Somatic Rider

10/23/2026

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I have been riding long enough now to be embarrassed by something I once believed, which is that there is a place beyond the basics, a country one enters after years of faithful work, where the rules are different and my horse has become something other than what he was in the first month. I thought this because I was told it, and because the movements at the top of the sport do look like a different language, the piaffe, passage and the pirouettes and the long, floating half passes, all of it seemingly far from the plain business of walking a young horse around an arena and asking him to go forward.

But I've watched incredible riders for a very long time, and I have come to think that what they are doing is not something new. It's the first thing, done with such attention that it has become nearly invisible. The horse goes forward because he was asked, once, long ago, to go forward, and the asking has been refined over thousands of repetitions until it has no more weight than a thought. The straightness that makes the changes possible is the same straightness a green horse was first taught to find against the wall. Nothing has been left behind. It's only been deepened.

I find this a consoling idea, though it took me some time to see why. If advanced work were truly a departure, then every year spent on the fundamentals would be a kind of waiting, a long vestibule before the real thing began. But if the basics are the real thing, then there was never any vestibule. Every ride was already inside the house. The first honest halt and the last were made of the same material, and the difference between them is only how much of the rider’s own interuptions have been taken out.

That is what the years actually accomplish, I think. They do not add so much as they subtract. The hands grow quieter. The seat becomes stiller. The aid that once took a whole leg becomes a breath or a thought. I have come to think a very advanced rider is simply someone who has learned to be honest about the basics at a depth most of us never trouble to reach, because the work is unglamorous and no one applauds a good transition from walk to halt.

And yet our horses know. They know the difference between a halt that was merely arrived at and a halt that was prepared, though no spectator could tell them apart. This is one of the quiet mercies of the sport, that the standard is held by someone who cannot be flattered or tricked.

So I no longer think of the upper levels as a summit to be reached. I think of them as the same ground, walked more carefully, by someone who has finally understood that there was never anywhere else to go.

We do not outgrow the first lesson. We are, if we are fortunate, eventually worthy of it.

10/21/2026

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10/12/2026

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10/11/2026

10/11/2026

74 yrs old and what a run!
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10/03/2026

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10/01/2026

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For years, people have made decisions about when horses should wear blankets. But one group of Norwegian researchers wondered something surprisingly simple: what if we actually gave the horses a way to tell us what they wanted?

So they trained 23 horses to use a board with three different symbols. One meant “put my blanket on,” another meant “take it off,” and a third meant “leave things as they are.” Using reward-based training and small pieces of carrot for just 10–15 minutes a day, every horse eventually learned what the symbols meant. On average, they reached the free-choice stage around the 11th day, and all 23 successfully learned the task within 14 days.

Then came the fascinating part. The researchers tested the horses under different weather conditions. When conditions were cold, wet and windy, the horses were much more likely to choose the symbol asking for a blanket. When the weather was pleasant, they generally preferred to remain without one. Their choices were clearly related to the weather rather than being random.

A later study using the same communication method found similar patterns. Horses showed a stronger preference for blankets at very low temperatures and during moderate temperatures combined with rain or strong wind, while very few wanted a blanket when temperatures rose above about 10°C.

The researchers weren’t proving that horses could speak human language. They were demonstrating something much more interesting: with the right training, horses could learn a simple system that allowed them to communicate a preference about their own comfort.

For the first time, instead of humans simply deciding for them, the horses were given a way to answer.

And they had an answer. 🐴

09/15/2026

Move with Ease - Horse Edition 🐴

What if your horse’s “easy” side is actually telling you something about their tension?

If you’ve been around horses long enough, you’ve probably heard a horse described as having an “easy” side and a “tight” side.

I like to think about this a little differently.

When a horse bends to one side, the muscles on the outside of the bend have to lengthen to allow that movement. So the direction that appears to be the “easy” bend may actually be showing us where the body has developed a strong preference or holding pattern.

One of the principles of Somatics is “do more of what the body wants to do.”

Rather than working the body in the direction that is difficult, we can first work with the movement that is already comfortable. We intentionally create more of that movement, sometimes going a little further into it, to help the nervous system become more aware of the holding pattern.

With a horse, this might mean making a smaller circle or introducing lateral work.

The horse I am currently working with has a very noticeable preference to bend to the right. Right is clearly his easier direction.

I have been working with him in-hand on circles (as well as lunging and long-lining) and have introduced lateral work, including shoulder-in and haunches-in.

He caught on to the haunches-in very quickly to the right. But when we changed direction, he struggled to maintain even two steps in sequence, preferring to bend his body to the right (toward the rail) to bring the hip left (to the inside of the track).

At each session, I have been starting on his right side, moving into the bend that he naturally prefers, before changing to the other side and seeing what has changed.

And it is changing.

He is now beginning to figure out the left side and can maintain several steps in a row in true bend. That's a big improvement. His right side is lengthening.

After our last session working with these movements, I also did some energy work around his hip area. While we were in the barn, I held various areas around the hip. He did a lot of licking and chewing and would turn his head toward me before lowering it down.

Then, when I turned him out, he stood quietly and yawned several times.

Those little moments are so rewarding to see. He is feeling a release.

For me, this is where Somatics, groundwork and Energy work come together.

They each support the body in a different way, and together they can help the horse release tension and find more ease and balance.

The video shows moving into his right bend. Hard to see from this angle, but his head stays in the direction of travel with his body bending more fully to the right. My body is drawing him toward me. Notice how quiet his tail is.

09/14/2026

Move with Ease Monday 🌿

Side Bend for Tension Relief

Did you know that an old injury can leave tension in your ribcage—even years after the injury has healed?

If you've ever had to walk with a limp because of an ankle or leg injury, or held your arm still while it healed, your body may have compensated to protect the injured area.

You may have hiked one hip, shifted your weight, or tightened muscles through your torso without even realizing it.

Over time, your brain can learn to hold these patterns of tension automatically. In Somatics, this is called Sensory Motor Amnesia—when we lose conscious awareness of how much tension we're holding.

The good news is that we can gently bring that awareness back.

Try this simple side bend:
1. Stand with your feet about hip-width apart and your arms relaxed by your sides.
2. Slowly slide one hand down the outside of your leg, going only as far as you comfortably can. Stop before you feel a stretch. Notice how far you reached, then slowly return to centre.
3. Repeat on the other side. Notice if one side feels easier or if you can reach farther.
4. Start with the easier side. Slowly bend toward that side, just until you begin to feel the muscles of your ribcage contract.
5. Slowly return to centre, allowing the muscles to release and the ribs to open.
6. Repeat three times, then do the same on the other side.

As you move, notice what you feel.

Does one side feel different from the other? If you start to feel a stretch, where is the stretch?

The side that feels easier to bend toward may be the side where your body is holding more tension, subtly pulling you in that direction.

By gently moving into that direction and contracting into the tightness, you bring conscious awareness to the area. Then, as you slowly release, the brain can begin to let go of some of that habitual tension and the muscles can start to lengthen.

When you switch sides, you may notice that the movement feels a little easier.

These patterns of contraction may have been with you for many years. With gentle, mindful repetition, you can begin to change those patterns and create a new habit of length and ease.

The goal is to bring your conscious awareness to the area of tension through feel. By tuning in to what is going on, you are better able to release and reset the body.

Somatics: notice the tension, gently contract into the tightness, and then slowly release it.

✨ Move slowly. Move gently. Let your brain rediscover what ease feels like.