Miranda Allyn Horsemanship

10/28/2025

"You have to prioritize your preparation or be ok with a subpar performance." Phil Haugen

I heard this quote today on Phil's latest podcast and if I'm honest, it stung, but in a good way.

Lately, I've been struggling to spend any time on wrapping up my online course because fear is using a busy life as an excuse.

Yes, dramatic toddlers on top never ending laundry and dishes is mentally exhausting. It's so easy to let the day to day busy take over priorities and be an excuse that feels 'legit'.

But the truth is if you want to ever get out of a subpar life or performance, wanting/dreaming to take a different approach is not enough, you HAVE to prioritize it.

And If I'm being honest with myself, I can see holes of small time windows that I'm wasting, and therefore I cannot be surprised with my current stagnet feeling business dreams.

Stop with the excuses for you and your horse(s).

Ask yourself, what do I need to do to make this a productive practice?

What do i need to do to commit and actually make progress?

What things do I need to say yes to? And what do I need to say no to?

For me, I'm going to start holding myself accountable for taking a little more advantage of those small windows. I'm ok with slow progress, but not stagnation.

How do you feel about you preparation towards your goals?

10/27/2025

I'm often asked how do you keep a horse advancing? From blowing up? From cheating you? And my answer is the same for all of them...

Solid Foundations.

A majority of people believe that once you teach a horse solid foundations, you can move forward to work on more 'advanced' things, not really needing to revist the foundations.

Here's the truth. Horses are simple creatures with 5 main body parts. We control those body parts through influencing the mind.

Horses have survived for more than 55 million years for a reason. There are no quick fixes or complicated formulas that will substitute for how God created them. They need simple and reliable repetition.

Solid horsemanship foundations, both on the ground & under saddles, such as moving each body part both individually and together, forward, backward, left, & right can never be underestimated.

If you always start with and end a ride with working on getting the body soft and supple, the mind flips to the thinking side, allowing your horse to be in a more responsive flow state and easier to become regrounded when pushed too far in training.

It connects to the saying that beginner riders want to work on intermediate skills, intermediate riders want to advanced skills, and advanced riders want to work on the foundations.

So when in doubt, work on your foundations.

What are some of your favorite foundation exercises?

Mine is softening the ribcage!

10/25/2025

Every rider, just like every horse 🐎, has their own unique personality. That means the way we process and respond to information will always look a little different. 💡

This is why it’s so important to do the work yourself and not rely entirely on a trainer. You can’t expect someone else to do all the programming on your horse, then you take one or two lessons, go home, and expect to have the same results to continue.

Growth doesn’t work that way; it takes consistent effort and understanding. 🎯

It’s also why trying to copy and paste what someone else does rarely works. What feels natural to them might not feel right to you, no matter how much you want it to.

You’re unique from the length of your legs, the strength of your shoulders, the sound of your voice, the energy you carry, to the angle of your pelvis, and so on. 💪👄🗣

Your cues WILL always come across differently to your horse than they would from someone else.

As horsemen, we have to take the time to discover what feels right and makes sense for us, then adjust it to each horse's unique personality. And that takes time and patience. ⏳❤️

10/22/2025

It makes so much more sense! 🤣

10/19/2025

A fun throw back ❤️

Letting Queenie tear up the hay field in her prime 👑

I just saw that this was 14 years ago 😭 seriously where does time go.

Letting Queenie run her heart out. This girl can Fly!

10/17/2025

I finally had a chance to put to use something I learned at Phil's clinic during a lesson!

It was so rewarding to me to be able to use the lessons I recently learned to better articulate and add to the content that I've been teaching. It was the perfect up level stepping stone for this horse.

Not only did it make sense to both horse and rider, but it worked very well for them too!

The really cool part was she's an English rider with lot of experience in dressage and jumping, where I'm western performance based. What we were expanding on last night she said made compete sense to what the jumping trainer in her past had said, and now she was able to understand it in a deeper level.

I love this because its proof that quality horsemanship is not discipline specific!

Getting control of and being able to move the 5 main body parts forward, backward, left, & right is needed anywhere and everywhere!

(Here we're working on lifting the shoulders up and arcing out and away. This is great for warming up the ribcage & shoulders.)

10/17/2025

What does horses and 'Happy Donald's' have in common? The best night full of fun adventures spent with my kids 🥰

I had a lesson tonight and with hubby at work, I knew it would be the perfect environment where they could come but still be out of the way, so I packed them up and took them with me!

They got to watch mom do what she loves and they got to have a fun dinner and play in a giant sand box. What's not to love about that?!

Lacey said she wants to start coming with me more so she can learn and give mini lessons one day 🥰 They sure do know how to melt my heart.

10/15/2025

If you're in the horse world long enough, you will see plenty of people who are in it for a quick fix or who are looking for an easy meal. Then you will see people who are truly hungry for long-term success and building the right foundation, both in their horses and their horsemanship.

Trust me, as someone who has tried so hard to do things what feels the 'right way' to me becuase they are aligned with my values, and it feels like I'm moving at a snail's pace. It is frustrating as ever to see others who take shortcuts and get a little quick success.

But I have to step back and remind myself that often their foundations are hollow, they'll likely end up with a blown horse, maybe even a tarnished reputation, and often when you climb fast, you crash hard. I've seen it over and over, and heard it too from many professionals as well.

I, on the other hand, know that I am trying to build something real. I'm putting in the unseen work — the mindset, the skill, the ethics, the heart — and that takes longer, but it lasts. It’s sustainable, fulfilling, and actually impacts people. And I hope you are too.

So the next time that you find yourself getting discouraged by someone getting a quick win in life, keep showing up with heart. The right way may take longer, but it always pays off.

What are you focused on building right now that's real, even when it feels slow? I’d love to hear what “doing it right” means to you.

10/11/2025

Horses are just a mirror. I believe this is why some people find peace and joy while others find fear and frustration when around horses.

Anytime you're having issues working with your horse, remember to take a step back and "look into the mirror".

This is why you will hear the top trainers and competitors in the world saying everything you're stuck, level up on your personal development and your horsemanship will naturally follow. ❤️

10/11/2025

🤣 THIS AND trying to get a chicken in the coop who doesn't want to go back in. The struggles are real 😅

For reals tho. 😮‍💨 🙏🏼

10/10/2025

Here is Phil's most recent episode of the Be Your Best Podcast discussing our Michigan clinic.

There is a short clip where he talks about me, yes ME! 🤯 🫠, and our conversation about what it took for me to attend.

I am so honored that he felt my story had enough value to share it in hopes to encourage others that they can also do big things too when you truly commit to a decision.

This will definitely be one i have on repeat 🥰

https://open.spotify.com/episode/3FiFUDlqV7clLILwNja6nH?si=9CImVcKhS2q4ZqwcfRDuwA

Be Your Best Horsemanship · Episode