Bear Paw Barn, LLC

05/29/2026

True story.

05/13/2026

05/09/2026

UCONN is now offering an Equine Science and Management degree program. This is great news! The Equine industry is in dire need of well trained professionals and large animal veterinarians. We need to support the next generation, they will be the ones we call in 10 years.

Beginning in fall 2026, students at the University of Connecticut in Storrs will be able to earn a Bachelors of Science in Equine Science and Management. The college expects that the new degree, which will be offered through the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources, will have 120-160 students within four years.

The Animal Science program at UConn dates back to 1881, and while students had ample hands-on education in genetics, reproduction, biotechnology, food safety and livestock management in cattle, sheep, chickens, and horses, there was not a specialized equine program. Until this new major, students from New England often had to travel outside the region for equine studies opportunities, but now students can stay in the horse-rich area and participate in a major that merges scientific rigor with hands-on experience and various aspects of communication, leadership, economics, and finances, and position graduates to be leaders in the equine industry.

“UConn’s program is designed to be more than just academic; it’s career-focused,” says Pedram Rezamand, head of the Department of Animal Science. “We are working with industry professionals and our departmental advisory committee to make sure students will graduate ready to step into meaningful roles in the equine world.”

The university has a herd of 70 horses used in competitive riding teams, a public lesson program, a Morgan breeding program, and a wide range of research opportunities, which will give students hand-on learning experiences from day one. The cutting-edge educational facilities include a 120’ by 220’ indoor arena, a breeding unit with laboratory space and more than 50 stalls across the barns. As part of the program, students will learn about managing horse care, training and breeding, nutrition and equine physiology, and prepare them for careers across the many facets of the equine industry.

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05/04/2026

Happy Monday everyone. 🐎

04/20/2026

Hello peeps. I’ve been quiet.
Still doing the things here, but honestly my heart hurts. My soul feels like it’s in a blender.
I know, I should stick to the horses. However reality just won’t let me. The cognitive dissonance of just “talking shop” when the world is on fire, is not something I can handle.
If nothing else, I have always been honest about where I’m at. Maybe you feel the same, maybe you think I’m nuts. (I am) But I also feel things tooooooo much. It’s why I’m good at my job. But right now, the outside world cannot be ignored. I can’t just get back to posting about horse training.

It’s disingenuous and fake to pretend like I’m fine. I’m not fine. Haven’t been for a couple of years to be honest. I’m working through my personal garbage and that’s going ok. But the universal, global, human fu**ed up situation, I can’t continue to be silent about it.

So here we go. ⚠️This is your trigger warning. ⚠️ Buckle up or just scroll along. I can’t be anything remotely effective as a trainer, if I am not authentic and true to my own experience.

I am enraged. I have nowhere to put it. The little box where I store it away, is cracking open more every day.
Women’s rage is forbidden. We tuck it down in that box, the back of the closet, under the bed, bottom of the laundry basket. Anywhere but looking in the mirror to acknowledge that we are angry.

“Deep breaths,” they say. I’ve breathed in and out enough air to fill a hot air balloon.

“Center yourself. Where are your feelings in your body?” Everywhere. On fire.

“Touch grass” I already checked that off.

“Take more meds,” the triggers will be softer and wash away like a wave. Nope.

“Practice meditation” F**k off.

No no no more. It’s time to start screaming.
We are in a war. Individually, nationally and internationally. The only way to the other side is through. Through our anger, frustration, sadness, horror at the things being exposed in the world of women and children. If women don’t stand up now, we never will.

I’ve been reading the Ep PdFiles since they were released in February. The true horrors are only now getting out in the media and around to the masses. I’ve been on the edge freaking out for quite a while. If you haven’t heard, “Babies taste like cream cheese.”
The horrors are unspeakable. And yet they happen to women and children every single day. Under our watch.

And the best/worst part? The second half of the Ep PdFfiles is so utterly horrific that they don’t want us to see. From what I have already read I can’t imagine what that means.

Now this “sleep content” website bu****it.
I just fu***ng can’t anymore.

Can’t what? I don’t know.
Tolerate being afraid of men all the time? Sick of men’s entitlement to our bodies and all the rest of it. I’m sick to death of our society going round and round women’s rights to circle back and now destroy everything past generations have died for.

This is absurd. Utter insanity.

And why is it happening? Men. I’m so over the patriarchy. (Sorry not sorry guys, but step aside. You’ve had plenty of time to fix this and ya can’t.)

Women do not operate like this. We use our brains instead of fists. We use elevation not suppression. We educate, feed, and doctor our communities, gather resources and protection. We put ego aside for the greater good.

Instead, our society is destroying absolutely everything in order to protect men from the consequences of their violation of women and children.

And it’s not just a few bad guys. It’s a fu***ng lot of bad guys. (And women who are helping them, but that’s another story.)

If men are given the opportunity to r**e and not get caught? You don’t want to know the statistics on that survey.

I am just so done. I could go on with a thousand examples of what women have and continue to face.
There’s only so much breathing that can hold me together.
Women, We are not wrong about feeling used. Not wrong about feeling creeped out all the time. Not wrong when our gut flashes the warning signs. Run girl, run.
Men have taken whatever they wanted from women since the beginning of time.

I’m so tired of being quiet.
Every cell in my body, every hair, drop of blood, are electrified, every joint in my body is on fire, every vertebrae in my spine locked rigidly in place to hold me upright. Letting one bone out of line might crumble the whole container into a pile of rubble and tears.
A whole lot of feelings with nowhere to go. And the hits keep coming.
It will get worse.

If you want to join me to scream at the stars and release some rage, find a community that allows and supports the process of anger so that it doesn’t eat us alive, and when it’s all out and you have exhausted those stores of rage, you can press your face into the warmth of one of the most divine beings ever created. And really breathe.

The horses can help us, but not if we hold our anger. We need to let it out first. This is not their burden to carry.

Have you ever angrily thrown s**t at a wall? Highly recommend some paddock cleaning therapy. Pitchfork. Shovel, just dig a fu***ng home and bury your worst memories.
Need to just hit something? I have nails and fences. (Also some old cabinets that need a demo.) Need to just yell? Close up the indoor and have at it. Moving, yelling, and throwing things is recommended.

If you’re struggling like I am, you are not alone. Let’s get together at Bear Paw Barn. The Bear has always been my safest choice, so DM me and let’s set a date.
Women need a safe space to be angry or we will drown in our depression.
Unconventional? Yup. Alarming? Yeah.
Quit clutching your pearls and get out your warrior shield. Let’s go girls.

03/16/2026

“Personal space bubble” is usually the first thing I need to establish (and teach the owner) when new horses come in. Personal space keeps us safe.

Respect for space.
When I talk about respect for space, I’m not trying to win an argument about dominance or prove I’m the “boss.” I’m talking about something far more practical: a horse cannot be the one making the decisions. Not because the horse is “bad,” and not because the horse is plotting against you—but because a thousand-pound animal making independent decisions in a human world is how people get hurt.

I’ve spent my life around horses, and I’ll tell you the truth as plainly as I can: a horse making the decisions is dangerous for the rider. It’s dangerous in the obvious ways—spooking, bolting, running over you—but it’s also dangerous in the subtle ways people excuse for years until something finally happens. The little decisions become bigger decisions. The small boundary becomes no boundary. Then one day the horse makes a decision at the wrong time, and it turns into a wreck.

So when I ask for a horse to respect my space, what I’m really doing is asking for one essential thing: let me be the leader. Not the bully. Not the dictator. The leader.

Because leadership is how the relationship works. Leadership is what makes the partnership safe. And safety is what allows both the rider and the horse to get what they want out of the relationship.

The Horse Doesn’t Get to Decide Where My Body Goes

Here’s the simplest way I can put it: if a horse can move my feet, that horse is already in charge.

A lot of people don’t realize that’s what’s happening. They call it “he’s just being friendly” or “she’s just a little pushy.” But in the horse’s world, movement equals control. If the horse crowds you and you step away, the horse just learned something. If the horse drags you to the gate and you go with him, he learned something. If the horse leans into you at the mounting block and you adjust to make it work, he learned something.

None of this is evil. It’s just horses being horses.

But if the horse is allowed to make those decisions on the ground, it becomes very likely that the horse will try to make decisions under saddle too—especially when the horse gets worried, excited, tired, frustrated, or distracted. And that’s when it gets dangerous.

So I don’t treat “respect for space” as a manners issue. I treat it as a leadership issue.

A Horse Making Decisions Looks Like This

Most folks think a horse “making decisions” is a big dramatic thing like bolting or bucking.

But the truth is, it starts long before that. It looks like:

stepping into you when you stop

pushing the shoulder into you when you lead

swinging the hip into you when you’re trying to move around them

walking past you instead of with you

drifting into your bubble while you saddle

crowding you at the mounting block

turning their head and leaving you mentally, even if their feet are still standing there

Those are all decisions. They’re small, but they’re real.

And here’s why they matter: a horse that believes it can decide where to put its body will eventually decide where to put its body when it counts. That might be into you, over you, away from you, or through you.

I’m not willing to gamble on that.

Leadership Isn’t About Being Mean—It’s About Taking Responsibility

This is where people get confused, because they hear “leader” and they picture somebody roughing a horse up to prove a point.

That’s not leadership. That’s insecurity.

Leadership is simple: I take responsibility for the decisions so the horse doesn’t have to.

A horse is always looking for someone to answer a question: “Where should I be? What should I do? Is this safe? Are we okay?” If I don’t answer those questions, the horse will. Not because the horse is disrespectful, but because the horse is wired to survive.

And the horse’s survival decisions don’t always match what keeps the rider safe.

A horse’s decision might be: “I’m leaving.”
A horse’s decision might be: “I’m running through this pressure.”
A horse’s decision might be: “I’m going back to the barn.”
A horse’s decision might be: “I’m crowding into you because I feel better close.”

All of those decisions make sense to a horse. None of them are what I want happening with my feet on the ground or my seat in the saddle.

So my job isn’t to punish the horse for being a horse. My job is to show the horse a better system:

You don’t have to make the decisions. I will. And if you follow my leadership, you’ll end up safer and more comfortable than you would on your own.

That’s what a partnership actually is.

Partnership Means Both Sides Get What They Want

A lot of people say they want a partnership, but what they really mean is they want the horse to cooperate while the horse is still in charge.

That’s not partnership. That’s negotiation.

Real partnership looks like this:

The rider gets safety, control, and reliability.

The horse gets clarity, fairness, and relief from having to guess.

That’s the deal.

When I’m consistent about space, what I’m really building is a horse that trusts leadership. Because a horse that trusts leadership will stop feeling like it has to manage everything.

And that changes everything under saddle.

A horse that is allowed to manage you on the ground often becomes a horse that tries to manage the ride: it chooses the speed, the direction, the distance from the gate, the amount of effort, the level of focus. It decides how much it wants to give. It decides when it wants to quit. It decides when it wants to argue.

That’s not a partnership. That’s a horse running the relationship.

A horse can’t run the relationship safely. The horse doesn’t have the same goals as you do. The horse doesn’t have the same understanding of risk. The horse doesn’t think like a human. And the horse should not have to.

“Respect for Space” Is Just the First Leadership Test

I like to keep it simple. Respect for space is the first place I check whether the horse accepts leadership.

If the horse won’t respect space, it’s usually not a training problem yet. It’s a leadership problem.

Because space is the easiest thing in the world to understand: “Don’t walk into me. Don’t push through me. Yield when I ask.”

If a horse can’t do that calmly and consistently, then I already know what I’m going to get later when the questions get harder.

And I’m not saying that to be dramatic. I’m saying it because I’ve watched the pattern a thousand times.

The horse that crowds on the ground becomes the horse that leans on the bridle.

The horse that drags you to the gate becomes the horse that sucks back to the barn.

The horse that won’t yield the shoulder becomes the horse that falls in on circles and ignores leg.

The horse that walks through you becomes the horse that walks through pressure.

It’s the same mindset—just different settings.

What It Looks Like When the Rider Is the Leader

When the rider is truly the leader, you can see it without anybody having to announce it.

It looks like:

The horse stays out of your space unless invited closer.

The horse matches your pace when you lead.

The horse yields the shoulder and hip when asked.

The horse stops when you stop and doesn’t step into you.

The horse waits at the mounting block instead of crawling into your lap.

The horse stays mentally with you, not scanning for its own plan.

And the horse doesn’t do those things because it’s afraid. It does them because it understands the system.

The horse understands: “If I follow this person, my life makes sense.”

That’s what leadership creates—a world that makes sense.

The Rider Being the Leader Doesn’t Mean the Horse Has No Opinion

This matters, because someone always hears “leader” and thinks it means the horse gets treated like a robot.

No.

A horse can have feelings. A horse can be unsure. A horse can be fresh. A horse can be opinionated.

But the horse doesn’t get to turn those feelings into decisions that put the rider at risk.

That’s the line.

I want the horse to be able to express itself within the relationship—without taking control of the relationship.

That’s why I correct space issues. Not because I hate the horse being close. But because I refuse to let closeness become control.

The Big Takeaway

If your horse is crowding you, pushing into you, leaning on you, or moving your feet around, I don’t want you to label your horse as “disrespectful” and get angry.

I want you to label it accurately:

Your horse is making decisions that you should be making.

And any time the horse is making those decisions, your risk goes up—on the ground and in the saddle.

So the goal isn’t dominance. The goal is leadership.

Leadership gives the rider what they want: safety, control, and progress.

Leadership gives the horse what it wants: clarity, fairness, and the comfort of not having to guess.

That’s how you build a partnership that works for both sides—because the rider leads, and the horse follows with confidence.

02/04/2026

It’s that time of year again! Here’s my PSA from a few years back. I have had to do more repairs each winter, including last week! Questions? Ask away! 🥶🧊🚰

01/27/2026

We were running some final errands before the ice storm when I saw the headline on my phone.

Breaking News – Federal Agents Shoot and Kill a Man in Minneapolis During Immigration Enforcement Operation.

I wish I could tell you that my first reaction was outrage. That it made me all fired up to look for local protests, call my state representatives, and get my butt in gear to help make change. Those are the tools the everyday citizen has. It’s all we can do.

But instead, I just thought, It’s happened again. I feel hopeless and defeated. More importantly, I am afraid.

Now, we are a horse magazine. We cover training, news, and opinion pieces in the hunter/jumper sport. I am not ignorant to the audience we’ve cultivated, and the type of content we reliably provide over the years. But at the same time, I’m having a really hard time caring about fancy horses right now. When children are being used as bait, families ripped apart, and citizens are murdered in the street… it’s hard to shift to the world of $250,000+ horses artistically jumping over sticks.

I don’t know how to handle the disconnect.

Trapped in my house while the literal ice storm outside dropped sleet and freezing rain over Texas, more details emerged. Alex Pretti, 37. Worked as an intensive care unit nurse caring for veterans at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospital. Family described him as kind-hearted, a nature lover, cyclist, dog owner, and someone active in his community. Bystander and video footage showed him holding a phone—not a weapon—trying to help or shield others when confronted by Border Patrol agents.

On more than one social media app, I encountered the video of him being murdered. I’m using that word specifically. Shooting, assault, confrontation. Those are not direct enough. This was a public ex*****on. And it’s available for anyone to watch. Another American sound byte of trauma we get to store away.

My wife has the reaction I wish I did. She’s fired up. She’s angry. She’s organizing her social circle and planning protests. I admire her, but I’m scared. All I can think about is what if she is the next innocent person to be shot. What’s the difference between Renée Good, Alex Pretti, and her? Or any of us?

ICE and Border Patrol agents have been involved in multiple fatal shootings during interior enforcement operations.

A 5-year-old boy named Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, who have an active asylum application and no deportation order, were detained by federal immigration agents in Columbia Heights, Minnesota after returning from preschool, and school officials and community leaders said agents directed the child to knock on the front door to check for others — a tactic they described as “essentially using a child as bait.”

The federal government, under the current administration, cut funding for ICE body-camera programs and significantly reduced staffing in key Department of Homeland Security oversight offices, which watchdogs say weakens independent review of enforcement conduct.

But it’s Monday in America, which means back to work. We’re stuck in a broken, Capitalist system that requires cognitive dissonance to survive. It’s time to get back to fancy show horse journalism.

I would like to talk about the undocumented workforce that is the backbone of our industry. I am afraid for them with our upcoming winter circuits in Texas. I don’t know which week will be the one where part of the “barn family” is quietly taken away while riders smile for pictures with their blue ribbons. The truth of the matter is, I don’t know how much everyone writing the checks actually cares. Is it just an inconvenience for them to have to find new help?

At The Plaid Horse, we like to rally our audience together as an active force for change. Within our industry, so many of these opinion pieces on systemic change end with a call to contact our governing agencies. I would love to offer some hope or a call to action here, but I don’t know what to do. I am trying not to feel hopeless, and I know I’m not the only one.

When things feel impossible, I can only rely on the facts.

Innocent people are being murdered. It is not okay. I care. I am paying attention. Until these activities stop, we are not safe.

📎 Save & share this article by Lauren Mauldin at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2026/01/26/i-dont-know-how-to-handle-the-disconnect-in-america/
📸 © Jenny Salita via Flickr

12/21/2025

The Thoracic Sling: The Horse’s Primary System for Balance, Posture, and Force Organization

For generations, equestrian tradition taught that the hindquarters were the horse’s primary source of power. Riders were encouraged to “ride from behind,” develop engagement, and focus training almost exclusively on the rear of the horse. While the hind end is indeed responsible for propulsion, this view does not fully explain balance, posture, straightness, elevation, or whole-body coordination.

Modern biomechanics presents a more complete picture. The hindquarters generate thrust, but the thoracic sling organizes, stabilizes, and directs the horse’s movement. The forehand—specifically the thoracic sling and its integration with the core—the primary system for organizing balance and posture in motion.

The Traditional View Was Hind-End Dominant

Classical training emphasized the hindquarters as the horse’s engine. This is accurate in terms of generating forward thrust, contributing to carrying power, adding part of the horse’s ability to collect, and sharing load with the forehand.

However, the hind end does not independently determine where the body mass travels, the height of the trunk, the organization of the spine and ribcage, straightness or lateral balance, or the ability to elevate the forehand.

The hindquarters push, but they do not control the system they are pushing into.

The Thoracic Sling Is the Horse’s Primary Balancing and Postural Engine

The thoracic sling is a muscular-fascial suspension system that holds the trunk between the forelimbs. Functioning in place of a clavicle, it does far more than support the front end.

The thoracic sling suspends the ribcage between the forelimbs, regulates trunk height, absorbs landing forces, stabilizes the shoulders during movement, initiates upward shifts of the center of mass, determines how weight is distributed front to back, controls straightness and lateral balance, and integrates with the deep core to manage whole-body posture.

In biomechanical terms, the thoracic sling is the horse’s primary balancing and postural system. Without a functional sling, the hindquarters cannot translate their power through the body in a stable or organized way.

The Hind End Pushes — The Thoracic Sling Catches

This concept aligns with findings from force-plate studies, kinematic analysis, and myofascial research.

Current research shows that the forehand is responsible for most vertical control of the trunk, the thoracic sling plays a substantial role in stabilizing the ribcage, the trunk cannot elevate unless the sling and core activate first, self-carriage depends on thoracic suspension rather than hind-end drive alone, and power from behind becomes ineffective if the front cannot control incoming forces.

In motion, the forelimbs do not simply carry weight. They manage balance, braking, and impact absorption. The thoracic sling processes these forces and determines how effectively they are redistributed through the body.

The Modern Shift Across Disciplines

This updated understanding influences every area of equine performance and care.

In rehabilitation and return-to-work planning, thoracic sling function is now prioritized before intensive hind-end strengthening.

In dressage and classical schooling, true self-carriage requires elevation of the withers through the sling rather than force from behind.

In jumping, a functional sling is essential for correct bascule, shoulder freedom, and safe landing mechanics.

In bodywork and movement support, thoracic sling tension and fascial organization influence cervical mobility, forelimb swing, and trunk lift.

In hoof care, the way the foot lands and loads directly affects how both the hindquarters and thoracic sling must compensate during stance and motion.

Across disciplines, the thoracic sling is increasingly recognized as central to posture, balance, and performance.

Why the “60 Percent Forehand Weight” Rule Is Misleading

The commonly cited idea that the forehand carries 60 percent of the horse’s weight applies only to a standing horse on level ground without a rider. In dynamic movement, particularly under saddle, this percentage increases.

Forehand load rises due to the horse’s naturally forward center of mass, the added weight of the rider, variations in hoof balance and trim, posture and core strength, gait mechanics, landing forces, and weakness or collapse within the thoracic sling.

During trot and canter, forelimb loading often exceeds 60 percent and may reach 65 to 75 percent or more. This increased demand makes the thoracic sling the primary structure responsible for stabilizing and supporting the trunk in motion.

Steering Comes From the Shoulders

In horses, steering does not originate in the head or the hindquarters. Direction, line, and balance are determined by the orientation and control of the shoulders, which are suspended by the thoracic sling.

The thoracic cage sits between the forelimbs as a suspended structure. Wherever that structure is directed, the rest of the body must follow. The head follows the shoulders because it is attached to the cervical spine, which is anchored to the thorax. The pelvis and hind limbs follow because they are connected to the thoracic cage through the spine and continuous fascial chains.

A horse cannot truly go straight if the thoracic cage is crooked between the forelimbs. The hindquarters may push powerfully, but they will simply propel the body along the path the shoulders have already chosen. This is why pulling the head does not create straightness, pushing the hindquarters does not correct drift, and controlling the shoulders changes the entire trajectory of the horse.

When the thoracic sling is balanced and functional, the shoulders set the line and the rest of the body organizes naturally behind it.

Thoracic Cage Balance Determines Hind-End Function

The balance and alignment of the thoracic cage directly determine how effectively the hindquarters can work.

If the thoracic cage is dropped on one side, rotated between the forelimbs, collapsed through the sling, or unstable in vertical suspension, the hindquarters are forced into compensatory strategies rather than true engagement.

This often presents as asymmetrical stepping, uneven push mistaken for strength differences, difficulty bending evenly left versus right, loss of straightness despite strong hind-end effort, and increased strain through the lumbar spine and sacroiliac region.

The hindquarters do not choose these patterns. They respond to the balance problem they are pushing into.

When the thoracic sling lifts, centers, and stabilizes the ribcage, both hind limbs can step under evenly, propulsion becomes directed rather than wasted, carrying power improves without force, and collection becomes easier rather than more demanding.

Hind-end quality, therefore, reflects thoracic organization rather than the other way around.

A More Accurate Model of Equine Power

A modern, biomechanically accurate model is emerging.

The hindquarters generate propulsion.
The thoracic sling organizes the body, stabilizes the trunk, and distributes forces.
The core integrates the two into a coordinated whole.

This framework explains why straightness cannot be achieved through hind-end work alone, why self-carriage depends on wither elevation, why forehand heaviness is rarely a hind-end problem, and why movement quality arises from postural control rather than raw power.

Power without organization creates imbalance which crrates tension. Balance allows power to express itself. The future of equine performance lies in organizing the power the horse already has.

https://koperequine.com/the-thoracic-sling-axial-skeleton-interplay/

11/22/2025