Your western horse's path, from green to finished
One exercise at a time, in the order a horse learns them, with the why behind every step. Your trainer tells you what. Equiwhy explains why.
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A good ride, then a bad one, and you can't say why.
- Good training, bad training, good again. It never settles into the same.
- You do the exercise, and nobody told you how it is meant to help your horse.
- You put him in the position instead of letting him show you where he is comfortable.
- You ride home blaming yourself: “I'm not good enough for this horse.”
“I get it, you're frustrated. But don't put that on your horse. Try to listen to him and work with him instead of against him.”Mirjam, on what she needed to hear back then
What exactly is on it?
Every exercise from the first day with a green horse to a finished one, in order. Level 1 is written. The levels after it are being written now, and each goes up here when it is ready.
1Level 1 · Groundwork
- Desensitizing to the whip and to touch The goal of this exercise is for the horse to learn to read our energy and not the whip itself.
- Standing still The horse learns to stand still where we put it, even when we step away or walk around it – until we show it that it may move on.
- Basic leading with backing up We want to be able to lead the horse anywhere without problems – to the paddock, around the barn, to the arena …
- Yielding the forehand – moving the shoulder Horses distribute their weight differently from us because they have four legs.
- Yielding the hindquarters If we want to control the horse's movement, we must not neglect the hind legs, because that is where the horse's impulsion comes from.
- Leading at the shoulder When leading at the shoulder, the horse walks beside us, with its shoulder next to our shoulder, and responds to our body language: when we speed up, it speeds up; when we stop, it stops; when we turn, it turns with us.
- Side-pass along the fence optional In the side-pass the horse moves sideways, moving its forelegs and hind legs at the same time – so we combine the shoulder yield (Exercise 4) and the hindquarter yield (Exercise 5).
- Lunging on a long line When lunging, the horse moves around us on a circle on a long lunge line, and we use our body, the whip and our voice to send it into walk, trot and halt.
- Long-lining In long-lining we drive the horse from the ground with two long lines that run along its body to our hands.
2Level 2 being written
- Mirjam is writing it now. It goes up here when it is ready.
Exercises written by Mirjam Oberč, in her words.
One step, and the reason behind it
- 1Find where your horse isTell Equiwhy what your horse can do today. That is your place on the path.
- 2Ride the next exerciseOne at a time, in the order a horse learns them.
- 3Read the whyWhat the exercise builds in your horse, and what it prepares him for next.
- 4Ask when it goes differentlyThe chat sits beside the path and knows your horse. Describe the ride and it explains what happened.
Hi, I'm Mirjam
Wrote the pathI'm a rider and a horse trainer. I taught myself to ride and got as far as winning in competition, and in all that time nobody told me why my horse did what he did.
I remember teaching my horse Bulli to spin. I did every exercise other trainers gave me without understanding how any of them was supposed to help him. After those trainings I always felt like a bad rider, like I wasn't good enough for the horse.
So I went and learned the biomechanics properly: how a horse's body carries weight, where it compensates, why it protects itself. Equiwhy 2.0 is the path I wish someone had handed me then, with every exercise in order and the why behind each one.
Western, and only western
Equiwhy 2.0 follows one way of riding from the first day with a green horse to a finished one. It is the style Mirjam rides and trains, so every exercise on the path is one she has ridden herself.
One style explained properly, rather than every style a little. If you ride English, 2.0 is not written for you.
The same results, on a better road
- Every horse is an individual, not a protocolEach horse is built differently and has its own personality. Forcing the same template onto all of them is where most physical and behavioural damage begins.
- The horse is always talkingResistance, tension, “bad behaviour”: these are messages, not disobedience. We teach you to read them.
- Obedience still mattersThe work is dangerous, so yes, the horse needs to listen to you. But on mutual respect: you treat it as a partner and you understand where it's weak, so you can help it.
Next to your trainer, not instead of one
“On your own” means scattered free videos, with no order and nobody to tell you why.
What it won't do
- It can't see your horse. It works from your description, so the more precisely you describe things, the better it gets.
- It isn't a vet. Sudden changes, lameness, heat, swelling, or anything that looks like pain: call your vet first. Pain always gets ruled out before training gets blamed.
- It works from what you notice. That's a skill, and it sharpens fast, because it keeps asking you the questions that teach you what to look for.
Questions
When does it open?
Who is it for?
Why only western?
Does my horse need to be at a certain level?
I already have an Equiwhy account. What happens to it?
What will it cost?
Does it replace my trainer or my vet?
Still have a question? Write to support@equiwhy.com
Equiwhy 2.0 is on its way
Leave your email and you'll hear first when the western path opens.
What Equiwhy 2.0 will hold
- The whole path, green horse to finished horse
- The why behind every exercise
- Exercises chosen and ordered by Mirjam
- A chat beside it that knows your horse