you.

If they find someone else easier to understand... they'll tell you that too.

The problem is that humans aren't particularly good at hearing this sort of feedback. We'd often rather invent a story than improve our skills. Suddenly it's the previous owner, the trainer or their past trauma (you're absolutely sure of it🤨).

Anything, really.

Anything except, "Perhaps I need to get better."

One of my clients recently said something that really made me think.

➡️ "It's hard to hear that the horse doesn't want to be with you or do things with you. You're trying so hard to build a relationship that you start wondering... if the horse happily connects with someone else, maybe the horse should be with someone else."

I told her I don't think that's the lesson.❤

A horse isn't judging your worth.

It's giving you feedback about your effectiveness.

They're very different things.

A few years back I visited my retired mare, Aureo. I turned up with carrots. She wandered over, enthusiastically demolished every last one of them, looked at me as if to say, "Well... unless you've got another kilo hidden somewhere, I believe this meeting has concluded," and promptly wandered back to her paddock mate, Mary.

Then I took this photo.

No sentimental reunion.

No lingering cuddle.

No Disney soundtrack.

Apparently my personality had all the lasting appeal of an empty carrot bag.

And honestly?

Good.

Aureo taught me more than almost any horse I've owned, and most of those lessons arrived wrapped in a healthy dose of humility.

Horses don't spend much time protecting our egos.

They simply tell us the truth.

The question is whether we use that truth to write a better story... or become a better horseperson.

Collectable Advice 265/365. If this resonated, hit the SHARE or SAVE button ❤

07/25/2026

There is nothing safer than a horse who can think and communicate.

When a horse learns how to learn—how to think, search, and relax as the basis of their education—almost anything becomes possible. A horse who is encouraged to participate in two-way communication doesn’t just memorize responses. They learn to ask questions, process new information, work through uncertainty, and seek guidance when they need it.

Because of that, unfamiliar situations don’t automatically become frightening. They have a strategy. They look to the handler instead of reacting from instinct or conditioning alone.

Compare that to a horse whose education is built primarily on movements, behaviors, and cues. They may become very proficient at performing what they’ve practiced, but their confidence exists only within the boundaries of what they already know. Outside of that familiar box—when the environment changes, the exercise changes, or the answer isn’t obvious—they often have nowhere to go mentally. Without the ability to think through the problem, uncertainty quickly becomes tension, resistance, or fear, or completely shutting down.

The goal of training shouldn’t simply be to install behaviors. It should be to develop a mind that is curious instead of defensive, thoughtful instead of reactive, and confident because it understands how to learn, not just what to do.

I don’t want to create horses that simply know the answer. I want horses that know how to find the answer.

That’s the difference between training behavior and educating the mind.

A horse educated in this way doesn’t lose their confidence when the question changes, because confidence was never built on familiarity—it was built on the habit of thinking.

07/13/2026

I fully agree with this.

It also makes riding so much easier!

Unpopular opinion incoming…between doing my own horses & working this weekend I was watching Aston International.

And if I’m completely honest what I was seeing from riders simply wasn’t good enough.

Everyone’s been getting advice on Facebook whilst it’s been 33 degrees whether they should be out competing or not.

Is it too much for my horse?

I don’t know if he’s fit enough.

Whilst it’s hotter. Harder ground. Galloping across the country, your horse is having to work harder.

And honestly?

The majority of riders I watched in the Novice couldn’t hold a 2-point seat at all, let alone for the full 5 mins & stay off their horses back.

Not every rider, but the vast majority couldn’t.

Before anyone comes at me, this is not an attack on eventing.

I love this sport. I’ve competed alot. Eventing is my blood.

I understand the work that goes into getting a horse fit to run cross country safely especially in this heat.

But when Equestrian sports are under huge scrutiny we, as riders, need to do better.

And that’s exactly why I think we need to talk MORE about rider fitness & physical capability too.

I spent a hugely inspiring day at Hartpury this week listening to research all about the female equestrian athlete & 1 point has really stayed in my head.

Horses work harder when we ride them.

(Obviously)

But actually think about that for a second.

We obsess over their fitness.

Their weight.
Their recovery.
Their soundness.
Their workload.

Yet, when the conversation turns to rider fitness, it’s treated as an optional extra or something to do “if you get time”.

Many riders joke about not “having enough steam” but it’s not a joke.

I’m not saying every rider needs to be a full time gym goer.

Or train like an elite Tennis player.

But I do think we need to be honest.

Because we can do better.

Alot better.

If you don’t have the strength to support your own body, your horse is certainly going to be picking up the slack & working harder.

Rider fitness isn’t just about better performance.

It’s a horse welfare conversation.

And it should be.

Maybe we’re not talking about it enough as watching 2 hours + of XC I think we can do better

07/13/2026

“Treat them the way you’d like them to be.”

When you do this, the good has a chance if coming forth. This works for all beings.

"Tom Dorrance once said, 'You can learn anything with these three words – observe, remember, and compare.' He said that beyond that, learn to adjust to fit the situation. That always meant so much to me. The last time I was around Tom, he said, 'Don’t treat them like they are. Treat them the way you’d like them to be.' At the time, I didn’t know whether he was talking about horses or people. Later, I realized that he was talking about both. I remind myself of that from time to time. Because sometimes, people might come into a clinic defensive, scared, upset, or emotional. The best part of the person isn’t gonna come out the first day. But if I do my part and help them along, I get an opportunity to see the best part of the person as time goes by." - Buck Brannaman

Many world-renowned horsemen and clinicians look to Tom Dorrance as the man who 'started it all.' The man whose philosophy on horses and horsemanship revolutionised the way we look at this wonderful animal.

06/29/2026

This is the most difficult idea to teach because it is physically hard and the mind must creatively think.

“Talking” to a horse, a deeper dive---

If I verbally say to the horse I am riding, “Turn right, “ the horse won’t turn right.

I have to give different kinds of signals, and those signals, often called “aids” have to be built into the horse’s understanding through systematic and carefully applied repetition.

It might be analogous to teaching a foreign language, but by using pressure and release instead of words. But I always need to spell CAT C-A-T. Not cat, then kat, then bat.

This means that I must have enough control within my own body that while being moved around by the bigger body of the horse I still have enough fine motor skills to apply certain rather exact pressures on the appropriate parts of the horse’s body with the correct degree of intensity for the correct amount of elapsed time.

SO—Before I can teach the horse this new language. I have to both know the language that I want to impart, PLUS I have to have the body skills to do it clearly and consistently.

I have to have a good seat which allows me to use my legs, my hands, my balance with finesse.

Hard? You bet.

If we could only say it instead of having to do it physically---

06/26/2026

I am not a fan of role halters. In my experience they do more harm or nothing than good.

All my horses lunge in a lunge cavesson to give the horse a shape and feel.

Expressed better here…

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DaAn5sMMAID/?igsh=YTkxZXh1YTB1emxz