Steph K Equestrian

02/25/2025

Spring 2025 Educational Outreach – Learn, Grow, Connect!

📢 Calling all equestrians, animal lovers, and lifelong learners! Steph is traveling this spring, bringing sustainable, ethical equine education to communities across the U.S. and Canada.

🌎 Confirmed: WA, OR, N CA, CO (starting late March)
🌍 Possible: ME, NM, AZ, BC, and more!

🤠 About Steph
Steph is a lifelong student of the horse, passionate about elevating industry standards and improving the lives of our equine partners. With a background in neuroscience, numerous professional certifications, and experience in wildlife and exotic sanctuaries, she brings real-life perspective while teaching a trauma-informed, force-free, and empowering approach to working with animals.

🐴 Learning Topics Include:

✅ Ethical Foundations – Life skills & cooperative care: haltering, leading, farrier & vet handling, trailer loading, first aid, and more!
✅ Riding Ethically – Biomechanics, saddle fit, safety, and riding that benefits the horse.
✅ Ethical Performance – Competing with positive reinforcement, staying ethical in the show ring, and alternative competition options.
✅ Fun with Positive Reinforcement – Equine agility, mounted archery, scent work, hiking, enrichment games, and more!
✅ Ethical Animal Work – Balancing partnership & profit in lesson programs, therapy work, tourism, entertainment, and ranching.
✅ Non-Equine Positive Reinforcement – Ethical training for dogs, cats, farm animals, birds, aquatics, exotics, and more!

📋 Want to Learn More?
Fill out our Clinic Interest Form to get updates on upcoming events near you! → https://form.jotform.com/stephkequestrian/clinics

📍 Don’t see your area listed? We’re adding new locations based on interest—let us know where you'd like to see an event!

Let’s build a kinder, more ethical future for animals together. Join us on this journey! 🐴❤️

02/24/2025

Lifelong Commitment, Part 4: Figuring out the right commitment for ANY budget, schedule, or situation

We've talked about how to keep your horse safe, how rescues can help offer safety nets if you can't afford to provide them yourself, and now let's talk about commitment level. This post is designed to be a "guide" to figuring out how to get involved with horses in an ethical, sustainable way (regardless of budget, schedule, or resource limitations).

💰💰💰 Infinite Money, Infinite Time — If you have plenty of resources, you can purchase or adopt a horse and offer them a private safety net, via a lifelong trust, estate planning, emergency savings, etc.

💰💰 Some Money, but not "trust" level — If you have enough to cover transition savings and emergency costs, you might be in a position to purchase a horse and offer a private safety net (especially if you have trusted friends/family who can take over care as needed).

💰 Limited Funds — If you can cover basic costs of routine care, but would be in trouble in an emergency and can't afford a private safety net, you're still in a position to get a horse. You'll need to work with a rescue group that offers a "safety net" program for adopters, that way your horse is safe without you needing a giant savings account.

💵 Very Limited Funds — If you can cover some care costs, but maybe not all of them all the time, you're not in a position to assume full responsibility for a horse. You ARE in a position to lease or foster, though! Many rescues (like SKE) will cover partial or full care costs for foster homes that can provide the time and "sweat equity" needed to care for a rescue horse.

Lastly, being a primary caretaker for a horse isn't the ONLY way to get involved. Whether you want to help horses in need or experience their healing powers, there are ways to get some "barn time" 🤠 Volunteer with a rescue, foster home, trainer, lesson barn, or simply offer to help an equine caretaker with chores. You might even find an opportunity to work at a barn to help cover your "horse habit" 💩

And if you have extra funds, but no time, you can always donate to help support a rescue horse in need, too! ❤️‍🩹

02/23/2025

Lifelong Commitment, Part 3: How Rescues Can Help

💸 What if you can't afford to set aside emergency savings, but you still have the time and resources to provide day to day care, and lots of love to give... With so many horses in need, I'm not discouraging anyone from offering a loving, caring home.

This is where rescues can be your greatest support system. 💞 Many rescues have "Safety Net" programs/policies that protect their adopted horses in the event they can't stay with their adopter.

Reputable rescues make a LIFELONG commitment, including being able/willing to take an adopted horse back if the adopter can no longer keep them. That's guaranteed safe retirement and emergency/transition coverage, ensuring safety without adopters needing to provide lifetime trusts or transition savings. 💰

Additionally, rescues can help with emergencies, too. Many rescues will help adopted horses that face large, unexpected vet bills or other challenges (ie, through fundraising, support networking, or emergency re-intake to provide the care themselves — we offer all of these at SKE).

So if you can cover the costs of routine care, have the time in your schedule, and have plenty of love to give... It doesn't matter if you can't afford a trust account or transition savings. Work with a reputable rescue to ensure your horse has a safety net ❤️🐴

We'll wrap this topic up in Part 4, coming soon! In the meantime, let me know what you think in the comments — Did you know many rescues offer safety net support services? Would you consider adopting if you can't afford private safety net plans?

02/22/2025

Lifelong Commitment, Part 2: Emergency Planning

Let's talk about what "worst case" scenario planning means—the ideal, the bare minimum, and everything in between.

💰 Best Case: Build a Trust

If you have the funds for it, set aside a lifetime of care funds! Obviously the vast majority of us aren't able to do this, but for those spending five or six figures on performance horses, surely we can dip into that budget, right?

An estate lawyer can assist with building a trust or incorporating your horse's care into your will. Set this up in advance with a trustworthy caretaker or sanctuary to ensure your horse gets acceptable care and has plenty of funds available.

💸 Next Best: Transition Savings

If we can't cover their WHOLE life savings, hopefully we can still provide a safety net — enough money to cover a few months of care and/or transport to a trustworthy caretaker, sanctuary, rescue group, etc.

This can mean the difference between your horse going to a reputable rescue/rehoming program or ending up at a local auction, and it's usually about the same amount as a low-end horse purchase (

02/22/2025

Lifelong Commitment, Part 1: Keeping Them Safe

The best way to ensure your horse's safety is NOT through:

🏆 Performance training — plenty of high-earners and winners end up on their way to slaughter. Ribbons, trophies, and show records don't protect them.

🏇 Exposure/versatility — plenty of amazing horses that are handleable, versatile, and reliable ship to slaughter right alongside the feral ones. Knowing how to lunge and stand for the farrier won't protect them.

🧬 Top Bloodlines — plenty of gorgeous, well-bred horses ship to slaughter right alongside the "ugly" backyard bred mutts. Papers don't protect them (and often end up in the dirt at the sale barn or tossed in a gas station garbage can on the way to Mexico).

The best way to ensure your horse is safe: Keep them. If they're in your care, you can ensure they're okay.

The next best: Keep track of them. If you have to rehome them, or it's in their best interest to be rehomed, then keep tabs on them. Establish boundaries with the new owner in advance to make sure you don't cross any lines regarding their expectation for privacy (ie, Can you email, call, text for updates? How often - yearly, or every few months? Can you follow their social media? Come to visit ever? etc.)

Plus, if a new owner won't let you check in on the horse, really consider how much you trust them and if it's worth not knowing where your horse ends up or what happens to them. Ideally, get an agreement, in writing, that the new owner will contact you if the horse is ever in trouble or is being rehomed (even if those contracts aren't always enforceable).

Finally: Plan for the "worst case," because there are a million ways life could interfere so you aren't able to keep them or keep track of them.

We'll talk more about what "worst case" planning involves in the next part of this series. In the meantime, let me know your thoughts in the comments! Have you considered what would happen if you couldn't care for your horse anymore? How have you worked to ensure they stay safe forever?

02/20/2025

02/17/2025

Ethical, Sustainable Breeding, Part 4 - The "PRIME" Standard

If we’re going to breed horses, we need to hold ourselves to the highest possible standards. Steph developed the "PRIME" standard to help others understand the essential criteria every mare and stallion should meet before even considering breeding.

P – PROVEN
Potential is not enough. Breeding-quality horses must have a solid record demonstrating their exceptional temperament, soundness, trainability, and suitability for their intended purpose.

R – REGISTERED
History, ancestry, and genetics must be documented. Registration isn’t just a piece of paper—it’s a tool for responsible breeding decisions, helping us evaluate patterns of inheritance and ensure that undesirable traits aren’t being passed down.

I – IDEAL CONFORMATION
Ideal conformation supports soundness, longevity, and suitability for the expected career or lifestyle. Heritability is complex, we can't assume two good horses will create a great one—if the foal inherited the least desirable aspects of both parents, would they still be exceptional? If not, the breeding shouldn’t happen.

M – MINDSET (Temperament)
Temperament is essential and highly heritable. A responsibly bred horse should have:
✔️ Low reactivity / High resilience – They take new experiences in stride, making them safer to handle and more confident in life.
✔️ Willingness to engage with people – Since they’ll spend their lives in human environments, they should have a natural interest in working with people rather than being forced into submission.
✔️ Intelligence & drive – A good balance of trainability without being over-reactive or dull.

Just like with conformation, we have to consider worst-case scenarios. If the foal inherits the most difficult aspects of both parents’ temperaments, will they still be a safe animal to work with?

E – ENTIRE LIFETIME COMMITMENT
If we create a life, we are responsible for that life. Our post about "Ethical Horse Breeding" is all about this!

With hundreds of thousands of horses shipping to slaughter each year and even more in desperate need of homes, we need to be incredibly selective about the new lives we create.

02/16/2025

Ethical, Sustainable Breeding, Part 3 - Personal vs Commercial Breeding

Personal breeding happens when an individual has a specific need—not a financial one, but a need for a horse that meets very particular criteria (ie, a lifelong equestrian carefully selecting a mare and stallion to produce their ideal lifetime horse)

What’s NOT part of personal breeding?
❌ Profit motives
❌ Investment return expectations
❌ Production of foals for resale/rehoming

Personal breeding is deeply intentional, where every decision is made with care and responsibility—and, most importantly, the foal has a permanent, lifelong home before they are even conceived.

Commercial breeding, on the other hand, is about financial return. The foals produced are not bred to fill a specific home—they are bred to be sold. Profit may come from:
💰 Selling the foal itself
🏆 Competing the foal and making money from winnings
📈 Breeding horses that are seen as "investments" with future financial value

At its core, commercial breeding is about mass production of life with no guaranteed future for the foal. This includes individual farms that mass-produce hundreds of foals each year, and also the thousands of individuals that each produce a handful of foals each year.

Because the equine industry is already oversaturated, mass breeding means:
⚠️ More foals born than there are quality homes available
⚠️ More horses ending up in neglectful, abusive, or disposable situations
⚠️ More horses eventually landing in kill pens or the slaughter pipeline

No horse is rideable or profitable forever. If a foal is bred with the expectation that they must financially justify their existence, they are at much higher risk of being discarded the moment they stop meeting that expectation.

At SKE, we believe that breeding should only happen when a horse has a guaranteed, committed home for life. If that home doesn’t exist before conception, breeding should not happen. Our breeding record reflects that.

💬 What are your thoughts on personal vs. commercial breeding? Do you think the equine industry puts enough emphasis on sustainability? Let’s start a conversation.

02/15/2025

Ethical Horse Breeding - Is it possible?

Our previous post addressed some of the big concerns regarding sustainability in equine breeding practices, so now let's talk ethics—for the foal, as well as the mare and stallion.

To breed responsibly, we must be prepared to commit to that horse for its entire life—not just the cute foal stage, not just the riding years, but for all of it.

We must also consider the mare and stallion—if they ever need a safety net, could we provide it? If the answer is no, then we shouldn't be breeding—why create a new life when we can't even guarantee the safety of the existing ones?

Beyond that, we have to ask:

✔️ Is it in the stallion’s best interest to remain intact? Can he live a happy, enriched life without excessive restraint, force, or isolation? If not, he should be gelded—no matter how impressive his bloodlines are.

✔️ Is it in the mare’s best interest to carry and nurse a foal? Is she physically and emotionally prepared for it? Will weaning be handled in a species-appropriate, trauma-informed way?

✔️ Are there appropriate facilities, professionals, and handling protocols to ensure ethical breeding practices? Whether it’s natural cover, live cover, or artificial insemination, breeding should never be traumatic or forceful.

Breeding is a CHOICE—one that creates new life and new responsibilities. When we breed, we are intentionally creating a situation where a variety of veterinary interventions may be required. This isn't the same as responding to an emergency veterinary situation where force might be a "necessary evil." If we’re not prepared to handle those situations ethically and cooperatively, we shouldn’t be breeding.

The bottom line 👉 If breeding cannot be done ethically, it should not be done at all.

02/14/2025

Sustainable Horse Breeding - Is it possible?

Breeding horses is a controversial topic, and for good reason. It’s an essential conversation when discussing sustainability and ethics in the equine industry.

At SKE, our entire mission revolves around ethical, sustainable equestrianism—and that includes breeding. Because here’s the reality:

🔥 The equine industry is not sustainable.
There are far more horses being born every day than there are quality, lifelong homes available.

Too often, horses are treated like sporting equipment or financial investments—used until they can no longer perform, and then discarded. But no horse is rideable for their entire life. Every single horse will go through phases where they can't be ridden, (ie, when too young or old, when they have physical issues like injury, illness, saddle fit, etc.)

Yet, so many people only value a horse if they can be ridden 💔 This creates a harmful, transactional relationship, where a horse’s worth is tied to what they can do rather than who they are.

So, when we talk about breeding, we have to ask:
🤔💭 Why create more horses when so many are already in need?

At Steph K Equestrian, we have raised with foals from a variety of backgrounds—neglected rescue foals to elite performance-bred prospects. Despite extensive experience in equine reproduction, Steph has only bred two foals personally (Spud and Pickles) because ethical breeding demands an extraordinary level of responsibility, and SKE has NEVER participated in commercial/for profit breeding.

The bottom line 👉 If breeding cannot be done sustainably, it should not be done at all. Do you think there are every exceptions to this rule? Let us know in the comments!

02/09/2025

✨ The Joy of Jumping—On Her Terms! ✨

Isn't it incredible what happens when learning is built on enthusiasm, trust, and positive reinforcement? This is Anna, absolutely loving her jump session—not because she was forced or pressured, but because she wanted to do it.

Anna has been gently introduced to jumping through positive reinforcement. She’s been led between standards and over jumps using target training, rewarded for following the cue, and reinforced for choosing to go over. So now, when she sees a jump, she recognizes the opportunity—and she takes it with joy!

In this moment, the jump was actually set up for another horse, but during her liberty session, Anna spotted it, lit up, and popped over it with the cutest little jump, ears forward, eyes bright. And then? She turned right back to her humans with a face that said, "I did it! Where’s my cookie?"

Her willingness isn't just about training—it’s also about her physical comfort. Anna is young, fit, and sound, making this kind of movement easy and enjoyable for her. If a horse is hesitant, struggling, or resisting a jump, there’s often a deeper reason—pain, discomfort, age, or fitness limitations. And if jumping isn’t in their best interest, they shouldn’t be asked to do it.

But for a horse like Anna, who finds it effortless and fun, the result is pure enthusiasm. And that’s the magic of ethical positive reinforcement—when the behavior is comfortable, rewarding, and voluntary, horses choose to participate with joy.

What’s the most fun thing your horse has ever chosen to do? Let’s celebrate the things they love to offer! 💛🐎

02/08/2025

"The horse should stand patiently without food"

This phrase is an easy indicator of how little someone knows about horses 🙊 They could have decades of experience riding and competing, but they don't understand basic equine physiology.

Going without food isn't the same for a horse as it is for a dog, cat, or human. Horses are grazing creatures, and their bodies are meant to be eating nearly 24/7.

Horses constantly produce stomach acid to digest forage, regardless of if they're eating. The longer they go without, the higher the risk of ulcers. Fasting & ulcers account for nearly 90% of recurrent colic cases (Sykes, 2015).

Horse's bodies exist in three primary states: eating, sleeping, or exercising (either through play or running away scared). They don't have a "stand calmly and attentively without eating" mode the way we humans do (and dogs, cats, etc.)

Eating accounts for 20-22 hours of their day, with sleep and play making up the remainder. When they get ready to sleep, play, or run away scared, their body goes through physiological changes to prepare for the period of fasting (ie, the switch from parasympathetic to sympathetic, sleep onset processes, etc.).

So when clients ask me about training a horse to stand without food, I offer the options:

😴 You can condition them to snooze while standing still, but that risks disrupting their sleep rhythms and cycles. Plus, you get 1 sleep cycle to have them stand - no more, no less - and you can't have them do anything (ie, no moving over, backing up, lifting hooves, etc.)

💥 You can scare them into standing still, or get them into learned helplessness (traditional R-/P+ or pressure/release, NOT R+ and I do NOT condone it).

🌾 You can also give them something to chew, so they can stand calmly while they eat. A hay net or bucket of feed are great options for this.

If none of those three options apply, expect them to start getting anxious, playful, or offering increasingly desperate attempts to get food 🐴 and if you see a horse standing without food, check in on them - if they aren't asleep, I guarantee you'll find signs of stress.

02/07/2025

Food doesn’t cancel out love. But I get why people are worried about "do they love me, or just the treats?"—because sometimes it is just about the food.

You can hate your job and still show up because you need a paycheck.

You can dislike someone but still work with them.

You can hate biking, but still go because your loved one wants to.

A horse can dislike a person but still tolerate them because they want the treats.

🤔 So how do we tell the difference?

Most people say, "Take away the food and see if they still interact with you." That sounds logical... but it's not that simple.

If you regularly bring treats and then suddenly stop, it might not be a fair test. Imagine your boss showing up one day and saying, "No paycheck this week. Just wanna see if you truly love your job."

Would you still show up? Maybe. But you’d also be frustrated and upset, understandably. Consider that if your horse gets upset when the food goes away.

Also, horses aren’t like us—they’re grazing animals. Their bodies are designed to have food nearly 24/7. Taking food away isn’t just a little test—it’s a biological stressor. It’s like asking a dog to walk on two legs. Possible? Sure. Comfortable? Maybe for short periods, but not if they have to do it over and over, or for long periods.

And let’s be real—cooperation doesn’t always mean love.

A horse trained with force or punishment might comply without food, but that doesn’t mean they want to. Just like a person stuck in a miserable job might keep showing up because they still need to pay rent regardless.

So instead of asking, “Would they still do it without food?” let’s ask:

🐴 Do they look relaxed?
🐴 Are they choosing to engage?
🐴 What happens when they disengage or try to leave?
🐴 Can they fulfill all their biological needs (friends, forage, freedom) even if they don't cooperate?

Let’s stop pretending food = bribery and force = respect.

Let’s learn to read equine body language.
Let’s stop making excuses for stress signals.
Let’s recognize that love and reinforcement aren’t mutually exclusive.

Be proud you love your horse, and let your treat pouch show it ❤️🐴

02/06/2025

"They're only doing it because they love treats, not because they love you."

Why not both?

Can you love your job AND still appreciate getting paid for it? Does getting paid make you love it any less?

Can you love your friends AND love going on a hike together? Does enjoying an activity together take away from how much you love them?

Can your horse love you AND love the treats you give them? Does enjoying food reinforcers suddenly mean they don’t care about you?

Food doesn’t cancel out love. But I get why people say this—because sometimes it is just about the food.

You can hate your job and still show up because you need a paycheck. 💰

You can dislike someone but still work with them. 🤝

You can hate biking, but still go because your loved one wants to 🚵🚵

A horse can dislike a person but still tolerate them because they want the treats. 🥕

So how do we tell the difference between when they love us AND the food, vs when they're only in it for the cookies? When should we care? Should we ever care? Let me know your thoughts in the comments 👇❤️🐴

02/06/2025

Re-Introducing the Queen Herself 👑 and the story of how a lesson student changed her name!

You may remember this gorgeous grey mare as one of Steph's personal horses. They met back when she was a wee filly (ok, she was already HUGE, but not done growing yet!)

Steph originally planned to bring this lovely lady into the competitive Dressage ring using 100% R+, but conflict with the harmful practices being rewarded in competitive Dressage brought them down a different, much happier path ❤️🐴

The two of them have done a variety of liberty and agility games, as well as some extensive trauma-informed healing work to help this young mare learn to accept farrier handling, rather than tolerating it or requiring force/sedation to get it done (an acceptable option - but also an expensive one for this 2000 lbs heavyweight!)

They've also done scentwork, "in hand"/liberty dressage, gone on hikes together, and done some light riding. They've taken it slow, prioritizing connection and fun over time in the saddle (or ba****ck pad)

Now for the story you've been waiting for: this mare has been called "River" since before Steph got her, but it didn't quite fit. She's steady, strong, and powerful like a river; but a river isn't delicate, quiet, soft...

This mare is unique. Sensitive. Elegant. Complex. Captivating. Radiant. She has a classy, timeless presence, and somehow also manages to bring out whimsical, childlike wonder from even the most serious individuals.

A few months back, one of the volunteer/lesson kiddos at SKE (who had no idea Steph ever considered renaming River) proclaimed that this mare's name was NOT River, but actually: Snowflake ❄️ and as evidence, this same kiddo called across the farm, "Snowflake!!" and this grey mare came trotting to the gate!

Initially, this was a funny story, made even funnier when this same kiddo would correct Steph anytime she called her horse "River" ("Uhm, who's River? I think you mean Snowflake." 🤣)

The more we all thought about it, though, the more fitting "Snowflake" was. Unique. Sensitive. Complex. Soft. Captivating. Radiant.

And so, we now re-introduce you to Snowflake❄️🐴❤

02/05/2025

👏👏👏 If you can't do it w/o harsh equipment, you don't deserve to win (or even compete)

PS - getting rid of harsh equipment doesn't automatically mean being ethical, force can be used in bridleless/tackless training & riding, too. But banning harsh equipment is an important step in the right direction.

PPS - alternatively, if the industry won't reform, it can just continue to decline until it disappears. We don't deserve to have horse sports if we can't compete without harming horses. ❤️‍🔥🐴

02/02/2025

"Owner" is a term of possession. Dominance. Control. Legal entitlement to a piece of property.

Legal ownership can give important protections in our society, but it's a harsh word to use when defining our relationship with another living being.

Try instead: Caretaker. Guardian. Sometimes teacher, and sometimes student. Partner, teammate. Maybe even friend, or family.

You cannot be a partner if one dominates the other.

You cannot be teammates unless you are on the same team.

Fighting, forcing, restraining are not collaborative. This is not working together, this is working against one another. That is to be enemies.

If the advice someone gives involves ropes, whips, chains, force, restraint, fear, punishment, or anything else that gives you a knot in the pit of your stomach and makes that little voice in the back of your head speak up with, "that's not right," -listen.

You don't have to dominate your horse. You don't have to force compliance.

You can work with them. You can get cooperation. You can become partners, teammates, maybe even friends.

02/01/2025

Re-Introducing: Sweetheart 💜🐴
aka Sweets, aka Sweet Potato, aka Tater Tot, aka... well, there are a lot of nicknames we could add to this list!

Sweetheart is one of Steph's personal horses, though she is always quick to acknowledge no one "owns" Sweetheart!

Sweets came into her life a long, long time ago, when Steph was a teenager, bouncing between competitive disciplines and "natural horsemanship" methods, forever in search of horsemanship that was truly kind to the horse. Eventually, Steph gave up and intended to leave the equine industry, retiring Sweetheart at a young age. As we all know, that didn't last!

Thanks to a university education in Behavioral Neuroscience and work experience at veterinary clinics, zoos, aquariums, and exotic animal sanctuaries, Steph learned new techniques and brought them back to the equine world. Before long, she had accomplished the kind of communication and cooperation she'd previously only dreamed of.

The errors Steph made in her past still haunt her to this day, though. Rough handling and improper saddle fit left Sweetheart with psychological baggage and physical limitations, including kissing spines. Luckily, she is as resilient as she is sensitive, and Steph spares no expense in ensuring her comfort - including regular massage, specialty fitted equipment, and cooperative-care consent cues built into every interaction, allowing a true "dialogue."

Sweets is now able to live happily doing clicker games, equine agility, and introducing our "teeny-tiny" lesson/pony-ride students to horses. She has nothing but kindness and fun ahead of her, and Steph hopes that every moment Sweets thrives with autonomy helps to atone for the moments Steph failed her in pointless struggles over "dominance."

Sweetheart will never have to know another lap being chased around a roundpen. She'll never take another step carrying a rider in an ill-fitted saddle as her spine permanently deforms. She'll never again feel the sting of a whip, nor the panic of being forcibly restrained by her head.

She will be treated with dignity, not like property.

We hope all horses get to experience the love and kindness Sweetheart does now 💜🐴