Maia Nunn Equestrian

11/25/2025

I love riding my horses out in wide open spaces. Maybe its the eventer in me, but knowing that my horse will stay calm and responsive even in uncontained areas gives me a greater sense of peace and connection in everything I do. There's also something magical about feeling the horse cover ground with no restrictions of fencing or dangerous terrain. Everything gets more in-sync as we flow together. I find that there's an untangling that happens when our horses are encouraged to just move freely without our constant input. Whether that's cantering down a field or going on a trail ride, I notice that the horses that are often behind the leg get a chance to really free up and feel empowered in what they're doing and this can really help us in our arena work. It's important to lay the foundations in the arena but when we have the building blocks in place its fun to take that horse power out for a spin!!

Would you trust your horse in a wide-open field? What pieces do you think you'd need to work on to feel safe to go for a canter in a big field?

11/19/2025

So true!!

Horses will meet you exactly where you are—whether you know where that is or not.

One of the hardest truths in horsemanship is that you cannot separate the rider from the human being riding. You can learn theory, techniques, and timing—but if you don’t know what drives you at a deeper level, your horse will feel that gap long before you do.

Most of us move through the world with old narratives still running without our awareness in the background. Maybe you were taught, directly or indirectly, that you were small, inconvenient, or unimportant. Maybe you learned to keep your head down, not make waves, not ask for much. Or maybe you learned to overcompensate: to become hyper independent, to feel important.

Those early experiences don’t stay in childhood; they become the lens you see yourself through, and the filter you misinterpret the world through.

And the horse—sensitive, perceptive, honest—becomes a mirror for every part of that story.

A horse refusing or resisting becomes “rejection.”
A moment of hesitation becomes “I’m not good enough.”
A correction feels like conflict, and conflict feels dangerous.
Or, the opposite—you search for conflict because you expect it, and it feels safer to control it than wait for it.

None of this comes from malice. It comes from the unexamined places inside us, mirrored in the world around us.

But a horse isn’t rejecting you. A horse isn’t judging your worth. A horse isn’t reenacting the dynamics of your childhood. They are responding to the energy you bring, the clarity you offer, and the steadiness—or lack of it—behind your choices.

When we don’t know what drives us, we keep repeating the same emotional choreography over and over, in the barn and everywhere else. We avoid setting boundaries because we fear being “too much.” We micromanage because we fear losing control. We rush because we fear being behind. We freeze because we fear doing something wrong.

The real work is not really about the horse. It’s about getting curious about ourselves. Identifying the motives that subconsciously steer our hands, our timing, our expectations, our reactions. Asking, Where did this pattern come from? Who taught me this? And is it actually true?

Because once you see your own story clearly, the horse stops being a mirror of your inadequacy and becomes a partner in your growth.

Horses don’t need us to be perfect. They just need us to be honest—especially with ourselves.

And when we learn to operate from clarity instead of old wounds, our work with them becomes lighter, cleaner, more present… and our whole life tends to follow.

09/19/2025

Bad quality photos but a great quality horse! Man I love this horse. He is feeling so proud of himself and powerful right now. I'm only working him a couple days a week in the arena until he's a little fitter and stronger but the days we have been in the arena have been amazing!🥰

09/19/2025

Now offering Fall Lesson Packages in the North Okanagan! Purchase a lesson package and get 25% off your 5th lesson!

Accelerate your dressage training with groundwork! Understand how to supple and build connection under saddle with lateral maneuvers and horsemanship basics.

Maia has studied intensively with trainers all over North America including, Relational Horsemanship Founder Josh Nichol, Brooke Rempel, USDF Gold Medalist Kathryn Christensen and 4* eventer Dana Cooke. Maia brings a patient and enthusiastic approach to her work with students and horses, adapting to each horse and rider combination for their unique needs.

PM for more info!

09/10/2025

Somebody is happy to be back in work again🤯😊 Our second trot in 6 or 8 weeks? He really wanted to show off for me today haha!

Got the ok from the vet to put him back into work. Will explain more maybe in another post but basically he's good to do everything again I just have to get him back in shape! So excited!! It feels amazing to be back in the saddle with Rory again.

08/29/2025

Making time for fun! As a high drive kind of person, it's easy for me to take training a little too seriously sometimes, and after several mini-burnouts over the years, I now plan sessions for play and goofing off time into my training. I find that it keeps things light, the horses stay more engaged and I have a lot more fun in the process! It also encourages creativity and helps me approach my training in a different way.

My go-to "Goofy" thing is sitting side saddle!
What's your go-to when you're feeling playful with your horses?

08/28/2025

This!!

“Why didn’t you tell her to ____?”

Teaching is an art. You first have to see what’s in front of you, what is going well, what skills are missing. Then you have to get a read on the person- what are they ready to hear? What’s the first skill to be introduced? How can I build a good mind frame and confidence in this student? How do I prevent them from feeling discouraged or overwhelmed?

And nowadays, more than ever; teaching requires preventing sideline teachers from bombarding your student.

I remember about five years ago asking an auditor to leave my clinic, who, every time a student rode by, would shout “wrong diagonal!” “Don’t let your reins get sloppy!” “Half halt!”
After speaking with her and asking her to not harass my students with advice they had not asked her for, she continued, and was asked to leave.

Being a sideline teacher is easy. You get to feel important immediately, and right. You don’t have to develop a relationship with students; to carefully measure what’s needed in a moment, it requires no tact: you simply blurt out what others are doing wrong and go on your merry way.

Being a student is harder than ever - you have a cacophony of noise to Wade through, a hundred different styles to choose from, all with labels of “ethical” and “correct biomechanics” and “positive,” so much it makes one’s head spin-
What do those words mean?

Then you have to sort through the Internet forums, the well meaning friends handing out advice like candy on Halloween long after you’ve had your fill, the bystanders who watch and know it all but can’t and won’t do -

You have to sort through the muck, and hold on tight to what feels right to you. You have to ignore friends and family at times, to close your eyes and ears to the outside at times, and stick like your life depends on it to a path before you’re pulled back into the chaos.

Being a teacher is getting harder. But I imagine being a student is probably hardest of all.

Photo by Nicole Shoup

08/27/2025

"Dream big and dare to fail." - Norman Voughan

Missing the competition ring this summer🥲

07/22/2025

Doing multiple disciplines is not the issue for progress but actually the anecdote.

I think in a lot of worlds, specializing has always been the answer for progress. If you focus really hard on one thing then you will get really good at it. While having focus and discipline is helpful, I think specializing too rigidly can leave you missing out on incredible learning opportunities!

When we only look at something from one point of view, sometimes we can get stuck and miss out on new ideas from different perspectives. I find in the horse world especially, it can be easy to get into an "us" versus "them" mentality and I'm guilty of it too. But the more that I learn about other training styles, different disciplines and from different teachers, the more I piece together aspects of training horses that I never would have understood otherwise! Every time I learn something in a new discipline, another puzzle piece begins to fall into place and more tools become available to me when I come back to train with my own horses.

Driving horses has taught me a lot about being clear with my aids, and double-checking my foundation work before going in to more challenging situations. It's also taught me that horses are far braver and more willing than we realize and if we can honour and shape that, our horses are willing to do all kinds of things for us! While I don't do much driving these days, the pieces I've learned along my journey constantly come back with new insights as I progress in my horsemanship.

Have you tried a new discipline lately?

07/18/2025

Get really curious about the cognitive dissonance.

If you took a look at this photo you would probably think, wow! She looks so confident and flowing with her horse, she's so brave and probably never gets scared going over jumps.

What this photo doesn't show was the internal struggle I was experiencing in this moment where everyone was telling me that I was doing so well and I should move up to bigger jumps when inside I was feeling really scared and unbalanced in the saddle. The thing that was really making everything keep working was the pure adrenaline and years of jumping that told me if I didn't, I would fall off. This led to a lot of tension in me and in turn in my horse.

Because I was silent about these fears it was difficult to see that I was feeling very overfaced. I could feel my horse's tension and I didn't feel safe but everything on the outside looked fine. He always stopped when I needed him to, he would jump every fence I pointed him at, and I wanted so badly to do well that I kept ignoring that feeling.

It took another year of pushing through before this strategy fell apart. I was dreading jumping and going out to ride my horse and all the fun had been sucked out of the sport. So I got curious about what my body was trying to tell me and I had to get really clear with myself about what I wanted in this partnership longterm. I was tired of getting bucked off and feeling nervous any time I rode. I wasn't sure how to fix it but I was determined to figure it out. It wasn't an overnight shift, but it empowered me to set boundaries with coaches and myself about what I was comfortable with. It may have taken longer to be "successful" in the sport, but it saved my joy and my partnership, and that I think is the ultimate success.

So if there is a part of you that is feeling conflicting feelings about something in your training, get curious about it. Reflect on your feelings without judgement and the answers will start to become clear!

Wanting help in this process? I offer lessons throughout the North Okanagan working with students to rebuild their confidence with their horse and their training!

07/15/2025

Training for engagement starts with a relaxed mind.

When we think about dressage we often think about engagement and collection, but in order to build engagement and self-carriage in our training we must first look at how our training is effecting our horses mentally.

Many horses are taught how to move their body where we want it, but they aren't always given the tools to feel confident and relaxed in the work and this can create tension that doesn't allow the horse to move at their best.

As someone who struggles with performance anxiety, I can empathize with the horses who just want to get everything right but don't always understand what we're asking for or feel nervous about what we're doing. Personally, I love a teacher who can take the time to explain what we're doing and why so I can feel confident the next time we work together. Horses, like people will need slower or faster processes with training. Some horses pick things up almost immediately and get bored if you stay in an exercise too long, others need slow, steady repetition until they feel confident in the maneuver.
A lot of times, being present with how our horses feel in the moment can completely change the dynamic with our horses. Staying patient and clear while they figure out the process can be the difference between having a garage sale of anxiety and movement to a flowing, steady, relaxed motion.

My challenge for you this week is to notice what part of your body likes to move fast when you're doing an exercise and see if you can slow it down. Notice how your horse responds to this. Do your hands get fast? Do your feet speed up? Do you get fussy with your reins?
Let me know in the comments below!