JumpStart Training

04/05/2026

Such a valid point 🫶

Remember your coach or instructor is your biggest fan but these points below are things I believe everyone should know:

1. This sport is tough.
There’s no shortcut around the hard parts, every skilled rider has gone through them. Progress comes in waves: you improve, plateau, and then improve again. Your instructor can guide you, but they can’t make it easy, it wouldn’t be fun if it was easy!

2. You won’t always have a great ride.
Every situation has something to teach you, if you’re open to it. The more willing you are to learn, the more each ride will benefit you. If you let it.

3. Being teachable is essential.
Success in riding (and anything, really) depends on the willingness to learn. That often means revisiting the basics over and over. If basics feel boring, try seeing them as opportunities to refine and grow.

4. This sport requires commitment.
Really, read that again. Riding isn’t occasional; it’s consistent effort. Your partner is a big animal that communicates differently than you do. Progress comes from making riding a priority and showing up to practice, through bad weather, early morni by an and late nights.

5. Every ride matters.
Even the easy ones. Even the frustrating ones. Every single ride is a chance to learn. Remember when you were just excited to sit on a horse? Hold onto that feeling. If you focus only on what you’re not doing, you lose the joy, for yourself, your horse, and your instructor.

6. It should still be enjoyable.
Riding is work, and work isn’t always fun but it shouldn’t feel like a constant chore. If you dread lessons or would rather be elsewhere, it might be time for a break. Horses can sense your mindset, and showing up disengaged sets everyone up for a tough ride.

7. Learning happens on the ground, too.
In fact, some of the most important lessons do. Grooming, handling, and understanding horses from the ground are essential skills. Skipping these means missing a huge part of your horse’s trust.

8. Ask questions and communicate.
If you don’t understand why you’re doing something, ask. A good instructor will explain and a good student will listen and apply what they hear.

9. Remember we’re human, too.
Instructors juggle many responsibilities, from managing horses to making important daily decisions. A little patience and respect go a long way. Most importantly too remember we have our own struggles too, life affects everyone.

Riding instructors and coaches dedicate so much of their time, energy, and money to improving their craft and investigating themselves in your progression.

They love what they do but they also know: becoming a good rider is a journey, and it’s not an easy one.

03/31/2026

It was a nice morning 🌤️ to enjoy an around-the-property hack and visit the rest of the horses. Chip 🐴 is the friendliest boy to everyone. He looked a second too long at 👑 Stella 🤣

03/27/2026

Trident says Happy Opening Day!! Baseball is back!! The Seattle Mariners didn’t quite get the outcome we wanted of a 162-0 season but there are 161 more games 🫣👀
🔱

03/14/2026

Winter has decided to come upon us. Some were beginning to wonder if we really were going to have any real traces. The horses mostly were quite just happy to play in the snow and have an easy work day ❄️🎉

02/19/2026

The concepts discussed here resonate with the training principles my students and I have been delving into lately. We’ve been working on some of the same exercises so my program is very much in line with this training approach, but the article accentuates each individual step or cue-

Australian dressage trainer Brett Parbery explains how dressage principles can be used for each phase of eventing at Windurra Camp.

02/12/2026

I’m proud of all my adults that show up for their lessons and horses.

When “Someone Will Handle It” At The Barn Became… Us.

12/26/2025

12/13/2025

Last Sunday, we were lucky to have CH Dressage come teach a group of us at Ravenswood Farm. Winter riding can be some of the best time for thoughtful learning. We’re so grateful we had such a great day with lots of things to think about before the torrential rains hit everyone. We can’t wait until it calms down and we can think more about riding and clinics again. Hope everyone is staying safe out there!

12/02/2025

💯 This!
I’m always telling my students whether specifically dressage or not they are going to be always working on their flatwork fundamentals and I encourage all my students to try different experiences and cross train into different disciplines as much as is safe and comfortable for both horse and rider to keep things interesting and varied.

On Sunday, I was mostly just thinking about keeping my livery rent horse straight on the Hunt and he was fabulous but it was just simple dressage basics that got us *talking* together to have a good time.
Yesterday, I schooled my client’s dressage horse over a cavaletti exercise to work on his rhythm, balance, and cadence in his trot and canter. He’s an OTTB and can get pretty anxious but I could tell he was having some fun with the obstacles and really being thoughtful; such a good boy!