Cavallis

11/10/2026

We learned so much from the incredible horse and rider combinations and skill of Isabell Werth at the Masterclass at Galway Downs Presented by Entrigue Consulting. We experienced sunshine, hospitality, attention to detail, great food, interesting vendors, fun and met up with old and new friends.

11/07/2026

Arrival day for Isabell Werth Masterclass in Temecula, CA. We spend the day at the Del Mar beach and Jake’s for lunch, shopping at Mary’s Tack Shop, visiting Ashley & Evan Donadt at Arroyo Del Mar, seeing many fancy horses including Piper the famous pony, a drop dead gorgeous Belantis mare and Steffen Peters’ Blue Hors Zirrus. After that we headed towards our Temecula hotel, had dinner and are ready to learn from one of the most successful Dressage trainers and Olympians starting early tomorrow morning ❤️🤓

10/21/2026

Amen 👏👏

I have been riding long enough now to be embarrassed by something I once believed, which is that there is a place beyond the basics, a country one enters after years of faithful work, where the rules are different and my horse has become something other than what he was in the first month. I thought this because I was told it, and because the movements at the top of the sport do look like a different language, the piaffe, passage and the pirouettes and the long, floating half passes, all of it seemingly far from the plain business of walking a young horse around an arena and asking him to go forward.

But I've watched incredible riders for a very long time, and I have come to think that what they are doing is not something new. It's the first thing, done with such attention that it has become nearly invisible. The horse goes forward because he was asked, once, long ago, to go forward, and the asking has been refined over thousands of repetitions until it has no more weight than a thought. The straightness that makes the changes possible is the same straightness a green horse was first taught to find against the wall. Nothing has been left behind. It's only been deepened.

I find this a consoling idea, though it took me some time to see why. If advanced work were truly a departure, then every year spent on the fundamentals would be a kind of waiting, a long vestibule before the real thing began. But if the basics are the real thing, then there was never any vestibule. Every ride was already inside the house. The first honest halt and the last were made of the same material, and the difference between them is only how much of the rider’s own interuptions have been taken out.

That is what the years actually accomplish, I think. They do not add so much as they subtract. The hands grow quieter. The seat becomes stiller. The aid that once took a whole leg becomes a breath or a thought. I have come to think a very advanced rider is simply someone who has learned to be honest about the basics at a depth most of us never trouble to reach, because the work is unglamorous and no one applauds a good transition from walk to halt.

And yet our horses know. They know the difference between a halt that was merely arrived at and a halt that was prepared, though no spectator could tell them apart. This is one of the quiet mercies of the sport, that the standard is held by someone who cannot be flattered or tricked.

So I no longer think of the upper levels as a summit to be reached. I think of them as the same ground, walked more carefully, by someone who has finally understood that there was never anywhere else to go.

We do not outgrow the first lesson. We are, if we are fortunate, eventually worthy of it.

10/16/2026

Professional shots of Siggi & Suzanne's Mara from champs by Ella Chedester. Such a cool mare and thank you for the awesome pics and memories.

10/05/2026

Region 6 championship report. The event was hosted at the beautiful Devonwood Equestrian Center in Sherwood Oregon. Team Cavallis arrived on Wednesday and represented with a small but mighty group of 3 horses covering Training level, 3rd level and FEI PSG.

First off, Vanessa & Wes made the jump to FEI PSG in the open show and they did so well for their first time out placing 2nd and 1st in the AA division!!! The trot tour had them at 70% both days. His walk has been tricky to relax in a show environment, but we are improving it gradually with hill work, lateral work and cavaletti sequences. Vanessa will focus to on rideability and adjustability for the much quicker and more challenging canter tour. I can't wait for winter training with the valuable feedback from the judges because when it comes all comes together, it will be magic for this pair.

Siggi and Suzanne Hudson's Mara qualified for 1st, 2nd and 3rd level in one season, which is absolutely mind blowing for a horse with zero previous show experience. We decided to only show at 3rd at championships to not mix up the counter canter and changes. She really likes the counter canter now 🥰 and has gotten so much stronger and confident overall. They placed 5th both days in a competitive class with scores in the mid 60s. We can't wait for winter to focus on clinics, playing around with different equipment and some cross training with cavaletti and hills.

Danika and Lisa Holland's Fleur were unbeatable all weekend. They had a T-3 warmup class, which they won plus JR/YR high point of Fridays show with 73.6%. On Saturday, they improved their score to 74.3% during their championship class and also won the JR/YR high point for that day. They have plans to participate in clinics over the fall & winter and to make their 1st level debut next season.

Thank you to our horses owners, friends, families and colleagues, who made it possible for us to go off and compete and learn for almost an entire week. Your support and generosity means the world to us.

Also, a big Thank You to the amazing Devonwood Equestrian Team led by Noah Rattner. It's always a privilege to be at such an incredible and welcoming venue. The regional USDF meeting was also a success, and we were able to do much watching, learning, networking, getting inspired and pumped for what's next.

10/05/2026

We loved the entire educational series on Horse-Human Emotional Entanglement. Such good information and connecting the dots. Thank you for sharing.

Care Deeply, Think Clearly♥
Becoming the Human Your Horse Needs

This is the final part of my Horse-Human Emotional Entanglement (HHEE) series, where I have been exploring what happens when caring deeply about how our horse feels begins interfering with our ability to interpret, communicate and make good decisions.🫠

After five days of explaining how perfectly nice people can become emotionally tangled with their horses, I feel I owe everyone some good news. You bought the horse because you love horses. You worried about the saddle, investigated gut health, bought supplements with ingredients you cannot pronounce and learned seventeen possible interpretations of a tail swish. Now apparently I have arrived to inform you that caring about your horse is another potential problem.

Excellent.🥺

Fortunately, the solution to HHEE isn't caring less. It isn't becoming tougher, suppressing empathy or marching into the paddock tomorrow morning announcing that you have established boundaries and everyone should prepare themselves accordingly.

The solution is learning to care deeply while remaining capable of thinking clearly.

Imagine your horse becomes frightened. A detached person might dismiss it. An emotionally entangled person may immediately think, "He's frightened, I need to make this stop". A more emotionally differentiated person can think, "He's frightened. I need to understand why and decide what will help."

The horse's feelings haven't become less important. The difference is that they haven't automatically taken control of the human.🔥

That distinction matters because some horsemanship ideologies out there talk enormously about feeling and emotions. Feel the horse. Listen to the horse. Connect with the horse. Be present with the horse. All useful, but at some point somebody still has to decide what to do.🤓

Your horse doesn't want to move forward. Now what? Pain? Fear? Confusion? Fatigue? Poor balance? Environmental distraction? Learned behaviour? Does he understand the cue? Is your riding interfering with him? Is he simply more interested in Gerald the mini pony?😕

Feeling alone cannot answer those questions. Neither can intuition. Attunement gives us information. Expertise helps us decide what that information means.

The first practical step out of HHEE is therefore noticing when your horse has changed YOU. Perhaps his head comes up and your stomach tightens. He pins his ears and you feel guilty. He becomes resistant and suddenly you are wondering whether he is trying to tell you he no longer wants this life and would prefer to pursue a career in liberty work.😕

Before doing anything, notice that something has happened in YOU.

Then separate what you observed from what you interpreted. He pinned his ears when I applied my leg = an observation. He hates being ridden = an interpretation. He moved away when I approached with the saddle = an observation. He's traumatised = an interpretation.

Humans are spectacularly talented at constructing explanations that suit whatever we are currently feeling. Your anxious brain says, "He hates this". Your frustrated brain says, "He's being difficult". Your guilty brain says, "I'm hurting him". 😫

Meanwhile, the horse has a fly.🪰

Observation first. Interpretation second.

Then ask a better welfare question. Rather than simply asking, "Is my horse uncomfortable?", ask "why might my horse be uncomfortable?" Pain matters. Fear matters. Physical capacity, equipment, environment, confusion, frustration, fatigue, training history and our own technique all matter. Different causes require different decisions.

Sometimes the answer is stop. Sometimes investigate. Sometimes make the task easier, change the environment, improve your timing or get professional help. Sometimes the answer is remain calm, become clearer and follow through. Good horsemanship isn't having one philosophy that answers every question. It is developing enough knowledge and practical know-how to choose appropriately between possible responses. 🤓

Perhaps the hardest part for caretakers is tolerating the few moments required to work that out. Your horse becomes uncomfortable and your entire system screams, MAKE IT BETTER😭. But emotional urgency and an actual emergency are not the same thing. A horse in escalating panic may need immediate action. A horse showing possible pain may need you to stop. A horse experiencing mild frustration because he hasn't yet understood something may need several more seconds of clear information.

This is what I mean by "differentiated caregiving". I care about you. I notice you. Your feelings matter enormously to me, but your feelings do not have to become mine before I can respond to them.

That isn't detachment. It may be one of the deepest responsibilities we can offer another living being.

So my final HHEE question is: "What does this horse need from me right now, and can I separate that from what I need him to feel so that I can feel okay?"

Because perhaps the goal isn't to become less sensitive to our horses. Perhaps it is to become more useful with what we notice❗️

See fear and investigate it. See pain and respond to it. See confusion and clarify it. See frustration and understand it. See resistance and become curious about it.💪

Your horse's emotions matter. Your emotions matter. Neither should automatically make the decision.

Care deeply. Think clearly. Then become skilled enough to help. And it is people like me that help you develop that ability and know-how.❤

Collectable Advice 307/365

If this series has made you recognise yourself or people you know well, please SHARE it. ❤🙏