You are listening to the Horse Radio Network, part of the Equine Network family.

What a beautiful day for horses in the morning.

You are listening to the number one.

Horse podcast in the world.

Here's your entertaining look at the horse world and the people in it.

Foreign this is Solange Ellis, founder of Stable Riding, and this is the August 2025 episode of Stable Riding with Solange, part of the Horses in the Morning.

I am here the fourth Tuesday of every month to talk to you all about the rider and how we can make ourselves better in the saddle.

Coming up on today's show, you're going to hear a little bit about how this podcast came about by an interview with a real world stable rider.

This episode, stable rider is Krista, who completed the 2022 Mongolian Derby.

Krista will tell us all about her riding journey and amazing experience flying across the step.

Are you interested in being a stable rider?

Each episode will close with me giving a riding tip and some rider homework to keep you learning and riding between now and next month's episode.

For this first episode, I have founder of the Horse Radio Network, Glenn with us, who's also host of Horses in the Morning.

Hey, Solange, thank you so much for doing this.

We're glad to have you here.

I'm very excited.

I think this is going to be a really great time.

So I met Solange at Equine Affair this year in Ohio.

Ashley and I were there and we met you.

We had you as a guest on the show, right?

Sure did.

Yep.

And then we got chatting and then it was actually Ashley's idea who said, you know, for one of these Tuesday or Thursday episodes on Horses in the Morning, we've never done an episode that's solely about the rider.

We've done a ton about training horses, but we've never done anything that's solely about the rider.

And I'm so glad you're here because that's your specialty.

It is.

That is what I have dedicated my life to.

I tell people that I have dedicated my life to stabilizing riders everywhere I go.

And we also have a mutual friend that listeners of the show will recognize, and that's Frankie Lovato.

Yes, I adore Frankie.

I have very many.

Many.

I have an entire herd now of equicizers.

How many do you have?

Do you have the record of the most number of equi sizers?

I just got a fifth one.

Oh, my God, you do.

My students all gathered together for my birthday, which was also my 25th anniversary of having my business and they purchased me a custom Equi Sizer special for myself.

You're not old enough to have a 25th anniversary of your business.

Well, I dropped.

You must have started when you were 10.

I started when I was 15.

Oh, there you go.

Okay.

And started breaking horses for a living when I was 15.

So that was sort of the beginning of.

The beginning of my horse career.

Was 15.

So you use the Equi Sizers in your instruction, right?

I use the Equi Sizers all the time for everything.

So with my stable riding system, I have a dedicated space on my property here on my farm called the Rider Lab, and it includes a lot of tools to help teach riders on.

And that includes my herd of Equi Sizers.

And I use them to train new riders who've never been on a horse before, so they know how to interact with their tack advanced riders who are preparing for a big event like the Mongol Derby and Gaucho Derby.

Riders.

I teach a lot of mounting lessons.

Riders who are turning to riding after a long break, a lot of rider rehab, whether they had a riding injury or some other type of injury or surgery.

The Equa Sizers really allow me to do what I do.

I couldn't do what I do without the Equi Sizers.

Yay, Frankie.

I know so.

And you have all different colors, all different breeds of Equi Sizers.

I have all different colors.

So far.

They all feel like geldings to me, but I can't say that one won't be a mare.

I tend to name them after beloved past school horses and hunt horses that, like, earn their way into horsey heaven, carrying people and teaching them how to ride.

So well, if somebody doesn't know what an equalizer is, Frankie Lovato is a jockey, you know, that had a very successful jockey that, when he retired, started making these.

Just look up Equacizer, and you'll see all kinds of pictures and videos of them.

They're in almost every jockey room, and every track in America has Equi sizers for the jockeys to kind of warm up before they head out.

And then people like you, and then, you know, a little bit of everything.

Everybody riding schools and people at home have equacizers.

People have them in their living rooms, mounted police people use them, polo cages use them, vaulting schools use them.

And then they've been in movies and TV productions, so they're on, like, some movie sets, which I think is also really fascinating.

Good job, Frankie.

All right.

Frankie was a regular guest of ours years ago when we first started this show, probably 14 years ago, Frankie would come on all the time when it would be Kentucky Derby time and stuff like that.

And I noticed he's been posting a lot of his old, old, old, like when he first started being a jockey, pictures at 17 years old when he checked.

So cool to see they are.

I didn't recognize him.

I got to try to look closely at his face.

I was like, I would not have known that was Frankie.

Well, so obviously this show is going to be focused on the writer.

One of the things I like that you're doing on this show is you're actually going to be giving tips and homework stuff that people can try when they, you know, before they listen to the next episode.

Yes.

Yep.

Kind of Stable riding system is all about simple, stable and sustainable.

So I tried to keep the instruction as easy and clear as possible, so it can even impact a rider over a medium like podcast.

Yeah.

Because obviously you can't show them doing this, so.

But I know you well enough now to know you'll be very good at explaining it, so people can actually go out and give it a try.

100%.

We did that.

We had another very popular show called Equine Clicker 101, which was 50 episodes on the different things you can do with with clicker training.

And she would do that.

She would have instructions at the end that people would go out and actually do while listening.

So I love this idea.

I think it's fabulous.

I'm very excited to have you aboard.

You're going to be here, as you said, the fourth Tuesday of every month as part of Horses in the Morning, but you're also going to have your own podcast feed, and that is called Stable Riding with Solange.

So you can go to your podcast player and subscribe to that if you just want to hear Solange.

If you're.

You're one of Solange's fan fans and you don't want to hear Jamie and I on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on Horses in the Morning, then you can do that.

You can go subscribe to her feed directly or you can listen on Horses in the Morning.

Either way is fine.

Welcome aboard and have a great show.

Thank you so much.

Oh, my goodness.

Krista, I'm so excited to hear from you listeners.

This is Christa, one of the incredible riders who completed the mongol Derby in 2022.

Krista, thank you so much for being on the Stable writing podcast today.

Absolutely.

I'm very honored for the invite.

Thank you.

I.

The second I knew that I wanted to talk to A Mongol Derby rider.

I instantly went.

I'm gonna ask Krista.

I also just like to talk about it.

I think that's every writer.

Well, it's such.

I mean, a once in a lifetime, incredible adventure.

How could you not want to.

How could you not want to share it, especially with other people in the horse community?

I mean, it's really wild what you accomplished.

It's a lot of fun.

It did take a while to, like, process all the thoughts.

So this is a good timing.

After we just.

Yep.

Okay.

I know we all have a million questions about your Mongol Derby experience, but we only have one podcast, so I'm going to try keep it simple and start at the beginning by asking you, how old were you when you started riding?

I would like to believe I was riding by the age of five, but my mom would like to tell me that it was.

I was older.

Okay.

But every year for my birthday.

So I didn't grow up with horses.

No one in my family, My mom rode when she was young, but no one current day rode.

So I don't really know where the bug came from, but I just remember never not wanting to ride horses.

And I started riding every year for my birthday, so any money I could save or any birthday gift I could ask for, it was always to go ride horses.

And how funny is that?

It's really like you're born with it.

Yep, absolutely.

You know, it's like almost genetic.

You just.

You're born wanting to be on a horse and around horses.

And then some people feel the exact opposite and they are not born with it.

And I just want you to go fast and have the biggest horse.

There's this one horse.

Just.

I don't.

When I was, I don't know, like, my mom would say seven probably.

Yeah.

We went on a trail ride.

My dad asked how the ride was.

I'm like, well, we didn't gallop.

We didn't go fast.

So the cowboy put me in the round pen and just cracked the whip and I just had the best day ever.

I'm sure my dad was not terrified.

He.

He knew that's.

That's what I wanted to do.

You were already ready for the Mongol Derby at seven.

It was pre written in the stars, fast and crazy.

So what kind of riding did you do as you were like a teen and a young adult?

Did you get to ride through your teenage years?

Did you have to take a break, like for college?

A lot of riders have to take like a break.

What happened in that part of your life?

Yeah.

So Got my first horse in seventh grade.

I just did a bunch of trails, worked at a trail riding place that they would always put the young kids on the back end just to make sure everybody was falling in line and they were going to stragglers and started pony club right away.

But I did the games and a lot of people don't talk about the games.

So it's fast relay races.

How quick can you get across the finish line?

And we rule is your butt has to be in the saddle.

So I did preparing for the Mongol Derby.

Man.

So I had an Arab saddlebred cross, about 14, three hand pony.

I loved him, he was wild.

We could do the polls in 11 seconds, which is phenomenal.

So we did regionals twice, nationals once.

And then in ninth grade I flew up and competed in the US Games team and made first alternate and that's the year we competed in Australia.

And it's the first time in like five years that the first alternate did not get to go.

So I never actually competed at the US level.

I was on the team.

But first alternate.

How did I not know this about you until this podcast?

This is the first time I'm hearing this story.

Oh really?

Yeah.

We had to fly up in ninth grade and try out in Rochester, New York, spend a couple of days with host families and everybody just brought crazy horses and you just kept trying to show the judges that you were capable.

Right.

Of not making it of getting on the team.

And from my ninth grade memory, the Australian horses were some of the wildest and fastest for all of the worlds.

So it was, it was fun.

And then got a new horse who was a saddlebred.

Just did trail riding and dressage.

I always wanted to jump, but he wasn't into jumping.

So he was great in hunter paces and out in the woods like that.

But in a stadium jump, that's a no go.

Went to college and got sold him to someone that could give him an excellent retirement home.

Got another saddlebred who was crazy.

Loved them.

I dabbled in the saddle seat world, but I never competed.

I just got to watch professionals do that.

I did take a couple years off, but it was after college and it was in my mid career professional stage.

Just didn't have enough time to not be a weekend warrior.

And I always just get a horse that needs more than a Saturday deal.

Correct.

Yeah, I get it.

So moved.

Did a couple years in Japan and then moved back to the States and like just dove debt deep in more stuff as soon as I moved back.

Now when did you first hear about the Mongol Derby and what made you decide to apply.

Yeah.

Interesting.

So I lived in Japan for a couple years and on the way over to Japan, I have two big shepherds.

So my mom drove with me to Seattle and then I took a plane from there so they didn't have to go across the US in another plane.

And we were at my aunt's house and this documentary of Mongolians came on.

And you always hear that they're the expert horsemen and they talked about eagle hunting and how you had to capture an eagle.

And my mom saw my eyes get really big and I remember her saying like, you're not going to Mongolia, Just stop this.

She already knew.

Yeah.

This was 2018.

So I moved to Japan two years later.

2020, Covid is locking everybody down.

And then there was a light restriction.

So my friends and I booked horseback adventure on a beach in Mira Kaigan.

And there the Japanese were telling us that they like to go to Mongolia to go trekking.

And a friend that I ended up competing with, Mary, she had a friend that competed in this thing called the Mongol Derby.

So I went home that night and googled, watched the three minute promo video and was like sold.

And Mary and I, from that moment on just were hyper focused on.

We were going to do this crazy thing called the Mongol Derby.

We were going to ride semi feral horses forever.

How long they'll let us ride them and but it.

So we applied in October of 2020 or a little bit earlier.

We originally got accepted for the 21 race, but Covid deferred everything, which led me.

I remember that.

Yeah.

So 2022.

So I had two years to train, which was really nice.

That is a luxury.

But that three minute video sold me on.

Sign me up.

Good marketing.

Yeah.

So let's talk about how we met.

Do you remember army cute.

Do you remember how we met each other?

Yes, I do.

So I was training.

I've never trained harder for anything in my life.

I'm sure my job would want me to dedicate this much effort, but I was training with Stevie Delahunt out west and she's an amazing horsewoman.

Plus like a coach, mental coach as well.

And she was like, krista, you know, you might benefit on going to see my friend's launch.

And I, I had a new feral stallion baby as well.

Yes.

Fell off a couple times.

The writing was on the wall that I was not going to make it Mongol Derby.

And so I remember be bopping into your Barn at like 6:30 in the, in the morning.

Yes.

Super excited to train.

And within 30 minutes, I fell in love with your style, your attention, your communication style, and then immediately was like, Egypt with me in 2020.

I know you came for, I think it was two days.

Remember, you came for a two day intensive.

Yes.

For the Derby.

And I immediately put you on horses.

And I'm standing in the middle of my indoor teaching you, drinking coffee and like, I'm gonna go to Egypt for my birthday and ride Arabs in the Desert.

Do you want to come?

And I. I wanted to look at you and go, you have not seen me on a horse.

I might be a terrible rider.

You don't know.

Maybe.

I just stayed at a Holiday Inn last night, you know, and I just took a sip of my coffee and I was like, yeah, yeah, I think I do.

I.

And I.

It was the one time probably that I was being super selfish with my own personal trip, that I wanted to go ride fast Arabians.

Yes.

And not worry about anybody or anything.

So.

Yeah.

So that was our first, I think, like 30 minutes.

Yeah.

We had each other not long at all.

And you invited me on, like, your.

Your next trip of a lifetime.

And I was like, yeah, okay.

Oh, yeah.

And it was definitely in May, and I raced in the August race.

So right around the corner.

Yeah, it was amazing around.

I was very sore and never lost my stirrup again, except for on Fragile, the Arabian, and Egypt.

And I lost my syrup like, five minutes before.

And I looked at you, I was like, wow, I lost my syrup, but.

And you're like, you jinxed me.

Those horses, man.

Three, two, one, go.

They just gone.

They were very fast.

I was very excited to have you come to my facility because the lab was still kind of new and I was just sort of building it, and I had just gotten in my equicizer, like, a couple months prior and just gotten in the Mighty Bucky a couple months prior.

So it was really exciting to me to be able to apply those tools with my budding burgeoning system to a Mongol Derby rider.

And you were just a dream to train.

You trained so well and rode so beautifully, and it was so fun to watch you on your Mongol Derby adventure.

Well, about the lab, I think Mighty Bucky, you didn't ask me this question, but I'll toss it in there.

Mighty Bucky was probably my favorite because we rode Mighty Bucky on day one, and then we rode Mighty Bucky on day two, and Mighty Bucky became a feral stallion on day two.

And the significant difference in just one day.

Well, and for the listeners who are like, what's a Mighty Bucky?

It's a professional bull riding barrel.

So it's, it's a big barrel with a handle on it and it, it bucks and rears.

And you can move it very slowly because another human manipulates it.

So you can move it very slowly and gently.

And I've used it to like show people how they can move their hips.

And this is what a canter is going to feel like.

But you can also, if you're strong enough, you can really buck it a lot.

And when I purchased the Mighty Bucky, the ladies on the phone, she's like, do you want the Mighty Bucky or the Mighty Bucky Extreme?

And I was like, the Mighty Bucky Extreme.

So that's what I have.

Which also swivels a little bit.

So it definitely swivels.

It twists and it spins and it bucks and rears and it's, it's a fabulous tool in the lab.

It's heavy and hard to move, but it works really well and has been, I think, like you said, a cornerstone of a lot of the Mongol Derby riders whom I've trained lab time.

Because you can just buck and buck and buck and buck, walk as much as you want.

It was wonderful.

I have so many good things to say about the lab.

That one jumps out and then the equacizer.

I never understood how to.

This sounds bizarre.

I've ridden with top trainers.

I could say that.

Top trainers.

And I guess I never was as connected with my seat bones to the horse and learning my canter lead through my seat.

Yeah, I remember you having that breakthrough.

I remember it.

I was riding way too stiff.

It was really, really very fun to watch.

I had a great time.

So as you know, because you've experienced it, my stable riding system is designed for all riders.

It's non breed specific, it's non discipline specific.

And this means that I get a lot of non traditional riders who come in to the system because they're looking for something a little different because maybe they're doing something a little different like the Mongol Derby riding.

So you've already told us a little bit about how the non traditional instruction of the lab and stable riding helped with your very successful completion of the Mongol Derby.

But is there anything else you want to add about how the stable writing system helped or how other riders can feel maybe empowered to try out some of the non traditional instruction out there because it might really benefit them?

Yeah, I'm.

I was thinking about this in, I think maybe last year or Sooner My show days are merging.

I took my wonderful Irish sport horse into the warmup arena and he was an angel.

He was pretty good.

And then I, you know, bebopped over to the show ring and he was perfect.

And I go down center line and all of his energy is about to combust.

And it just was day and night.

And I immediately was like, this horse is going to try to throw me in the middle of this class in my training one test, first time ever doing training one on him at a show.

And I just was like, we're gonna ride it out.

Yep.

We're just gonna ride it out.

Yeah.

I immediately remembered some of the phrases you taught me.

You know, where my, where my shoulders need to be, where my hips and my chest and my heels and my toes.

And I'm like, I'm a ride and I'm gonna stick this out.

And you know, we're coming around on one of our 20 meter circles and he just rears and does a 160.

Yeah.

And I'm like, no, sir, we don't do that here.

And he also tried to crow hop a couple times in the canter.

Yes.

I'm like, no, sir, we're going this way.

Yeah.

And I remember coming out of the arena and a few people were like, wow.

Like, I would have stopped the class and I would have just not finished.

Right.

And you know, lucky me, I get to ride this horse all the time, but every day is a different personality.

Um, and, but I remember thinking, if I hadn't have been to your lessons and your clinics and continue to ride with you even after the Mongol Derby, I would not have been as confident or quick on the memory of where I needed to be.

I can't just be perfect up and down in my, you know, parallel foot to the ground.

And I, I just had to get into a safe position.

We finished the test, did not get a great score, but we finished the test and then later we did another class and he was great.

So I think for me it's, it's at that moment where you're doing something and you're not.

You're like, I don't know how my horse is gonna.

Oh, a plastic bag goes through the arena.

Oh, yeah, totally happens, I think.

Yeah.

Happens all the time at Barnes.

That things happen.

Or a horse trailer pulls in next to your arena and your horse spooks.

So for me, it's those moments preparing you for those one offs that we all dread and you just don't know what's going to happen.

But Allows you to stay confident to where you're like, nope, we're just going to keep doing this.

What I loved about the way you described the interaction that you had with your horse was you felt like your horse was going to have a big feeling.

You felt an emotional moment coming with a young horse who's in a new place, who's doing something new.

And you went, we're going to keep going.

I'm going to ride this and I'm going to calmly and effectively say we don't do that here, and then redirect them and put them back online.

And while I don't really do a lot of horse training anymore, what the, the, the stable riding system does for riders is allow them to be stable enough in their body that they can use their aids clearly and patiently and empathetically when their horse does have a big feeling as opposed to going, we just have to stop because I can't handle this or I'm just going to monkey cling and pray.

Yeah, yeah, no, I paid a lot of money and it was a schooling show.

Said the bill didn't get rung on me if you know if it was a.

But, yeah, no, we just keep going.

And we did a 30 mile endurance race on him.

I did in November, same thing in my jump saddle.

Because I felt most secure in my jump saddle.

Yes.

And I could.

So we did a full 30 mile race, vet checked, cleared, everything was perfect and he led most of the ways.

So I was definitely in my safety position quite often through that ride.

A lot of posting.

This year's Mongol Derby Krista just completed.

And that once.

That makes me want to ask you what, what did you learn from the stable riding system that directly impacted your Mongol Derby experience and was something that you had happen on the horse frequently and you were able to access some of that training, but also something that you brought home and continued with and something that we could share for our listeners if they want to be able to like a concrete tip or skill or something they can apply to their riding.

Because at the end of the day, we're all riders on horses.

Yeah.

Uh, I would.

So I would relate it to.

Like I mentioned earlier, this is something that I trained more than I've ever trained for in my life from prepped.

You can go find a good raincoat and try your raincoat out in the shower.

You can go try your stirrups out and stuff and.

Or other like riding pants.

But for me, the tactically staying on the horse was very critical.

Um, and I was Always losing my stirrups.

And I remember when I did my interview with you on the phone before I came, so you were prepared for like what I needed to customize.

I sent you videos.

You're like, do you lose your stirrups a lot?

And I'm like, you know, I do in, in the mall in the Mongol Derby, you hear horror stories about marmot holes.

And a marmot's like, it's like a really big groundhog, right?

Yeah, they're like what it is like a prairie.

I think they're, they're smaller.

They're like.

Yeah, they're, they're like between a prairie dog and like a little rat.

And they did holes.

Massive, right?

Holes.

Because everyone's talking about the marmot holes all the time in relation to the Mongol Derby.

And that's what I imagine.

I imagine like a really devious groundhog.

Hole and like you can sort of see them.

But there's one horse on day one.

When I talk about how to me fox hunting relates to the Mongol Derby is you're just constantly going through holes, holes at one point and I had one horse that would jump over the holes and you don't, you have no clue.

But so effective use of my stirrups.

When you and I did our two day intensive, I've only once left my.

Lost my syrup since then.

Yeah.

But it's so critical in the Mongol Derby because when the horse is at a fast speed.

And we also taught me how to canter in a very good cowboy type.

What I would say cowboy outright, like outrider type position where you're, you're not going down.

I don't know how many times I rode a horse that ate dirt at a gallop to where there.

I was told by friends who raised.

When your horse hits the hole, try to stay out of their face.

They'll climb back up.

It's like they never did it, but you need to stay out of it.

Well, the only way you're going to do that is if you're using your stirrups effectively and you're in your body and is alignment with that position and you're not pitched forward.

I came into Horse Station 9 and the, the vet there was like, be careful when you leave the horse station.

The last three riders all fell into holes and this is all at a gallop.

This isn't at like a little cute walk and trot.

This is at a full speed gallop and you don't have fast any control.

When you're leaving that horse station.

Your Goal is to go.

I don't.

My horses fell constantly in holes.

And I would say that I'm very proud.

Like, probably one of my proudest two proudest moments in the Mongol Derby, my mounting skills, I got on quick and swift, never tripped over the bag to marmot holes and not falling forward.

So I never came off of any horse during the Derby.

And I had lot.

There's a famous photo in my year where two people both were off leaving the horse station, right.

And then like fast forward to just this past horse show a couple of months ago.

I'm in the warm up arena doing a derby, which is stadium jumping mixed with cross country.

So we're in a grassy warmup arena and I'm just trotting.

My horse is a little opinionated.

So I'm like in my early stage of be prepared.

Use your stirrups appropriately.

They're a tool.

They're your aid.

They're gonna keep you safe.

And my horse, his face hits the ground and everybody in the warmup arena stops.

My mom freaks out and like a trainer was on the ground coaching and she's like, was there a hole?

I'm like, there better be or I shouldn't be competing today.

Right.

So we circle back and there sure enough isn't a decent size, like, hole in the ground.

Yeah.

And if I hadn't been using my stirrups like you taught me, I would have come off and warm up with my horse.

Well, and the Mongol Derby is such an extreme version of you're going across this open, you know, plain, and you can't always see these holes.

And everybody knows there's marmots everywhere and the horses are traveling so fast, but everybody's horse at some point in time trips a little bit.

Right.

That's.

That's a universal horse experience.

Especially if we have trail riders and fox hunters like you referenced.

Referenced before a tree root or a slippery crossing or a little bit of mud.

Or maybe they're just distracted because they're thinking about the fly on their butt and to be able to sit back and get out of their way.

Quite often they're able to pop their front end up and keep traveling along and not sustain any injury or issue.

Like the Derby horses who are able to because, you know, that's their backyard.

The Derby horses are used to the marmot holes, but if the rider is not accessing their strips correctly, it's going to be more difficult for the horse to right themselves.

So tripping is one of those, like, universal.

Happens to everybody.

That's ever set on a horse thing, even if they're doing their best to help balance the horse, sometimes they just get a little bungled up.

And being able to be balanced stable on them so they can be balanced beneath you is.

That's one of those really valuable life skills, I think.

Yeah.

And I think we're all going to deal with tripping.

And if I can, if eight out of my 10 trips, I can stay on, I'm great.

You know, if there's, there's that one time.

But if I can kick that statistics out.

Yes.

And stay on, that would be fantastic.

But.

And the other part of the Mongo Derby with the use of the stirrups would be downhill bolting.

And have any control when you're bolting down a side of a mountain on a horse that will not let you have contact if you touch the bit, their nose is in your face and that's the last thing you want is for them not to be looking at the ground.

So that's unforgiving physics.

Not good.

And for the listeners who are wondering, how exactly was I able to help Krista have this interaction with her stirrups?

My stable riding system uses the four factors of riding to help stabilize riders regardless of their current body position.

So the four factors are going to be skeletal alignment, weight distribution, grip and absorption.

And I start any interaction with a rider, regardless of their skill level or discipline or breed, with a stability check that just sees if that rider is interacting with their stirrups mechanically as a tool with their leg bone for support.

Stirrups can do three things for a rider.

They provide a frontal support so you don't fall off the front, a lateral support so you don't fall off the side.

And you're able to bring your stirrups beneath you and rise up off of them if you want to stand or post or gallop any of your light seat positions.

So when Krista came to me while she had been riding in stirrups her whole life, a professional hadn't broken down piece by piece using physics terms exactly how to interact with these stirrups in a way to provide her with that kind of support.

So through the time that we spent together using the equi sizer, using the mighty Bucky, the live horses in my facility mirrors green sticks to highlight the vertical line to the ground.

I took her through a series of physical exercises that showed her how she can use her stirrups to support her.

So if her horse's front end drops out from under her, her shoulders don't go forward, her feet catch her.

And that's a big part of my stable riding system, is teaching riders truly how to interact with their stirrups.

Not just, oh, well, measure your stirrup length to your arm and then that's all the information you get.

I have a little bit more technique and a little bit more information that helps rider really understand how to use their stirrups for support in something like galloping downhill or tripping, which is what a lot of the Mongol Derby riders encounter on their race.

Does that sound accurate, Krista?

Like what we did together to help you fix your stirrup weight distribution issues?

Absolutely.

It's.

It's made me, like, finally got to event for the first time in my life officially this year.

So I had my 7 year old out on the course and they're definitely looking at a couple things.

So the lateral moves saved me and just really feel, feel so much more balanced and confident in the saddle to where I can help my horse feel like, oh, she's stable.

So I just have to figure myself out.

I'm going to ask you a little.

Bit more about your horse, your current horse right now, Mr. Aspen, who I really adore.

But before we move on for the Mongol Derby, I want to talk about this year's race.

So it just finished just a couple days ago, and I know that the social media coverage has, like, really gotten so amped up over the last couple years because I think the technology is better.

Like back in the day when Stevie raced, you know, I don't think they had.

You couldn't Facebook live from the step, you know, like, technologically, like, you can be so more involved now in the race.

And did you watch it at all and did you see, like, all the finishers as they came across the line?

And it really struck me how the, the people who won this year kind of came together as a group and I thought it spoke to some of the, like, the camaraderie of that race and how, how you really bond with your teammate and the people you ride with.

Myth.

Yeah, absolutely.

Oh, I definitely watched it.

Slightly addicted.

Yes.

It's always fun also when you have someone, you, you.

So I was cheering two writers on this year.

Super ecstatic.

Both of them finished.

Very happy for them.

So glad.

I never read.

Every day I go and look at where everybody's at, who's in the adventure.

Adventure category means you had something go wrong and then you could just row it to heart, you know, like your stirrups break, you know, you lose your gear, you get a Stomach virus, anything.

So adventure means you're no longer in the competitive status.

So I'm always looking at that list, looking at where everybody's at, and then look at.

They did nail the marketing this year.

The coverage on Facebook.

The coverage was amazing.

They did such and such a huge logistical event that they pull off so flawlessly.

It is.

And I loved.

So started watching it in 2022 with myself.

There's.

And ever since then, I've been watching it.

And this year was really cool to see the four riders crossover and share that title and then seeing everybody else come in and it's.

I rode with my friend Mary that I met in Japan, and I would never pick a different person to ride with.

We spent 10 days together.

I wanted to stay on the roads, to stay away from Marmot Hold.

You know, we had.

We compromised between Marmot hold and Roads when it made sense.

But in 10 days, you know, you build a huge bond with someone.

It's essentially from Charleston, South Carolina, to Manhattan is the distance we rode into 28 different horses.

Like that.

That is wild.

And the meeting people and who you ride with.

There were days that we rode with the same people multiple times.

You help everybody else out.

I remember coming across one of the Aussies and his horse just was not moving out.

And we had two bolters, which were crazy.

They just walk and then they bolt when they want, and then they walk and then they bolt.

So we were like, yeah, man, you can join us.

But these are bolters.

Which was great because then his horse, like, was.

Was excited off it, sort of pulled his along.

Yeah.

And then he finished up in that, I think, like the top 10, probably.

Mary and I came in at 21st and finished.

Started the race together.

Finished the race together.

And you see where the competitive nature comes out, but then you also see where people are going to actually help each other.

It is a race and there are rankings, but the vibe that I really get from all the riders who have trained and who have come back and talked to me about it is that it's everyone's so incredible help, so incredibly helpful of each other.

It's a very supportive community.

You're all out there to have a really great time.

And I think that that's a wonderful bond that the race sort of brings all these people together and all these people from all over the world, too.

Yeah, we.

We kept the group chat going strong for probably a year and a half.

I believe that.

And then lots of connections.

And then not just through the race, but training for the race.

You meet like you and I. Yeah.

So you meet a bunch of fantastic people.

Yeah.

So can you tell us a little bit about your current horse and how adorable he is, but also what are your, what are your future riding goals?

Like what do you want to, what do you want to do moving forward with your horse life?

Yeah.

So seventh grade, watching the fox hunters come through, I was tally hoeing and this big, beautiful gray Irish sport horse comes through first field.

And I, you know, we're at a staff and I asked the writer like, what type of breed is this, sir?

And he's like this little blonde seven year old seventh grader.

Yeah.

And he was like, irish sport horse.

And instantly I was like, I'm gonna own a gray one one day.

And came back from Japan, emailed a amateur trainer friend and said, here's what I want.

I want an Irish sport horse, preferably gray, 16, three hands to event and spicy.

I will never forget the word spicy.

I got that and I got him at 3.

He was a stallion.

Sent him off to a natural horsemanship trainer for a couple of months.

I went there constantly, every weekend.

Fantastic person that broke him.

And then slow.

Like I always wanted to event.

So when I did my ppe, I told the vet, if he can't event, I'm not getting him.

Yeah.

And so my goal right now is one I wanted to, I love endurance.

It's in my blood.

I just didn't know it as a kid that that's what I should have been doing out on the trails all the time.

Right.

So we did our first 30 mile endurance ra in November.

That was fantastic.

And then now we're trying to competitively do eventing and we've done our first schooling horse trials a couple months ago.

We have a couple.

This will be our first show season.

We're doing the starter division.

It's giving us both time to adjust to the field and then at home.

Yeah.

So my goal is just to get out there and have fun.

And he definitely seems to enjoy jumping.

He was made for it.

He does.

Yeah.

He would.

Yeah.

We're getting, we're, we're finding out the dressage arena is a must, but we can't turn in our jumps if we can't turn in the dressage arena.

So we really need to understand the body movement there.

Yes.

But yeah, that's my goal is to event with him.

I think one day I would love to be able to do a 50 on a 50 miler on him.

I just know that.

Right.

I'm trying to Stay focused and not stack too much.

So conditioning 25, 30 miles, great for a horse.

Oh, yeah.

And then eventually, eventually I'll get him on a like out fox hunting, but I think that's going to be in a year or two, so I don't blow his mind.

He's.

Well, he's definitely hot.

He's still young.

And you've got many, many, many wonderful years ahead of you with him to do all the fun horse things.

And I've.

It's been a privilege and honor that you've allowed me to continue instructing you after your Mongol Derby ride.

And I get to see you and Aspen grow together and progress together.

And he really does love to jump.

I have seen it with my own eye.

That horse loves to jump.

Yeah.

I'm pretty sure if he was more.

With more of a professional, they would already, you know, I just dream, like, can Boyd Martin just take my horse, see what he really can do, bring.

Him back with a bow on him in a year or two.

I did his clinic in January, and he was like, you have a really nice horse.

I'm like, thank you.

Like a child over here.

Love it.

Yeah, but you have a really nice horse.

He's the dream horse, but really just being safe and getting out there.

And my goal is always, always the long.

The long.

You know, I'm out there for the.

I want him for the next 10, 15 years, which means I need to be able to ride him for the next 10, 15 years and any way I can improve and be stable and effective, especially in situations where a deer pops out on the trail and his go to signature move is to do a spin like an Arabian.

But he's not right.

But you're up really high.

Yes.

Krista, I had so much fun interviewing you today.

I learned some stuff about you that I didn't even know.

And I. I think it really stands out that you truly manifested this lifestyle.

You were seven and you knew what you wanted.

You knew you wanted to go fast.

You knew you wanted to have fun.

You knew from a very young age that you wanted a gray Irish sport horse.

And you have committed and worked incredibly hard and gone for it and have thus far achieved all of your really amazing goals.

And I cannot wait to see what you do now.

Next.

Thank you.

Yeah, it's pretty exciting.

I'm very blessed and lucky.

Thank you so much, Christa.

This was awesome.

Thank you.

See you soon.

Bye.

Bye.

Okay, everybody.

It's the part of the show where I share my rider tip.

So since this is the Very first episode of stable riding with Solange, I wanted to start, start with the one single most important thing that I teach all the riders that I ever interact with on the very first day.

It's like the foundation of the stable riding system, and I call it the stable position.

The stable position is the way that you put your skeleton on your horse's back to keep yourself on if you are beginning to feel unstable in your own body or if your horse moves out from you in a way you didn't expect.

So this stable position that I'm going to explain to you will keep you on if your horse horse spooks or spins or shies or bucks or bolts or will just help you gain confidence if you're riding along and you don't feel like you're in the best position you could be in.

How we perform as the stable position is we put our feet in front of us, we put our heels down, and we put our feet in front of us enough that if you look past your knee, you'll see your toe.

You're going to turn your toes out at a 45 degree angle, and as you put your feet out and in front of you, you're going to widen them a little bit.

So I had a rider who called it piece of pizza.

She's like, I gotta put my feet out like a piece of pizza.

This is going to allow you to interact with your stirrups mechanically as a tool for frontal and lateral support.

You're going to keep your hands down below your belly button and you're going to lean backwards from your waist, the amount that puts your shoulder slightly behind you.

Think about how bull riders look when they ride at the rodeo.

This position will keep you on your horse's back and will also use all of your aids to help tell your horse that you'd like it to slow down and come back beneath you.

You.

So for the rider homework, I want you to practice the stable position ten times each ride.

You can do it just walking at the beginning or the end of the ride when you're on a loose rein.

Because people's initial reaction when the horse moves out from under them and surprises them is to go into the fetal position where you scrunch your legs up and scrunch your hands up and lean forward from your waist, which sounds like the opposite of the stable position, because it is.

So this means that your body's first instinct to curl up up is the wrong instinct because it'll make you fall off your horse.

So we want to train you to have new muscle memory.

But if you only try and think of it when your horse surprises you a couple times a year, that's not enough repetition for your body to memorize it.

So we're going to purposefully practice this position 10 times every ride, even when you're just walking along.

Go from your regular riding position into your stable position, hold it for five or ten strides, and then go back to your regular position again.

Again.

You might find that when you go into the stable position, your horse slows or stops beneath you.

And that's okay because that's partially what your body is communicating with your aids.

And if that happens, I just pat him, tell them, good horse, pretend like I just wanted him to slow down or stop anyway and then go back to walking.

I promise you that if you can dedicate just a couple of strides every ride to practicing the stable position when something happens in the real world, you will greatly increase your chance of staying on and communicating calmly to your horse.

And that's really worth it.

If you're interested to learn more about stable riding, you can Visit my website www.stableriding.us or you can find us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok at Stable Riding what I offer through my Stable Riding program is remote lessons one on one lessons.

I offer traveling clinics and riders often come in to where I'm located in Hinckley, Ohio and spend multiple days training with me in rider intensives.

We are here once a month on the fourth Tuesday of every month.

We have our own RSS feed.

Just search Stable Riding with Solange in your podcast player or you can find us on the main horses in the morning feed.

Until next month, all riders can be stable riders and a stable rider makes for a happy horse.