By Chris Irwin

I remember a long time ago in high school seeing a sign behind the desk of my algebra teacher that read:

“The older we get the more we realize how much we don’t know” .

I also remember that at the ripe old age of sixteen that I thought this was a “stupid” statement. I naturally assumed that this was just another example of false humility designed as a politically correct manipulation of young rebellious minds like mine in yet another attempt to coerce us into minding our manners and conforming to the standardized norm of the educational system. That was thirty years ago when I was 16. However, it didn’t take me all these thirty years to realize the profound truth in the statement that I had once assumed in the wisdom of my youth to be so ridiculous. Years later, while coaching in a clinic, I heard myself spontaneously uttering the words “the more I work with the horses, the more I realize how much I don’t know”. That realization suddenly dawned on me when I was about 40. Continue reading When We Don’t Know What We Don’t Know

By Chris Irwin

It’s a bit silly how many people are out there trying to “feel their horses feet”, as if it’s some kind of psychic phenomenon to be able to sense the rhythm of your horse’s footfall. The problem is that you can’t make yourself feel the movement of your horse’s legs in your mind you need to feel it in the seat of your pants. Think of it this way: when we ride we are not sitting on the legs, we are sitting on the barrel. What connects the back legs to the front legs is the barrel, so we feel the legs of the horse through the swinging of the barrel and we interpret the swinging of the barrel as we feel it through the receptivity of our hips. Therefore, the only way to know when and where your horse’s feet are is to be able to feel the rhythm of your own hips. If you can combine the intellectual or theoretical understanding of what’s happening in your horse’s spine with the feel of the physical groove of how it plays out, you can start manipulating the bend and the horse will keep on dancing right with you. Continue reading Feel Your Horse’s Feet With Your Seat

By Chris Irwin

While doing my Christmas shopping back in December I was asked a very interesting question by a tack shop owner in Edmonton. She wondered, “With all your travels, do you find anything unique about giving clinics in Alberta?” My first thought was that no, wherever I go it is always true that “a horse is a horse is a horse” and “people are people”. Having said that, her question spurred something in me that required more thought and I just couldn’t let the question go. Continue reading Alberta, A Horse Of A Different Color

By Chris Irwin
When it comes to the relationship between people and horses the old saying of “it’s not the destination, it’s the journey that counts” couldn’t be more true. Horsemanship is a sport, a science, and an art, all rolled into one very challenging experience.
While I often write practical “how to” training tips for these magazine columns that focus on the techniques or “science” of the bio mechanics of how to train horses I also feel the need every now and then to address the issue of the art of horsemanship. Often, it is the quality of the art of horsemanship that seperates those who are merely “in the ribbons” from the champion who is sipping champagne as the red ribbon, belt buckle, trophy or gold medal is awarded to them in recognition for being “the best of the best”. If you and your horse are in the ribbons but not consistently winning then you probably have a fairly good understanding of the science of equestrian sport but most likely have room for improvement in the art of empathy for horses. Similarly, if your horse is “broke” enough to ride down the trail but he or she demonstrates occassional “issues” then, again, perhaps it’s not necessarily that what you’re doing with your horses is technically wrong but that your horse is telling you in the only way it knows how that it would prefer that you do what you do even better. Continue reading To Let A Horse Go Or Make A Horse Go