Mission Horses: How Spanish California Got Its Herds Aug 3, 2026 Leyden Horsemanship Journal Zachary Leyden 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 Leyden Horsemanship Journal Zachary Leyden 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 Leyden Horsemanship Journal Zachary Leyden 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 Leyden Horsemanship Journal Zachary Leyden 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 Leyden Horsemanship Journal Zachary Leyden 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 Leyden Horsemanship Journal Zachary Leyden 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
Seat Before Hands: Building an Independent Seat Jul 28, 2026 Leyden Horsemanship Journal Zachary Leyden Watch a nervous rider at the trot and you will see the whole problem in one image: the hands creep back, the reins shorten, the knuckles whiten, and the horse’s mouth becomes a handle for a body that ... Riding The Leyden Method Read more
The Leyden Way: Back to Nature, Scientific Method, First Principles Jul 27, 2026 Leyden Horsemanship Journal Zachary Leyden Ask ten trainers why they do a thing a certain way and you will get ten answers, most of which end in “because that is how I was taught.” Tradition is not nothing. But tradition alone cannot tell you ... Foundations & Philosophy The Leyden Method Read more
The First Lesson: What a Good Instructor Establishes on Day One Jul 26, 2026 Leyden Horsemanship Journal Zachary Leyden A new student arrives with a whole imagined lesson in their head. They think day one is about learning to ride, so they are already reaching for the reins, already worried about looking foolish, alrea... Leadership Through Horsemanship Teaching & Mentorship Read more
Where the Horse Was Tamed: The Steppe and the Shifting Evidence Jul 25, 2026 Leyden Horsemanship Journal Zachary Leyden Somewhere on the grasslands of Eurasia, thousands of years ago, a person and a horse arrived at an arrangement that would remake human history. We cannot point to the spot on a map with confidence, an... History of Horsemanship Horses & Human History Read more
The Draw: Teaching Your Horse to Come to You Jul 24, 2026 Leyden Horsemanship Journal Zachary Leyden Most people learn to send a horse away long before they learn to bring it back. They can move the hindquarters, drive the horse around the pen, ask it to yield and go. Then they wonder why the horse f... Groundwork The Leyden Method Read more
Why Veterans and Horses Understand Each Other Jul 23, 2026 Leyden Horsemanship Journal Zachary Leyden A man walks into a round pen for the first time in years. He has led people under fire. He has no idea how to catch the horse standing twenty feet away, and the horse has no idea he was ever anyone. F... Leadership Through Horsemanship Veterans & Resilience Read more
