Train Your Own Horse with Stacy Westfall

Episode 64: The Complete Guide to Improving Steering and Teaching Neck Reining is here! My newest teaching course releases today and I'm really excited about the content. It's my best teaching yet. I explain the stages of training that horses go through and the techniques and patterns that I use.  To save you time, I've edited the information into short videos, printable PDF's and even audios, sim...

Episode 63: In this episode, I make a confession about how much (or not much) I have been working my horses, I discuss self-awareness and I answer 12 horse training/career questions for a young lady who wrote in.  Horse Training Interview Questions What inspired you to be involved in this career? Describe one of the challenges in your career? What is the most rewarding part of your job? Why did yo...

Episode 62: This week's podcast continues explaining the levels of training that horses go through. I describe the middle part of horse training as boring… Picture a bell curve. The beginning of the curve is the beginning of the horse's training. I call it elementary school and quite a few exciting things happen there; haltering, saddling, bridling & riding. Then we get to the middle of the bell c...

Episode 61: I explain the stages of horse training as I see them. I use the levels of elementary school, high school and college as levels of horse training. I explain what I'm looking for in those stages…and the idea that just riding a horse for more hours does not necessarily mean they keep moving up through the levels. In this episode, I go into detail with Presto who is in elementary school. I...

Episode 60: Stacy shares what is going on in her barn with her horses. She shares how she is using the techniques and ideas that she has been teaching in the podcast...in her own barn. Stacy starts by answering a listener's question about motivation: "Hi, Stacy. My name is Andrea. And my question is, how do you just get motivated? To get out there with your horse when you feel like you're all alon...

Episode 59: Stacy and Ginny discuss the power of using curiosity to overcome challenges. Stacy tells about here experience with a 'bad' riding lesson.  Ginny discusses getting bucked off a horse she trusted and having to decide if she should sell the horse.  Stacy & Ginny discuss the power of the rider's mind to make different choices and how that can impact our riding, relationship and enjoyment...

Episode 58: Welcome to the Christmas edition of the podcast, because this episode releases on Christmas Day this year, I thought I would share one of my favorite Christmas memories with you. Or maybe it's a lesson you get to decide. What you're hearing in the background is a clue to my favorite memory. Are you ready? My favorite memory is actually feeding the horses on Christmas Day. It's probably...

Episode 57: Stacy explains that she has been pondering the answer she gave to a listener last week and she has more to add this week. She discusses the role of faith in horse training as well as mistakes she sees people make when they use the word 'faith' as applied to their horse. Stacy also discusses how 'good-natured' horses can still hurt people and why this happens.

Episode 56: I answer listener questions and receive some feedback from Ron.  I answered a question for Ron in a previous episode and he calls in to let me know that he has tried the methods and they are working well.  Question 1: Hi, my name is Virginia. I'm calling from Westchester County, New York. Thank you so much for your podcast and learning so much. I recently rescued a gelding they think i...

Episode 55: I'm answering a listener question about martingales, training forks, draw reins and the like. Let's listen to the question. Some people would consider these things to be training aids and other people would consider them to be gimmicks. Let's have a conversation and see if we can come up with a few different ways to view them. And then at the end of the podcast, you get to decide what...

Episode 54: I'm discussing several items saddle pads, cinches or girths, billets and breast collars. I'll explain what I use and why as well as recommendations. If you want to see everything I'm using, watch any of the most recent videos I've been putting out on YouTube. You'll find those videos as well as photos on StacyWestfall.com. I also started something called Stacy's Stuff, which is a serie...

In today's podcast, the focus is on saddles. I'm going to open with my thoughts on saddles and then answer three listener questions. And finally, I'm going to talk with somebody who has over 500 saddles on hand. There are several things that make saddle fit a challenge, and I think the number one is that we're trying to satisfy the needs of two individuals, the horse and the rider. I'd like to sta...

Today's podcast I'm focused on the bridle, which includes the head stall, bit chinstrap and reins. First, I'm gonna give you five things to consider. Then I'm going to answer a listener question that was e-mailed in to me. And finally, I'm going to take you on a virtual walk through a tack store with a friend of mine where we will discuss all the options you will have when you walk into a tack sto...

In this season, I'm going to explain some of the choices in tack and equipment available. I'll also share what I'm using and why. Today's focus is some of the items used when leading the horse. Things like halters, lead ropes, and lunge lines. I'm also going to introduce you to a friend of mine who owns a tack store. I'm also going to close out the episode with a sad story. I'll also give you the...

I am live today with Ginny Telego recording from the Loko Bean in Loudonville, Ohio. Today is a milestone, because this is episode 50, so I thought I'd do something different and share our special conversation with you. We are both very busy, so we kick off the show talking about something everyone struggles with. Work life balance. In fact, I don't even see balance as something that's possible. L...

I tackle four different listener questions today. If you would like to ask a question or have a topic you would like me to expand on please hit the orange tab on the side and leave a voicemail. You just might end up in one of my future podcasts. Fun facts about today's listener questions include two come from France, two of the listeners have the same name, and one is 12 years old. The first thing...

One of the things I do on this podcast is answer listener questions. If you have a question you would like to ask or have a topic you would like to hear more about, go to my website and click on the orange tab to the right to leave a voice message. My first question is from a listener who wants to know if there are different techniques that the professionals in the western world use when showing t...

I know your horse is smart. Do you know that your horse is smart? I hope you do, because today I'm sharing something that will be incredibly useful to you if you think your horse is smart. If you're not sure if your horse is smart, you can always go back and listen to episode 22 where I explain my views of going beyond prey versus predator. In this episode, I'll explain how to lock and unlock cert...

I received a listener question about how to bring up a horse's energy level. If you have a question you would like answered hit the tab on the right side and leave a voice message. This listener has a thoroughbred who is very obedient but lacks exuberance. She wants to up the energy but doesn't want to punish the horse. I'm going to answer this question by sharing five tips that will bring up the...

It's important to be able to stop safely when riding. Having your horse understand different cues for stop can make riding more safe and make the rider more confident. In this episode, I explain the three cues I use for stopping my horse and the magic that it creates when the horse understands all three. The first point that I make applies to many other things that you will do with your horse. I h...

One of the number one issues that I get questions about is improving a lope or canter and doing it safely. I use the four square model of the horse's mind, the horse's body, rider's mind, and rider's body to illustrate some safety precautions for improving your lope and canter. To explain the issues people have and a common remedy, I kick the show off with a call from one of my past clinic partici...

Have you ever been trail riding and realized that your right leg was passing very close to a tree? Have you pulled the reins to the left, and the horses neck went to the left but your leg still hit the tree? This is because horses don't always follow their necks. They follow their shoulders.  Most of us have learned that if we want the horse to go to the right, we pull on the right rein and if we...

Hot horses are those high energy horses who want to run fast and don't always do what you want. In this episode, I go back to my teeter totter example to explain the spectrum of hot horses. Picture a +10 on one side and a -10 on the other. A hot horse will run the spectrum on the plus side. I also talk about the difference between a hot horse with high energy and a horse that could be nervous or c...

When we become very familiar with a term, it can sometimes lose meaning. When I talk about a horse having a lack of forward motion or needing more forward motion what I'm actually talking about is the horses first response without resistance. Symptoms of not having forward motion would be a sluggish walk and a sluggish upward transition from walk to trot or from trot to lope. It can also manifest...

There are times when you may need to make an emergency stop with your horse. One way to do this is to disengage the horse's hips. This is something that I do not do in my training, and today, I'm going to tell you why. First, I'm going to explain exactly what I mean by disengaging the horse's hip. I'm also going to discuss the difference when riding and doing groundwork.  When learning about horse...