Aurora Equine - Emma Criniti

16/04/2026

Conformation - a “hunter’s bump” is a prominence over the horse’s hindquarters, around the sacroiliac (SI) joint (where the spine meets the pelvis). This usually indicates an injury to the ligaments supporting that joint.

It’s often associated with horses that have experienced a slip or fall, or those that have been worked hard over uneven ground, such as during fast work or jumping (often horses that have been hunted or exposed to hard fast work on slippery/ deep going). It could just be from an unlucky fall during turnout.

When the SI ligaments are strained or torn, they lose some of their original elasticity. Ligaments never return to their normal length once seriously damaged. Because of this, building and maintaining good muscle strength over the hindquarters is important to help support the joint.

Some horses with SI discomfort may show signs such as:
• Difficulty maintaining a balanced canter or disuniting
• Reduced engagement from behind
• Struggling on hills
• Intermittent reluctance to go forward or perform

14/04/2026

My fav bit for young horses 👍

Full cheek bits… underrated but incredibly effective.

If you’re chasing more stability, clearer steering, and a more consistent contact, this is one of the best places to start.

The cheekpiece arms are what make the difference. They stop the bit from sliding through the mouth and add a guiding effect, especially when you turn.

When you pick up a rein, the opposite cheek gently presses against the outside of the face
→ helping guide the nose
→ supporting the shoulders
→ making direction clearer

Why riders use them:
• More stable than a loose ring
• Clearer turning and steering
• Helps keep the shoulders aligned
• Less movement in the mouthpiece

This is why they’re a go-to for young horses or anything that feels a bit loose or inconsistent in the contact.

Add keepers (bit loops) and you get even more stability, plus a slight poll influence
→ think a softer, simpler version of a Baucher feel

They’re ideal for horses that:
• Drift or fall out through the shoulder
• Need help with turning
• Feel inconsistent in the contact
• Are young or still learning

Important:
The mouthpiece determines the severity, not the full cheek itself.

Softer feel → double jointed or soft straight bar
More direct → single jointed
Stronger → roller mouthpiece designs

So you can adjust the feel without losing the stability.

Bottom line:
If your horse needs clarity and support in the contact, a full cheek often makes things feel more straightforward… for both of you.

11/04/2026

💯👇

Please, for the sake of our horses, can we move away from using “he’s had his saddle checked, his back checked, he’s seen the physio, his teeth are done” as a blanket reassurance that everything is ok?

These checks are important, of course but they are not a definitive green light that a horse is comfortable or pain-free. There is such a wide spectrum of factors to consider and so many layers that can be missed, even with professional input - misdiagnosed cases do happen.

Even diagnostics and veterinary assessments don’t always give us the full picture. Horses can ve incredibly good at masking discomfort and not everything going on internally is immediately visible or easy to detect.

So when a horse is showing what we label as “unwanted behaviour,” we have to question that label. More often than not, these behaviours are communication - the only way that horse knows how to express that something isn’t right.

A passed saddle check, a routine dental or a physio session should never be used as justification to push a horse through behaviours that are telling us to stop and listen.

We owe them more curiosity than that for the sake of their welfare, we must listen because we are their voice.

📸 Fine Photography By Georgia-Emily

07/04/2026

👇

So true!!!

17/03/2026

A long read but all valid points 👍

Respect for space.
When I talk about respect for space, I’m not trying to win an argument about dominance or prove I’m the “boss.” I’m talking about something far more practical: a horse cannot be the one making the decisions. Not because the horse is “bad,” and not because the horse is plotting against you—but because a thousand-pound animal making independent decisions in a human world is how people get hurt.

I’ve spent my life around horses, and I’ll tell you the truth as plainly as I can: a horse making the decisions is dangerous for the rider. It’s dangerous in the obvious ways—spooking, bolting, running over you—but it’s also dangerous in the subtle ways people excuse for years until something finally happens. The little decisions become bigger decisions. The small boundary becomes no boundary. Then one day the horse makes a decision at the wrong time, and it turns into a wreck.

So when I ask for a horse to respect my space, what I’m really doing is asking for one essential thing: let me be the leader. Not the bully. Not the dictator. The leader.

Because leadership is how the relationship works. Leadership is what makes the partnership safe. And safety is what allows both the rider and the horse to get what they want out of the relationship.

The Horse Doesn’t Get to Decide Where My Body Goes

Here’s the simplest way I can put it: if a horse can move my feet, that horse is already in charge.

A lot of people don’t realize that’s what’s happening. They call it “he’s just being friendly” or “she’s just a little pushy.” But in the horse’s world, movement equals control. If the horse crowds you and you step away, the horse just learned something. If the horse drags you to the gate and you go with him, he learned something. If the horse leans into you at the mounting block and you adjust to make it work, he learned something.

None of this is evil. It’s just horses being horses.

But if the horse is allowed to make those decisions on the ground, it becomes very likely that the horse will try to make decisions under saddle too—especially when the horse gets worried, excited, tired, frustrated, or distracted. And that’s when it gets dangerous.

So I don’t treat “respect for space” as a manners issue. I treat it as a leadership issue.

A Horse Making Decisions Looks Like This

Most folks think a horse “making decisions” is a big dramatic thing like bolting or bucking.

But the truth is, it starts long before that. It looks like:

stepping into you when you stop

pushing the shoulder into you when you lead

swinging the hip into you when you’re trying to move around them

walking past you instead of with you

drifting into your bubble while you saddle

crowding you at the mounting block

turning their head and leaving you mentally, even if their feet are still standing there

Those are all decisions. They’re small, but they’re real.

And here’s why they matter: a horse that believes it can decide where to put its body will eventually decide where to put its body when it counts. That might be into you, over you, away from you, or through you.

I’m not willing to gamble on that.

Leadership Isn’t About Being Mean—It’s About Taking Responsibility

This is where people get confused, because they hear “leader” and they picture somebody roughing a horse up to prove a point.

That’s not leadership. That’s insecurity.

Leadership is simple: I take responsibility for the decisions so the horse doesn’t have to.

A horse is always looking for someone to answer a question: “Where should I be? What should I do? Is this safe? Are we okay?” If I don’t answer those questions, the horse will. Not because the horse is disrespectful, but because the horse is wired to survive.

And the horse’s survival decisions don’t always match what keeps the rider safe.

A horse’s decision might be: “I’m leaving.”
A horse’s decision might be: “I’m running through this pressure.”
A horse’s decision might be: “I’m going back to the barn.”
A horse’s decision might be: “I’m crowding into you because I feel better close.”

All of those decisions make sense to a horse. None of them are what I want happening with my feet on the ground or my seat in the saddle.

So my job isn’t to punish the horse for being a horse. My job is to show the horse a better system:

You don’t have to make the decisions. I will. And if you follow my leadership, you’ll end up safer and more comfortable than you would on your own.

That’s what a partnership actually is.

Partnership Means Both Sides Get What They Want

A lot of people say they want a partnership, but what they really mean is they want the horse to cooperate while the horse is still in charge.

That’s not partnership. That’s negotiation.

Real partnership looks like this:

The rider gets safety, control, and reliability.

The horse gets clarity, fairness, and relief from having to guess.

That’s the deal.

When I’m consistent about space, what I’m really building is a horse that trusts leadership. Because a horse that trusts leadership will stop feeling like it has to manage everything.

And that changes everything under saddle.

A horse that is allowed to manage you on the ground often becomes a horse that tries to manage the ride: it chooses the speed, the direction, the distance from the gate, the amount of effort, the level of focus. It decides how much it wants to give. It decides when it wants to quit. It decides when it wants to argue.

That’s not a partnership. That’s a horse running the relationship.

A horse can’t run the relationship safely. The horse doesn’t have the same goals as you do. The horse doesn’t have the same understanding of risk. The horse doesn’t think like a human. And the horse should not have to.

“Respect for Space” Is Just the First Leadership Test

I like to keep it simple. Respect for space is the first place I check whether the horse accepts leadership.

If the horse won’t respect space, it’s usually not a training problem yet. It’s a leadership problem.

Because space is the easiest thing in the world to understand: “Don’t walk into me. Don’t push through me. Yield when I ask.”

If a horse can’t do that calmly and consistently, then I already know what I’m going to get later when the questions get harder.

And I’m not saying that to be dramatic. I’m saying it because I’ve watched the pattern a thousand times.

The horse that crowds on the ground becomes the horse that leans on the bridle.

The horse that drags you to the gate becomes the horse that sucks back to the barn.

The horse that won’t yield the shoulder becomes the horse that falls in on circles and ignores leg.

The horse that walks through you becomes the horse that walks through pressure.

It’s the same mindset—just different settings.

What It Looks Like When the Rider Is the Leader

When the rider is truly the leader, you can see it without anybody having to announce it.

It looks like:

The horse stays out of your space unless invited closer.

The horse matches your pace when you lead.

The horse yields the shoulder and hip when asked.

The horse stops when you stop and doesn’t step into you.

The horse waits at the mounting block instead of crawling into your lap.

The horse stays mentally with you, not scanning for its own plan.

And the horse doesn’t do those things because it’s afraid. It does them because it understands the system.

The horse understands: “If I follow this person, my life makes sense.”

That’s what leadership creates—a world that makes sense.

The Rider Being the Leader Doesn’t Mean the Horse Has No Opinion

This matters, because someone always hears “leader” and thinks it means the horse gets treated like a robot.

No.

A horse can have feelings. A horse can be unsure. A horse can be fresh. A horse can be opinionated.

But the horse doesn’t get to turn those feelings into decisions that put the rider at risk.

That’s the line.

I want the horse to be able to express itself within the relationship—without taking control of the relationship.

That’s why I correct space issues. Not because I hate the horse being close. But because I refuse to let closeness become control.

The Big Takeaway

If your horse is crowding you, pushing into you, leaning on you, or moving your feet around, I don’t want you to label your horse as “disrespectful” and get angry.

I want you to label it accurately:

Your horse is making decisions that you should be making.

And any time the horse is making those decisions, your risk goes up—on the ground and in the saddle.

So the goal isn’t dominance. The goal is leadership.

Leadership gives the rider what they want: safety, control, and progress.

Leadership gives the horse what it wants: clarity, fairness, and the comfort of not having to guess.

That’s how you build a partnership that works for both sides—because the rider leads, and the horse follows with confidence.

12/03/2026

Great explanation and visuals, worth watching 👍

09/03/2026

Come and join us for our fun encouragement hack show!
We look forward to welcoming our guest judges Aurora Equine - Emma Criniti and Anita Budgeon - Fibregenix Australia.

Whatever your level come and join us for this great morning out. We will have classes for green horses, prizes for best presented, as well as fun prizes for wiggliest horse and best giraffe impression.

With heaps of ribbons and rosettes to be presented on the day. Entry forms can be found here - https://wannerooridingcentre.com.au/events

08/03/2026

Yes 🙌

Corners. Corners. Corners.
Very early in my dressage lessons someone said something to me that stuck:
“If we were meant to ride without corners, the arena would be an oval.”
And honestly… they were right!
Corners are one of the most underused training tools riders have. They’re not just where you turn — they’re where you organise everything.

A good corner helps your horse:
• rebalance
• step under with the inside hind
• soften through the body
• prepare for the next movement

Every exercise comes out of a corner.

Lengthened strides. Extended paces. Shoulder-in. Travers. Half pass. Transitions.

If the corner isn’t organised, the movement that follows rarely is either.

For riders, corners are just as important. They improve coordination, balance, timing and control of your own body. Whether I’m teaching a five-year-old on a pony, an adult beginner or a professional rider, the message is always the same:
Use your corners.
I’ve written a new blog explaining why corners can completely change your horse’s balance, strength and training.

Read it here 👇
https://avocapark.com.au/blog/post/corners-corners-corners-why-the-arena-isn-t-an-oval

03/03/2026

🙌

“Horses regularly trained with ground work are more relaxed when ridden”

A recent study of dressage horses in Germany that looked at rein length and tension revealed a surprising finding: horses who were regularly trained in ground work/in-hand work had lower heart rates during ridden work than all of the other participating horses. This wasn’t what the researchers were investigating, but it was clear in the results. From this, the researchers concluded that, “Perhaps horses trained in ground work had more trust in their rider.”

So why would it be true that horses who regularly learn via ground work/in-hand work are more relaxed? There are a few possibilities.

1) Horses trained regularly with ground work are more relaxed because their trainers are more relaxed. It’s possible that humans who take the time to teach their horses from the ground are less goal oriented and more concerned with the process. They may be more relaxed in general and foster this same relaxation in their horses. As you are, so is your horse.

2) Horses trained regularly with ground work have trainers who are more educated about a horse’s balance.

Their horses learn to move in correct balance which allows them to be healthy and sound in their bodies and, therefore, more relaxed. Physical balance is emotional balance.

3) Horses trained regularly with ground work understand the trainer’s criteria better. They have mastered the response to an aid before the rider mounts and know the “right answer” already once under saddle. They don’t experience any conflict when the rider asks for a behavior because the neural pathway has already been installed. They are more relaxed about being ridden because it rarely has caused confusion for them.

For us highly visual humans I think that ground work is often a better way to begin exercises because we are much better at seeing our horse doing the right thing than feeling it from the saddle. Often, my feel in the saddle is enhanced by the fact that I have watched my horse perform an exercise over and over in our in-hand work. It feels how it looks. In-hand work is also a good way to teach our horses because our own bodies are often more in balance when we are walking beside our horses. With the ground under our feet we are able to be more relaxed if something goes wrong and less likely to be so busy wrapped up in our own balance that we give our horses conflicting or confusing aids. It’s a good place to figure things out. I am a huge fan of in-hand work.

I’m glad to learn research revealed ground work is good for horses. Horses with a low heart rate are relaxed and relaxed horses perform better and live longer. In this day and age of people starting horses under saddle in under an hour and increasing monetary rewards for the “young horse dressage program“, everything seems to be done in a hurry. The entire horse culture seems to privilege “getting up there and riding your horse”. But as one of my favorite writers and accomplished horsewoman, Teresa Tsimmu Martino writes, “In today’s horse culture there are clinics that brag about starting a c**t in a day, as if the quickness of it was the miracle. But old horse people know it takes years to create art. Horses as great masterpieces are not created in a day. An artist does not need to rush.” We need more scientific studies like this one to encourage us to slow down and take our time with our horses.

So why were the horses in the study more relaxed? Likely it was a combination of all three factors – a relaxed trainer, better overall balance and clear understanding of criteria.

These are things that matter to your horse, and yes, will allow him to trust you when you ride. Take some time to slow down and work from the ground, learn a bit more about equine balance and teach new things in-hand before asking for them under saddle. You can take your riding to a whole new level and help your horse become more healthy and relaxed in the process.” - by Jen of Spellbound Horses

26/02/2026

Love this 🙌

What Is Groundwork For?

Groundwork has become widely accepted as valuable. That’s a positive shift. But like anything in horsemanship, its value depends entirely on how thoughtfully it’s applied.

Nearly every professional has heard some version of this:
“I’ve already done lots of groundwork,” — which usually means, now I should be able to just get on and ride.

But what does that actually mean?
What kind of groundwork?
And more importantly — what is it teaching?

When I ask students questions about their groundwork, it’s not to dismiss them. It’s to sharpen their thinking.

For example, if someone is asking for lateral flexion on the ground, I’ll ask:
“Why are you doing that?”

“To get him with me,” they might say.

Okay. What does with you mean?
What are you looking for specifically?
What is the horse giving — and why does that matter?

If the answer is, “I want to see if he’s giving,” then I ask: giving what? His head? His jaw? His ribcage? His attention?

And furthermore - how does this connect into your ridden work? Where will you use it, and what does it build into?

A horse can physically bend his neck and still be mentally absent. He can “give” his head and still brace through his body. So does that lateral flexion actually prove he’s with you — or just that he has learned a motion?

Groundwork becomes meaningless when it turns into repetition without purpose. The horse learns to go through the motions. He anticipates. He falls onto a shoulder. He performs the shape without understanding the balance or the connection behind it.

Without a clear overarching theme, groundwork doesn’t build much of anything.

Sometimes people say they’re “getting the bucks out” before riding, or “making sure he remembers his homework.” But we should always ask:

How does what I’m doing right now connect to ridden work?
What feeling am I creating that will carry into the saddle?
Am I building the posture, balance, responsiveness, and mental state I want under saddle — or just burning energy?

Lunging is often criticized as mindlessly tiring the horse down — usually by those who haven’t seen it done thoughtfully. But if our groundwork lacks intention, aren’t we doing the same thing? Repeating movements until the horse is dull instead of organized? Winding him down instead of building him up?

Groundwork should develop clarity, balance, attentiveness, and coordination. It should prepare the horse for the ridden conversation — not replace it, not exhaust him before it, and not become a checklist.

To do that, we need:
• A clear picture of the end goal.
• An understanding of how each exercise connects to that goal.
• The ability to simplify when the horse doesn’t understand.
• The awareness to progress when he does.
• And the judgment to know when enough is enough.

Groundwork is not simply a warm up or some ritual we must do before riding.

It is educational, it is preparation — or it is noise.

And the difference lies entirely in the thought behind it.

19/02/2026

I’m back from holidays in Singapore and what a great time to be there with all the decorations for Chinese New Year and especially being the Year of The Fire Horse, so many horses displayed everywhere, was beautiful 🥰

Here’s to a wonderful new year ahead charged with the spirit of the horse and may it be a great opportunity to achieve all you want with your goals and dreams. 🙌💕

16/01/2026

This 👇

The only thing that creates a horse that is nice to be around, easy to handle, and enjoyable to ride, is time spent working to make that horse nice to be around, easy to handle and enjoyable to ride.

Or, I suppose, the money to buy one that someone spent the time to make nice to be around, easy to handle and enjoyable to ride. Either way, someone has got to put the time and effort in. You aren't going to get around that.

One of the easiest ways I can think of to increase the value of your time as it relates to creating such a horse is to take a hard look at the stuff you do every day: the basics around handling and sharing space with your horse.

I've yet to meet a horse that was a dream to ride but miserable to handle. I just haven't. What happens before we get in the saddle will affect what happens when we get in the saddle. What happens before we even get the halter on the horse will affect how that horse feels once he is haltered. We tend to look at the things we do with horses as segments separated by category or type or time, but to the horse all of these things are interwoven with all other things. There is no separation.

So when I hear someone say "I don't like to do groundwork" what I hear is "I don't understand the connection between what happens when my feet are on the ground and when my feet are in the stirrups." I try to give folks the benefit of the doubt when it comes to that: I genuinely don't believe that most of those who avoid groundwork or "don't like it" lack care for their horses. I tend to find they just don't get it. A lot of times they haven't had enough exposure - or good exposure, with a thoughtful teacher - to make those connections for themselves and SEE the changes their horse can make. Or they've been brought along in a system that views groundwork as "that thing we do before we ride" and not literally all encompassing of everything that happens before we get on the horse.

I'm not saying it's a walk in the park. But neither is being around a horse that does not easily and willingly accept what we ask of them, when we ask it, under a multitude of circumstances. Both are going to require time and energy. I suppose it's just a matter of how you want to spend it.