by John Lyons – with Jeanne Wise Smith
When you are teaching your horse a new cue, have you ever wondering how they come to understand what it is that you are asking? Many times people will say to me, “How did you get your horse to do that?” Well, to a great degree it is the consistency of applying the same signal. But before you can get the desired performance, your horse must go through a mental process in order to give the cue importance and then respond to that signal. I have found that the horse goes through a specific process to understand what it is what I am asking and that is – recognition, response and control. (more…)

by John LyonsAll horses, like people, experience some type of fear. Horse’s become afraid when faced with many different situations. You cannot stop a horse from becoming afraid, nor should you try to stop them from being afraid. Fear is normal and necessary for survival. The horse is a flight animal – runs first and thinks later. What you should do, though, is to teach your horse how to handle his fear so that you and the horse stay safe. (more…)

By John Lyons and Jeanne Wise Smith

Would you like your trained horse to be more responsive to your leg cue? Are you finding that you have to kick harder and harder or resort to spurs to get your horse to respond to your legs and increase his leg speed? Well if you answered “yes” to either or both of these questions, I would like to share some of my training principles that may help you to keep your horse responsive to your legs. (more…)

By John Lyons and Jeanne Wise Smith 
Do you like to watch your horse when he is in the pasture? Do you like to watch your horse when he is playing, eating and/or relaxing? Most horse people love to watch their horse when turned out. What do you see when you watch your horse in the pasture? Well, one of the things I look for is the way my horse moves. (more…)

By:  John Lyons with Francine Acord

Many horse owners at some time or another seek out a trainer to work with their horse. With today’s sources, magazines to Internet, finding a trainer may be quite easy. Knowing what to look for in a trainer may be a different matter, therefore, I would like to give you a few suggestions to consider as you search. (more…)

How cooperative is your horse about having his feet handled? Do you have to wrestle his feet off the ground? Does the horse ever try to kick or pull his foot away when you are trying to pick it up, clean it or have farrier work done? Whether your horse is a pasture pet or one that is handled all the time, you must take care of his hoofs. A horse that shows unwanted behaviors when having his feet handled can be a real problem. (more…)