Horseman's Academy

Lundahl Performance Horses
  • 4.8 (73)
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Jake Lundahl is a professional horseman. He is passionate about colt starting, bridle horse training, and helping riders level up from “zero” to mastery. Known for his sharp insights and common sense teaching style, Jake has a gift for breaking complex ideas into simple, practical steps. Join us as Jake shares his most groundbreaking experiences, helpful advice, and no-BS lessons for training horses that work and win. If you’re a rider or owner who’s always searching for better answers, connecting dots across disciplines, and figuring things out as you go, you’ll feel right at home here.

  1. The Tetris Moment

    11/17/2025

    The Tetris Moment

    Jake shares the intense journey of building his Foundations of Excellence program, centering on a wild story about debugging code at 4:30 AM, that led to a breakthrough "fever dream" about invisible architectures in both programming and horsemanship.⁠ After spending hundreds of hours fixing a $2 billion ed-tech company's broken "premium" software, Jake discovered that horse training problems often mirror coding problems: both involve hidden structures and legacy "spaghetti code" that sabotages progress. He explains how bad training ideas create mental architecture that actively fights against learning, using a real example of a dressage student who couldn't grasp the concept of allowing horses to make mistakes as teaching opportunities. The episode dives deep into diagnostic horsemanship; the ability to see the load-bearing structures that are often hidden from view, understand first principles of how horses think and respond, and escape the "intermediate no man's land" where most riders get stuck fighting invisible problems they don't understand. Get Foundations of Excellence: https://www.lundahlperformance.com/foe

    1h 5m
  2. The Turning Point Into True Collection

    09/04/2025

    The Turning Point Into True Collection

    Many riders chase surface-level appearances and miss what true collection actually feels like: lift at the withers, hindquarters engaged, front end light. In this episode, Jake explains why face-checking cycles fail and how true self-carriage emerges when softness and steering fuse together through the neck rein. The key moment to introduce this concept to the horse is what he calls the "turning point" —a subtle give at the withers in response to indirect rein pressure, where guiding and gathering become one. If you can recognize and reward that shift, you stop babysitting your horse’s frame and start cultivating collection that carries through transitions, circles, and straight lines without constant nagging.

    35 min
  3. Softness, Acceptance, Balance, Rhythm

    09/04/2025

    Softness, Acceptance, Balance, Rhythm

    "Feel and timing” is a mysterious concept for many riders because no one ever explains what it actually is, or how to grow it. In this episode, Jake breaks it down into what he calls the "four-factor awareness model" — Softness, Acceptance, Balance, Rhythm (SABR). These four layers act like tumblers on a combination lock: at first you just reward basic physical compliance, then mental relaxation, then true balance, and finally rhythm as the capstone. SABR gives you a roadmap, both for teaching any maneuver and refining your own feel in the saddle. If you’ve ever wondered how expert trainers seem to “just know,” this episode decodes the structure behind that awareness.

    43 min
  4. The Three Evolutions Of Pressure

    09/03/2025

    The Three Evolutions Of Pressure

    Most riders never move past “apply pressure, get release.” In this episode, Jake breaks down the three evolutions of pressure every horse goes through—avoidance, acceptance, and seeking—and why staying stuck in stage one creates stiff, reward-hacked horses that look trained but aren’t. You’ll learn how to evolve your horse’s mindset from just escaping pressure to actually relaxing into it, and eventually to seeking connection and offering movements with initiative. If you want to understand how real softness, throughness, and that almost telepathic feel with your horse are built, this is the roadmap.

    39 min
  5. Identify the "Try" — The Hidden Language of Navigating Uncertainty

    05/28/2025

    Identify the "Try" — The Hidden Language of Navigating Uncertainty

    Approach and retreat is just the surface. Underneath it lies the real structure: Orientation. Attention. Engagement. In this episode, Jake unpacks the hidden behavioral code that governs how horses process fear, curiosity, and uncertainty. You’ll learn why most riders misread “the try,” how to spot the difference between attention and engagement, and how to avoid unintentionally training your horse to spook, stall out, or resist. If you want your horse to confidently navigate any unfamiliar situation—not just cross a bridge—this episode shows you how to build the mindset that makes it possible.

    48 min
  6. Taking a Performance Horse from "Foundation" to "Finesse".... FASTER

    02/27/2023

    Taking a Performance Horse from "Foundation" to "Finesse".... FASTER

    In this episode you'll learn the predictable, step-by-step formula we're using to help our Non Pro clients get wildly better results with their horses — going from "foundation" to "finesse" faster than they ever thought possible. We document our process with an owner who recently hauled to our facility for an Uplevel private lesson, then committed her reining horse to 30 days training with Lundahl Performance, and took another 3-day private lesson at the end of the program to experience and practice what her horse had learned. You'll discover what steps we followed, what exercises and concepts drove the biggest breakthroughs, the philosophy behind why they work, and how to get those results for yourself. Ready to dive deeper into our training philosophy and get to the next level? Start your journey with this free training video: The Ultimate Lead Change Formula. Lundahl Performance Horses Website: LundahlPerformance.com Find Us On Facebook: Facebook.com/LundahlHorses "Making Advanced Horsemanship Accessible"

    1h 48m
  7. Never Get Bucked Off Again

    06/29/2022

    Never Get Bucked Off Again

    In this podcast I share two stories which serve as important examples of what can happen when you miss this critical step in the process of starting a horse under saddle.  For a free masterclass on colt starting check out the following episodes:  Day 1:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lead-change-troubleshooting-dry-work-basics/id1345025627?i=1000463522073 Day 2: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lazy-horse-motivation-flag-work-intro/id1345025627?i=1000465614836 Day 3: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/stress-free-trailering-leading-by-the-feet/id1345025627?i=1000468145180 Days 4-6:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/introducing-live-cattle-horses-that-charge-humans/id1345025627?i=1000471914333 Colt Starting Secrets online course:  https://www.coltstartingsecrets.com Our website:  https://www.lundahlperformance.com

    44 min
  8. Livestream With Fire & Ice Horses

    05/11/2022

    Livestream With Fire & Ice Horses

    Jennifer Osborne is a professional firefighter and owner/operator of Fire & Ice Horses, a thoroughbred rescue based in Las Vegas, Nevada. In this interview we discuss a wide range of topics including horsemanship education, and our reactions after the Along for the Ride Symposium in February 2022. Along For The Ride Website:  https://alongfortheride.pro/ Fire & Ice Horses on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FireAndIceHorses Lundahl Performance on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LundahlHorses Our Website (join our newsletter here): https://www.coltstarting.com/ Colt Starting Secrets: https://www.coltstartingsecrets.com/

    1h 29m
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4.8
out of 5
73 Ratings

About

Jake Lundahl is a professional horseman. He is passionate about colt starting, bridle horse training, and helping riders level up from “zero” to mastery. Known for his sharp insights and common sense teaching style, Jake has a gift for breaking complex ideas into simple, practical steps. Join us as Jake shares his most groundbreaking experiences, helpful advice, and no-BS lessons for training horses that work and win. If you’re a rider or owner who’s always searching for better answers, connecting dots across disciplines, and figuring things out as you go, you’ll feel right at home here.

Information

  • Creator
    Lundahl Performance Horses
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2025
  • Episodes
    18
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Lundahl Performance Horses
  • Show Website
    Horseman's Academy