Articles

The love of horses and horsemanship is deep and enduring. There’s nothing like saddling up to your favorite horse and hitting the trails with family...

PREPARE YOUR HORSE TO CROSS FROZEN PUDDLES by Mark Bolender When trail riding in the winter, early spring, and/or late fall, you can expect to find...

HELPING THE FEARFUL HORSE by Mark Bolender Mastering the teeter-totter is, for the most part, a simple task for the horse and will only take a few...

PROPER PREPARATION NECESSARY FOR SUCCESS by Mark Bolender The most important thing a judge should see when you run a Mountain Trail pattern is a...

WORLDWIDE INTEREST IS GROWING by Mark Bolender Riding through rugged mountain trails is something people do every day across the world. You never...

FUN FOR PARTICIPANTS AND SPECTATORS by Mark Bolender It’s exciting to see mountain trail growing around the world. What a year it has been! We now...

FUN FOR PARTICIPANTS AND SPECTATORS by Mark Bolender The new discipline of Mountain Trail is in exciting times. For the past six years Mountain...

CAREFUL TRAINING LEADS TO A BOLD, CONFIDENT HORSE by Mark Bolender Riding a horse through rugged mountain trails is something many people do on a...

KEEP YOUR OBSTACLES SAFE WITH SPRING MAINTENANCE by Mark Bolender Spring is here and the mountain trail obstacles are being put to use again. Now is...

THE VERONA HORSE EXPO AND EXPLOSIVE GROWTH OF THE SPORT IN ITALY by Mark Bolender In 2013 we had our first guest from Italy travel to Bolender Horse...

CREATE YOUR OWN CHALLENGE AND LEARN EASY TIPS FOR MASTERY With a little know-how, a rock obstacle is easy to construct and easy to master. I love...

Age Shines on the Obstacle Course by Mark Bolender The discipline of mountain trail goes quite naturally with an aged horse. While an older horse...

BUILDING AN INTERNATIONAL SPORT by Mark Bolender YOU DON’T OFTEN FIND the western horse next to an English style horse in the same competition. This...

Master these Basic Skills to Improve Safety and Scores by Mark Bolender To improve their mountain trail scores it’s important to master nine basic...

Why Obstacle Training is Good for Every Horse by Mark Bolender Your horse’s mind is an amazing place, but understanding the basics is an absolute...

HOW HORSES TEACH US TO BE BETTER LEADERS by Mark Bolender It never ceases to amaze me how consistently the horse remains a forgiving creature. I...

TEACH YOUR HORSE FOCUS WITH THIS OBSTACLE CHALLENGE Mountain trail is based on real life situations found working on the ranch or navigating a...

LEARN HOW TO BUILD AND TRAIN THIS CHALLENGING OBSTACLE by Mark Bolender More and more trail challenges include a small 42 inch box that requires the...

GAIN SUCCESS NAVIGATING A FRUSTRATING OBSTACLE by Mark Bolender The raised back-through can often be a frustrating experience for the horse and...

BECOME AN EFFECTIVE LEADER BY WORKING WITH YOUR HORSE’S NATURAL INSTINCT by Mark Bolender The principle of “thinking it through” applies to both...

TRAIN YOUR HORSE TO CALMLY NEGOTIATE ROLLING LOGS by Mark Bolender A scramble is an obstacle designed to teach the horse how to walk through a set...

BEGIN ON THE GROUND TO SAFELY JUMP FROM THE SADDLE by Mark Bolender Recently, while riding near Mount St. Helens in WA State, the trail came up to a...