Benchmark Horsemanship

05/12/2026

Come on out this Saturday!

05/02/2026

The last box to check before I make the first ride. Since I have made sure the rear is light to untrack, I have already built in a one rein stop.

05/01/2026

If someone wanted to learn to fly airplanes, would they read up on how to fly and think,“easy enough I can handle that,” and then go out, buy the fastest brand new pretty, shiny airplane and jump in and take off? I’m guessing if they did it wouldn’t end very well. But if someone were to take it that far, would they blame the airplane for wrecking? Let’s say this person had the airplane fixed back up because they were fortunate the damage wasn’t too bad. They stuck it back in the hanger because it’s so pretty to look at, and a year and a half later they build up the courage to try to fly again. Once again, it is a complete disaster because they still have no lessons or practice doing it with an instructor. But, instead of blaming themselves, they run to the mechanic and previous owner blaming them for being the cause of the wreck. Pretty silly, right?

Now go back and reread this story and replace these words:
Fly = ride
Airplane = horse
Mechanic = trainer

This may seem like a far fetched story but I hear versions of it all the time! It’s important that we look in the mirror sometimes.

04/28/2026

The projects are never ending here…

04/27/2026

“Be particular, don’t be picky” -Buck Brannaman

Here’s a clip working with an unhandled yearling. This was the second time I had worked with him and I’m just starting to put together some pieces of the circle exercise.

A few things to notice are my timing trying to give peace when he is where I need him. Even without a halter he’s still shaped up to match the arc of the circle. He is always yielding his feet away from me.

04/26/2026

I’ve heard Buck talk about how Ray Hunt used to say something along the lines of, “I just want to see how much I can get my horse to do without being bothered.”

It came to mind that, here lately, I have been teaching the maneuver without also teaching being attentive to the horse’s frame of mind. It’s just as important, if not more important, that the horse is comfortable doing the maneuver vs. doing the maneuver out of fear.

“The horse needs to respect you, but sometimes people confuse respect and fear. And they’re not the same at all” -Buck Brannaman

04/24/2026

Spring projects seemed to hit us like a freight train this week and I’ve slacked making videos. Here is a short clip showing me working on getting a horse to yield his front quarters away from me. Notice how quickly my firmness causes him to get light! Light hands don’t always make light horses, but hands with good timing will.

04/21/2026

Benchmark is bouncing around some BIG ideas and looking into hosting some bigger horsemanship clinics in the future. So our questions for you are…

A. Would you attend and participate or audit?
B. Who would you like to see?
C. Any other suggestions?

We would need to have enough interest to help cover paying for both the clinician and the venue so just getting an idea of how much interest there would be for something like this in our area!

04/19/2026

Big thanks to all who came out to our clinic yesterday and to our host Lepley Ranch Equine Services for providing a place to work on our horses out of the weather!

04/17/2026

Tomorrow is the day! Classes are full, but we’ll have plenty of room to audit! Bring a chair and come join us!

*due to all the rain we’ve gotten, please stay on gravel and watch for wet spots!*

Come join us for our next clinic! Limited spots available, contact me to reserve yours!

04/16/2026

Part 5: How to Make Your Farrier Love You

If you have any ideas for another series throw them our way! Any questions? Drop them in the comments below!