Inspired by this week's Office Hours with Josh, today I worked on Body Mapping my horse's shoulders and hips before my ride. Afterwards – I had THE BEST RIDE EVER 🤩. I also focused on moving my horse's shoulders and hips under-saddle, relating to another Office Hours question. For the past few months, my horse has been struggling to pick up his right lead canter, and this time he got it effortlessly, on the first try. 💥
June 14, 2025
June 09, 2025
🚨 Last Chance to Submit Your Training Footage for Live Feedback with Josh Nichol! 🚨
This is a unique opportunity to get real-time, expert insights from one of the leading figures in horsemanship. Whether you’re working on groundwork, riding under saddle, or tackling behavior challenges, Josh’s horse-first approach will help you build trust and communication with your horse like never before!
⏰ Don’t miss out—submit your video now for a chance to get personalized feedback straight from Josh in tomorrow's Review My Ride webinar!
Let’s take your training to the next level!
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April 25, 2025
Today, I worked with a customers horse and used the words "he needs to have his emotional needs meet first and then we can teach him to..."
Thanks Josh. It's clicking.
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April 07, 2025
Brought this former reiner, now jumper, to his first HJ show this weekend. The horse park was sandwiched between an active car racetrack and an airport. It was his first *real* jumper course. As a normally kind of spooky guy, he was not only calm about all the (loud) noise and chaos, he was focused and responsive. My friends say “if you can show at the Evergreen Horse Park, you can show anywhere.” 😆 We’ve done a ton of ground work over the past five months, and I walked him around on schooling day for about a half hour to get him acclimated. It was amazing to see his confidence grow day by day.
April 02, 2025
I was inspired by Tik this weekend and decided to give clicker training a try with my horse! My timing wasn’t perfect, but overall he really enjoyed it and picked up target work super quickly. It even helped him work through a spook—over a hula hoop, of all things! By the end, he was confidently touching it and clearly proud of himself for earning a click and a treat. We’ll definitely be doing more of this!
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March 30, 2025
I've had a very memorable moment this week, and I'd
Iove to tell you about it. I've had my new mare Skye for only 3 months. She usually trots over to the gate when she sees me--or at least she walks over-- but this week after I hadn't been to the barn for 3 days (my husband has cancer and was hospitalized, so my plate is very full), Skye full out galloped over to greet me at the gate! My heart just burst!
in 🙌 share_a_win
March 29, 2025
I am over the moon at my tiny breakthrough tonight with my baby 6 year old.
I let her say no.
It sounds weird to me, because for years I have always rode with the idea of not letting the horse say no. Tonight she did not want to go near a small obstacle she could easily walk over, and instead of fighting her,. We went away worked on other stuff, and then came back to the obstacle and got a little bit closer, when she said no we walked away again. We did this patiently back and forth until she gained enough confidence to easily walk over it, then jump it. Wow!
March 18, 2025
• Edited (Mar 18, 2025)
🔴 We’re LIVE with Josh Nichol – Tune in Now!
Josh is breaking down real rider videos right now and sharing his expert insights on everything from contact issues to jumping pace, ground handling, and herd-bound behaviors. Here’s a look at some of the challenges he’s may tackle today:
✅ How to encourage a "space horse" to respond to pressure without escalation
✅ Exercises to steady a strong, experienced jumper after fences
✅ Whether mares in heat could be affecting a young stallion’s behavior
✅ Supporting an ex-broodmare’s transition to dressage
✅ Helping an anxious Andalusian gelding feel more secure on the ground
✅ Finding the right balance between rhythm and impulsion over fences
✅ Managing a spooky horse with vision limitations and a barn mate who evades by running backward
Josh is sharing tailored strategies to help each rider—and you can learn alongside them! Jump in now and ask questions live.
Join the webinar: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_tU1BmIVNTbueGr6ulf_LPQ
in 🙌 share_a_win
March 13, 2025
I have just finished following the Tik Masterclass for Anxious and Spooky horses. I have followed a couple of other online trainers' methods for this for a couple of years but both my mare and I just ended up getting frustrated and she even started to get dangerous when I asked her to do any sort of work - and that is only from the ground! This was the last chance saloon. Tik explains everything so clearly and precisely and the demos show it all with raw footage. Everything he said made sense to me (finally) and I was able to easily put it into practice with immediate results - small incremental improvements everyday. Bingo - my mare finally has the leader she has been desperately seeking and I feel like I am at last speaking her language. It has also worked for my young horse who was getting more and more anxious on the trails after a couple of incidents that sent him over the top e.g. loose galloping horses next to the trail. BTW I come from the old school of dominant horsemanship (I am ashamed to admit) and in the past I have been able to get some pretty difficult horses to do things but the mare I have now said a firm "NO" to my dominant approach. Thanks to this mare I have changed how I work with all my horses and thanks to Tik I have finally found the key to successfully working with my current horses without being dominant. (If only I could apologise to those of my horses that are no longer with me who put up with me in the past.) I can't thank Tik enough for putting this Masterclass together, and Noëlle for starting this platform and getting such great trainers on board and for all content. It is life changing. Even my non-horsey husband is enjoying the Ifa Simmonds' workout and the Yoga!
in 🙌 share_a_win
March 02, 2025
I'd love to share a major breakthrough with my mare, Katie, yesterday. I've had her 3 years and while we've had some rocky moments, we've also had some good times. Last year I asked my friend to coach us and we made some marvelous improvements in my horsemanship. We went from trail riding and cattle driving to working equitation and arena work and had a blast. However, things went downhill this fall to the point of her not even wanting the saddle.
Things deteriorated over the winter and after I ruled out physical ailments, I just let her be (which is easy during a South Dakota winter). When I'd get near her she'd pin her ears and threaten to bite. This stumped me and my friend.
Then I found Josh Nichols. I studied all his content here on NF+ and it became clear to me that Katie and I had a relationship issue. And, she's clearly a strong space horse (think Lily x 2!). So I set out on a new path of intention, presence, and confidence. I tried everything but made no progress. In fact her responses got more violent.
Feeling like I had just about run out of options and had nothing more to lose, yesterday I approached Katie with the mindset of being big, bold, and full of myself. I put a halter on her, took her to the round pen, and had a conversation with her. I held my ground and with plenty of volume and confidence I told her that I was trying my best but I have boundaries too and that we need to find balance in our relationship. I said she's amazing and I'm amazing and I love her.
Can you believe that within seconds she yawned several times and then licked and chewed?? I just about cried. I removed her halter and she simply stood with me, oh so relaxed. I can't help but wonder if she was thinking, "It's about time..."
Thank-you, Josh. You're amazing too.