Cantau Creek Stables

04/21/2025

A little Texas Beauty 🧡

04/14/2025

A little snacky snack post work out cause he’s CUTE and a GOOD BOY 😌

04/11/2025

Do not despise the basics. Master them.
It’s a life long journey to do so. 🤍🩶🤍

04/07/2025

Sorry, not sorry. 😂🤣

04/06/2025

Yeah!!

04/04/2025

Breathe….🌬️

I was maybe 21 or 22 when I had a lesson that’s stayed with me ever since.

It was one of those early spring days when the arena was still cold, but the sun was shinning.

My horse, a spirited youngster, was tense, and so was I. We were both fighting each other, me trying to hold everything together, him trying to escape everything I was holding.

My trainer at the time was soft-spoken, but her feel in the saddle was sharper than any words. She called me into the middle with just a glance.

She didn’t say much. Just walked up, took the reins from my hands, and held them for a moment.

Then she looked at me and said,
"You’re holding your breath. And you’re holding the reins the same way."

I laughed awkwardly, because she wasn’t wrong.

“Okay,” I said. “Soften my hands. Try not to die. Breathe. Got it.”

But she shook her head.

“No, it’s more than that,” she said. “The reins are the breath of the ride. They should move like breath. Expand. Release. Flow.”

I don’t remember the rest of the ride. But I remember sitting in silence at the end of the day, thinking about what she said.

Back then, I didn’t fully get it. I was too focused on outline, on contact, on “getting it right.” But over time, the lesson kept echoing back to me. Especially in the harder rides, the ones where nothing seemed to click.

And I started to notice:

When I held my breath, I held the reins.
When I was soft and present, so were they.
And when the reins breathed, so did my horse.

The reins aren't tools of control.
They’re a shared inhale, a shared exhale.
A rhythm not made of sound, but of feel.

Now, years later, it’s one of the first things I feel for in every ride:

Are we breathing?
Are we listening?

Because that space, the space between pressure and release, between ask and allow,
that’s where the magic lives.

That’s the breath of dressage.

03/25/2025

🤣🤣🤣🫠🫠 funny

03/23/2025

03/09/2025

Silence.

03/08/2025

Horton Holistic Veterinary Services works their magic again. Happy horses all around.

03/04/2025

“Being impatient is being unsatisfied with reality.” — Warwick Schiller

What does “being patient” with your horse REALLY mean?

I saw a Warwick Schiller video earlier today where he talked about something that’s been on my mind recently. He spoke on how so many people tell him over and over, how incredibly patient he is.

This is a comment I get too.

When sitting in the sand, analyzing my horses change in breathing patterns at the other end of the rope, clients tell me “I’m not as patient as you.” But like Warwick, I don’t feel all that good patient.

Because it’s not just waiting that I do… it’s watching.

I may not be the most patient person, but I’m sure as hell observant. My mom used to joke that I could read the McDonald’s specials and prices while driving past on the highway at speed. Before I even learned to drive, I’d notice if my dad took a wrong turn or a different route.

I’m always watching and observing and learning. Which I think is why I’ve been so drawn to the quieter side of horsemanship.

And also why I’m so patient about teaching others to be observant. Because it doesn’t feel like patient and it doesn’t feel like waiting, when you know what to look for. When you begin to notice the ear twitches, lip quivers and blinks that come before relaxation, everything is active.

Warwick mentions that being impatient is being unsatisfied with reality. We move too fast when we think things are moving too slow, and then we make mistakes.

So train your eye, quiet your mind and learn to be present. Honestly, if I were to say what the biggest pitfall in modern horsemanship, it’s this.

We think too slow and move too fast… and our horses are suffering as a result.

02/28/2025

🩶🩶🩶

“Horses regularly trained with ground work are more relaxed when ridden”

A recent study of dressage horses in Germany that looked at rein length and tension revealed a surprising finding: horses who were regularly trained in ground work/in-hand work had lower heart rates during ridden work than all of the other participating horses. This wasn’t what the researchers were investigating, but it was clear in the results. From this, the researchers concluded that, “Perhaps horses trained in ground work had more trust in their rider.”

So why would it be true that horses who regularly learn via ground work/in-hand work are more relaxed? There are a few possibilities.

1) Horses trained regularly with ground work are more relaxed because their trainers are more relaxed. It’s possible that humans who take the time to teach their horses from the ground are less goal oriented and more concerned with the process. They may be more relaxed in general and foster this same relaxation in their horses. As you are, so is your horse.

2) Horses trained regularly with ground work have trainers who are more educated about a horse’s balance.

Their horses learn to move in correct balance which allows them to be healthy and sound in their bodies and, therefore, more relaxed. Physical balance is emotional balance.

3) Horses trained regularly with ground work understand the trainer’s criteria better. They have mastered the response to an aid before the rider mounts and know the “right answer” already once under saddle. They don’t experience any conflict when the rider asks for a behavior because the neural pathway has already been installed. They are more relaxed about being ridden because it rarely has caused confusion for them.

For us highly visual humans I think that ground work is often a better way to begin exercises because we are much better at seeing our horse doing the right thing than feeling it from the saddle. Often, my feel in the saddle is enhanced by the fact that I have watched my horse perform an exercise over and over in our in-hand work. It feels how it looks. In-hand work is also a good way to teach our horses because our own bodies are often more in balance when we are walking beside our horses. With the ground under our feet we are able to be more relaxed if something goes wrong and less likely to be so busy wrapped up in our own balance that we give our horses conflicting or confusing aids. It’s a good place to figure things out. I am a huge fan of in-hand work.

I’m glad to learn research revealed ground work is good for horses. Horses with a low heart rate are relaxed and relaxed horses perform better and live longer. In this day and age of people starting horses under saddle in under an hour and increasing monetary rewards for the “young horse dressage program“, everything seems to be done in a hurry. The entire horse culture seems to privilege “getting up there and riding your horse”. But as one of my favorite writers and accomplished horsewoman, Teresa Tsimmu Martino writes, “In today’s horse culture there are clinics that brag about starting a c**t in a day, as if the quickness of it was the miracle. But old horse people know it takes years to create art. Horses as great masterpieces are not created in a day. An artist does not need to rush.” We need more scientific studies like this one to encourage us to slow down and take our time with our horses.

So why were the horses in the study more relaxed? Likely it was a combination of all three factors – a relaxed trainer, better overall balance and clear understanding of criteria.

These are things that matter to your horse, and yes, will allow him to trust you when you ride. Take some time to slow down and work from the ground, learn a bit more about equine balance and teach new things in-hand before asking for them under saddle. You can take your riding to a whole new level and help your horse become more healthy and relaxed in the process.” - from the article by Jen of Spellbound Horses https://spellboundhorses.com/2013/03/07/horses-regularly-trained-with-ground-work-are-more-relaxed-when-ridden/

02/28/2025

🤣🤣🤣

02/25/2025

Warm enough for a bath and a clip today.
Don’t look too closely but at least she feels better. 🩷

Now, who will be my next victim?! 😈

02/21/2025

All tucked in.
Stay warm Texas.

02/12/2025

Inspiration 🙌🏼🫶🏻

This is truly inspiring: a 70-year-old woman riding dressage on her 30-year-old horse, together they represent a remarkable 100 years! It is simply beautiful.

A friend of mine mentioned an event called the Century Club Ride, which could be participated in at the Michigan State University Dressage Club Fall Schooling Show. Given that Jack is now 30 and I am 70, we qualified for this unique opportunity. I took the time to braid, clip, and prepare Jack for the competition. It was a great joy for me to once again enter at A, halt at X, and share this final dressage test with him. We achieved victory in Training Level Test 1 with an impressive score of 70%. Our show careers concluded with the judge's gracious remarks: "A pleasure to watch. Thank you." I view our Century Club ride as a precious gift from Jack. Over the years, he has provided me with so much. He has taken me to places I never imagined I would visit, both literally and metaphorically. Together, we have created countless wonderful memories and friendships throughout our 24 years together.

02/12/2025

Tis the season….. smh 😑😑

02/07/2025

THIS!! 1000% babes!