Free Lancing Equestrians

03/25/2025

I genuinely suck at posting here, because managing a life, barn, clients, and media is frankly exhausting without adding more pages and more media. However this is a great teaching for those following.

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/168dsSDHai/

02/09/2025

Celebrating my 10th year on Facebook, apparently. What a great day for a snowy ride.

02/02/2025

01/24/2025

Do you know the Muffin mare
The Muffin mare, the Muffin mare
Oh, do you know the Muffin mare
Who lives on Devils Garden Lane?

To say we are excited to be welcoming this cute little Muffin top of a 3yo North Hills mare to our facility is an understatement. She will be joining the two 2 year old mcgavins peak horses. However this post was for her very own introduction as she begins the process to be sorted and shipped to our friends facility in Mo where we will pick her up once she is ready. She will then be brought home and trained before being made available for adoption/re-assignment here in Wisconsin. Muffin is a nice big girl and shows alot of promise. We suspect she will be just as sweet as the Strawberry Muffin she is named after.

Muffin also has more surprises baking in the oven, so let's hope she adjusts that timer and keeps it cooking a bit longer to arrive here.

01/24/2025

We are so excited to announce our newest arrivals of stangs! Coincidentally, this year Devils Garden corrals had several varying HMAs. Equally Coincidentally my top picks were not from DG, but we're from the other HMAs processed there. Welcoming our 3 newest stangs are
Black 2yo mare from Mcgavins peak
Black varnish 2yo appaloosa gelding from Mcgavins peak
And red roan 3yo pinto mare from North Hills!

Can't wait to get these guys in and started the right way. They will be available for adoption once trained. Watch for updates!

01/24/2025

How a babies first time loading should look like when it has met the pre-requisites in training. There are so many things to work on BEFORE trailer loading that will set them up for success so that the "big ask" isn't as big as it seems. Giving your horse the confidence to answer the question before it's asked.

This is not my c**t or my trailer, and when this guy and his little sister (who also took less than 30 seconds to load on the first ask) came here, they were impossible to load, lead, tie, pick up feet, etc. All of the basics we rely on our equines to know so that we can care for them. Loading them onto the trailer to bring them here was quite the ordeal, they were scared and reactive. They couldnt even be brushed and were full of burdock. In the last 20 days we worked on catching, trust building, leading, picking up feet, and smaller obstacles so that when this day came they would have all of the necessary information to process and understand my ask. They knew the answer before I asked the question. That is how teaching is done. When we assign ourselves to be trainers, we need to understand that training is teaching. We are educators for the equine mind. Understanding it is vital, and makes moments like this achievable without any trauma or stress.

*note, the fillies halter was correct, she did pull back initially and it loosened up the halter, she immediately came off the pressure and stepped in. The halter was re-adjusted to proper placement immediately after this video*.

**for some reason Facebook is glitching and not allowing me to post both videos- this is the link to the original post https://www.facebook.com/share/p/12Eb5JvctL1/

09/23/2024

Welcome back to MHWF, sweet Elsie Doll! Elsie Doll made her way to MHWF in a humane case back in 2018. Her days of being a baby machine, getting passed around and winding up almost starving to death are over for her and none of that will never happen again. Back in 2018, She had a lot of help from a lot of people to get her to the point of being able to be adopted, which she did get adopted in the summer of 2020. In her new home she had an important job of keeping an older horse company and being her best buddy. Elsie Doll was with that best buddy for 4 years, and unfortunately that buddy passed away and Elsie needed to come back to MHWF. Elsie Doll is a pasture buddy type horse herself, and she is looking for someone to open their heart and give her a safe and loving home to live out her days. She is super sweet, easy to deal with and does not have a mean or aggressive bone in her body. She gets along with anyone as long as they do not pick on her. She is pretty low on the totem pole and is fine with being at the bottom. Elsie really has no special needs other than her daily senior feed. Elsie is 24 years old and has a lot of zest for life, and she is also quite a beauty!
Check out our site for more info and how to adopt Elsie Doll, or any of the other horses available.

01/15/2024

Horsemanship and husbandry:
I consider the role of a horse owner to be a steward of the horse- not just someone who pays for their needs or feeds them, but someone who can provide for their needs.
To me, this includes managing their emotional and physical health: being able to identify and provide Healthy herd and turnout structures, problem solving through tricky stuff like herd bound issues , trailer loading, medications and vaccines , trims and giving sll these with the appropriate feel and respect for the situation. Situational awareness is required to be a horse’s friend, because you have to be as sharp as him: to notice and take care of needs before he feels the need to take over to take care of himself.

The development of a real horseman or woman is the discipline to take this on as a sacred responsibility : to not blame the horses behavior on others or assume someone else will fix it: but to step up for the horse and be someone the horse can really rely on. It’s a privilege, after all, to have a horse.

We have plenty of horse owners. We need many more horsemen and women.

12/09/2023

Baby it’s cold outside! ❄️⛄️

Many people think of donkeys as hardy, low-maintenance “small horses.” However, while they have similarities, donkeys are a completely different species and as such have a different physical, mental, and emotional make-up.

As the weather gets colder, it’s important to remember that donkeys are more sensitive to changes in temperature than their equine friends. They don’t grow a winter coat like horses and their hair is less waterproof, so they require shelter from the elements (like a run-in shed or a waterproof blanket). Being stoic animals, they also won’t show signs of discomfort and hypothermia until they are very sick.

Remember that every animal is different depending on age, breed, and other health conditions, so be sure with your primary veterinarian to address any concerns or questions!
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Brough to you by the AAEP Horse Owner Education Committee.

01/04/2023

This ;)

I actually just spoke to someone about this the other day.

Many times a problem with a horse is not surface level. It is nearly as simple as there being a hole in the prior training steps.