Stop Your Struggle

Now You Can Stop The Struggle With Your Horse -
Even When Your Situation Seems Hopeless!

I’ll show you step-by-step exactly what to do to stop your struggle – especially when you feel like you’re the only one who hasn't given up on your horse yet...

Dear Friend,

Of course, you want to have a horse that feels easy to ride.

But you're confused, in doubt, or you don't know where to turn. You want a horse that feels easy to ride more than anything else, and you should.

That's where I come in. For over 25 years, I've been working with riders, instructors and professional horse trainers from all over the world, helping thousands of riders have horses that feel easy to ride. It's been my life's mission.

Over those 25 years, I've discovered exactly what works and what doesn't work when it comes to having a horse that feels easy to ride.

Keep reading, and I'll show you exactly what to do for your situation.

The first thing we need to do, is get you to understand what you're up against.  The competition you're facing as you do everything you can to stop the struggle with your horse.

Part of the competition comes from our addiction to strategies that never work...

Which of these strategies are you trying right now?

1. The first is riding for an hour. You know the routine: Walk. Trot. Canter. Left. Right. This almost never works. 

2. The second strategy is trying to fix everything from the saddle. That never works.

3. The third strategy is fighting the symptoms, using training aids, side reins, draw reins, or gadgets. That never works. 

  Always look for the real cause: imbalance in your horse's body.

  If you fight the symptoms, horses become even more stiff. If you help the body find balance, they immediately become less stiff. 

  See, most riders don't know that if you help your horse restore balance (don't fight the symptoms) they will be able to carry you easily.

  They will be a pleasure to ride.

  Amazing!

  It works like magic!

  A horse says: "You know, I hate being ridden." 

  "I understand. Of course you don't want to do it like this."

   It looks like you're never going to ride your horse again, but you're getting to the roots of why they don't like to carry you. They don't like to carry you because of imbalance.

  They don't want to turn against somebody who's always helping them find balance.

  That's not the rider they're pulling away from.

  They're pulling away from the rider who fights the symptoms.

 "You owe me good behavior, because I pay for everything and feed you and care for you."

  No, no. You've got to get rid of resistance before their good behavior can show. And their resistance may seem to you like it's totally independent of anything that you do.

  No!

  You are supporting and even adding to their resistance by your attitude of needing to ride and needing to perform.

  Just see it from your horse's perspective.

  That makes their resistance melt away. And so we want to continue this attitude.

  You are becoming stable for your horse now.

  When you say, "I have to ride, I need this to work, I can't stop now", you're really saying, "I can't really see what your body is struggling with. I can't see that. Can't you carry me anyway?"

  No, they don't.

  "If I don't push, we won't progress. I need this to happen now. Can't you carry me?"

  And the answer is no.

4. Pessimism. We become addicted to our pessimism.

  Not loud negativity but quiet thoughts like "This will never change", "She's difficult", "He's a naughty boy", "This is as good as it gets", "He's too old, the wrong type, the wrong build."

  I once had a rider say to me, "I know riding him is impossible. You don't know my horse. He's very stubborn. He never listens."

  I say, "Never? To nothing?"

  She said, "Well, maybe he listens to minor things, like picking up his feet, but not when it comes to something as important as riding."

I said, "Well, obviously, he does listen. And I think when it's something this important is precisely when he's trying to tell you something. That it's difficult, or uncomfortable or impossible for him to carry you in balance. So maybe we also need to listen to him". 

  But people fall in love with pessimism. But it's  just another strategy that never works... but people always try them! Now, here are...

When you want to ride your horse, and your horse doesn’t want to (or simply can’t) it can feel like a tug of war. 

There is tension.

There is stress.

So I've discovered the psychology of applying Aikido, where you focus on harmonizing with the other's energy and maintaining balance, rather than fighting force with force. 

We cannot ride our horse, as long as we want something different from what they are willing and able to do. 

I remember years ago, when I was using my horse for dressage. I was riding Maestro and I wanted to do a dressage test. 

And then I was riding the exercises of that test: circles, shoulder-in, haunches-in, walk, trot, canter. 

Maestro didn't listen at all. 

When I wanted to ride a circle to the right, all he wanted to do is go to the left. When I wanted to ride a circle to the left, all he wanted to do is rear. When I wanted to do a collected canter, he started running.

See. the opposite of what I wanted.

The moment I stopped fighting what's there, and started working with how Maestro's body actually functions, everything changed. 

Within a few training sessions, he could turn easily to the left and right, and he could listen.

So use Aikido. Go with them.

Now here are three elements, three ideas, three strategies, all under the philosophy of the old grandmasters:

1. Stop asking your horse to do what his body cannot do yet. Stop asking your horse to carry you before his body is ready.

The fastest way to reduce resistance, tension, and stress is to stop asking for what the body cannot physically do yet.

2. Treat resistance as information. Not disobedience. Start seeing every subtle sign of stiffness as a message.

  You see, when a horse is running, rearing, or resisting, that horse is not being difficult. And when you try harder to push through it, you're not listening to them. That causes their resistance to become even stronger.

  So start listening to what your horse has to say with his behavior - whatever it is.

  "Yes, of course, a circle is harder to the right."

  "Yes, it makes sense, that you start to run when cantering to the left."

  Don't fight the symptoms.

  Just see it as information, and start listening to your horse.

3. Align with reality. Accept everything as it is.

Start with the status quo - exactly as it is. All horses are asymmetrical by nature. So if your horse feels stiff, that's okay. If your horse feels crooked, that's normal. If your horse feels tense, nothing has gone wrong.  

This uses Aikido, and it always works. 

As long as this tug of war is going on between you and your horse, you cannot achieve your goals. The moment the pressure disappears, the door opens.

Now, you can't do this for a week, or a day, or a month, and then switch back to the old pressuring self. It's not going to work for you. And you can't do it partly in one part of the training session, and then go back to stronger aids, more pressure, or more gadgets.

You've got to practice consistency with this. No pressure at all.

This does not mean you stop training. It means you change how you train.

You guide your horse from the ground. It's safe. It's horse friendly. It balances your horse. And it prepares your horse for riding.

Now, a lot of riders, and many professionals, generally believe that if the issue shows up under the saddle, that is where it must be solved.

Trying to solve problems while riding usually makes them worse.

Do groundwork instead. 

10 minutes of groundwork where your horse genuinly releases tension (lowers the head, stretches the body) is worth more than an hour of riding with resistance. 

Groundwork strategies work immediately to reduce resistance. 

Your horse's resistance is being supported by you telling your horse what you want, or adding more gear. 

Every time you add more pressure or try harder, you are telling your horse: “What I want matters more than what your body can do.”

And the moment your horse feels that, the nervous system prepares to protect itself. That is when resistance starts.

Work with Mother Nature. Always.

Why? 

Because it saves your nerves. Saves your confidence. Saves you energy. And you end up achieving your goals, much more than resisting your horse or adding more gear.

If you want to work with your horse, the worst thing you can do is fight the symptoms. Never do it!

Here's a typical case in my practice:

Recently, a rider reached out to me, and told me that her horse was bolting, not listening, and that every ride felt like a battle.

And of course she was very upset. 

I simply asked her to stop asking for performance and start preparing her horse’s body instead.

I gave her three simple steps to focus on, and we made an appointment for the following Tuesday.

She contacted me on Saturday, very excited, and she said: "I know we don't have an appointment until Tuesday, but I just can't wait to tell you what happened today.

I did the three steps you told me to do, and my horse felt completely different. He stopped resisting. He softened. He listened. It was like my horse said "I think I can do this, and I want to do it."

Those same three steps, and the psychology behind them, can work for you and your horse too.

I know, because they've worked for thousands of riders just like you.

Your situation is not unique. And more importantly — your situation is NOT hopeless.

The STrategies I use have been developed over 25 years of successfully working with riders and horses of all breeds, across all kinds of equestrian disciplines, and all kinds of situations.

Now, there are two kinds of struggles that happen, sort of at the same time. One is the 'behavior' struggle, and the other one is the 'body' struggle.

We get the two confused.

We think if we can fix the behavior - the not listening, the resisting, the explosions - everything will be fine. The more you try to fix the behavior, the more resistance your horse shows.

Everybody thinks, professionals and non-professionals alike, that if you want progress, you have to make your horse listen.

That's why you hear things like:

“He’s testing me.”
“He’s being naughty.”
“He’s just trying to get out of work.”
“He knows exactly what he’s doing.”
“Show him who's the boss and make him listen”

But I say that it's the 'making' that makes it not work.

When you tuck your horse's head into a frame, you're working at making him listen. 

When you reach for the next bit, you're working at making him listen. 

When you repeat drills over and over, you're working at making him listen. 

When you use stronger aids,

When you motivate him with food.

Both when you're pressuring with cues or motivating with food, you're working at making him listen.

You are working at changing his behavior. And it's that working at making him listen, that is the only problem.

Proof? You want proof?

Stop all of that, and watch your horse change and relax. 

Stop making him listen. Stop fixing the behavior. Stop fighting the symptoms.

Allow and accept, one hundred percent, whatever your horse feels or does as perfectly okay.

It's perfectly okay. 

And watch him relax and open up.

His negative behavior toward you will weaken rapidly, because there is nothing left to resist. And when you sincerely see your horse's natural asymmetry, when you lovingly and sincerely go one hundred percent totally, instantly, and happily your horse's way, when you do that, there's nothing for their negative behavior to build on.

You have to put the white flag up.

You have to throw your gun down.

And when you do that, your horse does the same thing. Your horse cannot resist you when you are no longer pushing him.

It’s not normal or natural to not push or use pressure… but it is healthy.

Work with the body.

Do not fight the symptoms.

It’s not to your advantage.

Trying to push through resistance is a losing strategy.

Now, I've seen these ideas work with my own horses, and with hundreds and hundreds of other horses.

I'm 57, my horse Maestro lived to be 31 years old, and we've been together for 24 years. 

We've had rare, but sometimes serious problems. Immediately, I followed these principles. Each time I did, Maestro lost any resistance right away.

These ideas always work. Because they respect how a horse's body actually functions.

You see, they're not natural to us because our brain loves quick fixes. It wants to choose a goal and reach it as fast as possible.

But if the method is wrong, the goal becomes impossible to reach. 

As Steinbrecht already said:

"As long as horses are of flesh and blood, there is no philosopher’s stone in horsemanship."

You have to let your horse's body tell you what is possible.

Let your horse's body set the timeline, and your ambition says "I want to ride my horse". This is what your ambition is saying.

"Okay", the horse's body says, "then you've got to do these things. You've got to prepare my body from the ground, create balance, and stop fighting the symptoms of natural asymmetry".

"But I feel I'm wasting time!", "I'm not making progress", "I'll never get there!".

There you go. The brain wants a quick fix. And the brain, this time, is wrong. You lose with that approach.

You’ve got to let your horse’s body determine what it is ready for and what to train next.

Your horse wants to carry you when you stop making him listen and start working with Mother Nature. 

If his body is stiff, it's perfectly okay.

If you can't ride your horse for now, that's perfectly okay.

It's perfectly okay.

It's only a preference that you get to ride your horse. It's not a need. The more that you think of it as a need, you're not going to get it. 

If it's only a preference, you have a lot of power there. 

If you desperately need a loan from the bank, the bank will say no.

People tend to believe that, "they'll think that I'm not a serious equestrian if I don't ride my horse". "If I can't fix this while riding, I'm failing as a rider." "If I stop riding and do groundwork, it means I'm going backwards" 

Well, is riding with stiffness, struggles, and stress, is it helping you move forward? Does it work?

Of course not.

Does it work? Does it work? Does it work?

Stop what doesn't work. Try something that has a chance of working.

I always loved reading the books of the old grandmasters.

In one of them, a master puts his arm around an apprentice and says: "Son, I was told when I was younger that there are three kinds of riders.

One kind is the foolish ones, who don't learn. The smart ones, who learn from their own mistakes. But then there are the wise ones, the ones who learn from the mistakes of others.

When you've already made enough mistakes on your own, I'm telling you that other people have done the same kind of mistakes - the mistake of saying, "But I need to ride my horse" - pressure, pressure, pressure. And it doesn't work for them, either.

Learn from what other riders just like you have done to create balance in their horse's body and mind, and finally experience the wonderful relationship they dreamed of when they first chose their horse… the trust, the togetherness, the safety… and even that magical feeling when horse and rider move as one.

I've created a program called "Straightness Training Mastery" that outlines, in step-by-step detail, all the most effective training strategies I've developed over my 25-years of working with riders. It's different than any program on horse training you've seen. 

This program has taken a lifetime to develop.

I was looking online the other day, browsing through horse riding programs, and every program I saw was about how to ride better. How to train smarter. How of to fix riding problems... everything except how to help a horse's body become ready for riding in the first place.

Traditional programs only work when a horse is already balanced enough and strong enough to do what is being asked.

The problem with that is that most horses aren't -- that's why traditional riding so often creates more tension and more resistance, instead of addressing the root cause.

Straightness Training Mastery is about one thing: exactly what to do to stop your struggle - especially if you're only one who still believes in your horse.

The program shows you exactly what to do, the exact strategies to use, and how to apply them -- helping you every step of the way, guiding and coaching you all the way to having a horse that feels easy to ride, and ending your struggle as quickly as possible.

• Three "common sense" strategies you're probably using right now and why they never work. 
• The one thing you can do that will have your horse open up and willing to learn and listen to you. (He'll probably develop faster than you can keep up with.)
• How your hands trigger your horse that immedately defeat any change you have of getting your horse do what you want. (You'll probably kick yourself when you realize how often you're using them).
• What your horse is really telling you when he feels stiff, resistant, explosive, or "not listening".
• What to do (and not to do) when training your horse, that will have your horse feeling more and more in balance. 
• Five things you can start doing today that will immediately turn the tide in your favor. (By the way, these five things always work.)
• Why all the advice that well-meaning professionals and riders are giving you is actually making it impossible for things to work out under the saddle.
• Why "working harder" or "trying to fix" your horse isn't working, and what to do about it.
• How to overcome the most self-defeating mindset. Once you realize it, it's like flipping a switch that will allow you to get the results with your horse you're looking for.

Now, I want to be clear with you -- I'm not offering magic tricks, shortcuts, or quick fixes.

I specialize in helping riders understand how a horse’s body actually works, and how to train in a horse-friendlly way that creates balance, harmony, and trust.

In a quarter of a century, I've had the chance to help thousands of riders and horses -- even when they were told their horse was hopeless or unsuitable.

Now, you have to take the next step.

You have to take some constructive action right away, or the very thing you fear most will continue, and your situation will be hopeless. 

Remember, everything you do right now is either helping or making the struggle harder to solve later. And the most traditional things riders do often create more resistance.

"Straightness Training Mastery" will give you the specific step-by-step strategies you need to have a horse that feals easy to ride. You can get access now for only €99. 

When you click on the button below, you'll be taken to a secure order page for your credit card or Paypal information. We use a third party secure processing company so your order information is kept completely confidential. Only the processing company and your credit card company access the information.

Your order is processed immediately, and you'll get a receipt for your purchase with a transaction number and a direct link to where you can access the full program right away.

The whole process takes just a few minutes and you'll be inside the program within 10-minutes from now.

When you get access to ST Mastery, take a quick look through the program, and start with a module that feels most relevant to your situation right now. After that, go back, and go through the program step by step. Try the strategies for a few weeks. You'll begin to notice changes, and it will encourage you to applying the other strategies.  

Whatever happens, you'll use the program as a constant reference as you're moving forward with your horse.

I know that if you knew for sure that the answer to having a horse that is reasy to ride was in this program you'd want to have access to it. That's why I want you to have a chance to explore the program before you decide if you'll keep it.

Straightness Training Mastery comes with a 100% Money Back Guarantee. Go through the program and try the strategies risk free. If the strategies and information in the program aren't helpful for you and your horse --  just reach out to us within 14 days, and we'll refund your payment, and you can keep the downloads.

Just click on one of the buttons below to get access safely with our secure order form.