Miranda Allyn Horsemanship

08/28/2025

You might be a farm mama if you have to hose chicken & horse p**p off of rain boots before wearing them in public on a rainy day 😅

08/26/2025

Life is about balance, but it's never 50/50 as you're lead to believe on a scale.

Last week I had 4 lessons back to back, this week I had to cancel all plans due to sick kids. And that is OK.

Today I had to balance a leaking washing machine as i was walking out the door, then a sick kid sleeping on a bench in the barn while I fed horses, because chores never stop, and I've already been puked on 3x today.

It's so easy to get discourage when life happens & it derails your plans to work your horse. That's why I preach having adjustable, realistic goals, especially when it comes to your horse goals.

Family comes first, horses get hurt, trucks break down, etc. As long as you keep striving for 1% better every day & focus on what you can control, thats what will move the needle.

In the mean time you can find me doing a mountain of laundry once my husband checks out the washer 😅

08/24/2025

It's been a few years since I had one really buck on me... and I'm not going to lie by saying I didn't get a little laugh.

The other night I was exercising a c**t for someone, and when I asked him to lope, he went to bucking.

Now I'm not naive in the fact that if he really wanted me off, he probably could have made it happen with how big and athletic he was (He's a very well-bred barrel prospect), but it also was no bunny hop. 😅

I immediately got his head up and tipped to the inside and went right to disengaging his hindquarters to flip the kill switch on his engine.

Once I regained control, I made the joke that, "Well, I'm glad that I worked on disengaging his hindquarters a few minutes ago."

But in all seriousness, it wasn't a joke. I cannot stress enough how crucial it is for safety, especially on a horse that you don't know, that you emphasize a solid foundation first.

Now this c**t was being just that, a fresh c**t. Once he realized I meant business and had control of his feet, he didn't offer to buck again, but I also didn't give him the chance, keeping his head up a little more. 😉

But from it came a confidence boost too. Not in the ego sense of oh I can ride a bucker, but in the sense of the whole time I remained calm, clear-minded, and coached myself through it super efficiently. 'Inside rein... head up... disengage...'.

I would compare this to competing- the first few runs, you have no memory of what just happened, but after some reps, you start being able to think during your run and remember to make adjustments for next time. 🎥

For me, those reps to ride out the buck so clear-minded have been from studying and coaching horsemanship fundamentals over and over. Proof in the power of mental visualization! 🧘‍♀️💡

08/21/2025

I love training horses. I love watching a horse grow in confidence & performance ability as I work with them. And I love helping people learn how to train their horses to be safe & enjoyable again. 🤠

But I also LOVE to compete. I am a very competitive person when it comes to showing horses. 😎🐎🏆

I can't wait to get back in the completion arena again, hopefully on a horse I trained.

But when a client sends you a show bill and asks what classes they should enter as a step up for all the hard work they've put into their horse, that gets my blood pumping 🤩

Bring. It. On!

08/21/2025

Love this! Never forget why you got into horses for the first place and how you're living out that little girl you once were, dream.

This is soooo true. Sometimes you just need to sit back and enjoy your horse(s) ❤️🐴❤️

08/20/2025

Today my kids learned a very valuable farm lesson.

When animals get loose, because they WILL, don't panic.

I knew the second i seen my youngest running back to the house crying, something was wrong. 9 somethings were wrong 😅
🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓

9 of the chickens had gotten out.

But it was the perfect learning opportunity to
Stop & Think-

How can I stop more from getting out?

How can I entice the loose animals that whay I have in the pen/ pasture is more desirable & they will not get in trouble if they return home?

It was actually easier than I anticipated getting them back in, and we were able to quickly go about our morning as planned, thanks to no help from my heeler who just watched in disbelief.... no herding instincts in her 😅

08/20/2025

Tonight's Lesson was FUN!

It reminded me of the good old days in college where we would sporadically decide to load up and go ride somewhere else & do something fun.

Tonight we both pretty much said at the same time, do you wanna go ride at the arena down the road?! Sure!!

This was the horse that a few months ago wouldn't load in a trailer, was a fiesty brat at times riding. And now she jumped right in, had a beautiful ride making a lot of progress, and you could tell the horse was loving her job tonight.

But the key to this success is a solid foundation and putting MILES on your horse.

The way you get a horse to be that fun, super broke, all-around, trusted ride is you have to the miles in the trailer, the miles in different arenas. You have to spend more than 5 minutes trotting your horse. You have to be brave to have a plan & stick to it to actually work your horse.

That's why a well trained horse is so expensive, someone put the time into them, someone spent the fuel money, someone did the work. And I'm so proud this team for all their hard work.

08/13/2025

Horses are Herd Animals... They NEED a Leader/ Alpha/ Boss Mare - Whatever you want to call it, they need one.

Their survival depends on having a healthy hierarchy.

With that being said, You ARE a Horse Trainer aka Leader.
I don't care how much experience you have with horses, if you are in the near vicinity of a horse and grab ahold of a lead rope or swing a leg over, guess what role you just took on. (I'm not saying this is your permission to go train for the public- that's a whole other can of worms.)

If you don't step up to the plate and confidently lead your horse as their influencer, guess what- 55 million years of hard-wired DNA is going to instruct them that if there is no leader, then they need to step up to the plate and be the leader, because well, THEIR Survival DEPENDS on it! (not yours, you're still a predator😅)

Some horses are just a little quicker at stepping up to the plate than others. 😬 (we all know that one mare)

If you don't know how to do this, that's ok. That's what trainers and horsemanship coaches like me are for. What's not ok is sticking your head in the sand and pretending you don't need to work on improving your horsemanship, and you can just get by.

So if you want to learn more, send me a message and I'll be happy to discuss all things horses and life, or schedule a lesson to come out and give you a hands-on learning experience.

08/13/2025

Ope 😅

with Impact Gel

08/12/2025

If you have a dream or a goal, go for it.

Get hyper-focused on mastering yourself because when you can control your own mind, your own efforts, nothing anyone else says or does will matter.

08/11/2025

"The more times you pick yourself out of the dirt, the better your groundwork gets." -Gordon McKinlay

But it's not just taking spills, is it? It's also about frustrating rides. Rides where all the horse wants to do is fight you. Rides where your horse is constantly trying to take off or spook. Rides where he only gives it a 40% effort.

I truly believe that if you can't safely handle a horse on the ground, you definitely can't handle them on their backs.

Groundwork can be that bridge to a happier ending.

I've found it's one of two reasons why horse owners don't perform true groundwork.

1) They don't know the proper way how to, let alone why, because no one ever taught them correctly. (This was me.)

2) They are too lazy and just want to rely more on mechanical manipulation to get by, especially if they're handy enough and it's worked in the past. (This will work until you meet a true high-caliber horse.)

Let me be clear, Groundwork is NOT Lunging. Groundwork is moving the 4 feet and 5 main body parts forward, backward, left, and right.

Horsemanship is understanding how and why a horse thinks, acts, and reacts the way that they do, and understanding how to communicate in a way that is easier and natural for the horse to understand. Then, taking that understanding of how and why to utilize moving their feet via groundwork exercises to gain control of the horse's mind.

Groundwork is not something that has to be done for hours before every ride. Groundwork is you and the horse learning the ABC's. It's how you learn about your partner, their quirks, what they like, and don't like.

In the begining, yes, you need to spend a lot of time on groundwork until you're both fluent.

Then on my more broke horses, groundwork is something that is more along the lines of 5-10 minutes of me asking my horse through moving their feet:

How are you feeling today?
Any stiffness or lameness I need to know about?
Are you feeling good?
Anything I need to know about that you want to spook at?
Are you ready to turn on your thinking side of your brain today? Am I ready to turn on my thinking side of my brain?
You still trust me that I have your best interest at heart?

Ok good? Good. And then we go ride.

I can learn so much about my horse and how they're feeling that day from spending those 5-10 minutes moving their feet and reading their responses through body language. The horse also feels more respected by you, taking the time to warm them up and making sure they're good to go.

I can't tell you how many times I've caught something like a mild lameness that I would have easily overlooked and ridden through if it weren't for doing groundwork first.

Or how many times I realized that I was the one not in a good headspace, that something was bothering me more than I realized, and to be aware that I didn't take it out on my horse and cause a fight for no reason.

I think another reason why groundwork will always be so helpful is that it forces us to take a few minutes to slow down and be present. Couldn't we all use some of that?

Groundwork, you should try it.

08/08/2025

"The more times you pick yourself up out of the dirt, the better your groundwork gets" 🙌