Horseman's Academy

The horsemanship industry, for all its lofty ideals and bleeding-heart woo-woo mindfulness garbage, is failing to protect riders. Horse injuries have spiked 139% in riders 65+, despite total injuries across all age groups are lower. And the severity of the injuries has increased. This means that when falls happen, despite widespread use of modern safety gear like protective helmets and vests, traumatic brain and spinal injuries are actually MORE frequent. The data is clear: the modern horsemanship industry is failing to promote safety. Modern riders and horses are LESS well trained and LESS capable than ever. Helmets are the only thing holding back this flood of incompetence. [Citations] Equestrian Related Injuries: A National Database Study | AOAO https://aoao.org/2024/04/24/equestrian-related-injuries-a-national-database-study/ Sports and Recreational Injuries - Injury Facts https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/home-and-community/safety-topics/sports-and-recreational-injuries/ Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Injuries Related to Individual and Team Sports: An Analysis of the NEISS Database Between 2017 and 2021 - PubMed https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37900862/ Sports and Recreational Injuries - Injury Facts https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/home-and-community/safety-topics/sports-and-recreational-injuries/ Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Injuries Related to Individual and Team Sports: An Analysis of the NEISS Database Between 2017 and 2021 - PubMed https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37900862/ Injury Patterns and Associated Demographic Characteristics in Children with a Fracture from Equines: A US National Based Study https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/11/12/1443 Illustrations of three key branching points of the survey: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/llustrations-of-three-key-branching-points-of-the-survey-A-C_fig1_347862914 [PDF] Horse Riding Accident Statistics in 2023 (U.S. Data) https://www.biamo.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/HorsesOnly-Horse-Riding-Accident-Statistics-in-2023-website-article.pdf Spinal Injuries from Equestrian Activity: A US Nationwide Study - PMC https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12250276/ Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Injuries Related to Individual and Team Sports: An Analysis of the NEISS Database Between 2017 and 2021 - PubMed https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37900862/ Covid-19-and-final-2020-NEISS-estimates-March-December-6b6_edited20210607_0 https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/Covid-19-and-final-2020-NEISS-estimates-March-December-6b6_edited20210607_0.pdf Injury Patterns and Associated Demographic Characteristics in Children with a Fracture from Equines: A US National Based Study https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/11/12/1443 Spinal Injuries from Equestrian Activity: A US Nationwide Study - PMC https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12250276/ Equestrian Related Injuries: A National Database Study | AOAO https://aoao.org/2024/04/24/equestrian-related-injuries-a-national-database-study/ Equestrian Related Injuries: A National Database Study | AOAO https://aoao.org/2024/04/24/equestrian-related-injuries-a-national-database-study/ Injury Patterns and Associated Demographic Characteristics in Children with a Fracture from Equines: A US National Based Study https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/11/12/1443 Sports and Recreational Injuries - Injury Facts https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/home-and-community/safety-topics/sports-and-recreational-injuries/ [/citations]

Many riders chase surface-level appearances and miss what true collection actually feels like: lift at the withers, hindquarters engaged, front end light. In this episode, Jake explains why face-checking cycles fail and how true self-carriage emerges when softness and steering fuse together through the neck rein. The key moment to introduce this concept to the horse is what he calls the "turning point" —a subtle give at the withers in response to indirect rein pressure, where guiding and gathering become one. If you can recognize and reward that shift, you stop babysitting your horse’s frame and start cultivating collection that carries through transitions, circles, and straight lines without constant nagging.

"Feel and timing” is a mysterious concept for many riders because no one ever explains what it actually is, or how to grow it. In this episode, Jake breaks it down into what he calls the "four-factor awareness model" — Softness, Acceptance, Balance, Rhythm (SABR). These four layers act like tumblers on a combination lock: at first you just reward basic physical compliance, then mental relaxation, then true balance, and finally rhythm as the capstone. SABR gives you a roadmap, both for teaching any maneuver and refining your own feel in the saddle. If you’ve ever wondered how expert trainers seem to “just know,” this episode decodes the structure behind that awareness.

Most riders never move past “apply pressure, get release.” In this episode, Jake breaks down the three evolutions of pressure every horse goes through—avoidance, acceptance, and seeking—and why staying stuck in stage one creates stiff, reward-hacked horses that look trained but aren’t. You’ll learn how to evolve your horse’s mindset from just escaping pressure to actually relaxing into it, and eventually to seeking connection and offering movements with initiative. If you want to understand how real softness, throughness, and that almost telepathic feel with your horse are built, this is the roadmap.

Everyone thinks they understand approach and retreat. But what they miss—what nobody ever told you—is the hidden structure underneath it. The actual cognitive sequence that governs how horses learn to process unfamiliar environments isn’t just “move toward, move away, repeat.” It’s a layered behavioral model: Orientation. Attention. Engagement. Or, if you want a shorthand, NFT—Notice, Focus, Try. In this episode, Jake breaks down what that really means. Not just in theory, but in the moment-to-moment diagnostic work that separates surface-level obedience from real communication. He explains how most riders misread “the try,” how they either overwhelm their horse right when it’s beginning to investigate—or they freeze and release pressure when the horse disengages. Both mistakes teach the horse the same thing: give up. You’ll learn how to feel the difference between a horse that’s just looking at an object and a horse that’s actively engaged with it. You’ll learn to recognize the subtle shift—the moment when attention starts to fade, when the energy goes slack in the body, when the green light turns to yellow. That’s your moment to re-engage. But only if you see it coming. Jake explains this using two analogies. One is the bicycle—you need a little forward momentum to stay balanced. If the bike starts to wobble, you know to add a little energy. The same with the horse: you add a measured amount of pressure not to force compliance, but to keep the mind from slipping into disengagement. The other analogy is the staircase. A horse that walks up to an obstacle and sniffs it isn’t necessarily offering a try. It’s like putting your foot on the step without ever shifting your weight. You’re not climbing. You’re just standing there. The moment of commitment—the weight shift—is the try. And it’s easy to miss if you’re not looking for it. Most riders never develop the timing or feel to work at this level. Instead, they react to surface cues, confuse stillness for softness, and reward comfort zones rather than progress. Worse, they unknowingly teach their horses to spook, to rear, to back away—by releasing pressure at the exact moment the horse bails. Jake explains how this dynamic gets programmed and how to reverse it. This isn’t about teaching your horse to be “good with bridges.” It’s about teaching them how to process any unfamiliar situation with curiosity instead of panic. You’re not training for the object. You’re training for the unknown. And unless you understand the hidden cognitive structure behind approach and retreat, you’re just managing symptoms. This episode introduces a fundamental mental model that will show up again and again throughout the podcast. It’s the blueprint behind boldness, attention, focus, learning, and pressure timing. It’s the hidden grammar your horse is already speaking—whether you know how to listen or not. You want to know what a real “try” looks like? You’ll know by the end of this episode.

This isn’t content anymore. We’re upgrading to a new mental operating system. In this episode, I lay the groundwork for the doctrine I’ve been building quietly behind the scenes for the last year: A latticework of models. A structured thought-system to go from zero to mastery. A horsemanship ontology—from foundation to finish. Topics include: Why I went silent (while the horse industry keeps getting louder and dumber) Why I deleted my old podcast episodes—and what I’m replacing them with Mental model design, cognitive OS architecture, and building a second brain to succeed with horses The pricing strategy behind my upcoming launch—and who it’s really for How I’m mapping out the next revolution in horsemanship If you’re looking for tips and tricks, this program isn’t for you. If you’re looking for structure, recursion, and a system you can ride for life? You're in the right place. Welcome to the new ontology. And we’re just getting started...

What makes an elite horse feel the way they do under saddle is their mastery of these 5 "skills that scale" — Drive, Direction, Coil, Collection and Compression. These 5 abilities influence every single thing we ask our horse to do, and the more our horse masters these skills, the more balanced and correct movement they demonstrate, and more effortless responses they give us. If you’ve ever watched a high level Reiner or Cowhorse perform and felt the hair stand up on the back of your neck, it’s precisely because great movement is beautiful to the eye. We can sense movement that is better by how aesthetically pleasing it is. The best performance horses in the world are fun to watch because the way they move and responds is, MECHANICALLY, better. And it’s precisely those mechanics that our training system offers. There is GREATNESS in your horse, and we want YOU to feel it.

A quick audio summarizing the two most important milestones inside the High Level Pathway training system. These keys open the door to teaching advanced maneuvers, and ultimately promoting any horse to riding one-handed in the bridle with ease. Discover "Foundations Of Excellence" at: www.advancedhorsemanship.com

Understand this, and you understand the whole game. In this voice memo Jake emphasizes the often-overlooked benefits of the yield-to-a-stop exercise, a crucial step in our colt starting process.

A quick mini-masterclass on connecting the word "whoa" with the sensation of a horse loading up, "getting into his legs", and stopping soft and balanced. How to make it muscle memory. And how it becomes the starting point for a really good sliding stop.

In this voice memo Jake offers several examples that illustrate what he calls the 'confidence equation': Confidence = (Horse Skills) x (Rider Skills) That multiplication sign is important. Because if either the horse's foundation or the rider's abilities are at zero, then what's the product? ZERO. It doesn't matter how well trained your horse is — if your skills as a rider are lacking, and you encounter a situation where your horse needs to rely on you for leadership and guidance, you will fail the test. On the flip side, even an expert rider will struggle to maintain control of a horse with a poor foundation. So if you want more confidence, fun and success in the saddle? Both you and your horse need to level up. It's as simple as that.

In this episode you'll learn the predictable, step-by-step formula we're using to help our Non Pro clients get wildly better results with their horses — going from "foundation" to "finesse" faster than they ever thought possible. We document our process with an owner who recently hauled to our facility for an Uplevel private lesson, then committed her reining horse to 30 days training with Lundahl Performance, and took another 3-day private lesson at the end of the program to experience and practice what her horse had learned. You'll discover what steps we followed, what exercises and concepts drove the biggest breakthroughs, the philosophy behind why they work, and how to get those results for yourself. Ready to dive deeper into our training philosophy and get to the next level? Start your journey with this free training video: The Ultimate Lead Change Formula. Lundahl Performance Horses Website: LundahlPerformance.com Find Us On Facebook: Facebook.com/LundahlHorses "Making Advanced Horsemanship Accessible"

Jake shares some personal experiences, and the story of a successful client, to illustrate how most beginner riders under-estimate their own capabilities, and their horse's potential. Only when you've taken the first major steps toward bettering yourself as a horseman, do you recognize the true scope of the opportunities in front of you. Want to experience that transformation for yourself? Visit coltstarting.com/dream and check out "Dream Horse Academy".

I've started a lot of wild mustangs over the past 13 years. Here's the biggest lessons I've learned. My program: https://www.coltstartingsecrets.com/ Training without a plan is just guessing. Don't guess. Learn the program. Follow the steps. Stay on track and stay safe. https://www.coltstartingsecrets.com/

In this podcast I share two stories which serve as important examples of what can happen when you miss this critical step in the process of starting a horse under saddle. For a free masterclass on colt starting check out the following episodes: Day 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lead-change-troubleshooting-dry-work-basics/id1345025627?i=1000463522073 Day 2: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lazy-horse-motivation-flag-work-intro/id1345025627?i=1000465614836 Day 3: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/stress-free-trailering-leading-by-the-feet/id1345025627?i=1000468145180 Days 4-6: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/introducing-live-cattle-horses-that-charge-humans/id1345025627?i=1000471914333 Colt Starting Secrets online course: https://www.coltstartingsecrets.com Our website: https://www.lundahlperformance.com

Jennifer Osborne is a professional firefighter and owner/operator of Fire & Ice Horses, a thoroughbred rescue based in Las Vegas, Nevada. In this interview we discuss a wide range of topics including horsemanship education, and our reactions after the Along for the Ride Symposium in February 2022. Along For The Ride Website: https://alongfortheride.pro/ Fire & Ice Horses on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FireAndIceHorses Lundahl Performance on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LundahlHorses Our Website (join our newsletter here): https://www.coltstarting.com/ Colt Starting Secrets: https://www.coltstartingsecrets.com/

Coaching call recap. Here's a voice memo I recorded after a 1-on-1 call with a client whose reined cowhorse was struggling with a sloppy, sucked-back, unbalanced spin. The primary exercise we used to get this horse confident and balanced again is the "Forward & Around" Exercise. The Forward & Around exercise is one of my favorites for teaching a horse to spin. You're working with the horse's psychology (instead of against it) by building the release of pressure into the maneuver itself, and building desire in the horse to stay in the turn and maintain their balance independently, with minimal input from the rider. See the video: https://youtu.be/m2JoMl5to0k Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/lundahl Our Website (join our newsletter here): https://www.coltstarting.com/ Colt Starting Secrets: https://www.coltstartingsecrets.com/

Confusion is both a barrier and an accelerator for learning. In this voice memo, Jake answers a question from an Academy member who's experienced a communication breakdown between herself and another horseman. ColtStartingSecrets.com

Just a quick voice memo to share something that's been working well on a couple horses I have in training: Using certain exercises as mental "anchors" to encourage better habits. ColtStartingSecrets.com

This audio is from an exclusive live webinar we recently hosted for our Horseman's Academy group members. The topic? Training and managing horses on a budget. We share our top strategies on this subject, and invite you to check out our new mentorship program at academy.lundahlperformance.com