Basis Equine

05/03/2026

Sorry algorithm, no drama from this filly! Alca and I had our first ride on Thursday. It was as mellow and uneventful as could be. I am working hard to keep things easy for her. When she gets overwhelmed the heavy, bullish-ness, comes out, and that’s not something I want to encourage! She’s got so much growing left to do that we will be taking it slow.

04/28/2026

Food rewards can quickly become addictive if not handled very carefully.

To cookie or not to cookie???? 🍪 🥕
Food rewards are a very, very, very, very, very strong tool!!!! 
Honestly, it’s kind of like a chainsaw, or a backhoe, or some other large piece of equipment…. If you know what you’re doing it would be stupid to NOT use powerful equipment. Why on earth would you dig a trench with a shovel if you had a backhoe? 
But I also wouldn’t just put anyone in a large piece of equipment like that!!!  And I bet anyone who is good at operating large equipment would tell you they would rather work on fresh dirt then try to fix somebody else’s mistake.

It’s OK to admit that you’re not skilled with cookies just like it’s okay to admit that you’re not skilled with a backhoe or a chainsaw.  It’s fine to say, “I’m not qualified to use this tool because I’m afraid I will put behaviors into my horse that are unsafe.”

I think it’s way easier to teach people how to use a stick properly, then it is to teach them how to use cookies properly. 
Cookies ARE SO EFFECTIVE, that it’s easy to reinforce behaviors so strongly, that you can remove the food reward and the behaviors are still there 10 years later. 

I personally don’t think food rewards are appropriate for beginners. I think you need to have a lot of good timing, be organized with your tools, understand exactly what behaviors you’re trying to create and which ones you know you should avoid, and be very good at enforcing boundaries, before you ever purposefully use food rewards to reinforce behaviors.

You guys know I have besties that use food rewards all the time…. And they are good at it! And they get amazing stuff done!

I can tell you I’m not as good at teaching how to use treats appropriately as they are. I need to work with students longer before I feel comfortable introducing food rewards.

So if you have access to great instructors who are not only good at using food rewards, but are good at teaching people how to use food rewards, by all means,…. If you have access to a backhoe and someone there to teach you how to use it, you would be silly to be out there with a shovel! But if you have no idea what you’re doing, and no one to help you, maybe don’t use a backhoe for an important difficult project.

04/27/2026

Salty. The magical lil unicorn.

04/25/2026

I am not a professional farrier. Nor does my back have any interest in becoming one! But when there is training to be done, and some basics that need to be taken care of, I can get in there and make it happen. Sometimes I even look like I know what I’m doing!

Alca has not yet learned enough patience or politeness for me to ask my lovely hoof professional to get under here. (I know she will when I ask, but I like her and don’t want to wear her back out!)

Luckily Alca has great feet. Coming from hard and dry Arizona ground to our soft and wet climate is an adjustment. Lots of bars to nip out, frog to trim, and a whole lot of patience to train.

04/21/2026

So many firsts for my herd this week! Alca got her first sit. (I don’t consider it a ride as we went nowhere and I asked nothing of her) She was pretty unbothered and I hopped off before she could get worried. Looking forward to easing this pretty young mare into work.

04/19/2026

Lots of firsts for the little dude this week. Was fun to feel him melt into me as we played with bridling for the first time. It was at the end of an already learning heavy session. With my hands cradling his muzzle he dropped his head into my hands and just released.

04/17/2026

For my next trick, levitation!

Salty had his first cinch up yesterday. It went almost exactly how I expected it to. If not a bit better.

I fully anticipated him being a bronc. He is a pretty sticky horse without a lot of forward. I’ve seen him get crow-hoppy even out in the paddock with his friends. I also did not do any flank rope work with him before this.

What I did not anticipate was how responsive he would be to me. He did not shut down and get heavy. He stayed light on the halter, and easy to work with. He found some beautiful and fluid forward movement. His ears stayed aware, he kept breathing and bending. Even in between spurts of worried leaping. Now, knowing Salty, we will probably have to do this a dozen more times. But then he will be steady and perfect and ready to move on.

I may or may not put together a video of how it went, I have not even looked at the footage beyond this moment yet. We will see.

04/15/2026

If you died tomorrow, did you bless the world with your horses and your horses with preparation for the world? Would people be lining up for the chance to own ole Red? Not a fun thought, but an important one.

Bless your horses by training them to be a blessing.

04/12/2026

A beautiful ride out False Bay Road with Miss Margo. Looking forward to bringing this mare back to full work in my training barn soon. So grateful to clients that know how to pick pretty horses and choose me to ride them!

Cher Renke Van Hoecke

04/11/2026

Nothing prepared me for the most difficult part of horse training…letting down owners.

Whether it’s unrealistic expectations, never wanting a bad progress report, or the wrong horse, I’m not sure the disappointment of owners is going anywhere anytime soon.

I recently watched a video where Clinton Anderson was talking about the impact owners have on trainers. I really felt that…trainers have to choose everyday between being honest, and telling owners what they want to hear. Although it’s not that simple. The truth isn’t necessarily black and white. The way we describe the horse/progress heavily affects its impact.

Some trainers tell the owners what they want to hear for 6 months, then boom! Month 7 hits and all of a sudden it’s, “he’s not going to make it, when can you pick him up?”

So is that trainer a bad person? Not necessarily. He’s just adjusting to his environment. It’s easier to say the horse is doing good while he does his best to see if the horse will make it, and then only disappoint the owner once at the end if the horse doesn’t get better. Often times honesty up front is punished. Punished in mild ways, like disappointment or accusatory questioning. Or in heavier ways, like trying a different trainer. When giving honest information affects a person financially, it’s no surprise they are cautious with undesirable information.

I do my best to maintain honestly but I still have decisions to make. When do I tell the owner the horse is a bad fit? Three days? Two weeks? Three months? And how do I describe the behavior? Blame myself? Blame the horse? Or blame the riders lack of ability?

Here’s the good news, although it’s still tough to be the bearer of bad news, it gets easier. I’ve realized it’s not my fault. I’ve done my best and I’m sharing my opinion based on my experience. 🤷🏻‍♂️ Sometimes I miss the good old days when we all just blamed the horse and moved on. 🤣🤣 Nobody needed to have their confidence wrecked or reputation ruined.

We need to accept horses as individuals and we need to find one that suits our desires and abilities. Despite how the guy in the YouTube video makes you feel…a horse cannot be anything you want it to be, just because you learned a new training technique.

When a trainer gives you bad news about your horse it’s the last thing they want to do…try thanking them instead of slapping them with the weight of your disappointment. I think it’s a big reason most trainers try to shift to personal buy and sell projects. Then we only have to deal with our own disappointment. 🤣

I could go on and on with better and further elaboration…but I think you get the point. If it’s still a little blurry I’ll finish with this.

Think about who you are…think about your spouse, kids, or friends. How much can you or them change? I understand you can develop skills and abilities but how much can the actual core being of a person be changed? If you have multiple kids you see this very clearly. How different they are in their wants, desires, dispositions and personalities. Can they be changed? To a point yes…but the further you take them from the core of who they are, the less peace and happiness they will likely have.