All Star Equestrian

10/06/2025

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1272159944911936&id=100063538274897

Author is believed to be a William Steinkraus
Read , let it sink in, then read again :

“No. 1. Get your tack and equipment just right, and then forget about it and concentrate on the horse.

No. 2. The horse is bigger than you are, and it should carry you. The quieter you sit, the easier this will be for the horse.

No. 3. The horse's engine is in the rear. Thus, you must ride your horse from behind, and not focus on the forehand simply because you can see it.

No. 4. It takes two to pull. Don't pull. Push.

No. 5. For your horse to be keen but submissive, it must be calm, straight and forward.

No. 6. When the horse isn`t straight, the hollow side is the difficult side.

No. 7. The inside rein controls the bending, the outside rein controls the speed.

No. 8. Never rest your hands on the horse's mouth. You make a contract with it: "You carry your head and I'll carry my hands."

No. 10. Once you've used an aid, put it back.

No. 11. You can exaggerate every virtue into a defect.

No. 12. Always carry a stick, then you will seldom need it.

No. 13. If you`ve given something a fair trial, and it still doesn't work, try something else—even the opposite.

No. 14. Know when to start and when to stop. Know when to resist and when to reward.

No. 15. If you're going to have a fight, you pick the time and place.

No. 16. What you can't accomplish in an hour should usually be put off until tomorrow.

No. 17. You can think your way out of many problems faster than you can ride your way out of them.

No. 18. When the horse jumps, you go with it, not the other way around.

No. 19. Don`t let over-jumping or dull routine erode the horse's desire to jump cleanly. It's hard to jump clear rounds if the horse isn't trying.

No. 20. Never give up until the rail hits the ground.

No. 21. Young horses are like children—give them a lot of love, but don't let them get away with anything.

No. 22. In practice, do things as perfectly as you can; in competition, do what you have to do.

No. 23. Never fight the oats.

No. 24. The harder you work, the luckier you get."

Credit believed to be William Steinkraus

12/04/2025

I don’t know what to write today. For the first time in a long time, I have nothing. Right now, my words and my voice are not what you need to see and hear. These things of which I write, this lifestyle and all that usually consumes me, feel meaningless and small.

I’m watching people and their businesses begin to crumble with taking sides, going public about what they believe. I’m not ready to take part in this, yet, though you can be sure that I have increasingly strong thoughts and feelings about what is going on in the world right now.

This is not a political page. It never has been and I would rather shut down entirely than allow Keystone to spiral down into our going tribal, with barely-veiled threats and rants. Raising our fists and voices, waving our flags.

I am very aware that some of you feel rage and helplessness about what is going on in our world. Some of you feel righteousness, while others feel overwhelming fear. I would invite you to look at this thing we are teetering on, just as you would with a frightened horse, perhaps.

I so often think that our horsemanship parallels life.

As long as the one fears, or misunderstands, or is frustrated with the other, there will be discord. Friends become opponents. Relationships are so soon undermined with distrust! We suddenly reach a point where nothing anyone says, or writes, or actually does, is going to change the mind of the other. Nothing.

We dig in.

I, for one, do not appreciate being gaslit—from any side—for being consumed with the fear that we are on the brink of worldwide war. My fears, according to reputable news sources, are entirely justified. I maintain that fearing for one's loved ones, for the wellbeing of strangers, for small and powerless countries and for beautiful, vulnerable natural spaces goes far beyond politics. It goes far beyond any one individual's beliefs.

Yesterday, I slogged out to do my daily routine, the quietly hopeful round of rehab exercises with my horses and instead, I hung onto the gate post and cried.

How did we suddenly wake up and find that we will be either on the team of victors, or among the vanquished? How did we not see that there would be no familiar touchstone of right and wrong? That life has boiled down to being on the winning team? That if you are not among the chosen, you are not worth saving, any more?

When did being tough matter more than being willing partners? How did we allow ourselves to be pitted against friends?

There are a lot of us who are no longer walking our talk. We may strive for calm, for attunement, for balance in our lives but in reality, our hands no longer have any feeling. There is no softening, no empathy, no release of pressure. In our hearts, there is no kindness, no patience, no lightening up.

Half of us are riding on the muscle, using our spurs, pushing through at all costs. The other half are sucked back, shut down, sulled up… or else, fixing to bolt.

Most years, our hearts would be light at the impending arrival of spring. Instead, we are now living in a state of fight, flight or freeze. We have given up on partnership because no one is listening. We thought we knew the rules of engagement but what we knew for sure has suddenly changed.

Just like our horses, we are unable to find serenity—in horse speak: to lick, chew and swallow—because we are feeling unsafe. Unheard. Unloved.

When our own truths and beliefs matter more than anything or anyone around us, we’re in trouble. Right or wrong, we’re no longer living in harmony, or sustainably. We’re riding for a fall.

No, I have nothing to say about horsemanship today that will make a bloody bit of difference to the world around me. Tomorrow, I might have regained some shred of strength and composure. But not today, not right now.

Text: © Lee McLean/Keystone Equine.
Photo: Theresa Chipchase.

05/04/2025

20/02/2025

Jo Stutton Osteo is here for equine and human body treatments in march, who’s interested?

10/11/2024

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=962127369284783&set=a.410720264425499&type=3

I had a client say to me once; "I don't lunge horses and I don't want one around that I have to."

I was like, well then you miss out on a lot of great horses that just need a bit of foreplay before you climb on and ride.

Blunt, but I think I made my point. 🤷

Lunging your uncomfortable, defensive or simply 'feeling bitchy horse,' before you ride them has absolutely nothing to do with whether they are a bronc or not. I often call it a systems check, or warming up their want to. And some horses need that extra attention paid to them, that gesture of respect and understanding, to smooth over the rough edges of their worry. To re-awaken their trust in even the most familiar situation or handler. It's kind of the equine version of, "Don't talk to me before I've had my coffee."

I've been training horses for a very long time, and the one thing I've learned is that my fragile human ego is not allowed to lay down any ground rules when it comes to vibing well with a multitude of equine partners. I have learned that it is easier on everyone, both horse and human, if I meet them where they are, not where I expect they should be. If that takes a few minutes of moving their feet around and settling their mind, then no harm, no foul.

Have a good day folks! 😊

Pictured below; Hombre, the horse that has most taught me the benefits of lunging...he really doesn't like to be spoken to before coffee! 😉

18/09/2024

Great club and fun days 😊

03/09/2024

🤣🤣🤣

27/08/2024

We are back after our winter holiday , come and see us !