08/09/2026
You may have already seen some posts that feature Nora, our 6-year-old mare we initially bought as a ‘project’ but who has come on leaps and bounds. When we first started working with her, she was showing a lot of undesirable behaviours; rearing, bucking, and refusing to move forward, all of which pointed to an unhappy horse. With consistent and considered training, we now see a much happier horse.
Conformationally, Nora is slightly on the forehand, which was made worse because she was never taught horizontal balance. As a result, she would tense up, rush, and fall inward through the turns and on a circle. This lack of self-balance and stability meant she never felt comfortable or confident in her own body, which led to a lot of the behaviours we mentioned.
📽 This video of Karin cantering her on the left rein shows how she’s learning to balance herself and feel confident in her own body.
Initially, Karin sits the canter before moving to light seat, which allows Nora to use her back more easily. Karin remains very quiet so that Nora can really balance herself, and when Karin feels like she’s using her back properly, she asks Nora to shift some of her weight back to the hindquarters.
This is quite hard for Nora, so you can see she almost transitions back to trot, so Karin gently encourages her to keep on trying. Once Karin feels she’s balanced, she again asks Nora to move some weight back into the hindquarters. You’ll see that by doing this, Nora slows down the tempo, which enables her to lift her body and stay completely in balance with no assistance from Karin’s hand. Karin then releases her, lengthens her reins, and transitions back down to trot using just her seat and intention.
Nora’s able to make the downward transition while still lengthening and stretching her neck, but she doesn’t lose her balance, doesn’t speed up or rush into the transition, and stays relaxed and comfortable.
What does this tell us? Everything starts with balance. A horse can move with impulsion only if he has horizontal and vertical balance. Impulsion comes from the hind end, which generates energy. Without balance, that energy goes to waste.
It also reminds us that, training-wise, lack of balance can be the root cause of tension in the horse’s body. A horse struggling to find balance and, as a result, control its body, will, sooner or later, panic.
This is why balance is at the heart of everything we do. ❤
➡ Make sure you’re following this page for more updates on Nora’s training, training info, and details of our upcoming clinics. 📽