Train Your Own Horse with Stacy Westfall

This week we are talking about muscle memory. I'm going to share my two different views on muscle memory and one way that you can fast-forward you're learning. Last week, I talked about muscle memory being different than your strength or fitness level. I think people get confused about these concepts because, in the beginning, they both come together. When you are learning to ride a horse, you dev...

Today, I'm talking about strength vs muscle memory as I continue season 2 which focuses on the rider's body. I will also be giving you my time saving tip for making time to work out. Have you noticed how it's easier for naturally athletic people to jump from sport to sport? I've noticed this, because I'm not a naturally athletic person. This means that I have had to put in a lot of riding hours. M...

In this season, I am focusing on the rider's body. In this episode, I'll be discussing four different aspects of danger including is horseback riding dangerous, how can we manage the risk, the main mistake I see rider's make, and exercises for improvement. Show Notes [02:01] We all know that horse riding can be dangerous. [02:33] Driving in cars is also dangerous, and it's something people do ever...

In this Q & A episode, I am going to cover evaluating a new horse, overcoming loss of confidence and desire, and how to overcome the limiting belief that horses hate being ridden. Show Notes [01:13] Question one is from Leann in Canada. She asks my perspective about acquiring a new horse and how to best assess which phase the horse is in and what needs to be done to bring the horse to a new level...

Today, I discuss why riders should make mistakes. I'm going to break it down into three different things. Why you should make mistakes. Which mistake you should really try to avoid. And how to measure the direction of your mistakes. During my clinics, I often tell riders that they should make mistakes in the right direction. This implies that it is okay to make mistakes, and there is some kind of...

Issues that affect the way a rider thinks has been the topic for this podcast season. This episode is about something that you should spend some time contemplating when you are at home sitting on the couch. If you do, it will change the way you ride. This topic is pressure. How do you react when you hear me say pressure? What flashes in your mind? What do you picture when I say pressure and horse?...

I get a lot of emails and comments from people who are afraid that they are giving their horse the wrong cues. They are afraid they will fail their horse by not keeping their commitment to riding. They are concerned about reading their horses body language wrong. They fear doing the wrong thing. They feel like they are letting their horse down. When I read these, I wonder where your failure line i...

It's the start of the year and time to talk about goal setting. I'm going to talk about SMART goals or goals that you have control of and accidental goals. These are goals that you can't control the outcome of but you can set yourself up for success with them. I explain what a SMART goal is and how it applies to horse training. I also share how a goal setting mindset shift resulted in how I look a...

It's important to understand that riders and horses don't follow the same path of learning. I talk about the straight line progression of a horse's learning process. I also talk about the best stage of the horse's progression for a new rider to begin learning on. I talk about how everything can't be learned at once, but how an experienced mentor can help speed up the process. I also talk about how...

There are four stages of competency when riding your horse. I first read about these on an article in Dressage Today. The first stage is unconscious incompetence. The second stage is conscious incompetence. The third stage is conscious competence. The fourth  stage is unconscious competence. I talk about what these stages mean to riders and the stage that people often get stuck in. I also talk abo...

Episode 4: In episode 3, I talked about the three stages that riders go through in their horsemanship journey. I also discussed a little bit about responsibility. In today's part 2, I'm diving a little deeper into how I think responsibility and accountability fit into the three stages. Show Notes [01:04] I send out a weekly email and get a lot of feedback. I received some helpful feedback when it...

Episode 3: The topic of responsibility is going to be a two-part series. In this first part, I'm going to talk about the stages that riders actually go through when they are learning with horses. The three stages riders go through are the dreaming stage, the learning stage, and the balanced stage. Learn how to understand which stage you are in and how to work towards balance.   Show Notes   [01:07...

Episode 2: Today's topic walks the line between the mental idea of leadership versus the physical execution of leadership. I'm tempted to talk about the physical side of this topic, but season one is about the mental side. I want to break everything down into the four-quadrant model, so we can get clarity before we put everything together and use it. In this episode, I'll be talking about how lead...

Episode 1: Welcome to season one of the Stacy Westfall podcast. I'm Stacy Westfall, and I'll be teaching you why horses do what they do and action steps for creating clear confident communication with your horses. In this first season, I'll be discussing issues that frequently affect the way that riders think. I use a tool called the four square model. The purpose of this model is to simplify comp...