August was the month two of our five foals of 2021 were due and as foals are generally my department, it was a busy, sleep-deprived month for me. I have wanted to write about my experiences before, but got busy with other things, so I will write a series of articles in the next few…
Return to Work after the Summer
Like every year, I spent the summer holidays with my family in my native home, Germany. During those weeks, the horses were out on the farm, enjoying their time off, Rajmani included. I felt, six weeks of leisure to mull over what he has learnt so far, would do him good. Time for him to…
Some Thoughts on Riding Bitless
I like to start all my horses bitless and ride them for the first couple of months like this before I might switch to a proper bridle – or not. This is due to the fact that I do my groundwork bitless, so for the horse, bitless riding is just one step further. I usually…
Rajmani: Development of a Young Horse
Today Rajmani has been with us for three months, time for another update! I did some long rein work with him this afternoon and just asked myself, where is the jittery, mouthy horse gone and when did Rajmani become so calm and easy to work with. It just happened over the last few weeks, bit…
Good Horse Keeping
Today I want to write about a topic which is close to my heart: Good horse keeping. Unfortunately, I see a lot of bad horse keeping in India but also in Germany at times. So, today I will talk a little bit about a horse’s needs and wants and how we human beings quite often…
Are Marwari Horses Different?
One question a lot of people ask me is whether Marwari horses are different than other horse breeds and whether training them is too. The honest answer is no. Marwari horses are horses. They are usually smart and they have a good work ethic, but otherwise they are just like any other horse breed in…
Rajmani Update
Just a quick update here, as I have not posted in quite some time. I was working with Rajmani all these days, but he had a three-day rest in-between as I got my Covid shot and was pretty gone for some time. After three days, I decided to take him for his third independent ride…
Starting Rajmani under the Saddle
Rajmani had an exciting weekend. My friend came to visit and I used the opportunity to ask her to give me a hand in his training. There are a few things which are best done when you have a helper. Sitting on a young horse for the first time is one of them. Now, I…
Horse Nomads – My Next Short Story got published!
Today I not talking to you about training horses, but want to tell you about my new short story Mountains, Desert & Forts – Crossing Rajasthan on Horseback which has been published in the Equestrian Adventuresses Book Series Horse Nomads. Horse Nomads is already book number five of the series and it includes a couple…
Ponying Horses
Today I want to write a bit more general about one of the training methods I strongly believe in: Ponying along horses. Ponying a horse means leading a horse alongside the horse you are riding. The horse which is ponied along is also called pony horse (in racing the term is used for the horse…