http://www.triplecreekfarmpa.com/

Bob Wood Horses For Life, Clinics, Remote Pivo Lessons, Video Evaluations, York, PA (2026)

06/08/2026

The horse on the right is quite heavy on the forehand. Look at the hind reach at the canter in the left image and compare it to the hind reach in the screen shot on the right from a video. I know that the camera angles are different. Therefore, to better understand this, watch the entire brief video. *link below

The horse in the right screenshot pulls himself around with his front legs and shoulders while his hind end is pulled around behind like it's a little red wagon.

The horse's head is down like a "peanut roller", which is a western thing. Western judges reward that look just as judges reward other unbalanced movements and forms in other disciplines, English and western, today in our current era of artificial style preference over effectiveness.

This is one more example of how isolated today's horse show disciplines have created artificial movements that are totally disconnected from natural equine movements. This is based on what judges and the public think looks good. For me these things are expressions of human narcissism. They have nothing to do with the physical nature of equine movement. Instead, they are all about what people want.

Riders and horse owners who care about horses should work to develop an eye for what the horse does and how they move without excessive human influence. In this very clear example, a horse that is this heavy on the forehand can develop physical problems and be somewhat dangerous to ride outside an arena. Horses like this can easily trip and fall to their knees.

Thank you Jenny Ashwell Pendleton for the video.

*link to the video of the horse pictured at right -

www.facebook.com/reel/1349284197052242

06/04/2026

This is about evaluating fear stress and a horse's preparation for a fight by testing a horse's skin tightness.

The top left picture of a horse with their ears pinned back reveals that the horse is prepared for a fight. Horses do that with the rears to protect them from being bitten by another horse in a fight. Horses also tighten their skin to protect it from being bitten in a fight.

This is similar to my recent post about observing horses' nostrils to assess a horse's respiratory system. I was surprised at how many people had no idea of that skill. I wonder how many know this observation and assessment skill.

The top right and bottom left show different levels of skin tightness. The top right skin is tight and it's difficult to grab a lot of skin. By contrast the lower left picture shows a relaxed horse allowing someone to grab a handful of skin. Horses can tighten their skin to the point that no skin can be grabbed. Make a tight fist and try to pinch your skin on the back of the hand that is in a fist.

This is a useful skill when approaching a horse that is new to you. Go to the horse's shoulder where it is safest and see how much skin you can grab. If it is a lot, you are pretty safe with the horse. But if you cannot grab much skin or you cannot pinch any skin, you should be wary of the horse.

When I went to auctions looking for prospects, walking in and out of the pens that contained several horses was somewhat dangerous. I used this skin pinching technique to stay out of trouble among a group of unfamiliar horses I was inspecting.

The last picture on the lower right is also about pinching skin but for a totally different reason. The skin in this picture was pinched and released. It did not go back to being flat on the horse. This is called "tenting". When a horse's skin tents like this, they are dehydrated. Riders use this when riding out on a long trail ride or other hot weather demanding activity to keep your horse safe and healthy.

06/03/2026

If there is a way for a horse to get themself in trouble, they will find it. Seemingly harmless objects can be dangerous for horses. Horse owners must be prepared to intervene to save horses from themselves. I have seen cement blocks lying around barns. And these blocks are only one example of potential trouble that horses can turn into a dangerous situation.

(I posted his last Sunday afternoon, and no one saw it, so I am reposting it. Please share if you think it's important.)

In the picture we see a woman chipping away at a cement block with a claw hammer to free the horse from it. The video (link below) shows that she also used a crowbar to remove the hoof. Remarkably, the horse stands perfectly still while she smashes and pries the block to free the horse.

That is one very quiet horse, but many if not most horses would not be that patient. They'd be flailing around swinging that block as they potentially injured themself and the people around them trying to help.

For these situations, it is best to have a long handled rope twitch handy and the skill to use it correctly. I know that there will be emotional comments about how inhumane twitches can be. However, like with any tool, excessive use can become abuse, but what would be your alternative? Injecting a sedative? The risk there is breaking off a needle in the flailing horse. Plus, a sedative takes time to work, and the horse could do a lot of damage to itself in the meantime.

Believe me, it is not easy to apply a rope twitch on a flailing horse but having a well trained horse that responds to human leadership makes it easier. I'm not going to give step by step instructions on how to use a twitch here because every situation is different. Learning to use a twitch is physical, therefore I suggest people find a real horseman or woman and learn to use a twitch from them. The more experience that person has with challenging horses, the better.

A long handled rope twitch will keep you safer in a tough situation. The small metal pinchy twitches are useless in difficult situations, and the metal chain twitches are nasty and can slide off when wet easier than a dry rope twitch.

Not long ago there were a lot more people in the horse world who had the skills that allowed them as a horse owner to handle extremely demanding situations effectively. Not so today with the current "I've got someone for that" horse world where everything is farmed out to a specialist while horse owners do very little themselves to manage their horses.

The declining degree of horse owners' leadership skills with their pet horses makes tough situations more difficult. Most horse owners today are helpless when dangerous incidents happen. But horse ownership is more than paying the bills for specialists who fill in the gaps of an owner's horsemanship knowledge.

Get educated, get real. Be a fully responsible horse owner and learn more hands on skills.

*Link to video of horse trapped in a cement block -www.facebook.com/reel/968670846017432

06/02/2026

Together these three images define a serious problem in the horse world for riders who jump. On the left is John French. He is a US Hunter Jumper Hall of Fame inductee with a huge fan base. His jumping style is perhaps the most extreme crest release ever.

His groupies defend it as his "unique style" as if uniqueness of style is important when it is not. I doubt his horses enjoy carrying so much of his body weight on their necks over jumps.

On the right is the one and only George Morris, also a rider with a huge fan base, in spite of some ugly personal history. He is responsible for popularizing the crest release starting in the 1970s. This jumping position replaced the safer, more balanced automatic or direct release, thus putting riders in unsafe circumstance over jumps. As the crest release became more dangerous, Morris remained silent as he raked in the cash.

Lastly, in the center picture is a young rider using an extreme crest release with legs far behind the girth and laying on the horse's neck. They are dangerously unbalanced à la John French. This image defines today's problem. It began with Morris. Then big name competitors like French stylized it to the extreme, and the young imitator reaps the "benefits of the two famous riders who have made it OK to be in danger of a bad fall should the horse stumble or fall in the landing,

This is a serious and dangerous problem today, and not many riding instructors are trying to fix it.

06/02/2026

These pictures of equine nostrils provide accurate information on a horse's breathing and wind capacity in the moment. The left image reflects relaxed normal breathing. The center image is of dilated or flared nostrils that are opened more than usual in order to provide increased airflow to the lungs required by greater exertion.

The right image shows a horse fully dilated and showing pink inside the nostril. The pink reflects the intense blood flow to the respiratory system during very demanding work. It is not a good idea to keep a horse in such intense work for long periods when the nostrils are flared and pink as shown.

I have an interesting cultural observation regarding sharing nostril information with other riders about their horse. Years ago, when out riding in a group such as fox hunting it was considered a courtesy to tell a fellow rider if you saw their horse's nostrils fully dilated and pink. The usual response was, "Thank you". The last time I went hunting I shared that information with a rider who became offended and essentially told me to mind my own business. Times and people have changed.

I suggest that today if you feel your horse is breathing heavily, that you ask someone to look at your horse's nostrils and tell you what they see.

The way to avoid highly flared nostrils and flared nostrils showing pink is to build fitness in your horses. There is an old saying, "Trotting builds muscle and cantering builds wind". Canter more.

06/01/2026

The best way to improve your riding is to develop more feel. Feel is an awareness beyond the usual automatic awareness we live with. For example, we walk down a street. Do we feel each time one of your feet touches the ground? Probably not because we walk automatically. However, if you are a football running back who is handed the ball and has to get through an opening in the line, you would be very conscious of each time each one of your feet plants on the field as you push forward.

Most riders sit on a horse like they walk down the street, meaning automatically not feeling your horse's footfalls. Many riders are passengers and passengers don't improve very much as riders.

I have written often about feeling footfalls. An aware rider feels each of their horse's footfalls as if they were their own. These riders can feel if the diagonal footfalls of the trot and canter touch the ground at the same time, or not. They can feel the outside hind 1 beat of the canter from each side of the hind and thus know the lead that will result.

This post is different, less specific than footfalls. It's about feeling the energy of a horse's line of impulsion. The first image is at the walk. The line of impulsion in the walk reflects the energy of the movement in a balanced gait.

However, that line could be pointing a bit downward with a horse that pulls their way forward with their shoulders instead of pushing forward with the hind. Horse like this are called "heavy on the forehand", and there are many of them. I think a horse that is heavy on the forehand is dangerous, so it's the first thing I feel when I get on a new horse.

The second image is at the canter. The horse is pushing powerfully forward from their engaged hind causing the energy of the gait to elevate the line of impulsion. Most people can feel this upward line of energy in a proper trot to canter transition. A crisp trot-canter transition gives you a little enjoyable whiplash in your upper body. Feeling the precision and power of this line of impulsion will improve your riding.

The third picture is of a rollback. The horse has planted his hind feet for the stop, and he is beginning to turn 180 degrees into a roll back in the opposite direction. Turning on the haunches like this requires a lot of strength and power from the hind that gives a powerful push. It is unmistakable.

Lastly, we see a polo horse in a flat out gallop. The line of impulsion is level with the ground as it is with the horse's walk, but for different reasons. However, both are 4 beat gaits. Flat lines of impulsion like this feel "normal' in that the neutral movement's energy even with the ground is very familiar to us. While the speed of the gallop scares some people, it still is a very easy gait to ride.

I suggest starting to build your awareness of feel by focusing on the energy change in transitions, both up and down. Feeling the energy of the line of impulsion during changes is more obvious in transitions.

Feel that little snap in your neck in a canter depart in terms of the line of impulsion. Eventually you will feel it in your belly button area and then you can work to adjust your horse's line of impulsion. The great dressage rider and teacher Henry Wynmalen said, "Let the horse move you." Do that and feel your body being moved. This will increase your feel for your horse's energy and where it is going.

05/30/2026

If there is a way for a horse to get themself in trouble, they will find it. Horse owners must be ready to intervene. I have actually seen riding arenas where cement blocks were used to hold low jumping rails. I have seen blocks lying around barns. And these blocks are only one example of potential trouble that horses can turn into dangerous situations.

In the screenshot pictures you see a woman chipping away at the cement block with a claw hammer to free a horse from it. The video shows that she also used a crowbar link below. Remarkably, the horse stands perfectly still while the block is banged and pried with metal tools to free the horse.

That is a very good quiet horse, but many if not most would not be that patient. They'd be flailing around swinging that block as they potentially injured themself and the people trying to help.

For these situations, it is best to have a long handled rope twitch handy and the skill and experience to use it correctly. I know that there will be comments about how inhumane twitches can be. Like with any tool, excessive use can become abuse, but what would be your alternative? Injecting a sedative? The risk there is breaking off a needle in the flailing horse. Plus, a sedative can take a long time to work, and the horse could do a lot of damage to itself in the meantime.

Believe me it is not easy to apply a rope twitch on a flailing horse but having a trained horse that responds to strong human leadership can make it easier. I'm not going to give step by step instructions for doing this here because every situation is different and learning to use a twitch is physical. I suggest you find a real horseman or woman and learn from them. The more experience that person has with challenging horses, the better.

What I will say is learn how to use a rope twitch. A long handle will keep you safer in a tough situation. The small metal pinchy twitches are useless in really difficult situations, and a metal chain twitch is nasty and can slide off when wet easier than a dry rope twitch.

Not long ago there were a lot more people in the horse world who had a wide range of skills that allowed them as a horse owner to handle extremely demanding situations effectively. I worry today about the current "I've got someone for that" horse world culture where everything is farmed out to a specialist and the horse owners do very little themselves.

The declining degree of horse owner leadership with pet horses, that makes tough situations easier, has sunk to where most horse owners today are helpless when dangerous things happen. Horse ownership is more than paying the bills for specialists who fill in the gaps of a horse owner's authentic horsemanship.

Get educated, get real. Be a responsible horse owner.

*Link to video of horse trapped in a cement block -www.facebook.com/reel/968670846017432

05/29/2026

A round pen is a very useful and versatile tool. They are great to start kids riding because they can't get going too fast and there are no corners for a horse or pony to get caught in. I like starting horses in a round pen because the space is big enough to provide a flight experience for the horse and small enough to work with fight and flight. They are useful to get stiff horses loosened up and bending at the trot and canter.

Here is information on how to make a useful, affordable and moveable 60 foot round pen. This design has worked for me and kept me safe after being banged or tossed into metal pipe section round pens.

The circumference of a 60 foot diameter round open is 188 feet. If you allow 6 feet for a 4 foot gate and 2 wooden gate posts, the resulting length of the mesh fence is 182 feet. This will require 18 T posts that will result in 10 foot +/- fence sections between the fence posts.

The construction process is simple. Find a relatively flat area (a slight slope keeps a round pen from turning into a mud hole) and drive a stake at the center of where I want the round pen. I tie a 30 foot rope to the stake and walk the circle around the center stake with the rope fully extended. Spreading a line of pulverized lime, the kind we use to disinfect the stalls, or marking paint to mark the circle as you go around the center stake.

Next, decide where to put the gate and install two wooden posts in the ground so that the inside to inside distance between the posts is 6" +/- greater than the size of the gate, so as to allow the gate to swing both to the inside and the outside of the round pen.

Next measure and mark the 10' +/- distances between the T posts around the drawn circle on the ground and install the T posts using a T post driver. Next, using zip ties, attach the plastic fence material to the T posts. Lastly, put heavy duty plastic protective T post caps on the T posts and I run a strand of electric fence through the T post caps around the top of the T posts.

I like the electric fence wire around the top so I can turn out a horse in the round pen and not worry that they might test the mesh fencing. This pays off later when you work a horse in the round pen because they have learned to not test the fence when working with them. I use a simple electric fence gate handle as a "switch" to turn off the electricity when working a horse in the round pen.

It's not the ideal round pen, especially for very feisty horses, Mustangs right off BLM land, etc. But it works for most horses. Most importantly, DO NOT USE CHEAP HOME DEPOT PLASTIC SAFETY FENCING! I will put links to the proper fencing, etc. that I have used.

05/28/2026

Yesterday I posted about discovering that a horse I am working with silently carries around some serious abuse from a prior trainer who used excessive force during the horse's training. The post had an image of an abusive woman punching a horse.

I explained how I had been working with this horse that involved me using a wiffle ball bat, a child's toy that keeps kids safe from injury, and is used by game wardens for protection that doesn't harm animals. Horse trainers also use these bats that make a specifically disturbing sound to get a horse's attention.

There were many self righteous comments from morally superior twits, and 34 page followers quit the page. This is our horse world today people. It's divided. There are people who have experience with and knowledge of horses and there are those who don't know what they don't know.

The combination of ignorance and the feeling of moral superiority about horses have created a class of riders and horse owners who today are advocating for what they feel are kinder methods of horse training. The problem with these folks is that their ignorance of equine culture and herd dynamics that governs how horses think, feel and act has them advocating for things that are not good for horses.

Horses have been bred for thousands of years to have a job. Their bodies are designed for work. Work demands fitness and discipline. Turning horses into overweight, unfit pets is harmful. Idealizing horses causes people to think of them as having human like characteristics and this is confusing for horses. It can stress them and that is not good for horses.

The ignorant and morally superior demographic in today's horse world is growing. I think this threatens future access to horses for future generations. These self righteous people are aligned with the goals of animal rights groups that want to "free horses from human slavery", as they put it.

I am glad these people are gone from the page. But I am disturbed by their numbers. They are dangerous.

05/27/2026

I made a mistake recently evaluating a horse I'm working with to retrain. I underestimated the level of damage from abuse that this horse quietly carries around. He is cinchy when he is saddled but easy to get along with around the barn and when ridden.

Based on his general behavior, I have been treating him like a typical horse with a cinch quirk for the past several weeks using clear leadership methods to get him past his overreaction to being saddled. It has been slow progress and the last time I saddled him he escalated his resistance to being saddled to a dangerous level. My firm leadership apparently opened the door to his past damage.

The regular readers here on the page know that I use a strong voice and at times a wiffle ball bat to get horses past their small quirks. These methods usually will not trigger most horses into escalating to fighting because most horses experience these techniques as just annoying enough to change their behavior.

There is one very important rule in horse training, "Never start a fight with a horse you cannot win." Why? Because when they win, it teaches them to fight and to dominate humans. This horse's recent escalation into a real fight that he expected to win, in spite of the fact that he is easy to deal with most of the time, reveals that he is carrying around much more damage than I thought.

It can be tricky deciding what techniques to use with horses that have developed a defense to human abuse. What is tricky is that some horses have been so abused that their confidence has been shaken to its core, then firm leadership methods can bring out their defensive reaction to fight. When they get triggered into fighting, because their abuser lost fights with them, they will often escalate a fight in spite of their damaged self confidence. These horses have become highly reactive to their memories of abuse.

The escalation of his resistance to be saddled, combined with his lack of confidence that I saw on a recent ride out over terrain, tells me that I have seriously misjudged him. A horse that gets terrified by simple common demands can be a puzzle. I believe that someone must have done some "training" with this horse that crushed his spirit. His relaxed precision and crispness in his movements when ridden are as good as it gets, and it is extremely difficult to train a horse to that level using abusive force. The damage must have been done after his initial training.

Horse training is 90% evaluation and 10% ex*****on, and I made a mistake evaluating this guy. We're going to fix it with slower, softer leadership that won't open the door to his former abuse. This will take time. Undoing abuse is a slow process of unraveling the past. I'll keep you informed.

Bob Wood Horses For Life

06/08/2026

06/04/2026

06/03/2026

06/02/2026

06/02/2026

06/01/2026

05/30/2026

05/29/2026

05/28/2026

05/27/2026

Address

Telephone

Website

Alerts

Contact The Business

Shortcuts

Share

Category