Lagoballo

09/10/2026

🐴 More Isn’t Always Better

A productive training session is not measured by how many exercises you complete or how long you keep going. It begins by noticing the horse in front of you—their mindset, movement and what they genuinely need from you that day.

Choosing a maximum of three purposeful exercises creates space for clarity, softness and real learning. Whether you are building foundations with a youngster or refining movement with a schoolmaster, quality will always matter more than quantity.

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09/10/2026

FYI everyone, Facebook have intriduced a new farcial money grabbing scheme... pages can now only put 2 website links up per month. Otehrwise you have to pay $20 minimum to post more. This means my own, free blog content can no longer be shared as spending $20/month to share more when I don't get money out of sharing my blogs back is not sustainable.

Apologies, so now if you to read my blogs you will need to go directly to (remove spaces):

lagoballo . net / blogs

And click/search on them there.

Such a shame as I really want to care and share what I learn with the broader horse community.

I may play around with sharing the link in the first comment instead?

06/10/2026

🐴 Look Beyond the Potential
Buying a young horse can make it easy to fall in love with who they might become—but first, we need to understand the horse standing in front of us. Their early handling, emotional responses and existing gaps all offer valuable clues about whether the partnership is genuinely suitable.

My bare-minimum first-viewing checklist explores what I would observe before progressing to an independent veterinary examination. It isn’t about finding a youngster who never reacts; it’s about noticing how they process, recover and reconnect—and whether their needs match your skills, support and intended future.

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What I would observe before deciding whether a young horse is a suitable prospect—and worth progressing to an independent veterinary pre-purchase examination.Buying a horse is deeply personal. Buying one under two years old can feel even more so, because you are assessing the horse in front of you...

02/10/2026

🫧 Shedding Season Just Got Easier

When winter coats start flying, bath day can feel like a battle against endless hair, stubborn dirt and rapidly disappearing shampoo.

Discover how a shampoo foamer can provide more even coverage, reduce product waste and make cleaning your hairy pony considerably easier.

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Shedding season has arrived.The days are getting warmer, winter coats are loosening, and every grooming session ends with horse hair in your eyes, on your clothes and somehow inside your bra.While nothing replaces a good curry comb and plenty of elbow grease, this is also the perfect time to give ou...

29/09/2026

Submitting a video for our online equestrian competition?

Once you purchase your tickets/spot/entry: You will receive this info in an e-mail titled "Online Competition 101"

To help here's a blog on it...

Filmed your test? Uploaded your video? Here is how to send your online competition entry to Lagoballo for judging.One of the lovely things about an online competition is being able to ride your test in a familiar environment, with your own horse and without the float trip, parking puzzle or traditio...

26/09/2026

✨ Three Years of Quiet Work Led to This Moment

Thor’s first ride wasn’t created during six magical clinic days. It was built through years of patient preparation, thoughtful questions and hundreds of ordinary moments where I chose not to rush. At Skylark a fantastic Mark Langley Horsemanship intensive clinic, those foundations held as he travelled without Maestro, explored at liberty and carried me for the first time.

He didn’t need to be held together or prevented from responding. He noticed, processed and kept returning to the conversation. Thor reminded me that I didn’t need to prove anything. The confident, curious horse beneath me was already all the proof I needed.

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My young horse’s first rides during a six-day Mark Langley Horsemanship intensive at Skylark, Victoria.Thor turned three on 9 September.Some horses might celebrate with carrots, a birthday photo and perhaps an undignified party hat.Thor celebrated with some “pre-flight checks,” a saddle, and m...

12/09/2026

⏸️ What If Overwhelm Isn’t a Time-Management Problem?
AI and technology help us finish work faster, but they also fill every space that once allowed us to reset. One task ends and five new possibilities appear. We’ve become experts at activation and productivity, yet increasingly unfamiliar with recovery.

Horses teach us that resilience isn’t built through constant pressure. It develops through activation, release and return to calm. In a world obsessed with doing more, perhaps the people who thrive won’t be those who move fastest, but those who still know when to pause.

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Why We Are More Productive Than Ever, Yet More Overwhelmed Than EverThere has never been a time in human history when we have had more tools designed to make life easier.We carry supercomputers in our pockets. We can communicate instantly with anyone in the world. Artificial intelligence can now dra...

06/09/2026

👀 Your Horse’s Dinner Is Telling You More Than You Think
Feeding time isn’t only about what goes into the bucket. The height and position of your horse’s feed can reveal how comfortably they lower their head, load each limb, maintain balance and chew.

Ground feeding has important natural benefits, but it isn’t automatically right for every horse. Age, arthritis, injury and individual biomechanics all matter. Watch where your horse chooses to stand, how they shift their weight and whether they tilt or chew unevenly. Every meal leaves clues about what their body may need.

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When it comes to feeding horses, most discussions focus on what we're feeding. But perhaps we should spend more time thinking about how and where we're feeding.Traditionally, horses evolved to graze with their heads down for much of the day. More recently, many horse owners have embraced the idea th...

06/09/2026

🫶 What If It Isn’t a Training Problem?
Reluctance, tension, drifting, shortened strides or difficulty moving forward can be labelled as stubbornness or poor behaviour. But sometimes, your horse is protecting a sore foot, restricted muscle or body that has learnt to brace against discomfort.

Before asking for more performance, look beneath the behaviour. Check the feet, assess the body and listen to the subtle signs before they become louder. Training matters, but true softness, balance and willingness can only develop when your horse feels comfortable enough to let go.

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As horse owners, we naturally want the best for our horses. We invest in lessons, clinics, training programs and equipment, all in pursuit of helping them reach their potential.But what if the very thing holding your horse back isn't a training issue at all?What if it's discomfort?Before we ask our....

04/09/2026

🌼 When Did Time With Your Horse Become Another Task?
Training plans, performance goals and the next milestone can quietly turn something we love into another item on the to-do list. Sometimes, we need to put away the saddle, forget the stopwatch and remember the kid who simply wanted to spend every possible moment with a horse.

Scratch them, groom away the winter coat, wander, play or sit together in the spring sunshine. With no pressure and no agenda, both souls get a chance to reset, and the partnership may deepen through doing almost nothing at all.

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