The PIB Compass - Orientation for Thoughtful, Horse-Centered Training

Training is often described as moving forward — progressing, advancing, ticking the next box.

But over the years, I’ve come to experience something slightly different.

Real progress doesn’t come from constantly doing more, harder, or sooner.It comes from clarity, from knowing what we are actually working on, and from having a way to orient ourselves when things don’t feel quite right anymore.

Through groundwork, work in hand, riding, review classes, challenges, and countless quiet moments with horses, my teaching has slowly crystallized into a clear inner orientation.Not as a rigid system, and not as a step-by-step recipe — but as a way of thinking and acting that helps me stay fair, progressive, and horse-centered.

I now call this orientation tool the PIB Compass.

Why a Compass?

A map can show terrain, paths, and destinations.A compass does something else.

A compass helps you orient yourself wherever you are.

No matter which route you’ve taken, how long you’ve paused, or how often you’ve needed to circle back, a compass doesn’t judge. It doesn’t rush you forward.It simply helps you ask the right questions again.

That’s why the image of a compass resonates so deeply with how I work and teach.

The PIB Compass doesn’t replace feel, experience, or knowledge.It doesn’t tell you where you should be.

It helps you find a meaningful direction from where you are right now.

The PIB Compass within the PIB Approach

The PIB Compass is not the whole PIB Approach.It sits within it.

The PIB Approach holds the knowing — biomechanics, anatomy, learning theory, mental and emotional regulation, and the deep understanding of how bodies move and adapt.

The PIB Compass helps translate that knowing into doing.

It helps answer practical questions such as:

• Where are we right now?

• What does the horse need in this moment?

• Should we simplify, integrate, support, or wait?

The Five Orienting Questions of the PIB Compass

The PIB Compass guides my training through five recurring questions.They are not steps to climb, but directions I return to again and again:

1. Understanding & MotivationDoes the horse understand the request and want to participate?

2. CoordinationDoes the body reflect that understanding in posture, rhythm, and movement?

3. Integration & CombinationDoes this understanding hold when elements are combined and context changes?

4. SurefootednessCan the horse stay balanced, confident, and organized within complexity?

5. CollectionCan the horse carry more without losing ease, flow, and self?

Depending on the horse, the day, and the situation, different questions come into focus.Sometimes progress means simplifying.Sometimes it means integrating.And sometimes it means waiting — on purpose.

Orientation instead of pressure

Training is not only about being “on track”.It’s about orientation — when things drift, wobble, or change —and sometimes about recognizing that things are already moving in the right direction,following the compass beautifully.

A clear inner orientation doesn’t limit creativity — it protects it.It allows us to stay curious without getting lost, and to develop physical quality without sacrificing mental connection, motivation, or trust.

Looking ahead

This way of thinking will quietly guide everything I share in 2026:

• the ongoing PIB Membership work,

• future challenges and theory content,

• and also some new standalone resources for those who want orientation and inspiration at their own pace.

If this perspective resonates with you, you’re warmly invited to follow along.There is more taking shape — and it will unfold step by step.