This is a moment from a clinic I co-taught with dressage trainer, Sarah Martin. Sarah started the clinic by explaining the importance of allowing the horse to relax in a natural way, and how that effects the posture in a way that will benefit us in our dressage practice. We'll also start a discus...

Watch as Karen coaches a student who is having trouble with a horse that is very good at running out his shoulders. The rider has a habit of using the inside rein in turns, and this only compounds the problem. The rider learns to guide the horse from the outside of his body, and the horse finds a...

Taking your horse off the property (especially for a competition or clinic) can sometimes be more ‘exciting’ than you want it to be. In this video, Karen gives some advice for how to set yourself up for success. Many people want a ‘magic exercise’ to ask the horse to do when he is distracted, ina...

Certified Horse Behavior Consultant, Sharon Madere demonstrates some of the techniques she discussed in the video: Avoiding The Cookie Monster with Sharon Madere Part 1.
You will see her show you how to set the horse up to keep his head straight ahead when receiving treats (instead of mugging you...

Karen speaks with Certified Horse Behavior Consultant, Sharon Madere (who we met in the October 2016 videos). In this video, she discusses how to avoid creating a ‘Cookie Monster’ if you use treats for rewards. This is something many students ask me about. Sharon will give you many things to thin...

Ewa Angantyr demonstrates how she promotes relaxation with her young, high-headed Arabian, Amiir. Ewa focuses rewards when he lowers his head to help him be more calm, trusting, and balanced. In this way he learns how to make himself calmer. She shows how she finds relaxation in motion, and how s...

In this video, Karen shows you step by step how she changed a horse’s mind about being bridled. This is a Grand Prix dressage horse who has defensive behavior around bridling (and putting halters and fly masks on). Karen will show you every stage of the process. You will see all the different way...

Karen pulls out some of the techniques mentioned in other videos so she can discuss them further. She will talk about Moving Massage, Reflex To Relax, Permission, First Thoughts, and the importance of giving your horse a sense of Freedom and Choice during your training sessions.

This video is fo...

Karen explains some of the problems she had to solve in keeping her horses. She will also explain her solutions! She'll talk about the changes she made in order to meet the needs of a horse who got laminitis, as well as how she helps her horses stay cool ... All while doing her best to give her h...

You will meet Grand Prix jumper Abbey Slaven and her horse, Vougeot. Behavioral issues cause Abbey to start playing with Dressage Naturally Horsemanship techniques, studying with Virtual Arena coach Shawna Lewis, and doing the Habits For Excellent Horsemanship course. They made amazing progress! ...

This video is an excerpt from my Habits For Excellent Horsemanship course in the Virtual Arena. I show how to cause your horse to LOVE to be bridled. I will show you the steps for doing that, and also the principles behind it that can be used to improve everything with your horse! This video is g...

This is a video of one of Karen’s presentations at the 2017 seminar, A Paradigm Of Balance, organized by the Baroque Equestrian Games & Institute. In this video Karen talks about how Precision and Play fit together in a training plan. She talks about the importance of feeling free from the fear o...

This is a continuation of the video: Basics Presentation - Part 1. It was of one of Karen’s presentations at the 2017 seminar, A Paradigm Of Balance, organized by the Baroque Equestrian Games & Institute. Karen rides Natilla bridleless to demonstrate how she practices the most basic communication...

This is a video of one of Karen’s presentations at the 2017 seminar, A Paradigm Of Balance, organized by the Baroque Equestrian Games & Institute. Karen talks about the basics of riding and why it is important to be able to make the most fundamental communications with your horse as easy as possi...

Antonia Henderson, Ph.D, joins Karen to discuss how stress effects horses from a scientific point of view. She talks about Learned Helplessness, the importance of the Seeking Reflex, and how traditional ways of keeping horses is not so healthy to the horse! This originally was meant to be 2 video...

Watch as Karen coaches a student on a very green 4 year old mare. She seems reactive and impulsive under saddle, but Karen doesn't think it is an emotional issue as much as a balance issue. Young horses like this don't have a lot of communications in place, so it is important to find a very quiet...

Karen speaks with David Lichman about an observation she made with her own horses in her herd. She tells David how Atomic and Hot Shot used to fight. Atomic was always able to push other horses. but when Hot Shot was introduced to the herd Hot Shot did not yield to him, and instead pushed back. I...

This video demonstrates the exercises Karen used to help her two horses, Atomic & Hot Shot get along better. They used to fight with each other. Karen tells the story about them in the video: Herd Behavior And Training With David Lichman (October 2017). You will see some simple exercises that hel...

This video seeks to give you more information on how to be successful with low energy horses (and you will learn why Karen does not use the word 'lazy' to describe them). She will describe the different types of low energy horses, and then give you 3 questions that will help you through the menta...

Karen demonstrates a way to create a strong draw using the conversation about Relaxation! Karen has found this to be a great way to create an enthusiastic draw without putting any pressure on the horse. It also will help the horse who is easily startled to change his reaction/response to commotion.

Karen explains the object of dressage, natural horsemanship, and Dressage Naturally. She also takes a look at the basics of what it means to her to develop a partnership with her horses. Your concept of partnership forms the context within which you do everything else with your horse. Learn the k...

Karen plays with a horse who is nervous about a brush the owner uses to clean cobwebs in her barn. The horse has no previous natural horsemanship training, so it is a great opportunity to see how Karen begins to help the horse have a reflex to relax when he becomes nervous about something. This i...