Karen discusses the 3 main purposes of the reins with students at one of her clinics. This is a 'must see' for everyone. The points discussed here will help riders with advanced horses to refine their concept of connection, but will also help riders with less advanced horses understand when they ...

In this video Karen discusses some of her strategies regarding how much time to ask your horse to stretch. This is not a 'how to' video, but more about if you are already able to cause/ask your horse to stretch, how do you decide how much should you ask your horse to do it. Karen uses her two ver...

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...

In this discussion, Karen describes 4 of the basic postures you and your horse can be in. The more you understand the difference, the clearer your intention and your horse's success will be. You will also learn how to combine 2 of the postures to create the Working Gaits!

This video is great for...

Karen discusses some of the more subtle, yet powerful qualities and habits that successful trainers have.

Karen gives you a bunch of tips to use when the weather gets HOT (And hot tips for any weather!) ... Many of them can be used any time. Most are based on how to get the most value from your sessions with your horse in the most efficient, effective way. This fun video is good for absolutely everyo...

Karen uses the New Year as a reason to reflect on the most common questions she has received over the past year. She will discuss Connection vs Collection, how to know if the stretch your horse does is 'valuable', and the power of videoing yourself

Karen gets many questions about the treeless saddle you see her riding in, so she made a video about it!
You will see the saddle she uses as well as the pads she puts under it. She explains how she decides which pads to use for which horses and even when she puts her treed saddle on. The saddle i...

Karen speaks with a group of students at a clinic about the ingredients that factor in to having an excellent connection with the reins. This talk will help you understand the things that effect the connection. Best of all, it will help you diagnose and more wisely begin to solve some of the issu...

Karen discusses her thoughts on spurs. Although Karen rarely uses them, she is not 'against' them. With any piece of equipment what is important is to understand them as the tool that they are. Karen also explains how she decides when it is reasonable to think of using them and when it is not. Wh...

It's so important to give your horses breaks during their training sessions. There are different ways to give breaks! This video discusses some different ways you can give your horse a break and helps you figure out which one to give in different moments.

Karen discusses the benefits of doing 'silly horse tricks', such as to develop communication, motivation, and confidence.. This video is a great set up for the other two videos this month in which Karen does some of these with her horses. In addition, other videos that can support you in playing ...

Go inside Karen's tack room and learn about some of Karen's favorite equipment and products. Karen will show you the bridles, bits, lines, and sticks she uses, as well as favorite grooming products, treats, and leather care. Leave a comment on this page to share your favorite products, too!

This video connects the dots between the videos : Yielding For Relaxation, and Yielding For Attention. It also goes deeper into each of the concepts and helps you understand more about how to apply them to your horse. Karen references a blog she wrote and you can find that here: blog.dressagenatu...

Karen answers some student questions at a clinic. The first is about how to know who to learn from with all the different methods and systems 'out there'. Karen will give you a formula for determining who you want to study with. The second question is about Straightness. This can be a confusing s...

This video was originally made as part of Karen’s Happy Horse Interview Series. After interviewing 7 professionals, Karen pulls together the 3 most common threads (Self Mastery, Freedom & Choice, and Rewards), and creates 3 homework exercises you can do!

This discussion will help you keep your h...

This video expands on the discussion of Happy Horse Common Threads, Part 1.

In Part 1, Karen briefly shows a chart of many ways she rewards her horses. Karen goes deeper into each subject of Self Mastery, Freedom & Choice, and Rewards. This discussion will help you keep your horse happier!

Karen gives you more background on the other two videos for April 2020: Creating Calm Self Carriage In Cross Ties with Teo and Decision-Making To Decrease Stress with Teo, Riding. She gives you more of his story as well as more information about what she is doing in the other videos. Please watch...

In this video, Karen marks the end of the 10th year of the Video Classroom by reflecting back on the past 10 years and sharing six of the most persistent lessons she has learned (and keeps learning). Hopefully, this video will help you move through similar challenges and realize that you are not ...

In this video, Karen talks about and illustrates the process of 'going all the way through', especially when dealing with an emotional horse. She uses a 'Bell Curve' analogy to describe the different stages the training process goes through, and the importance of keeping going (and knowing when t...

In this video, Karen discusses a strategy for getting maximum benefit when you ride patterns. She will contrast this strategy with the strategy needed for riding competition tests.

This video is great for anyone!

In this video, Karen dives deeper into strategies, decisions, and concepts she showed in the video: Young Horse Session - Quora On Line & Liberty. She’ll discuss things like prioritizing education, definition of success, use of choice, following & leading, and elastic connection.

This video is ...

In this video, Karen explains how to use challenges to get clearer about when you are ready to do a movement and when you need to prepare more. This concept can help riders of all levels become more aware and have clearer plans during their rides. This concept was well-demonstrated in the video: ...

OK, this horse isn’t totally unresponsive, but she doesn’t tend to move easily from the leg. In this video Karen talks about how to add pressure to help sticky horses have more responsiveness in the moment while still staying fair and not escalating to harmful pressure. This discussion refers to ...