Barb Fox posted an article on U.S. Horsemanship - Feb 5, 2012, 5:33 pm
I’ve lived in Flagstaff, Arizona for about 10 years and during that time I’ve naturally learned some things about the Native American History and the Native American people.  I say “some things” as opposed to “a lot” because there is so much history that unless you grew up  Native Amer...
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Barb Fox posted an article on The Riding Instructor - Dec 15, 2011, 5:56 pm
To be honest, my horse doesn’t really enjoy the new saddle, or bridle or bit that I buy for him at Christmastime. I mean that’s the same as someone giving me a new vacuum cleaner or some floor scrubbing tool. Yeah it may make my job easier and a little more comfortable but it just doesn’t hit ...
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Barb Fox posted an article on U.S. Horsemanship - Dec 15, 2011, 5:13 pm
In another month or two U.S. Horsemanship will be 3 years old. In that time we’ve had some interesting discussions about the history of riding in America. I’ve really enjoyed reading readers’ responses and opinions and I’ve learned a lot. I’ve also made some good friends that I would not h...
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Barb Fox posted an article on U.S. Horsemanship - Dec 1, 2011, 12:29 am
Normally I would continue my posts on U.S. without asking you to listen to a “sales pitch” or any sort of advertisement but since this topic directly effects the health of the U.S. Horsemanship blog, I hope subscribers will indulge me this one time. One of the ways I support the financial aspec...
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Barb Fox posted an article on U.S. Horsemanship - Oct 11, 2011, 7:59 pm
In “Horses and Hounds” the 1926 Recollections of Frank Gray Griswold, the author tells us about the early days of Fox-hunting on Long Island. I wonder if any of you who may have visited L.I., or even lived there, can imagine a time when Long Island was “grazing country, mostly grass” where �...
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Barb Fox posted an article on The Riding Instructor - Oct 8, 2011, 12:32 am
Although he was from England, in 1936 Lt. Col. M.F. McTaggart had 6 books on the recommended reading list for the United States Cavalry. In the preface of his book “Stable and Saddle”, he reveals why his writings were different than the standard of the day. In 2011 there is so much information ...
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Barb Fox posted an article on U.S. Horsemanship - Sep 5, 2011, 6:33 pm
I’ve just returned from over two months away from home and I have a great stack of Chronicles to read through. I’ve enjoyed reading “The Chronicle of the Horse” since I was a kid. It’s like a “normal” part of life. My favorite Chronicle author was Cooky McClung.  Cookie McClung could...
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Barb Fox posted an article on The Riding Instructor - Aug 25, 2011, 3:47 pm
Obviously decision making is a necessary part of life.  But there are some decisions that are just harder than normal ones.  We all have to face them, especially in the horse world. It’s just that they aren’t easy  and I hate them.Those are the kind I dealt with this past week. I just return...
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Barb Fox posted an article on The Riding Instructor - Jul 21, 2011, 5:18 pm
Are you preparing for your first dressage test or do you just need some fun ideas for practice? Here are some that could help. In order to be successful with a test it’s important to get to know the Gee-og-raf-eee of your arena. In other words, know those letters and where they are located, know ...
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Barb Fox posted an article on U.S. Horsemanship - Jul 21, 2011, 11:52 am
These videos are part of the Official Training films of the War Department. You can find more military riding videos on Youtube or you can order your own copies from the U.S. Cavalry Association at Fort Riley. Some things on the films make me cringe, especially when I see the men continuously readju...
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Barb Fox posted an article on U.S. Horsemanship - Jun 24, 2011, 1:57 pm
I think I need to add a new category to U.S. Horsemanship titled “New Lows For Horsemanship”…  The June issue of the Chronicle of the Horse’s new online magazine, Chronicle Connection, has an article titled “Is There a Place For Draw Reins in the Show Ring?” This on the heels of a recen...
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Barb Fox posted an article on The Riding Instructor - Jun 23, 2011, 6:08 pm
Click here to view the embedded video. It just boggles my mind that people are such light weights that they think what is happening in this video is funny. There is page after page of comments saying how cute this pony (Ed) is and what a terrific rider the little boy (Ross) is. I agree that he ha...
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Barb Fox posted an article on U.S. Horsemanship - May 27, 2011, 1:23 pm
Geoff Teall, a hunter/jumper, equitation trainer in Wellington, Florida was the author for “Between Rounds” on May 23, 2011. “Between Rounds” is a regular feature of “The Chronicle of the Horse”. As a USEF R judge, co-founder of the American Hunter-Jumper Foundation and being on the Boa...
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Barb Fox posted an article on The Riding Instructor - May 17, 2011, 11:24 am
Today’s post includes two excellent lunging videos.  The first is a very clear demonstration of the use of side reins and shows a relaxed horse.  I’m a slight bit at odds with the short length of the side reins in the second video but it is an excellent instruction video on developing the ride...
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Barb Fox posted an article on U.S. Horsemanship - Apr 21, 2011, 6:12 pm
In March I audited the cross country portion of a clinic featuring Eventing legend, Jimmy Wofford.  From the footage I took there I made three videos which clearly define his teaching points for the day. He is consistent, humorous, and relentless about basic riding points , such as staying out of t...
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Barb Fox posted an article on The Riding Instructor - Apr 21, 2011, 5:41 pm
This is the last video that I’ve gleaned from the footage I took at the clinic in Phoenix in March.  Jimmy’s basic points remain the through all of his teaching this day; use leg, soft arms, heels down, punish lack of cooperation, have a party when the horse gives you what you ask, let the hors...
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Barb Fox posted an article on The Riding Instructor - Apr 3, 2011, 12:53 am
Another video from the Jim Wofford clinic on 3/6/2011 at Pinnacle West Equestrian Center, in Phoenix Arizona. This segment is on jumping rivetted ditches. Click here to view the embedded video.  
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Barb Fox posted an article on U.S. Horsemanship - Mar 31, 2011, 2:38 pm
Piero Santini was a Major in the Italian Light Horse Cavalry.  His father was Italian and his mother was American and Santini both spoke and wrote English as a second language. Santini was born in Rome in 1881 and he died in Rome in 1960, but between those dates he spent a considerable amount of ti...
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Barb Fox posted an article on The Riding Instructor - Mar 8, 2011, 4:20 pm
On Sunday I audited a Jim Wofford clinic in Phoenix. I sure like the way Jim teaches. He teaches with humor and clarity, both of which are really helpful to students. His system  has been developed from his early lessons from Fort Riley instructors, countless hours on horseback in a variety of acti...
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Barb Fox posted an article on The Riding Instructor - Mar 2, 2011, 1:33 pm
In my life, I’ve met very few horses that I couldn’t find good in or a purpose for. And the longer I teach the more I realize that students need to learn more about the horse. They need to be taught to look at riding time from the horse’s perspective, not just their own. Not only is thinking a...
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Barb Fox posted an article on U.S. Horsemanship - Feb 28, 2011, 3:01 pm
I’m an advocate for America’s wild horses. They’ve had such poor treatment for so long.  They’ve been hunted, chased, used, eaten, even tortured. The Mustang’s is a story of freedom, service, oppression and greed.  It’s been that way from the beginning for them. I’m attracted to the...
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Barb Fox posted an article on U.S. Horsemanship - Feb 27, 2011, 6:14 pm
In this 3rd part of The Chevy Chase Hunt from “Hunting in the United State and Canada” by Higginson and Chamberlain, I think I have an affinity for Mr. Haskins who lived in a corner grocery store and kept a pack of hounds in his back yard. I wonder if Mr. Haskins ever thought about his status wi...
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Barb Fox posted an article on The Riding Instructor - Feb 24, 2011, 3:05 pm
It’s pretty accurate to say that none of us will ever know everything there is to know about horses and riding. Horses and methods challenge us continually.  It’s what keeps us changing and improving. A good instructor (and this goes for trainers, too) is always looking for answers and ways to ...
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Barb Fox posted an article on U.S. Horsemanship - Feb 22, 2011, 1:39 pm
A short break in the weather kept me away from my computer and outdoors with the horses.  I’ve learned that in Northern Arizona you should not take any good weather for granted. So here we are continuing the account of George Washington with the second part of The Chevy Chase Hunt from “Hunting...
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Barb Fox posted an article on U.S. Horsemanship - Jan 26, 2011, 3:25 pm
I apologize for stepping out of the order  that I promised the next part of the Chevy Chase Hunt but I received notice about a speech made by Congressman Dan Burton (Ind) on behalf of the American Mustang and wanted to share it with you.  The issue of the American Mustang is very controversial and...
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Barb Fox posted an article on The Riding Instructor - Jan 8, 2011, 10:36 pm
I was pleased to have the opportunity to attend the ICP clinic at USEA’s 2010 Annual meeting in Phoenix, Arizona. I’d been curious about the process and was looking forward to learning from eventing greats, Karen, and David O’Connor. And I wanted to see what all the fuss for Mark Phillips was ...
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Barb Fox posted an article on U.S. Horsemanship - Jan 8, 2011, 6:36 pm
In most parts of the U.S. this time of year brings out the truly avid fox hunter hoping that the weather will break just enough that the day’s hunting won’t be canceled. Those readers who are lovers of Fox Hunting will enjoy one of my favorite websites, Foxhunting Life, http://www.foxhuntinglif...
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Barb Fox posted an article on The Riding Instructor - Nov 12, 2010, 6:03 pm
Teaching riding to younger children can be challenging, frustrating and hugely rewarding all at the same time. A riding instructor for young children needs to have the heart of a cheerleader for motivation, the firmness of a leader (a mother duck), the understanding of a mother, sister or aunt, and ...
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Barb Fox posted an article on The Riding Instructor - Nov 12, 2010, 6:03 pm
Teaching riding to younger children can be challenging, frustrating and hugely rewarding all at the same time. A riding instructor for young children needs to have the heart of a cheerleader for motivation, the firmness of a leader (a mother duck), the understanding of a mother, sister or aunt, and ...
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Barb Fox posted an article on U.S. Horsemanship - Nov 12, 2010, 2:00 pm
This article “The Cavalry School Hunt” is reprinted from “Hunting in the United States and Canada” by A. Henry Higginson and Julian Ingersoll Chamberlain, 1928 THE  CAVALRY  SCHOOL  HUNT In the wheatfields of the”Prairie State” of Kansas—the”Indian country” of the years follow...
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Barb Fox posted an article on U.S. Horsemanship - Nov 12, 2010, 2:00 pm
This article “The Cavalry School Hunt” is reprinted from “Hunting in the United States and Canada” by A. Henry Higginson and Julian Ingersoll Chamberlain, 1928 THE  CAVALRY  SCHOOL  HUNT In the wheatfields of the”Prairie State” of Kansas—the”Indian country” of the years follow...
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Barb Fox posted an article on The Riding Instructor - Oct 6, 2010, 9:45 pm
George Morris Implores Us to Evaluate His Riding In Practical Horseman Magazines new series, “Classical Riding with George Morris” ,  Mr. Morris implores riders to study photos, just like he did as a young rider and he holds himself out as the model. I have to give George Morris credit for rid...
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Barb Fox posted an article on U.S. Horsemanship - Oct 5, 2010, 12:39 am
Each time I approach a new article written by George Morris I hope it’s the one that I can agree with.   So far, each time, I’m disappointed.  That’s partially because I can’t abide by someone who takes foundational principals and tweaks them with his own definition; such as George Morris...
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Barb Fox posted an article on U.S. Horsemanship - Sep 9, 2010, 5:45 pm
The following article, “The French Cavalry School” , was published in the Washington Post on April 30. 1893.  This article was written more than a decade prior to Guy V Henry graduating from Saumur  and more than two decades before Harry Chamberlin attended Saumur. The article is also written ...
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Barb Fox posted an article on The Riding Instructor - Sep 8, 2010, 1:22 am
Where can you find a Schoolmaster for all levels of riding  that doesn’t buck, spook, rear, bolt or step on your foot?  The answer is simple, sort of… try a riding simulator Riding simulators are mechanical horses, of sorts, that make it possible for you to practice, learn and get in conditio...
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Barb Fox posted an article on The Riding Instructor - Aug 12, 2010, 7:19 pm
Who would have thought that a series of posts on Basics would bring us to a discussion about how to improve your posture? But here we are, ready to place a stack of books on our heads and walk around the parlor. Maybe we won’t go that far but admit it, we have become a nation of slouchers. In ...
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Barb Fox posted an article on U.S. Horsemanship - Aug 12, 2010, 12:56 am
Although it’s rather long, this post from the 1938 edition, “Foxhunting is Different” is a good read. The author gives an interesting account of Colonel Washington, the Foxhunter. And who doesn’t enjoy the artwork of the infamous Paul Brown? THE IMMORTAL FOXHUNTER by Samuel J. Henry On a ...
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Barb Fox posted an article on U.S. Horsemanship - Jul 14, 2010, 11:25 pm
Not long ago I had the worst sort of computer problems.  My DVD drive quit and then with no warning at all I totally lost my hard drive.  We ended up paying to have as much as possible retrieved but a lot of it could not be opened and I completely lost mail files.  This was especially disappointi...
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Barb Fox posted an article on U.S. Horsemanship - Jul 14, 2010, 11:23 pm
A U.S. Horsemanship follower recently sent me this picture of their Grandfather. He was in the Calvary, located in or around Springfield, Massachusetts. The reader is looking for information regarding the type of horses they used, and what he might be on in this photograph, and information on his ...
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Barb Fox posted an article on The Riding Instructor - Jul 12, 2010, 3:09 pm
POSTURE: Normally I can tell how a person will sit on a horse by how they sit in a chair, sit at their desk in school, stand when they are visiting, or when they are walking.  Sometimes I have a pretty good idea of how you’re going to sit in the saddle as I watch you drive your car up my drivewa...
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Barb Fox posted an article on U.S. Horsemanship - Jul 8, 2010, 4:05 pm
Normally more time elapses before I make the next post to U.S. Horsemanship but current issues in our government with our horses warrant expediency.  At the top pf this blog I’ve added the 2nd in a two part series of videos “The Mustang Conspiracy”.  This has more findings about big industry...
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Barb Fox posted an article on U.S. Horsemanship - Jul 8, 2010, 2:40 pm
Whether you are a fan of the American Mustang or not; whether you believe they are wild horses or feral horses or replants of the original horses in America, it would be hard to say that the Mustang is not part of American history. The Nevada Wild Horse site web http://www.kbrhorse.net/whb/blmnev.ht...
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Barb Fox posted an article on U.S. Horsemanship - Jun 19, 2010, 11:31 pm
The following article about the Infantry Hunt at Fort Benning, Georgia is taken from “Hunting in the United States and Canada” printed in 1928. The work was compiled by A. Henry Higginson and Julian Ingersoll Chamberlain. “During the World War, the value of schools in our Army became ap­pare...
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Barb Fox posted an article on U.S. Horsemanship - May 26, 2010, 9:01 pm
By Barbara Ellin Fox I loved westerns as a kid.  If it had a horse in I watched it.  Those old  movies really glorified the cowboy way and I think the Pony Express must be one one the most romanticized pieces of American West history.  It ranks right up there with the story of Jesse James.  Bu...
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Barb Fox posted an article on The Riding Instructor - May 26, 2010, 4:14 pm
By Barbara Ellin Fox LONGING or LUNGING Longing is often over looked in riding instruction programs.  Good lunging horses take time to train and until recently the art of longing riders was not normally taught to American instructors.  With USDF instructor prep classes, the teaching of longing t...
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Barb Fox posted an article on U.S. Horsemanship - May 14, 2010, 5:26 pm
Most of the old time horsemen have asked the same question during the past few years.  Where have the horsemen (and women) gone? I think it’s fair to say that horsemen beget horsemen, usually. But spend a little time around people involved with Pony Club or Fox Hunting (for example) and you’ll ...
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Barb Fox posted an article on The Riding Instructor - May 3, 2010, 7:12 pm
My favorite way for riders to develop their seats is as old as riding a horse - Ride Bareback Nothing comes close to riding bareback for  developing muscles, feel and balance on a horse. I recommend it for the young and the adult rider but I do have a few guidelines for safety and correct riding....
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Barb Fox posted an article on The Riding Instructor - Apr 26, 2010, 5:15 pm
Light Seat In light seat the rider sits on the crotch and upper thighs.  The rider maintains more of a forward inclination of the upper body taking more weight on the thigh.  This seat is used predominantly in riding that involves jumping such as forward seat, hunter seat and eventing and requires...
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Barb Fox posted an article on U.S. Horsemanship - Apr 23, 2010, 1:52 am
The 1928 edition of “Hunting in the United States and Canada” by Higginson and Chamberlain, has a unique account of the Artillery Hunt at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. It’s included in this blog post for the enjoyment of fox hunting history buffs. Maj. George M. Peek, M.F.H.1926-27 “A far back as t...
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Barb Fox posted an article on The Riding Instructor - Apr 14, 2010, 12:32 am
by Barbara Ellin Fox “Seat” is used two distinctive ways in horseback riding.  The first is the proper name for the type of riding you do. Saddle Seat, Hunt Seat, Stock Seat, Forward Seat, Balanced Seat, Dressage seat are all names of types of riding or types of seat.  Each style is a little ...
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