Improve Your Horsemanship

Challenge yourself! Have fun and test your knowledge of horse training with Horse&Rider’s Trivia Challenge, featured in The Ride newsletter.

Learn nine key ways to improve your horsemanship by avoiding the blunders that sabotage training and make your horse unhappy.

Horseback riding takes practice, and no one said it’s easy. But these four deceptively simple strategies will speed your progress and enable you to become the best rider you can be.

Focused riding exercises and drills are a great way to improve your horsemanship skills and increase your horse’s responsiveness to cues.

Learn to ride with impulsion and confidence as you encourage your horse to drive from behind at the lope.

Reward-based training—or positive reinforcement--can activate your horse’s intelligence in a way that makes him want to learn.

Fear short-circuits a horse’s ability to learn. Choose training techniques that arouse your horse’s curiosity and willingness, not his fear.

A hot, nervous horse just gets more excited if you try to rein him in; instead, use slow, quiet, thoughtful horsemanship to calm him down.

Work on your equitation every time you’re on your horse by using these proven ride-better tips and strategies.

A world champion shares her core horse-training secrets. An H&R exclusive adapted from Sandy Collier’s book, Reining Essentials: How to Excel in Western’s Hottest Sport.