Grace Equine LLC

05/23/2022

08/18/2021

How you talk about your horse matters, because it reflects how you think about your horse.

How you think about your horse matters because it is the starting place from how you see your horse's behaviors, responses and needs...
.. and this will influence how you engage and work with your horse.

"He's just spooking to get out of work."

"She's just a snarky mare."

"He's just lazy and doesn't want to respond to my aids."

"She hates the whip."

"He just doesn't want to do it."

How do you relate to a horse if you're coming from that perspective?

Those are all negative words that come from a negative bias, and they make it seem as if the horse is plotting against us or unwilling to work towards a productive relationship.

Their brain simply isn't capable of working that way because of its construction and function.

It's in the horse's very nature to synchrinize and work together as a unit/group/herd/partnership for safety.

How about throwing away those limiting thoughts and replacing them with thoughts that reflect awareness, and offer actual insight to show our understanding of the situation and needs of our partner, the horse.

Replacing those thoughts above with more appropriate thoughts might look like this:

"He's tense or worried about something and it's distracting him from the work."

"She's sensitive and I offer my aids or requests in ways she thinks are offensive."

"He doesn't understand my aids clearly, or is maybe weak and unable to properly respond."

"She was never properly introduced to the whip, so I need to help her to reduce her anxiety."

"He just doesn't understand yet."

How do you relate to a horse if you're coming from that perspective?

The whole idea I'm trying to get at is that we need to drop our defensive negativity bias. Even in our basic thoughts towards and about our horses, because they have a tremendous influence on how we relate to them. This influences the success or failure of our partnership.

It up to you... and your thoughts.

08/02/2021

11/10/2020

The horse-obsessed one.
That’s what they call us, that’s their favourite they label.

From primary school to the working world, we are labelled different.

We miss special occasions, we’re often late, we prefer the company of four legs over two and we have the innate ability to get up in the early hours for a competition, but not for work.

We are driven, we are motivated and we are always striving for more.
We work relentlessly to get to the next level, and only start aiming higher as soon as we get there. We do not settle.

We do not work alone. We spend years perfecting a language of silence to allow us to be perfectly in balance with our equine partners, suspended between the ground and sky. We aren’t different, we just see things different from up here.

We love our horses, most likely more than a lot of the people in our life. Don’t mistake that for weakness, these horses teach us tough lessons, they push us to breaking point, and then a little bit further. We do not respect the word impossible.

We do not have an obsession.
We have a passion, and the people who can’t understand what we do have not yet found theirs.

11/05/2020

Trail horse deluxe! "International Harvester" aka Harvey is 5 years old. 15.3 hands. Stocky but fit, not like riding a barrel. He is said to be Belgian Draft cross with American Dutch Harness Horse. Lots of trail miles all over the east coast.

10/20/2020

Let them be horses.

Turn them out, let them run.
Let them buck, let them leap, rather in the field than the arena, right?

Give them a herd, even a herd of two.
Let them be with other horses, what’s a life without friends?

Give them downtime, not just days off riding, but days to enjoy life.
Happy horses are trainable horses.

Take the rug off, let them feel the sun.
Let them roll in the mud, a little dirt never hurt anyone.

Escape the arena and explore, don’t stick to the well worn path.
The most beautiful places are usually found by accident.

Showing them how much you love them doesn’t have to come from buying expensive things.

You can buy every rug, all the boots, the best tack, wash them, groom them, feed them, put them in the best yard, with the best facilities and wrap them up in cotton wool, but one day you’ll realise the best thing you could possibly do...
.. is just let them be horses.

08/17/2020

Let your daughters grow up to be horse girls.

Let her room be messy and her clothes be torn. Let her barns be spotless and her horses shine. Let her be first up in the morning and the last in from outdoors at night. Let her forget breakfast and skip dinners and have flat sandwiches on white bread, gripped in dirty hands. Let her horse share the sandwiches.

Let the kids at school call her 'horse girl' as an insult and let her screen saver tell them she accepts the name with pride. Let her miss class for a show. Let her miss a show for the vet. Let her cry when she wins and cry when she loses. Let her make best friends and make worst enemies and fall off and get back on and fall off again. Let her be the one they put on the crazy ponies. Let her ride every day. Then let her have a second horse. And a third.

And when the going gets rough, let yourself relax. Horse girls become horsewomen and horsewomen don't give up.

- Angelina Vita

06/25/2020

On the third Monday in April, or Patriots' Day in Massachusetts, people crowd shoulder to shoulder on Boylston Street, aiming to catch the moment the first Boston Marathon runner crosses the finish line. Regardless of whether you're the first or last...

06/23/2020

Two sisters who were unable to complete this year’s Boston Marathon due to tge coronavirus pandemic found a unique way to cross the finish line – and send a message as well.

06/19/2020

2016, 17.1H Holsteiner gelding by Lotus T

05/02/2020

“It’s absolutely mind boggling if you think about it.

Your horse gets absolutely nothing out of being competitive for you. Not a darn thing. Of course horses are bred for specific jobs, or they’re bred to be athletic to a certain degree. However, horses don’t wake up thinking about chasing cans, or cows, or flying over jumps.

They have no idea how much money is added to the pot. They have no idea that this is a qualifier. They have no idea that this is the short go.

And DESPITE us... DESPITE our nerves, our flaws, our incorrect ques, our huge emotions, they get the job done to their very best ability. Even when we fail them by letting our emotions get in the way, they come back and they try again. For US. Whoa. Let that sink in. If only we could all be so understanding.

To think of an animal that is forgiving and flexible enough to put up with the repetition of practice, the intense nerves of the rider, the stress of hauling and still meet you at the gate for scratches is MIND. BLOWING.

If you haven’t done so lately. Thank your horse.

If you’re successful, thank the horses that put you there and made you. Thank the horses that gave everything they had for you simply because you ASKED them to.

If you’re still on the journey to success, thank the horses that made you fall in love with your sport and who have helped give you the confidence to want to learn more and be better.

We can never stop learning as horsemen and horsewomen, and by continuing our education every horse in our future will be better off.

Next time you head to the arena leave your ego at the door and thank your horse!”

~Samantha Roffers

02/17/2020

Bentley getting back to jumping! 😍🦄❤️
Thank you, Priscilla!

01/31/2020

When 44-year old U.S. professional dressage rider Teresa Butta died by her own hand on 31 December 2019, a shock wave was sent through the American dressage community. Many riders, colleagues and friends rung in with posts highlighting the need for more empathy and sensitivity to mental health care....

01/15/2020

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BlogsBarn Lounge Sometimes it seems that the biggest lessons horses teach us have nothing to do with riding. January 14, 2020 BY PONYMOMAMMY It’s easy to overlook how much we learn from horses every day. I’ve been riding my whole life, and still have a new takeaway from every lesson. While the m...