Emily Tasker Balanced Horsemanship at Fox Hill Equestrians LLC

05/02/2025

The Subtle Art of Shutting a Horse Down 😎
(Because looking calm and being okay are not the same thing)

There’s an idea floating around the horse world that needs a little caution tape. 🚧
It’s the belief that when a horse lies down during a clinic—snoring gently into the sand—it’s a sure sign of success. That they’re relaxed, trusting, and deeply at peace.

But here’s the thing: not all stillness is created equal.

It’s easy to spot an anxious horse. They’re reactive, unsettled, practically bouncing off the environment. But what about the ones that go very still? The ones who seem calm—too calm—and begin to check out completely… even to the point of lying down?

I’m not talking about a horse standing quietly. I mean that eerie kind of stillness that makes you wonder if anyone’s home. The lights are on, but the horse is mentally halfway to Narnia. 🦌

Because overwhelm doesn’t always look like movement. Sometimes, it looks like sleep. When a horse can’t run or fight, the brain takes the third option: freeze. Nervous system in low-power mode.

And yet, people often celebrate it.
“Look!” they say. “He’s lying down—he must feel safe!”
Which is a little like saying, “My child just fell asleep under the table during a shouting match. She must feel really loved and secure.”

Let’s flip it.
Imagine your child is anxious about school. She walks in, curls up on the floor, and nods off.
Do you think:
A) Wow, what a chilled-out kid.
B) That’s… not quite right. 😬

Because when horses—or humans—get overwhelmed, they sometimes switch off. Not because they’re calm, but because they resign into helplessness. It’s not healing. It’s coping.

So before you frame your horse’s nap or stillness as a breakthrough, there is a test:
👉 What happens when you ask them to do something?

Do they respond with interest and softness?
Or do they blink, brace, or go right back into tension?
Does movement bring willingness—or resistance?

Because if your horse is still struggling to engage, they might not be letting go of stress… they might just be disconnected from it.

Shutdown looks peaceful from the outside—but it isn’t the same as peace on the inside.

Let’s not confuse dissociation with progress.
Let’s not reward collapse just because it’s quieter than conflict.
Let’s aim for a horse that’s present, curious, and confident—not one that’s curled up in the sand because that’s the only option left. 🐴

We owe it to them to know the difference.

🌟 Enjoyed this post? Feel free to hit the share button—it’s free, legal, and won’t trigger any awkward conversations about intellectual kleptomania. Please don’t copy and paste the whole thing—respect the work, respect the words. ✍🏼🐴

03/03/2025

I have 4 horses in training right now…. None of them have been sat on since December. All of them are showing marked improvement on attention span, postural muscles, emotional recovery, and overall tension.

“Horses regularly trained with ground work are more relaxed when ridden”

A recent study of dressage horses in Germany that looked at rein length and tension revealed a surprising finding: horses who were regularly trained in ground work/in-hand work had lower heart rates during ridden work than all of the other participating horses. This wasn’t what the researchers were investigating, but it was clear in the results. From this, the researchers concluded that, “Perhaps horses trained in ground work had more trust in their rider.”

So why would it be true that horses who regularly learn via ground work/in-hand work are more relaxed? There are a few possibilities.

1) Horses trained regularly with ground work are more relaxed because their trainers are more relaxed. It’s possible that humans who take the time to teach their horses from the ground are less goal oriented and more concerned with the process. They may be more relaxed in general and foster this same relaxation in their horses. As you are, so is your horse.

2) Horses trained regularly with ground work have trainers who are more educated about a horse’s balance.

Their horses learn to move in correct balance which allows them to be healthy and sound in their bodies and, therefore, more relaxed. Physical balance is emotional balance.

3) Horses trained regularly with ground work understand the trainer’s criteria better. They have mastered the response to an aid before the rider mounts and know the “right answer” already once under saddle. They don’t experience any conflict when the rider asks for a behavior because the neural pathway has already been installed. They are more relaxed about being ridden because it rarely has caused confusion for them.

For us highly visual humans I think that ground work is often a better way to begin exercises because we are much better at seeing our horse doing the right thing than feeling it from the saddle. Often, my feel in the saddle is enhanced by the fact that I have watched my horse perform an exercise over and over in our in-hand work. It feels how it looks. In-hand work is also a good way to teach our horses because our own bodies are often more in balance when we are walking beside our horses. With the ground under our feet we are able to be more relaxed if something goes wrong and less likely to be so busy wrapped up in our own balance that we give our horses conflicting or confusing aids. It’s a good place to figure things out. I am a huge fan of in-hand work.

I’m glad to learn research revealed ground work is good for horses. Horses with a low heart rate are relaxed and relaxed horses perform better and live longer. In this day and age of people starting horses under saddle in under an hour and increasing monetary rewards for the “young horse dressage program“, everything seems to be done in a hurry. The entire horse culture seems to privilege “getting up there and riding your horse”. But as one of my favorite writers and accomplished horsewoman, Teresa Tsimmu Martino writes, “In today’s horse culture there are clinics that brag about starting a c**t in a day, as if the quickness of it was the miracle. But old horse people know it takes years to create art. Horses as great masterpieces are not created in a day. An artist does not need to rush.” We need more scientific studies like this one to encourage us to slow down and take our time with our horses.

So why were the horses in the study more relaxed? Likely it was a combination of all three factors – a relaxed trainer, better overall balance and clear understanding of criteria.

These are things that matter to your horse, and yes, will allow him to trust you when you ride. Take some time to slow down and work from the ground, learn a bit more about equine balance and teach new things in-hand before asking for them under saddle. You can take your riding to a whole new level and help your horse become more healthy and relaxed in the process.” - by Jen of Spellbound Horses

02/16/2025

All ponies are very happy outside in the snow tonight! I love knowing they are moving and eating freely at all times- especially during crazy weather.

I couldn’t do it alone- thanks to my wonderful husband for clearing ALL the snow. And for great staff who I know will show up no matter the weather!

01/23/2025

If I look back in my history as a horse trainer (and instructor), I can mark where I’d obviously changed my perspective or main focuses and I can also mark some smaller things that I’d switch up every now and then…. But since I have such a large tool kit and am pretty fluid in how I approach teaching things based on the horse, I’ve only ever hit a few road blocks.

If you asked me a few years ago, most of the road blocks I’ve come across with a particular horse were still solved with tools that I used pretty regularly anyway or was a physical issue with the horse that we resolved and moved along.

OnCore, however has been the most pronounced conscious change in training that I’ve ever had. I’m not too proud to ask for help, so I’ve talked with other dressage trainers, eventers, western horsemanship trainers and even called Joe Forest to see if I should just send him away for training… and they all pretty much told me that I was on the right track with what they’d do.

But it just wasn’t working. I wanted a kind and calm simple horse for myself to produce from the ground up and he just…. Wasn’t.

So I sat and thought about what OnCore might be telling me that I’m misunderstanding or just plain missing… I got as humble as I possibly could and just observed him and tried to hear him without any agenda.

I asked “if horses naturally want to emotionally live at neutral, why is he always above that?”

I had the vet out, I switched his herd, I gave him time off, etc. WHY IS HE NOT NEUTRAL?

Then I decided to try doing the opposite of what I had been doing- essentially MUCH LESS.

1 tie instead of 2
Want to bite at me? I walk away
Paw the ground? I turn around
Can’t be respectful on the lunge? Let’s do liberty

I had no clue if it would work or if it was what he needed but I was at rock bottom and refused to just keep progressing him the way I was because something didn’t seem right. And you know what? I think he’s getting better…. And I think I’m getting to be a better trainer too.

Now I’m not trying to tell anyone to let their horse have zero boundaries, this approach wouldn’t work for most horses- what I am saying is, please try to find a trainer or be a trainer who is humble enough to learn from your horse. Ask them what they have to teach you. Trainers, ask yourself how much you’ve tried to learn from a new and different discipline or perspective lately. We can all continuously grow, isn’t that the beauty of this sport?

Pic of OnCore teaching me that he needs more stimulus in his paddock if I want him to leave the fence alone 🤦🏻‍♀️

01/18/2025

Today I taught a lesson about teaching the horses to lick and chew.

Not just to chomp on the bit or give to the pressure but to remain present, breathe, and softly lick and chew in calm understanding.

Why?

Because horses can learn to display a couple of the correct answers to our aids and also be completely dissociated.

Yep, MANY horses seem calm and are doing what you’re asking but are either not really “in the classroom” or have so much anxiety but hide it well that you’re not really teaching them in a way that will lead to more supple, calm learning in the future.

Sure, you can have a horse who’s talented and willing to do all the things, but wouldn’t you rather have one who is actively participating in what you’re doing?

So, next time you’re working with you horse…. Be willing to take however long it takes to just get them to respond with calm eyes, a soft body and accepting mind.

Thank you to my students who are willing to produce REALLY well grounded horses ❤️

01/08/2025

Stay warm…. All of the horses here are! (And most are still happy in medium weights 😉)

01/06/2025

While I haven’t posted in quite a while (Merry Christmas, Happy New Year btw!) we’ve been hard at work still!

No rest (or warmth) for the wicked this week!

12/11/2024

The difference between relaxation and centeredness -

The goal for many for their horses is calm, or relaxation at all times. That can sound like a good goal, and a kind one - but ultimately, unfair and really quite impossible.

If we factor in the world at large, we realize quickly that being calm requires environmental control - can we really be calm in the face of all emergencies? Can we be calm if our friends horse has bolted, if the barn is on fire, if there is some factors outside our control?

What we ask the horse, in order to be calm at all times, is really to ignore the environment, and to flatten a nervous system and body designed for survival into only one mode we find acceptable.

Relaxation often is lost when energy or external input is brought in, and relaxation offers us no avenue for higher energy movements. A very relaxed horse cannot have the power required for upper level movements - no athlete is supremely relaxed in their endeavors

They are very focused, energetic, and alert

BUT

They should not be anxious

That is the different between relaxed and centered

Centered does not require calm, but can be calm when appropriate. Centered is the horse’s ability to have an adaptable nervous system, molding itself to the necessary requirements of the moment and the environment.

A centered horse can find balance even in moments of high energy or adrenaline, and is able to calm down when appropriate.

It is not appropriate to be calm in a barn fire. We need adrenaline to manage our way to safety - but panic doesn’t help. Therefore we need energetic clarity.

And this has to be taught by a centered person.

It’s easy to teach a horse to “relax” by controlling the environment fiercely or teaching them to tune out. It just requires repetition.

But a centered horse requires the education of a centered person- one who is highly aware, disciplined, attentive, and constantly engaging in appropriate dialogue with the horse - not micro managing, but guiding.

The first is easy to sell - it sounds good, makes people feel good, and requires very little of a person with high reward societally.

The second is a harder sell because of the work load involved, the self discipline and improvement, and low societal reward.

But, you gain the trust of a horse through low and high energy situations both. And that is what a true horseman aspires to.

11/07/2024

Why do we put people on horses before they know how to handle them from the ground? This is my new eye opening question I’m asking myself AND the horse community. Here’s Belle teaching Emma SOOOO much about riding without being in the saddle.

Hmmm maybe I’ll just overhaul my whole program someday

11/06/2024

I wonder what would happen to us as horsemen if we were all started with a loose horse…. Here’s my 3yo doing “liberty” with her pony. Which mostly consists of her needing to control her body and emotions (when she really just wants to pretend she’s me and wack the ground with her whip), her going to much or too little with her body language and having him go the other way, and her just wanting to hold his halter and drag him places.

She’s learning so many LIFE lessons… and her pony is a saint.

How often do YOU “work” with your horse not attached to you?

What lessons do you learn when you need to exist with no attachment?

10/29/2024

How often do you take note of when your horse takes a deep breath?

How about when they blow out?

Do you hear when they calmly lick and chew?

Can you aid them to do any of these things on cue?

How often do you hold your breath?

How often do you sigh?

Do you get where I’m going with all of this? We need to look for and take note of calming and settling behavior. We need to know if there are things that cause our horse to hold their breath, what causes them to breathe again, etc because then we can become more aware of how they’re experiencing the world and connect to them better.

The best trainers train from a place of connection. In this season of dragon taming- find ways to connect and ground both you and your horse 😮‍💨