Longacre Equine

  • Home
  • Longacre Equine

Longacre Equine Longacre Equine provides horse back riding lessons, training, consignments, hauling services, and private barn management throughout the roaring fork valley.

🖤🤍Black and white is something we always preach when riding. Great quick read🤍🖤
18/07/2025

🖤🤍Black and white is something we always preach when riding. Great quick read🤍🖤

Training Is Not a Democracy: Your Horse Doesn’t Get a Vote

One of the biggest shifts I’ve seen in the horse world over the years is how much people have softened in the wrong direction. Now don’t get me wrong — I’m all for kindness, for patience, and for empathy. But those things mean very little if they aren’t wrapped in clear leadership. Somewhere along the line, too many people started confusing kindness with permissiveness and leadership with cruelty. That’s where the wheels fall off. Because here’s the truth:

Training is not a democracy. Your horse doesn’t get a vote.

We are the leaders. And we have to act like it.

Confusing Emotion with Permission
A horse isn’t a dog, and even dogs need structure. But horses? Horses are flight animals. Horses are herd animals. They’re hardwired to look for leadership. And if they don’t find it in you, they’ll either fill that role themselves — which never ends well — or they’ll become anxious, reactive, or even dangerous. Either way, they’re not thriving, they’re surviving.

Somewhere out there, people got this idea that a horse “expressing itself” was the same thing as “being empowered.” But when that expression looks like pushing into your space, refusing to move forward, slamming on the brakes at the gate, or throwing a fit about being caught, that’s not empowerment — that’s insecurity and disrespect. That’s a lack of clear expectations. That’s a horse operating in chaos.

And a chaotic horse is a dangerous horse.

The Illusion of Fairness
I know some people mean well. They want to be “fair.” They want their horse to feel “heard.” But horses aren’t people. They don’t negotiate. They don’t take turns. They live in a world of black and white — safe or unsafe, leader or follower, respect or no respect.

If you try to run your training like a democracy — where every cue is a polite request and every command is up for discussion — you’re setting that horse up for failure. Because out in the pasture, that’s not how it works. The lead mare doesn’t ask twice. The alpha doesn’t negotiate. Leadership in the horse world is clear, consistent, and sometimes firm — but it’s always fair.

Being fair doesn’t mean weak. It doesn’t mean permissive. It means you set a boundary and you keep it.

Confidence Comes from Clarity
One of the things I say often is this: a horse is never more confident than when it knows who’s in charge and what the rules are. Period.

A horse that’s allowed to “opt out” of work when it doesn’t feel like it isn’t a happy horse. It’s a confused horse. A horse that’s allowed to drag its handler, rush the gate, balk at obstacles, or call the shots under saddle isn’t empowered — it’s insecure. It’s operating without a plan, without leadership, and without trust in its rider.

And let me tell you something — trust isn’t earned through wishy-washy “maybe-if-you-want-to” training. It’s earned through consistency, repetition, and follow-through. That’s what gives a horse confidence. That’s what earns respect. That’s what makes a horse feel safe — and therefore willing.

Manners Are Not Optional
When people send their horses to me for training, one of the first things I work on is manners. I don’t care how broke that horse is, how many blue ribbons it has, or how fancy the bloodlines are. If the horse walks through me, pulls away, crowds my space, or refuses to stand quietly, we’re not moving on until that’s fixed.

Because manners aren’t cosmetic. They’re the foundation of everything.

If your horse doesn’t respect your space on the ground, what makes you think it’ll respect your leg cues under saddle? If your horse doesn’t wait for a cue to walk off at the mounting block, what makes you think it’ll wait for your cue to lope off on the correct lead?

We don’t give horses the option to decide whether or not to be respectful. That’s not up for debate. That’s the bare minimum of the contract.

Leadership Isn’t Force — It’s Direction
Now before somebody takes this and twists it into something it’s not, let me be clear. I’m not talking about bullying. I’m not talking about fear-based training. I don’t train with anger, and I don’t train with cruelty.

But I also don’t ask twice.

When I give a cue, I expect a response. If I don’t get it, I don’t stand there and beg — I escalate until I get the response I asked for. And then I drop right back down to lightness. That’s how you teach a horse to respond to softness. Not by starting soft and staying soft no matter what. You teach softness through clarity, consistency, and fair correction when needed.

That’s leadership.

Horses Crave It — So Give It
Some of the best horses I’ve ever trained came in hot, pushy, or insecure. And some of those same horses left my place calm, willing, and confident — not because I over-handled them, but because I gave them structure. I told them where the boundaries were, and I held those boundaries every single time. I wasn’t their friend. I wasn’t their therapist. I was their leader.

And in the end, that’s what they wanted all along.

They didn’t want to vote. They wanted to be led.

Final Thought
If your horse is calling the shots — whether that’s dragging you out to the pasture, refusing to go in the trailer, tossing its head, or dictating when and how you ride — then your barn doesn’t have a training problem. It has a leadership problem.

Stop running your horse life like a town hall meeting. Training isn’t a democracy. Your horse doesn’t get a say in whether or not it respects you. That part’s not optional. Your job — your responsibility — is to show up, be consistent, and take the lead. Every time.

Because if you don’t? That horse will. And I promise you, that’s not the direction you want to go.

POSITION FILLED!!! !!Job opportunity for the summer!!Looking for a weekend person for Fridays/Saturdays/Sundays for the ...
23/06/2025

POSITION FILLED!!!

!!Job opportunity for the summer!!

Looking for a weekend person for Fridays/Saturdays/Sundays for the summer (now-beginning of Oct) for a horseback riding gig at a private barn up in Old Snowmass CO.

Individual must be/have:
-Horseback riding experience (preferably western)
-reliable
-show up on time
-be self motivated
-communicate well with other employees/boss
-pay attention to details
-maintain a very clean and organized barn
-take direction and Instruction well
-not required but bonus if they have some level of experience in horse health/first aide or vet teching

Pay starts at $30/hr but can go up easily for the right experienced horse person. Pay will be determined by the property manager after interview with the barn manager. Hours daily are anywhere between 4-7 hours a day. There are three horses at this barn, two of which are retired and just need daily meds/grooming/tlc.

😅🤣😅🤣
18/06/2025

😅🤣😅🤣

14/06/2025

✨✨Appreciation Post✨✨

🚂 Since this lady will never toot her own horn, we’re gonna toot it for her! 🚂

🤍Tara has been with Longacre Equine since just after its’ inception. She began as an employee at the barn, straight out of college, and then started riding trail horses in Old Snowmass, CO. Since our boarding facility portion of the business closed, we now privately contract her out for work with different client horses; and she is an absolute ace in the hole to have around! 🤍

🐴 She’s grown and established her own style and skills, and the skills list has definitely increased over the years! Not only is she a reliable worker and talented horsewoman, but she’s also become highly experienced in equine massage, myofascial release, equine kinesiology taping, and the Bemer system! 🐴

🩶Reliable people who work hard, are trustworthy, and pay attention to the details are extremely hard to find, especially in the equine world. We appreciate Tara more than we can ever fully express!🩶

💰 We’ve always jokenly said if we could clone Tara, we would; because people with her dedication, who stay committed, and become dear friends in the process are absolutely priceless! 💰

🍻 Cheers 🥂 to a great horsewoman!!!🍻

Tara Bascom

✨✨Bluie, our super mare, gave birth to a stunningly perfect filly at 4pm on Sunday! Everything went as smooth as possibl...
18/03/2025

✨✨Bluie, our super mare, gave birth to a stunningly perfect filly at 4pm on Sunday! Everything went as smooth as possible🤍. We’re so ecstatic to finally have a filly in the herd!! We switched gears last breeding season from cow horses to some barrel speed!!✨✨

Introducing the newest member of the Longacre Equine Herd…

✨🐝HoneyBee🐝✨

Ain’t Seen Nothin Yet X Miss Twistin Hickory

Congratulations to Ghost on a successful Colic surgery and recovery ❤️‍🩹!! We are going to miss this incredibly sweet an...
01/06/2024

Congratulations to Ghost on a successful Colic surgery and recovery ❤️‍🩹!! We are going to miss this incredibly sweet and easy boy! As sad as it is to see him go, the true success is witnessing his healing journey and becoming well enough to head home to his family 💙. Go continue to be the rockstar endurance horse that are you are 👻 Ghost!

You cannot ask for a better colic surgery center than ! Thank you for entrusting us with your clients’ horses care!

🤣🪰Some of our Longacre Equine horses be lookin’ “fly” 🪰🤣
26/05/2024

🤣🪰Some of our Longacre Equine horses be lookin’ “fly” 🪰🤣

01/03/2024

Sometimes you’ve just gotta stop and let the wind blow back your hair ✨ 😆🥰

🤍🐴🤍!!LESSONS!!🤍🐴🤍After a bit of a hiatus having kiddos, switcha-rooing barns, and taking some much needed quiet time, we...
19/01/2024

🤍🐴🤍!!LESSONS!!🤍🐴🤍

After a bit of a hiatus having kiddos, switcha-rooing barns, and taking some much needed quiet time, we are opening back up for lessons!! People have been asking so I’ve decided to make the time again :).

Slots are currently limited and will be offered on Fridays, with some Saturdays thrown in. Prices differ between riding one of our lesson horses or one of your own. Head on over to our lessons page on our website for further questions or shoot us a call, text, or email inquiring about availability!

https://www.longacreequine.com/lessons

🫣🙋🏼‍♀️
21/12/2023

🫣🙋🏼‍♀️

Address

MT

Opening Hours

Monday 08:00 - 17:00
Tuesday 08:00 - 17:00
Wednesday 08:00 - 17:00
Thursday 08:00 - 17:00
Friday 08:00 - 17:00
Saturday 09:00 - 17:00
Sunday 09:00 - 17:00

Telephone

+14062103464

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Longacre Equine posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Longacre Equine:

Shortcuts

  • Address
  • Telephone
  • Opening Hours
  • Alerts
  • Contact The Business
  • Claim ownership or report listing
  • Want your business to be the top-listed Pet Store/pet Service?

Share