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Train Your Own Horse with Stacy Westfall — Outdoor
Train Your Own Horse with Stacy Westfall

Stacy Westfall teaches people how to understand, enjoy and successfully train their own horses. In her podcast, she shares all of her knowledge in her area of expertise: horses. She offers insights into issues that riders face in their own minds as well as the way they are viewing the challenges and goals they have with horses. She shares tips on becoming a better rider as well as a better leader for your horse.
Discover how you can understand things from your horses point of view so that you can enjoy the learning process with your horse. When you are able to understand what your horse is experiencing mentally and physically the process of learning new things becomes more enjoyable.
Your goals may be showing, trail riding or simply enjoying life with horses-all of which Stacy enjoys herself.
She shares her own struggles and successes to allow listeners to understand that everyone experiences ups and downs.
Through her podcast, website, YouTube channel and social media Stacy answers questions about: Fear, when to sell a horse, goal setting, safety, ground work, trailer loading, lead changes, reining, spins, stops, western dressage, ranch riding, when to get help, lessons, clinics and improving your safety, success and enjoyment of horses.

Copyright: © StacyWestfall.com

Latest Episodes:

Episode 244: Why ride patterns? (especially boring ones) Jul 19, 2023

Show notes

Simply put: a pattern is a planned ride. When you ride with a plan…you'll begin to show up consistent. The more consistent you are…the easier it is for your horse to become consistent.

The magic of riding a pattern, especially a simple, boring pattern, is that it allows the rider to begin to observe their habits and their horse's habits. The most common habit often revealed is a riders' lack of preparation in transitions.

The opposite of riding a pattern is riding randomly. How can you tell if you are riding randomly?

You'll make last-minute decisions.
You'll cue quickly…and with very little preparation.
This will reflect in your horse as resistance such as head tossing, etc.

How would you benefit from riding 10 minutes a day on a 'boring' pattern? What might you learn?

Episode 243: Why should I bend my horse? (and why you avoid asking more questions) Jul 12, 2023

Show notes

In this podcast, I discuss two ideas, the challenge of asking questions, and 'why bend?'

The theme of this season of the podcast is, "No question is too small." Today, I explain:

why riders don't ask more questions
why the teacher might hesitate before answering
what the moment of awkwardness could really be

Why bend?

why you might skip bending
why you might half-heartedly bend
how bend increases safety and reduces bucking, rearing and bolting
why bend improves balance
advancing: the balance of bend and straightness

Do you have a seemingly simple question you'd like to ask?

Email me, you can even stay anonymous. Ask your question because others will learn from it. Often times people don't realize they have a question, until they hear it, and immediately identify with the question.

Episode 242: "But all the doors are closed"….why some horses exhibit resistance. Jul 05, 2023

Show notes

One major difference between the early rides on a horse, and the more finished rides on a horse, is the way the cues are used in combination. In this podcast, I describe cues as 'doors'.

The beauty of watching an advanced horse and rider is that the cues seem so subtle that they are often hard to see.

This is true whether you watch dressage, where the rider maintains a level of contact throughout, or in reining, where the contact on the reins appears very light.

What these share in common is a subtleness. The process of training a horse involves making things clear, and then refining those cues.

If your horse seems confused, hesitant, or resistant, it is possible he is not clear on which 'door' is open. Today, I explain why this could be happening and how you can determine your next step.

Episode 241: Three reasons it can feel like the training process is going slower than you thought it would…. Jun 28, 2023

Show notes

If you are consistently taking action, and you recognize that you are having some success, but not at the rate or speed you anticipated.this episode is for you.

Today, I'm sharing three reasons it can feel like the training process is going slower than you thought it would. LIsten, to each description, take action on the third...and you just might find that you are making more progress than you think.

Episode 240: How to relax your body and communicate clearly when riding. Jun 21, 2023

Show notes

Many riders experience doubt, tension, or frustration when riding because they are unsure of themselves, or are confused by their horse's response.

Many horses exhibit resistance and behavior issues because they are confused. In this podcast I discuss: Common reasons riders unintentionally give conflicting cues. How and why the cue system changes as a horse advances in training. The importance of diagnosing if your horse is confused or resistant. Simple changes can profoundly improve your connection with your horse.

If you would like help communicating more clearly with your horse, check out my Resourceful Rider program (click here)

Episode 239: Do you have a connection issue or cue system confusion? Jun 14, 2023

Show notes

When I hear a rider say, 'I've lost the connection with my horse." I see red flags go up in my mind.

Here's why.

The vast majority of the time, if I were picking a number, I'd say about 80% of the time, that I hear this AND SEE the horse being ridden…I see CUE SYSTEM CONFUSION.

When you use your reins, or apply your leg, or shift your weight, these are like individual 'words,' that when combined become sentences.

Your cue system with your horse is a language.

When a rider is unclear with their cues, it makes sense that the horse would be unclear about the correct answer.

If the horse responses to a cue from the rider in an unexpected way, the rider must determine how the language became muddled or confused to produce this.

But you won't be able to do this if you think you have a connection problem.

Every time you want to say 'It felt like I lost the connection with my horse' I want you to replace it with "I lost the words to communicate with my horse."

The best news is, you can learn this language. And your horse is open to listening.

Episode 238: To those who are pursuing their dreams... Jun 07, 2023

Show notes

I have the beautiful privilege of speaking with many people who love horses. The majority are women. Many of them are pursuing their horse dreams in the second half of life.

The tipping point where I meet many of these women is…the stage where they are stepping into action to pursue their dream.

In this episode, I explain the challenge of pursuing your dreams with your horse and I share, a very vulnerable moment that I frequently witness.

I hope that by explaining what is happening, I can help normalize it.

And although it is a very, very vulnerable spot…I very much hope you experience it.

Episode 237: How capable is your horse…really? May 31, 2023

Show notes

In this episode, I discuss how quickly horses begin to recognize patterns of behavior, and I answer a listener question about working around feeding time.

While these may seem unrelated, I think the contrast highlights how incredibly valuable it is to recognize how you view your horse. Do you view your horse as a dependent in constant need of care and looking after?

Or as highly capable?

Are you judging their physical ability?

Their mental ability?

A combination of both?

Episode 236: One skill that rules them all…first ride to bridleless May 24, 2023

Show notes

Confidence and self-confidence are both important. But if one skill rules them all, it is the belief that you can trust yourself.

Confidence comes from a Latin word which means "to trust"; therefore, having self-confidence is having trust in oneself.

Self-confidence is an emotion that you generate without any history to back it up or external evidence. It's based on the belief you have about yourself. It comes from thoughts like, "I will figure this out."

Confidence is supported by experience and external evidence.

In this episode, I use the simple example of haltering a horse to illustrate how many times riders begin to collect evidence AGAINST themselves if they are not mindful of their thoughts.

As I talk through the haltering example, imagine how something more complex like riding is full of these opportunities.

At the end, I offer a physical experiment you can do to teach yourself to watch your thoughts more closely. You'll need ten pennies or pebbles and some increased awareness.

Episode 235: The challenge of bit-less and bridleless riding. May 17, 2023

Show notes

Today, I'm answering a question that came in about bitless and/or bridleless riding. In the episode, I explain:

common mistakes people make when considering bridleless riding
the importance of understanding WHY you want to ride bridleless
assessing your horse's understanding based on past training
the differences between bit-less and bridleless riding
when I begin introducing bridleless cues
how bridleless cues are different than bit-less cues
how to create your own checklist to reach your next bridleless goal
how to double-check your work (and keep yourself safe)

And, my #1 take away after riding bridleless at a high level for 20 years.

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