Tudo Abrangente Horsemanship

08/22/2025

Linda Riley 2nd ride on her Azteca Gelding she is just getting under saddle at a recent clinic clinic in Klamath Falls

08/22/2025

Linda Riley putting what I believe is the 2nd ride on her Azteca gelding at a recent clinic in Klamath Falls.

08/21/2025

07/16/2025

When it comes to horses, you work for balance and to capture their minds using various movements, paces, and gaits until it no longer matters what you ask, where you are, or what you are doing. The horse can mentally and physically stay engaged with you and do it with you. This is what it's all about. This creates safe horses and handy horses. Beware of those who tell you the horse doesn't have to be mentally with you. That advice will lead to serious trouble and likely get you hurt.

06/09/2025

I see many trainers advertising things like, Lessons designed to fit your individual needs. I don’t do this. I will direct the rider/student to what the horse needs in order for the horse to be able to give the rider what they need.

05/04/2025

The Subtle Art of Shutting a Horse Down 😎
(Because looking calm and being okay are not the same thing)

There’s an idea floating around the horse world that needs a little caution tape. 🚧
It’s the belief that when a horse lies down during a clinic—snoring gently into the sand—it’s a sure sign of success. That they’re relaxed, trusting, and deeply at peace.

But here’s the thing: not all stillness is created equal.

It’s easy to spot an anxious horse. They’re reactive, unsettled, practically bouncing off the environment. But what about the ones that go very still? The ones who seem calm—too calm—and begin to check out completely… even to the point of lying down?

I’m not talking about a horse standing quietly. I mean that eerie kind of stillness that makes you wonder if anyone’s home. The lights are on, but the horse is mentally halfway to Narnia. 🦌

Because overwhelm doesn’t always look like movement. Sometimes, it looks like sleep. When a horse can’t run or fight, the brain takes the third option: freeze. Nervous system in low-power mode.

And yet, people often celebrate it.
“Look!” they say. “He’s lying down—he must feel safe!”
Which is a little like saying, “My child just fell asleep under the table during a shouting match. She must feel really loved and secure.”

Let’s flip it.
Imagine your child is anxious about school. She walks in, curls up on the floor, and nods off.
Do you think:
A) Wow, what a chilled-out kid.
B) That’s… not quite right. 😬

Because when horses—or humans—get overwhelmed, they sometimes switch off. Not because they’re calm, but because they resign into helplessness. It’s not healing. It’s coping.

So before you frame your horse’s nap or stillness as a breakthrough, there is a test:
👉 What happens when you ask them to do something?

Do they respond with interest and softness?
Or do they blink, brace, or go right back into tension?
Does movement bring willingness—or resistance?

Because if your horse is still struggling to engage, they might not be letting go of stress… they might just be disconnected from it.

Shutdown looks peaceful from the outside—but it isn’t the same as peace on the inside.

Let’s not confuse dissociation with progress.
Let’s not reward collapse just because it’s quieter than conflict.
Let’s aim for a horse that’s present, curious, and confident—not one that’s curled up in the sand because that’s the only option left. 🐴

We owe it to them to know the difference.

🌟 Enjoyed this post? Feel free to hit the share button—it’s free, legal, and won’t trigger any awkward conversations about intellectual kleptomania. Please don’t copy and paste the whole thing—respect the work, respect the words. ✍🏼🐴

04/01/2025

Why learning is so difficult.

Learning—true, transformational learning—is hard because it requires us to let go of core beliefs and identities we may not even realize we’re holding onto.

If you want to do something you’ve never done, you have to become someone you’ve never been.

In a growth-oriented environment, you’ll be met with opportunities to gaze into a metaphorical mirror, one that reflects back those unconscious parts of yourself. And while that reflection can be deeply uncomfortable, your job is not to look away, not to fight it, but to stay. To see.

Because as long as you hold onto the beliefs that are keeping you where you are, you’ll keep crashing into that same mirror—again and again—until you’re ready to let them go.

Signs your environment is not conducive to growth:
• Things always go your way
• You never feel challenged or uncomfortable
• You’re not confronted with difficult lessons that force you to question your assumptions
• Feedback is rare—or only affirming
• You’re surrounded by people who agree with you, not challenge you

This is why the horse is such a powerful catalyst.
The horse doesn’t lie, doesn’t flatter, and doesn’t play social games.
They meet you in the moment, unfiltered—
And in doing so, they show you who you really are. But it is your responsibility to acknowledge and change the parts of yourself which don’t serve the horse in return.

03/10/2025

Something remarkable happens when you can see a horse for who they truly are—not through the lens of your own expectations, needs, insecurities, or fears, but as they exist in their own right. You honor their right to exist as they are.

This is so foreign for many horses—and many people—so unfamiliar that they don’t even know how to step into it. They’ve spent a lifetime being defined by the selfish perspective of others, leaving them without the opportunity to explore who they truly are. So when you start to scratch the surface and invite them to come alive, it can feel unsettling. Unfamiliar. Even terrifying.

How we raise and relate to our horses shapes this development profoundly. Just as with children, we either impose an identity upon them—one that meets our own needs and desires—or we nurture their self-discovery, giving them a safe space within respectful boundaries and the confidence to become their true selves.

But if we do the former, we are robbing that being—horse, human, or other—not just of their individuality, but of the chance to come alive and thrive. We rob them of their essence.