Amado Equine Hacienda

11/23/2025

11/21/2025

Schooling show opportunity!

Skip the packing, keep the sparkle—Tucson Dressage Club’s online show is November 29–30! Ride your test at home, get judged, and show off without leaving the barn.

11/17/2025

Pasture life! The best thing on so many levels! Down to the bones!

Your horse’s skeleton is built for impact — not confinement.

Three decades of equine bone research makes one thing painfully clear: Horses kept in box stalls lose bone density.

Not metaphorically. Literally.

Confinement triggers the same biological process humans call osteoporosis — and it starts fast.

Key findings from the research:

- Horses moved from pasture into stalls and worked only at slow speeds began losing bone mineral content within weeks.
- A single short sprint per week (50–80 m) dramatically strengthened bone.
- Corticosteroids mask pain and increase risk of further injury
- Good nutrition cannot override a lack of mechanical loading.
- A skeleton that doesn’t experience impact simply cannot stay strong.

All of this is drawn from:
Nielsen, B.D. (2023). A Review of Three Decades of Research Dedicated to Making Equine Bones Stronger. Animals, 13(5), 789.

So what does this mean for our modern domesticated horses?

It means bone weakness is not inevitable.

It’s a management problem.

It means many “mysterious” pathologies — stress fractures, suspensory injuries, joint degeneration, chronic compensation, recurrent lameness — are downstream consequences of bone that never had the chance to adapt to the forces nature designed it for.

Box stalls create osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis creates a whole lot of other pathology.

Your horse doesn’t need to be an athlete. But their bones require impact. Free movement. The ability to respond to their own nervous system’s cues to trot, canter, play, stretch, and even sprint.

Turnout is not enrichment.

Movement is biology.

Bone health is built — or lost — every single day.

A question I encourage every owner to sit with:

If you knew your horse’s bones were weakening in silence every day they stood still, would you keep managing them the same way?

Because in the end, it’s not confinement that keeps a horse safe.

It’s a resilient skeleton.

And only you can give them the environment their biology requires.

Change begins with us.

11/08/2025

Who's ready for our next educational event of 2025?! All auditors will be receiving a complimentary Horse Brain-Human Brain book to really dive into the work of Janet Jones! Be sure to secure your spot at https://azdressage.org/event/discover-core-intuition-with-janet-jones/

10/24/2025

Working Equitation Ease of Handling (EOH) Course for Sunday's Schooling Show at Amado Equine!

10/22/2025

Here is the schedule for the schooling show on Sunday.

10/08/2025

The ADA is thrilled to welcome participants to our exclusive clinic, Refinement of Balance with Janet Foy and Steffen Peters. We extend heartfelt congratulations to the riders chosen for this opportunity to train with two of the sport’s most revered figures—Olympic and FEI 5* judge Janet Foy, and Olympic medalist Steffen Peters!

There is still time to register to audit! Find all the details at https://azdressage.org/education/clinics-workshops/

10/08/2025

This weekend - Oct 11-12! Scottsdale, AZ! Janet Foy and Steffen Petters Symposium! There is still time to make your plans to audit one or both days!

The ADA is thrilled to welcome participants to our exclusive clinic, Refinement of Balance with Janet Foy and Steffen Peters. We extend heartfelt congratulations to the riders chosen for this opportunity to train with two of the sport’s most revered figures—Olympic and FEI 5* judge Janet Foy, and Olympic medalist Steffen Peters!

There is still time to register to audit! Find all the details at https://azdressage.org/education/clinics-workshops/

10/06/2025

🏇🏇🏇🏇

The Power of Forwards

The first year I trained with Philippe Karl the main focus was getting our horses really ‘forwards’. I remember this coming as something of a shock as, a) I thought my horses were forwards and b) well, what about piaffe? There was one particular session riding my friend Nikki’s huge moving warmblood, while she was riding her utterly ridiculous WB x Lusitano, with both of us flying around the arena hysterical with laugher (about 3 strides would get you from one end of the arena to the other) with Philippe shouting, “This still isn’t his best trot!’

In retrospect, what I think he was actually doing in those early clinics was checking that the riders were really, really happy about turning loose and going forwards. Would our brain and bodies allow those horses to fly? Because without this capacity in us, and the desire in our horse to Go, Go, Go, everything else was going to be a struggle.

Ultimately, what Philippe is looking for is impulsion not speed. We may have used the speed to get all of us freed up, but what we are actually seeking is impulsion – a desire to ‘go’ even in the slowest of walks. I sometimes meet riders thumping horses along out of rhythm, on the shoulders, believing this is ‘forward’ when in reality, they’re just out of balance. Impulsion is about a mental release in horse and rider - which you can ‘feel’ even in halt

A majority of the issues I notice for horse and rider combinations are a symptom of a lack of this desire to really go. I saw Leslie Desmond talking about this, describing the main mistake people make when starting a young horse is dampening down their natural desire to go forwards. We want to impose control from very early on, so we try to slow their legs down. We think that by getting ‘stop’ installed we will be safe, but actually having forward readily available is much, much more helpful. When a horse bucks, it’s because his front feet stopped going forwards, when he rears it’s because the hinds got stuck. When he naps, you lost forwards all together.

This is an interesting conundrum. You will be far ‘safer’ with a horse that always and easily moves forwards from the very lightest aids, but the controlling part of our brain finds that hard to believe. I have had my own struggles with this – my Lusitano Des can be extremely, er, fizzy, and the desire in me to dampen him down has sometimes been strong. However, after many years of acting as a test tube for my teaching, it is absolutely clear that allowing him to go – Legs without Hands – is THE best thing for both of us when the proverbial hits the fan. And interestingly, (or not to those of you in the know) , the more I let him go, the calmer he has become. There may be some life lesson in there for us mightn’t there?

The thing with getting a horse to really free up and go is that it’s never going to be possible unless you’re happy to free up too. The leg aids are only a symptom of how you feel about releasing and going. If there is a little bit of you on the inside that doesn’t want to experience all of your horse’s power, then your horse’s response to the leg aid is always going to reflect that. You’re both going to have your mental handbrakes on.

If you know in your heart of hearts that you don’t really, really want your horse to go forwards then it might be worth having a little dig around in that. Could you get someone with a really solid horse to help? I know there are great people like Karl Greenwood who offer ‘cantering’ courses, getting you incrementally upping the speed in considered situations on sensible minded horses. Could you have a go at visualising what it would feel like to gallop down a beach, grinning and laughing, enjoying all of that amazing forwards? Could you get some help from a good therapist to help turn that fear into joy? And importantly, have you got a horse whose level of speed and energy you think you actually enjoy? A good friend of mine bravely decided to sell a horse who’s size and power did not suit her, and in his place has a steed who’s stature and speed bring her only happiness. This has been a most excellent choice to make.

Because once you have ridden a horse who’s mental handbrake is completely off – even in the slowest of walks – it’s something that you will become addicted to.

10/04/2025

https://www.vet.upenn.edu/events/category/first-tuesday-lecture-series/

Add to your calendar - Educational Opportunity!

New Bolton Center's First Tuesday Lectures

Horse owners and enthusiasts from around the world, join the 2025-2026 virtual lectures hosted by the renowned faculty and clinicians at Penn Vet's New Bolton Center. The First Tuesday Lectures are held virtually 6:30–7:30 pm on the first Tuesday of each month.


Upcoming Lectures

Tuesday, October 7, 2025
“Equine Herpes Virus: It can happen anywhere! Are you prepared?”
Aliza Simeone, VMD, Assistant Professor of Clinical Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity

Tuesday, November 11, 2025*
“Tendons and tumors and wounds…oh my! How the new frontier of clinical research is improving the life of you and your horse.”
David G. Levine, DVM, DACVS, DACVSMR, Associate Professor of Clinical Large Animal Surgery
*Held on the second Tuesday of the month due to election day

Tuesday, December 2, 2025
“What are my mare’s options for breeding in 2026?”
Tamara Dobbie, DVM, DACT, Associate Professor of Clinical Reproduction

Tuesday, February 3, 2026
“Dental dilemmas: Does your horse have undetected mouth discomfort?”
Amelie McAndrews, VMD, DAVDC - EQ, Clinical Associate, Equine Dentistry

Additional spring lectures to be announced later in the season. PennVet

October 7 @ 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm First Tuesday Lecture Series: “Equine Herpes Virus: It can happen anywhere! Are you prepared?” Details Horse owners and enthusiasts, join us for a free virtual lecture series on equine veterinary medicine hosted by our New Bolton Center faculty and clinicians. The...

09/05/2025

Not Naughty. Not Stubborn. Just Threatened.

The way I like to explain horse behaviour is simple: most of the “difficulties” people face with horses don’t come from some deep equine conspiracy against you. They come from one thing: the horse feels threatened.

I found this image of an ape riding a horse. The horse looks horrified - as if Godzilla just mounted up. And the tragic punchline? That’s often exactly what your horse sees when you climb aboard.

We humans love to overcomplicate things. We write essays about "stress releases" and "calming herbs", we argue over whether our horse is "sensitive" or just a "chestnut", and we spend small fortunes on gadgets designed by people with more marketing flair than horsemanship. But when you strip it all back, horses are embarrassingly simple: if they feel safe, they’ll try. If they feel threatened, they’ll try to survive.

Let me explain - and yes, I’ll use this image to do it.

This is the hardest thing for people to swallow: we can make the horse feel threatened.

The behaviour you call “naughty,” “stubborn,” or “difficult” is just your horse reacting to the primate clamped on its back like a panicked cat on a rollercoaster.

- Sit like a sack of potatoes and grip like a crab? Threatening.
- Move in the saddle like you’re auditioning for Riverdance? Threatening.
- Sn**ch, pull, or hang on the reins? Threatening.
- Force their neck into a yoga pose they didn’t sign up for? Threatening.
- Strap on tack that pinches, rubs, or restricts? Threatening.
- Demand pirouettes while they’re already internally screaming? Very threatening.

Before long, your horse isn’t just threatened under saddle - they’re threatened at the mounting block, when the saddle appears, or when you walk into the paddock with that “today’s the day we nail it!” look in your eye.

When horses feel threatened…
- They become hypervigilant, nervous, spooky.
- They turn resistant, anxious, reactive.
- They buck, rear, pig-root, strike, or charge—because when you’re a prey animal and someone feels like a predator, the natural solution is to make them regret that life choice.
- And the chronic fallout of being regularly threatened? That’s a story for another day—but let’s just say it isn’t solved with a new bit and a tub of magnesium powder.

So what can we do?

It’s not rocket science. (Or pseudoscience, for that matter. 😎)
- We teach.
- We train.
- We manage their health.

Above all, we help the horse understand, feel comfortable, and feel secure. That’s it.

Horses are ridiculously easy to train. We love to say they’re “prey animals” as if that excuses everything, but really, so are we. Their gift is being wired to notice threats - and their brilliance is that they learn faster than you can scroll through Facebook. Honestly, they’re easier to train than dogs. You just have to know how.

And that’s why I’m here. Not because horses are complicated mystical unicorns - but because they’re simple, and humans are the ones who make it complicated. Once you learn how not to feel like Godzilla on their back, you unlock the part where they are brave, trusting, and extraordinary.

We’re all just primates doing our best. The shift comes when you learn how not to be the monster in the saddle. And that’s easier than you think.

👉 Check the first comment - I’ll point you toward some resources that actually work.

This is totally counting as Day 15/365 of my notebook challenge—where I spill good ideas straight from my obsessive notebook collection. Collect them, share them, scribble them in the margins of your own life. Just don’t copy-paste (plagiarism is so last season).

⚠️And if the satire stings a little—don’t be offended. It’s meant to both sting and be funny. That’s how we crack things open enough to actually see them. ❤

08/27/2025

The horses remain unimpressed.