Karen plays at liberty with Teo to show you a game where the horse gets to decide what to do, (within a couple rules). The only two requests Karen will make are to Back Up, and to Go. Teo gets to make a lot of choices and Karen will reward him for doing any ‘things’. A ‘Thing’ being something he has been taught to do previously, or even new good ideas! Some horses can get creative and create their own ’things’ to do. (You get to decide what you want to reward). This is great for horses who need motivation or to become more bold. Horses with a strong play drive love this game. It is not as valuable if you and your horse have communication/confusion issues or if your horse becomes increasingly anxious and doesn’t know what to do. In this video you will see Teo choose to do a range of ‘things’ from jumping, going over cavalettis, circling in front of Karen, standing in the rubber tub, going around the barrel, close circling, laying down, sitting up and... taking a power nap.
Up Next in All Ground Work
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Q&A Moving Massage - Dec 2025
In this video Karen answers questions from students about Moving Massage. Includes discussion about how this relates to high and low energy horses, how to do it while riding, how to use your intention during it, and more. You’ll also see an update with Quora. At first Quora did not want to be tou...
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The Find It Game - Jan 2024
More than just a trick, in this video Karen will show a game she plays with her horses where they learn to go find an object that Karen hides. It is a great game to play with all horses, and is a form of enrichment for horses who aren’t able to do other activities. This is a great way to build yo...
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Finding Harmony By Following - June 2024
In this video, Karen coaches a student who asks for help. Her horse can get stuck and non-responsive to the aids. Karen has her do an exercise where she is completely follows the movement while Karen directs the horse. Gradually, that leadership is transferred back to the rider using the most min...
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