Improving Communication Between Horse and Rider

Improving Communication Between Horse and Rider | Horse Training Tips with Deanna Castro

2011-01-29T08:18:00.000-05:00

Improving Communication Between Horse and Rider | Horse Training Tips with Deanna Castro

What's in a horse's Name?

Horse called Mischief gets stuck in pool

2011-01-29T07:54:00.000-05:00

Maybe if they didn't name this horse "Mischief" he wouldn't have gotten himself into so much trouble. I am all for changing a horse's name to something positive.

Horse called Mischief gets stuck in pool

Product Review – Silver Lining Herbs – Natural Horse De-Wormer | Horse Training Tips with Deanna Castro

2010-12-04T17:24:00.000-05:00

Product Review – Silver Lining Herbs – Natural Horse De-Wormer | Horse Training Tips with Deanna Castro

Keep A Horseback Riding Journal

2010-11-03T11:57:00.000-04:00

Does your Riding Instructor tell you the same thing over and over? Are you not correcting your mistakes? The best way to tackle these problems is to write it down in a Riding Journal. Then, think of a way how you can make the correction and write about it. The best students in school take notes.
.
I'm a big planner, I like to pay attention to the details especially when training horses. Even if you are not to the point of training a horse, but you yourself are in training I would suggest you keep a training journal.
.

If you don't want to bring a big journal to the barn, at least bring a pocket one and jot down some notes about your ride. You may see some similarities that can give you some insight to become a better rider. Another thing to add to your horse journal is vocabulary words. As we all know, in the world of horses there is an entire language to learn. Write down new words and their definitions in your journal.
.
Types of Journals:

Spiral Bound Notebook - this type of journal is cheap and easy. You can pick one up anywhere, and start writing!
Three Ring Binder - This is a great type of journal because you can rearrange it any way you would like. You can add in training articles that you find online or in magazines.
Pocket Notebook - a great little book to keep in your pocket when you ride so that you can jot down notes.
Blog - You can blog your riding and training progress and have it as private or as public as you would like!
Electronic - Using google docs or Microsoft word, you can make a great electronic journal

.
Whatever type of journal that you chose doesn't really matter just as long as you choose one!

Free Leather CPR Sample

2010-07-05T08:23:00.000-04:00

Remember my Leather CPR review? Well, now they are giving away a free sample. I love that stuff, it's definitely worth checking out. Just click on THIS link, and fill out the form. While you're there, be sure and tell them I sent you!

They also have a great "Tell A Friend" promotion going on:

Would your friends, family members, Twitter followers, blog readers or Facebook friends appreciate a free product sample too? Feel free to share the good news by simply providing this link:
www.leathercpr.com/
specialoffer
The five people who refer the most friends/family will be rewarded with a CPR Cleaning Products Prize Pack valued at $50.
Be sure your friends and family members mention your full name on the free sample form!

.

.

Horse Illustrated Magazine Subscription for $5

2010-02-03T06:59:00.001-05:00

Amazon.com has a great deal going on right now, you can buy a Horse Illustrated Magazine one year subscription for only $5! Hurry this offer expires February 28, 2010. They also are offering a year of Young Rider Magazine for $7.99. Be sure and check it out HERE.

Horse Quote of The Day - Fredi Castro

2010-01-27T11:40:00.002-05:00

“Each time you ride your horse, he’s a different horse, ride it that way.” - Fredi Castro

I thought that was a brilliant statement. What he means is, every day is different. Don’t get on your horse today thinking he is going to be the way he was yesterday. Always start with a fresh mind. a light hand and light leg, you can always build from there. Don’t start out with heavy cues, because where do you go from there?

FeedDealer.Com - Info-Service and Support for Feed Businesses - HOW Webinar Schedule

2010-01-27T11:20:00.000-05:00

FeedDealer.Com - Info-Service and Support for Feed Businesses - HOW Webinar Schedule

Register for a free HOW webinar. HOW is a Horse Owner Webinar. Check it out!

Horse Training Tips with Deanna Castro

2010-01-18T15:41:00.001-05:00

Horse Training Tips with Deanna Castro

Posted using ShareThis

Horseback Riding Lesson - Rein Techniques

2009-12-28T08:37:00.003-05:00

There are all kinds of types of reins to use when riding a horse such as:

Neck Rein - laying the rein on the horse's neck to turn right or left. The neck rein is a Western type of rein technique where the rider rides with one hand. This type of technique is best suited to a bit with shanks and a solid mouth piece although if the horse is trained well enough it may be used with any type of or no bit.
Direct Rein - this may be used in English or Western Riding. The direct rein is used when you directly pull the horse's nose in the direction that you would like to turn.
Indirect Rein - this technique may be used in English or Western Riding. An indirect rein is a more advanced way of turning the horse. If you are turning right, your main rein with be the left rein and if you are turning left, your right rein will be the main rein. You indirectly use your rein to turn your horse as opposed to pulling his nose around to make a turn.
Leading Rein - There are two possible descriptions for the leading rein, which can sometimes be confusing. Sometimes the direct rein is referred to as a leading rein, but a more accurate description is when you use an indirect rein to turn, your opposite hand/rein is the leading rein. It does not tip or turn the horse's nose into the turn rather it leads or guides the horse in the direction of the turn.
Opening Rein - Same as Leading Rein

Introduction To Bits

2009-12-14T14:17:00.002-05:00

There are many reasons we choose different types of bits and they put pressure on different places of the horse's mouth. There are entire books dedicated to this subject, but if you follow these general rules, you shold be able to ride your horse in your current bit most effectively.

When riding with an English Bit, a bit without shanks it may or may not be a snaffle, your elbows should be to your sides and your hands in closer together than your elbows. Don't allow your elbows to stick out to the sides like chicken wings. Keep them close to your body. The reason for this, is the bit is designed for optimum feel of the horse's mouth and bit performance in this position. Don't twist your hands when pulling back, pull straight back by moving your fingers or if you need more pressure bring your elbows back to shorten the reins. If you twist your hands to gain more rein you will no longer have a good straight connection to your horse's mouth. As with any type of bit, never break at your wrist. Keep a straight line from your elbow to your horse's mouth.

When riding with a Western Leverage Bit which may or may not be a snaffle a different principal applies. Training in a Western Snaffle is usually done with two hands. A solid mouth piece is for one handed riding. A horse doesn't learn to neck rein right away there are steps taken to get there. I'd like to talk about hand position for two handed riding with a bit that has a jointed mouth piece. As with an English bit, your elbows should not be out like chicken wings. The hand position is where there is a major difference, your hands should be out farther than your elbows for maximum feel of the horse's mouth and performance. The height of your hands will really depend on the bit and the horse, you will have to figure that part out on your own. But keep in mind that a leverage bit increases pressure when you lift your hands causing your horse to break at the poll. As with any bit, do not twist your hands when pulling up to the side or back. Keep a nice straight line to your horse's mouth without breaking at the wrist.

The leverage bit needs less pressure from your hands than a non leverage bit. Any bit can can be severe, it all depends on the hands of the rider. A few more rules of thumb:

The thicker the mouth piece, the gentler the bit.
The thinner the mouth piece, the more severe the bit.
The longer the shanks, the stronger the bit.

This is a real simplistic explanation to a complicated theme, but it's just a basic introduction. There are hundreds of variations of bits, that require an in depth explanation, in this introduction, I just wanted to touch on the most basic how and why of English and Western Bits.

The Midas Touch

2009-12-07T11:06:00.002-05:00

I have been at a teaching impasse lately. I see riders with no feel in their hands and hurting the horse or not taking a hold of the horse and the horse getting conflicting signals. It is taking forever to try and teach good hands. I don't want the horses to have to wait "forever". I'm a bit impatient these days. Pregnant and impatient, that's me.

Fredi and I have been racking our brains how to help these riders have the "aha" moment. I finally realized what part of the problem is, I usually ride in on my lessons. I ride with my students. I cannot do that right now because I'm pregnant. I can't do much at this point because when I am pregnant, my body is practically useless around horses. Fredi was staying on the ground too because I can hardly touch a horse anymore without getting hurt. For some reason, one little pull or push and my back goes right out of place.

Fredi is starting to ride during the lessons now to demonstrate which has helped. If you only see other riders ride incorrectly, how are you going to know what correct looks like? But, it still wasn't enough. Then I had to think back to I was the most successful at teaching a rider to use their hands and that was to sit behind them on the horse and take the riders hand into my hand and physically show them how it is supposed to feel. I also used my leg over the riders leg if needed to get the feel of when and how leg pressure should be applied. The rider often wants to use their hands with mine, but they shouldn't, they should just feel and not interfere if they want the full experience. Within minutes of using that technique, the rider will know what a horse's mouth should feel like and what a correct response feels like. They will know how much to pull with how much pressure, and when to release. The largest rider I have done this with was 200 pounds. We were on a big horse mind you, and the mare didn't mind.

I know that riding double is not best for a horse's back, BUT what's 10 minutes of discomfort on the back for years of light feeling riding in the mouth? I am not allowed to ride right now, so Fredi is the designated double rider. We have a rather large saddle (19 inch) that comfortably seats two riders. If your child is having trouble learning how to feel a horse's mouth, this would be a great way to teach it. Or, if you have a professional with fantastic hands, let them be your guide. You will cut years off of your learning curve. Just be sure you are on a horse that can handle the type of weight that comes with two riders. Start out at the halt, then slowly begin the walk. If it's easy for the horse you can always add a jog. From there the rider should have the "aha" moment and can practice the rest on his or her own and have their own Midas touch, where every horse you/they ride turns to gold.

Merry Christmas & New Blog Reminder

2008-12-25T06:47:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas! I can't believe that Christmas is already here. My how time flies. Cristino, our little cowboy is six months old already. This is our Christmas card for the Riding Academy this year. He is wearing his "trophy buckle" fringed pants. I didn't have a hat for him, but thought it might be a bit too much. He can't upstage Santa right?

I also wanted to remind my readers that the blog has moved. You can access it at deannacastro.com and subscribe to the feed HERE. I am posting on My new Professional Horse Blogazine on a daily basis. I'm still learning the whole wordpress thing, but I'm learning more every day. I will try and post over here on the "old blog" once and awhile so that my subscribers to only this blog don't forget about me.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, Happy (Belated) Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, and Happy New Year!

Deanna

The Site Is Moving - Please Update Your Bookmarks!

2008-11-13T09:50:00.004-05:00

This post today will be the last post here on this site, the site is moving to deannacastro.com please update your bookmarks!

It will be the same information, just with a new location. I hope you all enjoy the new look and site :)

Deanna

Clip Of The Week - Men Doing Dressage

2008-11-12T05:30:00.000-05:00

I thought I was the only one who did this kind of stuff...

October Blog Contest - Winners

2008-11-11T05:30:00.004-05:00

Congratulations to blog readers Zahi and Kenley the winners of the October Blog Contest!

They will each receive a copy the book Wild Horses by million selling author - Jenny Oldfield.

I am currently working on my next book review to be followed by another contest so stay tuned for more details...

Deanna

You Can't Feel What You Don't Touch

2008-11-10T05:30:00.001-05:00

For me as a riding instructor, one of the most difficult things to teach a rider is to feel the horse. The reason it is so difficult is because as you are learning to ride, your legs are not where they should be, softly on the side of the horse.

*Note: It's quite natural and common to have to learn to develop correct leg position, as it would be unnatural to automatically have perfect leg position when you are learning to ride.

If your legs are away from the horse's sides, you won't feel it when he takes a step. The horse will actually have to walk into your leg before you feel him.

Here is an easy exercise you can do to improve your leg strength, position, and feel:

Take your feet out of the stirrups.
Keep your heels down with your toes pointed slightly out.
Wrap your legs around your horse with your entire leg all the way down to your heel (depending on the length of your leg, some tall riders legs may extend past the horse's sides and won't be able to keep the heel next to the horse) while maintaining complete contact with your horse's sides.
Hold your legs in that position and focus on feeling each step the horse takes.

After a while, if you are doing it correctly your legs should begin to burn. If your legs don't burn, you probably are not doing the exercise correctly.

There are of course times that your leg will be away from your horse's sides, but if you never put your leg next to your horse's side you won't be able to feel him.

It's kind of like looking a piece of fabric, pointing at it and not touching it and then expecting to know what it feels like. It's impossible to feel what you don't touch.

Deanna

Stable Scoop Episode 13 - Horse Photography

2008-11-09T05:30:00.002-05:00

This episode of Stable Scoop is definitely for me! I don't know about the rest of ya'll but I take the worlds worst horse photo's. I can make the best looking horse look squatty. Hopefully now I will have some better looking pictures ;)

Enjoy this weeks episode,

Deanna

This episode of the Stable Scoop Radio Show is brought to you by the Horse Radio Network.
_________________________________________

Everyone is a photographer at heart. Listen in as we speak with the world's leading horse photographers to find out their secrets. Glenn the Geek and Helena B. learn the top 12 tricks to taking a better horse photo and we take a look at the best cameras for Holiday Gifts. What a fun show this is!

Stable Scoop Episode 13 - Show Notes and Links:

Hosts: Glenn the Geek and Helena B.

Co-Host: Carien Schippers is one of the leading horse photographers in the county and founder of the Equine Photographers Network. Carien lives in upstate New York and her websites are imagequine.com & horsedrivephotos.com.

Guest: Scott K. Trees from Trees Media is one of the world's best equine photographers. He is in demand around the world but took a minute to share some of his secrets with us.

Guest: Tom Mahan of Porters Cameras give us some great camera gift recommendations for this Holiday Season.

Here are the top 12 things that the guests agree make a better horse photo. To get more detail on each of the items, take a listen to the show.
- Read the manual and understand your camera.
- Take the camera out of automatic mode.
- Best lens for good horse photos is 80/200 or 70/200.
- Shoot at the end of the lens, further away from the subject zoomed in.
- Timing is critical for action horse shots. Learn when to snap the picture.
- Patience, patience and patience.
- Learn how horses move.
- Framing - eliminate horizontal line in your image.
- Take picture of a horse from heart level.
- The best light for horse photography is early morning or late afternoon.
- Shadows are your friend.
- When the horse is done - it's done!

Porter's camera pick's for this holiday season. Follow the links and get those gifts today:

Lower Price Point:

Canon PowerShot SX110 IS Digital Camera - $279.00

Medium Price Point:

Nikon D60 Digital SLR w/18-55mm f3.5-5.6G
Vibration Reduction Lens - $599.00

The Really Nice One: (This baby will get you brownie points!)

Nikon D700 Digital SLR - $2,999.00

_______________________________________________________________

This Week In Horse Blogs

2008-11-08T12:00:00.000-05:00

What a week we've had. We have been up, down, on the edge of our seats, and now we know who our next president will be. I have high hopes for President Elect Obama as does the rest of the country. In the beginning I wasn't so sure of this mans capability, after all what did we know about him? But I am starting to firmly believe he can do a great job.

As I made my way with Cristino and the Pug to the polls to vote I kept thinking "You might be a redneck if you take your dog along to babysit as you vote". I put the baby in the stroller, the pug in the basket of the stroller and headed off to church to cast my vote. No lines, no waiting, and no baby sitter except for the dog who stayed with the baby just outside the curtain (they were both in arms reach of course) just hours before one of the most historic moments of our time.

I really was the only person there voting. The pastor was there and so were the other church folk who run the polling place, so bringing down the baby and Pugsly made their day I'm sure. The only thing that may have been more redneck of me would have been if the three of us rode in on a horse.

Anyway, here are some really cool blog posts I read this week.

Enjoy!

Welcome Home, Brego - The Eventing Percheron

I Am The Goldilocks Of The Horse World - Adventures of A Horse Crazed Mind

Skywatch Friday - Two Opposing Views - The 7MSN Ranch

Blind Horses Trust Makes Anything Possible - Behind The Bit

It's November, and the Pasture Party's Over - Juli Thorson's Horse Talk

Reader Question - Teaching A Horse To Tie

2008-11-07T05:30:00.003-05:00

Recently I had a reader question about tying a horse, and I think it's a great question so here it is complete with my answer.

Hello, Deanna:
My daughter and I are in the position of selling our horse we've spent a lot of love on. But, I am finding that we have allowed an important part of her training to go unattended. Our mare doesn't tie. She was abused nearly to death (as a filly) by attempting teaching her to tie with a stud chain under her chin and one over her poll at the same time. In large part because of her history we have not forced her to tie. We have been at boarding facilities that discourage tying and offer cross ties instead which just allowed us to overlook this issue. We have just never required that she tie solid, she cross ties quite comfortably, but sets back in a panic when tied. She is very well trained with precise showmanship skills and is VERY easy to handle and show and quite respectful with soft responsiveness in every other area of her training.
I really hate the thought of allowing her to hurt herself through thrashing and pulling back with that much force. But I am feeling the pressure to tackle this now. We have lost at least 1 sale because the prospective buyer wouldn't have a horse that couldn't tie. If you have any tips that might help us overcome her very real fear of being tied we are open to suggestions.
Thank you for your help.
Jeanette

Hello Jeanette,

Thanks for the question! What a shame your mare was abused so badly when she was learning to tie. I would never ever tie a horse with a stud chain, how awful for her. I completely understand your concern for her injuring herself that is really dangerous behavior for herself, which you already are aware of.

Even if a horse never experienced anything negative they still can have a problem when tying. The reason for this, is even though our horses are domesticated the wild instinct is still there. If a horse was trapped (which is basically what they are when tied) they would become easy prey for a predator. So when a normally docile well trained horse feels that their life is in danger they can absolutely lose their mind and fear for their life. Your mare is also experiencing fear but for other reasons.

For me a horse that won't tie will not make or break the sale because I know the horse can learn to accept it. But not everyone feels the same way, so here's what you should try:

Work in an enclosed arena.
Invest in a blocker tie ring. The tie ring is $24.99 but well worth it.
Use a smooth and long lead rope and tie the mare to the ring. The reason it should be smooth, is so that the horse can pull through the ring and not feel trapped. A long lead rope will help with that too. The horse will pull the lead out long, but not completely become untied.
Practice sacking your horse out while tied. The horse will soon see that she can move her feet and that there is nothing to fear.

This will need to be done over and over again until she has confidence that nothing bad is going to happen to her. Your mare will begin to relax and realize there is nothing to fear and she is not going to have pain inflicted on her while trapped.

In my barn I use the blocker ties but in the spots where I don't have them I use bailing twine. I tie bailing twine to my eye hooks that are attached to the post and then I tie the horse's lead rope to the bailing twine. This way, if the horse freaks out he or she can break free without getting injured. There is a never ending supply of bailing twine so I just tie a new piece when an old one gets broken. I just continue to replace the twine as needed. If the horse just keeps breaking the twine right away and does not stop the pulling back, it's time to take the horse to the tie ring. But that doesn't usually happen. It may break the twine every now and again, but the times become very far and few between.

I hope this helps, and you are able to find a buyer for your mare. Let me know how it works out!

Deanna

Book Tag - The Job A Horse Was Born To Do

2008-11-05T06:30:00.003-05:00

I was Book Tagged by Karen at Karen’s Musings & Endurance Ride Stuff

I have been wanting to write a post titled, "The Job A Horse Was Born to Do" or something like that. It just so happened the book nearest me gave me a good suegway into that post.

Here's the rules:

Grab the nearest HORSE book.
Open the book to page 56.
Find the fifth sentence.
Post the text of the next two to five sentences.
Don’t dig for your favorite book, the cool book or the intellectual one. Pick the Closest.
Tag five people to do the same.

Here's mine, it's from "How To Be Your Own Veterinarian Sometimes" by Ruth B. James, DMV

The chances of producing a winning cutting horse are much greater when both parents are proven cutting horses. A foal with stakes winners on both sides of his pedigree has a far greater probability of winning races than one from a casual, guesswork mating.

If you are breeding for type, start with a broodmare who is as close as possible to your desired goal. If you want stretchy, tall Quarter Horses, start with that type. Don't buy a bulldog mare and breed from there.

Amen to that! Just as people can be miserable in the wrong job so can a horse. If you force a reining horse to do western pleasure you will always be slowing him down. He will get bored riding around on the rail, but once you introduce that horse to some patterns, spins and stops it will be like penguin in water. On land a penguin lumbers around, but in the water you can see that he is a bird that flies, and he flies beautifully.

So in essence, if you are breeding, breed your horse with the correct bloodlines. If you are buying a horse, let him to do what he was bred for!

With that, I have five people to tag so here goes:

Theresa at A Bumpy Path

Beckz at I Will Jump Sweet Jumps

Jessie at Jessie and Remington

Equine Spirit at Education With Equines

Mikael at Mikael's Mania - Arabian Horses

Clip Of The Week - Slide Stop!

2008-11-05T05:30:00.000-05:00

I can watch this clip over and over...

A Flame Faced Pony

2008-11-04T05:30:00.002-05:00

I was at the horse sale, and they had 200 ponies come through. I don't know if I was allowed to take pictures or not, so I snapped only one with my phone. I really like the black pony with the white face. His markings looked like flames on his face. Whether that meant he was a demon or he was born to be a tiny barrel racer, I don't know but he sure was cute.

There were also about 15 pony foals. Fredi already said that when Cristino gets older he's getting two of them. I read about a five year old boy who's father is a horse trainer and the kid has his own pony training business. This kid trains them and then runs them through a sale. There are a lot of people that want to buy the kid's ponies and they come from far and wide to buy them because he does such a great job training. How cute is that?

They say ponies are much harder to train than horses. Is that because they are untrained, or are they really mostly pigs? Most of my experience with ponies was when I was very young so I thought they were great. I started riding the big horses exclusively at the age of ten so I don't really remember. I guess I will find out, because I am taking a young un-broke pony into training for a client on Thursday. I have been wanting a pony for about two years so this should be interesting. The last pony we were training got the boot after a few weeks, we decided he wasn't worth it. The pony tried to scrape Fredi off on the fence, he was downright nasty. He belonged to an eight year old girl, and he wasn't suitable for her so he was promptly sold.

Maybe in a few years the flame faced pony and I will cross paths again and this time we will take him home for our little cowboy.

Posting The Trot Demonstration

2008-11-03T05:30:00.005-05:00

When I am working a horse, my usual riding routine mostly starts out the same. I mount, walk for a few minutes and then begin a brisk warm up with a working trot.

In this video clip I am demonstrating posting the trot.

I digress... I'm brand new at this video thing, for some odd reason it looked a lot better before I uploaded it to iMovie, now it's pretty grainy.

I can tell a rider one hundred times how to do something or I can show them once and get the same results. When I was on the other side and taking riding lessons I used to watch my instructor demonstrate, and then as I would ride I would visualize her and emulate.

As your instructor this is what I would ask you to watch for during this demonstration:

Rise and sit softly. I am not rising too high out of the saddle and then slamming down on the horse's back.
Hands taking hold of the horse's mouth while remaining still and soft. I find the position that best helps my horse balance and collect, then I stay in that position with my hands gently and softly.
Driving the horse forward and into the bit with my legs. I sit, squeeze, and then rise with the amount of pressure that particular horse needs to keep pace.
I'm not sure if you can see it but I am looking ahead at in the direction of travel and not down at the ground or the horse. Don't have tunnel vision while riding, be able to look and see the whole area around you.
Not balancing on the horse's mouth, body moves independently of the hands. Kind of like chewing gum, hopping on one foot, and patting your head at the same time.
Be on correct diagonal at all times! (A major pet peeve of mine is seeing a professional trainer on the wrong diagonal.)
Rider cueing horse to change direction by changing diagonal.
Rider steering horse with legs as opposed to pulling the horse's nose around the turn.
Perry is moving forward collected while reaching and extending her stride. This horse is extremely short strided and to get any type of reach out of her I have continually drive her forward with my legs more than I have to drive most horses.
Perry is remaining pretty straight from head to tail while moving forward and moving her shoulder to turn as opposed to being heavy on the forehand and resisting me.

Note *When trotting, I take a hold of my horses face more and for a longer period of time than I do any other gait.

Stable Scoop Episode 12 - Economy

2008-11-02T22:24:00.002-05:00

The economy is in a sad state these days. What I have been doing personally to try and combat the recession is to spend more money on investing in advertising my horse business and my new blog which is soon to be revealed!.

What has been saving me through these tough times is "not putting all my eggs in one basket". With finances as well as riding, I have to try and get creative and if what I am doing doesn't work, I just try something else.

I feel that the only way to make money is to spend money, but spending money wisely on something that will give me a return on my investment. That's my two cents on the subject...

Enjoy this weeks episode!

Deanna

This episode of the Stable Scoop Radio Show is brought to you by the Horse Radio Network.
_________________________________________

How are these economic downturns affecting horse business owners and what can they do to get through? Four guests that know a whole lot about horse businesses help us evaluate the options and what business owners need to do in these tough times. A must listen for anyone in the horse business.

Stable Scoop Episode 12 - Show Notes and Links:

Hosts: Glenn the Geek and Helena B.

Co-Host: Laurie Cerny from One Horse Press: Laurie wrote the book "Horsin' Around The USA Guide To Marketing & Promoting Your Horse Business". Laurie A. Cerny is a professional journalist and marketing professional who has won numerous state and national awards for her writing, photography, graphic design and advertising both in mainstream media and within the horse industry. Her work has appeared in John Lyon’s Perfect Horse, The Horse, Horse Illustrated, Western Horseman, Equine Times, Kalamazoo Gazette, Detroit News, Chicago Tribune, and more. She also served as the communication director for a major saddle and horse product manufacturer.

Guest: Megan Lanzarone of Team CEO Eventingin Lexington, KY. Team CEO is a successful full service Eventing facility, offering locations in Ashland KY and Lexington KY. Megan Lanzarone (previously Megan Moore), 4th in the 2005 USEA Gold Cup Advanced Level Standings. Megan has successfully competed through the Advanced Level and has students through the Intermediate level. They are into the training and sales of event horses and have a very active training and lesson stable

Guest: Todd Branson is the AQHA Sr. Manager of Marketing. Todd graduated from Purdue University with a bachelors of science degree in Animal Science in 2001. Shortly after graduating, Todd went to work as a 4-H Extension Educator with Oklahoma State University. In 2004, he moved to Amarillo to begin his career with the American Quarter Horse Association in marketing. Today, Todd is the Sr. Manager of Marketing and focuses most of his time with AQHA on show marketing and outside print, web and television advertising for the Association.

Guest: Ingrid Andrews from equinnovation.com. Ingrid Andrews is an equine business consultant who has been helping horse business owners with operating and marketing their businesses for over 15 years. She has given seminars, taught a college course on equine legal issues, has articles on many business and marketing topics published in print and online, and is also the owner of a breeding farm. You can get more information at her website, www.equinnovation.com, a great resource for equine professionals.

AQHA Guide to Showing with Accounting for the Arena.

SCORE - Councilers to America's Small Business. Lots of good financial advice and resources for business owners on this site.

Dressage Daily's article on how "Horse Businesses Can Survive Economic Slump".

_______________________________________