In Stride Equestrian

08/23/2025

08/22/2025

Thoughts on training, retraining and communication.

Much of training horses is a dialogue of non verbal body communication and vocal cues. It is a systematic process where once understood, both parties can agree that the same cue/aid will always mean the same thing. It’s an unspoken agreement between the horse and human. Since as riders we are the ones setting the guidelines for these terms of communication, it is also our responsibility to always honor them and be consistent. To hold ourselves accountable and make sure that we are intentional with what we ask of our horses and not make our communication unclear.

This is why when either getting a new horse or intentionally retraining a horse, we have to take the time to learn what their means of communication and understanding already are, and never assume that they are the same as yours. This is something I am always very aware of every time I sit on an unfamiliar horse. I take the first 10-15 min to see where their means of communication is at. I don’t just jump up and start riding like I do any of my own horses. I don’t like the tone that it sets and I like to establish that the communication can be dynamic. That the horse can give me their input, and that I’m not going to just get up there and dictate the entire ride without taking them into consideration.

Some horses that I get in to rehab or retrain are not used to a quiet form of communicating but rather a loud, harsh and unfair form of being handled that can make them fearful or aggressive. If that is the case, they more than likely don’t know much about communication in interacting with people. They know how to be shut down, defensive and guarded with their bodies. These are not horses that will take a few sessions to “get it”. They need time, they desperately need consistency and to be given the space to unlearn all of the negative that they’ve experienced in being handled and ridden. Once they’ve unlearned, they then can begin the process of learning that communication and learning that it is ok and safe to be themselves.

Aids and cues should always be light, like a whisper and suggestion, with the horse being afforded the ability to respond ❤️

08/19/2025

Come September I will be looking for/offering availability for a boarder who would be interested in working off some of the cost of full care board on our track system in exchange for help mucking stalls in the evenings.

Full care includes hay, feed, stalling (with fans in the summer), fly gear and blanketing when needed in a quiet and attentive facility. We are located less than 4 miles from downtown and there is access to bridle paths as well as a communal riding field and grass riding areas on site. We are a small lesson and training facility with a wonderful group of people who are eager to learn and continue progressing with their horses!

If interested, please send me a pm for more information 😊

08/14/2025

This is why advocacy and representation matters in this industry. Some of these comments are absolutely abhorrent and highlight just how many people are ignorant to the process and legal standing of immigration. While also in the same breath, vilifying an entire group of people who are hard working, diligent, family oriented and compassionate.

There is much to change about this industry, and a big thing is no longer sweeping the racism under the rug and claiming it doesn’t exist. Before making blanket statements on the validity of someone’s existence and safety, please take the time to educate yourself on the process of immigration and how what is occurring now is illegal in so many ways. I will always stand for humanity, empathy and the just treatment of all people and not tolerate ignorance and hate that puts peoples lives at risk.

We need to do better

While finishing her work week last Friday in downtown Los Angeles, Carly Heath checked her inbox to find an alarming email from management at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center, where she boards her draft-cross mare. 

08/11/2025

Because visual learning just hits different 👀
Finding the right feel in your reins starts with your fingers. Too loose, and you lose connection. Too tight, and you risk tension in the whole body,
yours and your horse’s.

👉 Let’s break it down:
a. ✅ Correct – Fingers softly closed, fingertips touching the palm. You maintain light, consistent contact without gripping.
b. ❌ Incorrect – Fingers open. This weakens the connection and creates an unstable line to the bit.
c. ❌ Incorrect – Fist clenched. Tension travels up the arm, restricting softness in the hand and communication with your horse.

It’s all about that sweet spot: closed enough to hold, soft enough to feel. 🖐️

( Image found off Pinterest )

08/10/2025

This is why I continue to work in the peace of quiet mornings, where we take the time to build dialogue and have thought provoking conversations and realizations about our partners and ourselves. Riding is so much more than well executed mechanical movements. It is a conversation, a work of art, a dance of partnership and appreciation.

“To produce a horse to that level is to understand that their body is not a tool, but a home. Their mind, not a machine, but a mirror. Their spirit, not a resource, but a companion.

This is not just training.
It is stewardship.
It is art.
And it begins not with ambition,
but with reverence.”

The Art of Producing the High-Level Horse

In today’s world, where goals are king, results are worshipped, and egos often take the reins, we’ve lost touch with something essential: the art of the journey. The quiet, thoughtful process of developing a horse, not just for performance, but for partnership.

Too often, the pursuit of high-level training becomes a checklist of movements, an external badge of status. Grand Prix as the pinnacle. Piaffe, passage, pirouette all proof of success. But we rarely stop to ask: Success by whose measure? And at what cost?

Because if a horse’s well-being were truly at the centre of our goals and not just a footnote in our mission statements our training would look radically different. It would move slower. It would feel softer. It would sound quieter. And it would be far more beautiful.

Producing a high-level horse is not about simply teaching them the movements required on a score sheet. It’s about cultivating a horse who is sound in body, stable in mind, and joyful in spirit. It’s about shaping one who offers those movements willingly, expressively, even playfully. Not as a result of pressure, punishment, or the clever placement of aids that corner them into compliance but from a place of physical readiness and emotional trust.

And this……….this is where the art comes in!

Imagine dressage as a painting. Each training session is a brushstroke, delicate, deliberate, layered. The impatient artist might throw out the canvas at the first mistake. But the true artist? They work with the paint, blend it, adjust it, stay curious. They know that beauty often lives in the imperfection, in the subtle corrections, in the layers of time and care.

The same is to be said in riding: the art lies not in domination, but in dialogue. Every stride, every transition, every still moment is part of an evolving composition. The rider’s aids are not commands but questions; the horse’s responses are not obedience but answers. Together, you create something greater than the sum of its parts.

The highest levels of dressage are not the goal. They are the byproduct of a thousand conversations, a thousand small moments where the rider listens, adjusts, supports, and receives. When done well, Grand Prix is not a performance. It is the horse’s voice, amplified through movement.

To produce a horse to that level is to understand that their body is not a tool, but a home. Their mind, not a machine, but a mirror. Their spirit, not a resource, but a companion.

This is not just training a horse
It is stewardship.
It is art
And it begins not with ambition,
but with reverence.

08/09/2025

The other day I started a post off talking about developing young dressage horses, with the point of the conversation having little to do with developing young horses. I want to actually dive into that today.

When I start and develop young horses I think big picture and I don’t solely tackle it from the perspective of creating a show horse. Development is slow and intentional. I create plans and sessions around the thought of “is this work going to add to the horse or take away from them?”. Are we taking steps forward, even if they are minimal… Will their foundation be so rock solid that they not only flourish in the arena, but anywhere life may take them?

And so often times, my development of young horses may seem like watching paint dry. But once that pint dries and you take a step back, you realize you are looking at a masterpiece. A work of art that could only come to life through the slow, thoughtful and passionate work. Through loving and careful development. And not in being careful through fear of failure, but rather to be careful in desire to preserve beauty that has always been there. You are just the guiding hand that truly brings the horse into their own power

08/07/2025

ISO: part time feeding/chores employee

I will be looking for part time help with feeding in both the mornings and evenings on Thursdays and Sundays within the next two weeks/end of this month. I’ve been lucky to have two ladies on board who have been wonderful, but with exciting life changes have put in their notice. I am looking for someone experienced in working at professional facilities, used to clients coming in and out and understanding that sometimes things change around a bit. Punctuality is important as i run a small program and keep to a schedule.

Feeding on Thursday mornings is around 7/715 am and on Sundays is flexible (between 8-9 am) as it’s everyone’s day off. Evening chores usually begin around 5/530. This position can be flexible with the possibility for more feed hrs if schedules allow it but these two days are a must. There is also the opportunity to board one horse and have hrs worked deducted from board (all written into a contract and fair for both parties).

There are currently 6 horses, but there won’t ever be more than 8 on site. Chores include making feed, bringing horses in/turning out, picking stalls, setting hay nets, putting hay out, and blanketing/fly gear when needed. Morning chores currently take around 45 min and evening chores currently take a little over an hr. All horses are well behaved and easy to handle 😊.

Farm is located in the wire rd polo community, less than 4 miles from downtown aiken! Pay is 25/hr. Pls pm for more info!

07/30/2025

Development of a young dressage horse looks different depending on who you ask. Why? There are so many components to it that there really is no simple “answer”.

Do you have an open timeline with no pressure to rush the process? Or are there outside forces that push you towards a quicker timeline? Clients who want their horse at a certain level by a certain date, pressure to sell faster due to financial hardship, a personal or family tragedy that leaves you with no mental space to take the time and you just need the horse moved on…

In a perfect world we all would be able to facilitate the time and endless patience needed to develop a young horse, but if there’s one thing that life has taught me, it’s that there is no such thing as perfect and ideal… s**t happens!

While I am always an advocate for the horse, as many of you know I am also an advocate for people.

And so we can preach about what is ideal all day long, but if at the end of the day we do not accept and acknowledge the failures in being human, we will feel like we are trying to dig our way out of the sand pit, one little grain of sand at a time.

Yea education is important and access to information is important, but how do we directly help those who have these outside forces that influence how they develop horses? How do we tweak the industry so that pressure doesn’t feel so dire? Bc, let’s be real, if you are a full time trainer, you know that all it could take is a tipping point on the scale, one little grain of sand, that could change your life and business forever. Whether it be a serious injury, a stupid mistake bc you are burnt out, not being in the right headspace and losing a client over it, often times it just takes that one thing for everything that you worked so hard for to come crashing down.

So on top of talking about young horse development and the importance of a strong foundation, let’s also talk about how we can positively influence the industry so more and more professionals can make different choices in how they work a horse through that development.

Let’s hear it!

07/29/2025

Yup… I’m a dressage trainer who often times teaches canter work to both riders and horses in a light seat.

Depending on the horse; or the rider, or sometimes both, a light seat can be beneficial in staying out of the horse’s way and learning to keep a lighter seat.

At this point in his schooling, when Ollie picks up a canter, he can often times dramatically launch into it and it can sometimes feel like he’s about to take off at Mach 10 (i promise he doesn’t it’s his solution to trying to lift his big body 😆).

It’s easy for students to feel like they need to be a bit more defensive in their riding, grip with the leg or get tense in their upper body. It’s instinctual for your body to want to protect itself. So I will have them go into a half seat while they are learning his canter transition. The important thing to keep in mind is that even though your b***y is not making contact with the saddle, you still need to be cognizant of staying engaged and in balance. This will then help with finding rhythm and balance in the canter without feeling the need to ride defensively.

On the horse’s end… Ollie demonstrates beautifully how a balanced light seat can provide room for a horse to engage and come up in the front end. I LOVE this for young and green horses who aren’t quite prepared for an engaged full contact seat. I’ve found that a lot of times this can actually drive the spine down without the intention of doing so on a horse who isn’t quite built up to go there. It’s hard work and a lot to ask of a young horse. Similarly to the rider, the light seat can also help the horse find their rhythm and balance in the canter