Bill Dorrance and True Horsemanship Through Feel Aug 9, 2026 Ocean View Stables Bill Dorrance was still roping cattle in his nineties, on his ranch in the hills outside Salinas, California. He put his only book into the world in 1999, the last year of his life. Most people would ... History of Horsemanship The Natural Horsemanship Movement Read more
Clarity Is Kindness at Work: Clear Communication as Leadership Aug 8, 2026 Ocean View Stables Somewhere today, an employee is leaving a one-on-one believing it went fine, while the manager leaves the same meeting believing a serious warning was delivered. Months from now that gap becomes a bad... Leadership Through Horsemanship Leading People Read more
How to Lead a Horse Correctly: Position, Pace, and Personal Space Aug 7, 2026 Ocean View Stables Twenty yards of barn aisle will tell you nearly everything about a partnership. One pair drifts along, rope tight, horse’s shoulder crowding the human’s elbow, both of them steering each other by acci... Groundwork The Leyden Method Read more
The History of the Stirrup: A Small Invention With Large Consequences Aug 6, 2026 Ocean View Stables For most of the time humans have been on horseback, there was nothing under the rider’s feet. Alexander’s cavalry broke infantry lines with their legs hanging. Scythian archers shot from the gallop, R... Cavalry & Working Horses History of Horsemanship Read more
Reading a Horse's Eye: Soft, Hard, and Worried Aug 5, 2026 Ocean View Stables Stand at the shoulder and ask for one step back. Before the feet answer, the eye already has. Reading a horse’s eye is the fastest read you will ever get on the mind behind it. A prey animal built to ... Reading the Horse The Leyden Method Read more
Riding Again After a Fall: A Working Plan for Coming Back Aug 4, 2026 Ocean View Stables The fall takes about a second. The story about the fall can run for months. Those are two different injuries, and they heal on two different schedules. Riding again after a fall is not a test of coura... Leadership Through Horsemanship The Inner Rider Read more
Mission Horses: How Spanish California Got Its Herds Aug 3, 2026 Ocean View Stables In the fall of 1769, scouts from Gaspar de Portolá’s overland expedition climbed a ridge a few miles south of what is now Daly City and became the first Europeans to look down on San Francisco Bay. Th... History of Horsemanship The Vaquero & Western Tradition Read more
A Horse Grooming Routine That Reads the Horse While It Cleans Aug 2, 2026 Ocean View Stables Halfway down the ribs, the ear pins. Most people brush straight through it and never notice. That ear may have been the most useful thing the horse said all morning, and the currycomb is how you asked... Grooming & Handling The Leyden Method Read more
Do Horses Like Being Ridden? An Honest Answer Aug 1, 2026 Ocean View Stables Students ask this one carefully, almost apologetically, because they are afraid of the answer. Do horses like being ridden? They want a yes. The honest reply is not a clean yes or a clean no. It is co... Field Notes Questions Students Ask Read more
If the Horse Crowds You on the Ground Jul 31, 2026 Ocean View Stables The horse leans in as you lead it. Its shoulder drifts into yours, its head swings over your back, it steps on the path you were about to walk. Someone nearby smiles and says how much the horse loves ... Problem Solving The Leyden Method Read more
The Lead Mare Question: What Herd Research Actually Shows Jul 30, 2026 Ocean View Stables There is a story people love to tell about horses, and it goes like this: every herd has a single wise lead mare who rules the group, decides where it goes, disciplines the young, and holds absolute a... Leadership Through Horsemanship Lessons from the Herd Read more
Xenophon the Cavalryman: The Life Behind the Book Jul 29, 2026 Ocean View Stables The oldest surviving manual on riding was not written by a hobbyist or a court trainer. It was written by a soldier who had trusted his life to horses across some of the hardest country in the ancient... History of Horsemanship The Old Masters & Classical Tradition Read more
