Anchor Way Farm

04/10/2026

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03/05/2026

02/03/2026

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Let’s Talk About Trainer Rides.

There’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately, and it feels like an important conversation: Trainer rides.

Somewhere along the way, I feel like trainer rides have started to feel optional, like a luxury, or something only needed when things go really wrong. But I believe they are one of the most important parts of keeping horses happy, confident, and reliable in their jobs.

Especially the good ones! The steady school horses. The saintly kids horses. The show horses packing their riders around week after week. Those horses don’t stay that way by accident. They stay that way because someone with experience is checking in with them from the saddle.

Horses are athletes, but they’re also thinkers and feelers. Over time they develop habits, compensations, and questions, just like riders do. A horse gets a little crooked or starts dulling to the leg. They lose confidence in a certain question or quietly start carrying more than their fair share. These things can show up as the ride feeling harder, less smooth, less fun… until suddenly both horse and rider are frustrated. Or they start to voice their frustration and they get labelled as having “bad behavior”.

That’s where a trainer ride isn’t a luxury, it’s part of the care. A professional ride helps to clarify the aids, rebuild confidence on the flat and over fences, and supports them physically and mentally in the job we ask them to do. Then that carries over into the owner’s ride. And the rider gets to build their relationship on a solid, supported foundation instead of constantly trying to fix things themselves.

It’s also about fairness.

Our horses work hard. They try, they tolerate mistakes, they take care of their riders. It’s only fair that we give them rides where the aids are clear, the balance is correct, and they get help doing the job well. Those rides keep them happier in their work and help prevent the slow mental burnout we sometimes see in over-generous horses.
That’s not taking something away from the rider, it’s supporting the partnership.

When horse, rider, and trainer all play their roles, the whole system works better. Horses stay more reliable. Riders progress with less frustration. And the relationship between them gets stronger, not more strained.

At the end of the day, trainer rides aren’t about control. They’re about responsibility.



Photo Credit: Wild Griffin Photography

12/25/2025

Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all of us at Anchor Way!! ⚓️🎄🎁

12/03/2025

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Riders often assume that the surest path to progress is fixing their attention on results. They imagine that if they think enough about winning, consistency, or perfect rounds, they will somehow ride better. But in Geoff Teall on Riding Hunters, Jumpers, and Equitation, Teall explains that this mindset leads many riders further away from the very outcomes they want. Obsessing about results creates pressure, tension, and unrealistic expectations—not improvement. When riders learn to focus instead on what they are doing right now, their performance becomes clearer, more confident, and more successful.

One of Teall’s strongest cautions is simple: “Beware of focusing only on results.” He has seen countless riders set themselves back by becoming fixated on where they want to finish rather than how they are riding. Their attention shifts away from the horse and onto an imagined standard they feel they must meet. The problem, he explains, is that this approach “doesn’t work.” When riders concentrate intensely on achieving a particular outcome, they often “completely destroy their chances of achieving it.”

Teall describes this pattern in an older student he has taught for more than twelve years. Her persistent goal was always the same: I just want to be consistent. According to Teall, there was nothing wrong with her desire, but her method worked against her. “The more she worries about being consistent, doing well, and winning, the worse she performs.” This isn’t because she lacks ability; it’s because thinking about consistency pulls her away from the ride unfolding underneath her.

Teall’s message is clear: riders cannot think their way into the results they want. They must ride their way into them.

Riders who focus on results often fall into a cycle of trying harder and harder, believing that more pressure will produce better riding. But Teall notes that this only increases the likelihood of setback. One missed distance or small mistake can “derail their master plan,” leaving them even more discouraged than before. In some cases, riders never recover their momentum because the mistake feels like proof that they will never reach their goal.

This dynamic blinds riders to the reality that progress is built over time. Setbacks are normal, expected, and even useful. But riders who chase results often interpret those setbacks as failures rather than part of the learning process.

📎 Continue reading this article at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2025/11/30/why-riders-sabotage-themselves-by-focusing-on-results-instead-of-riding-the-moment/📸 © The Plaid Horse