Harmony With Horses

08/09/2021

Worth sharing again!

03/14/2021

Lot's of first time things this week for Marshall. Baby steps are paying off. 😉

11/30/2020

Copied:

When you pay for a lesson or training, you aren’t buying an hour of my time. You’re paying for thousands of hours of sweat, struggle, success and tears. You’re buying injuries, mistakes, and revelations. You’re buying nights awake thinking about a horse or student I need to help more. You’re buying hours of hauling hay, mucking stalls and grooming, of carefully checking your horse over like It was my own. You’re paying for my further education, because i still take lessons as frequently as possible. You’re paying for my care, concern, over dinner conversation, and you inevitably become a central part of my life.
You can’t put a price on education, or personal development, or the bliss of finally being “with” a horse. Thank you for sharing with me, teaching me, and letting me teach you, while I put food on my table and hay in my barn with the most fulfilling job ever. ❤️

10/03/2020

07/02/2020

Borrowed... well because the words are perfect for me too

My Thoughts - Be A Leader

Spend a little time with me and my horses, and you will find out that I don’t put up with a lot of nonsense. I walk that line between letting them be individuals, and this is a thousand pound animal without much common sense or higher reasoning skills that can easily kill me. I am not their scratching post, I don’t put up with pawing, walking on top of me, issues loading or unloading, or in general not paying attention to me because they would rather be distracted by other things. Their manners are not up for debate, and “Yes ma’am” is the expectation at all times. My horses look to me to be their leader, and I will tell you that this approach makes for more confident, trainable, secure horses.

And that is the biggest mistake I see people making with their horses. They get so focused on creating a partnership based on equality, that they’ve forgotten that horses are herd animals who depend on a hierarchy to feel secure and know how to behave. Within the herd dynamic, there is a clear leader who puts up with nothing. The other horses move when they say move, or there are consequences, usually in the form of teeth or feet. The other horses aren’t scared of the leader, they are respectful. Watch them closely, and you will see how much of the day they spend just being near each other, grooming each other, or standing watch while the other naps. They trust one another, they are bonded, and they are respectful of one another.

Being firm with a horse, and having clear boundaries doesn’t make for a fearful horse. It makes for a horse who looks to you to know they are okay. Your horse needs to understand the concept of “Yes ma’am, right away ma’am.” They need to know you are unquestionably in charge at all times.

And yes, I have a couple horses I make a lot of concessions for. I always bring her water from home, they have their special spots tied to the trailer to keep them happy. They get treated like they’re special because they’ve earned it. But here’s the thing, they’re still not allowed to be dangerous or disrespectful to me. I do more things than I normally would to manage them, but I am still in charge. I am still their leader.

Until next time, good luck on the barrel racing trail. 🦄

06/04/2020

Update: This little mare has been fun to work with. For not ever seeing an arena or ever working the pattern, I was so pleased with how she handled herself. Lynn Cannon, thank you for allowing me to ride her.