Kelner Horsemanship

07/26/2025

07/24/2025

Congrats to Ava Titus & Clancy! 🥈🐴

A big shoutout to Ava Titus from Kalispell, MT, for placing 2nd in the Youth Intro Class at the Working Equitation Show at Sleeping Willow Ranch, July 19–20!

Ava and her horse Clancy looked fantastic out there—confident, focused, and riding in style with a TW Saddlery Featherweight Trail saddle. This saddle’s lightweight build and secure, balanced seat gave Ava the comfort and connection she needed to shine in the arena.

We’re proud to support young riders like Ava who are growing the sport with heart and horsemanship. Way to go, Ava & Clancy! 🎉

Thank you to her rep Tom Kelner for the photo!

Learn more about the Featherweight Tail saddle here: https://twsaddlery.com/product/featherweight-trail-saddle-2/

06/05/2025

🎉 Meet Tom Kelner — Our New Specialized Saddle Rep in Montana! 🎉

We’re beyond excited to welcome Tom Kelner to the team as our new Specialized/TW saddle rep! If you’re passionate about horses and top-notch tack, you’re going to love working with him.

Here’s why Tom is such a powerhouse in the equestrian world:

🐴 27 Years in the Classroom: Tom’s a seasoned educator who knows how to break down complex skills into easy-to-understand lessons. Learning from him is always a win!

🏹 International Horseback Archery Pro: As an international judge and board member for the World Federation of Equestrian Archery, Tom’s been shaping the sport on a global scale since 2004.

🏆 Competing & Teaching Working Equitation: Not only does Tom compete, but he’s also passionate about sharing his knowledge in this exciting discipline that combines precision, speed, and partnership.

🎓 30 Years of Horsemanship Expertise: Trainer, clinician, and lifelong student — Tom’s dedication to horsemanship runs deep.

🐎 Specialized Saddle Enthusiast: For the past 8 years, Tom has been riding in and recommending Specialized/TW saddles — making him the perfect expert to help you find the right fit for you and your horse.

Ready to level up your ride with Tom’s expertise? Reach out today and discover what a difference the right saddle can make!

Tom can be reached via his email [email protected] or by phone 406-261-3376

Or

You can see a rep near you at https://specializedsaddles.com/sales-reps/

06/05/2025

12/09/2024

Getting in some work on Working Equitation obstacles today. Debbie Meiers and Andrea Meiers working towards the spring shows.

08/15/2024

I love what this guy has to say.

When someone leaves a comments or a like here, I often click on their name to see their riding images on their page. I do this to keep track of what today's typical riding looks like. I see all kinds of riding. Some images and videos show very good balanced riding. What seems to be a common riding flaw that I see recently is with head position. So many riders post pictures of their riding with their eyes looking down. This might seem a minor issue, but it is not.

When your eyes are down, your horse can feel that your balance is forward, more over the forehand. This will put your horse onto their forehand. When your eyes go down, your head that weighs 15 pounds (7 kg) goes down and forward, and usually your shoulders fall forward as well. The fact that your head is up high at the end of an effective lever that is your upper body, multiplies the forward weight that you place over your horse's shoulders.

The negative effects this has on your horse show up in several ways. It makes both upward and downward transitions more difficult for your horse. This is because Horses need to push off or reach under with their hind, and you have shifted their balance off their hind. Lead changes become more difficult for the same reason.

Worst of all for riders, looking down makes it more difficult to develop "feel". I briefly had an argumentative student who insisted on looking down. She would argue with me when I said "eyes up", saying "I like to see what my horse is doing". I'd explain that with eyes up you can feel what your horse is doing and that makes all the difference.

If you look down when riding, just stop doing that. If you have to look down, move your eyeballs, not your head. If you do this, many improvements will follow. You will sit the canter better because your head and neck position will no longer interfere with your hips swinging to the 1-2-3 beat of the canter. "Eyes up". It's simple and fixes a lot of things.

08/09/2024

07/08/2024

This is why we can't have nice things....
This fly mask was new on Friday morning...

06/18/2024