StableManners, LLC

09/02/2026

Discipline is the best way to do self-care. Take care of yourself, build yourself, trust yourself, FOR YOURSELF!

09/01/2026

She’s holding us All accountable!!!!!

08/31/2026

Set boundaries for yourself with your horse and then MAINTAIN them.

Some of the most dangerous horses I’ve worked on have been spoiled.

When people see a horse attack, they automatically assume the horse was abused, that the handler/trainer did something that caused the horse to feel “threatened.” They aren’t dogs or cats and shouldn’t be treated as such. They are PREY animals. They don’t behave as predators do, nor does humanizing them help in the slightest.

As a hoof care provider and horse trainer, I’m here to tell you that the most dangerous horses who have “come at me” have all been spoiled. The horses that are given treats and kisses when the owner thinks they’re scared, when in reality they’re exhibiting dominance. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been under a horse trimming when the horse randomly kicks, licks his lips and waits for the treat. The horse wasn’t scared. He was bored and didn’t want to stand anymore. The owner gives him his shushes, pets him and gives him the treat.

This is TEACHING aggressive behavior that will escalate into something much worse, and unfortunately that’s what horse “enthusiasts” on social media unknowingly push for, who then push for policies that will further get the horse hurt, let alone other people. It creates instances where the horse becomes unpredictable. They can go from perfectly normal to attacking without reason. They can just decide they don’t want you there, and their response is to attack because that’s what they’ve been taught through lack of training and setting appropriate boundaries.

When it comes to horses, ignorance IS NOT bliss.

I would honestly rather work with a horse that’s been abused than spoiled. The abused horse may kick out of fear, but rarely are they aggressive, whereas the spoiled horse is almost ALWAYS aggressive in some form or another.

Horses are LIVESTOCK. They can be your pet, but at the end of the day they’re 1,200lbs of unpredictable muscle that should be respected as livestock. They can go from sweet to breaking your arm (or worse) in the blink of an eye with zero effort. They can go from calm to throwing you like a ragdoll without a single warning.

And yes, horses are more than capable of being born with screws loose, just like any other living thing, and it’s these horses who unfortunately end up in the hands of people who have no business owning horses, who pass them along to others who also have no business around horses until someone gets hurt.

Whether a dangerous horse was created by people or not, the appropriate response is humane euthanasia. That’s the harsh reality of being proper stewards over the animals we chose to care for. It costs the same to feed a bad horse as it does a good one, so make sure you’re finding the right horse for your level, not your su!cidal empathy.

We can all agree that horses are majestic and have captured the hearts and minds of people for hundreds of years, but that doesn’t mean we can give bad behavior a pass, let alone the dangerous ones.

What has hurt the horse more, especially in recent years, is the enthusiast, the people who know very little or nothing at all who have taken control of the conversation. Until the HORSEMEN step up and put their foot down, horses will continue to suffer under the controlling thumb of the uneducated.

08/27/2026

I think the horse world could stand to take a few lessons from Dolly Parton.

“Find out who you are and do it on purpose.”

There are a thousand different ways to be a good horseman, and I think sometimes we spend too much time trying to determine which one is the right way. You don’t have to ride like everyone else, build the same kind of program, buy the same kind of horses, chase the same goals, or measure success by the same things.

Learn as much as you possibly can, stay curious, spend time around people who do things differently than you do, be willing to change your mind when you learn something better.

Somewhere along the way, figure out what you actually believe in and let those principles guide the way you train and care for your horses.

Dolly also spoke about the decidedly less glamorous side of pursuing something you care about. Success takes sacrifice, hard work, and paying your dues, and I’m not sure there are many pursuits that reinforce that lesson quite as effectively as horses.

There aren’t shortcuts to becoming a good trainer or developing a great horse. Instead, there are a lot of ordinary mornings, unremarkable rides, dirty stalls to clean, mistakes to make, horses to learn from, and years spent getting a little bit better at something that none of us will ever completely master.

I think that is part of what made Dolly Parton so compelling. For all the rhinestones, big hair, enormous success, and very intentional sparkle, there was always an extraordinary amount of substance behind it.

Know who you are, do the work, and never be afraid of a little sparkle. ✨

08/24/2026

Teaching a “quick fix” to a rider {rather than spending the time it takes repetitively teaching the correct and likely seemingly more difficult aiding} is going to hamstring the rider.

A “quick fix” becomes a habit and that habit must be rewired to create a new and correct one.

It is so much more beneficial to keep layering on the repetition of the correct aiding/riding, rather than have to undo the incorrect ones.

08/24/2026

When a Dressage Horse Is Behind the Leg — Especially With an Adult Amateur (AA) Rider

One of the most frustrating situations in dressage is a horse who is wonderfully forward and willing for the professional, but becomes behind the leg, pins his ears, bucks, or doesn't want to move forward for his AA rider.

The important thing to understand is that this isn't necessarily a “lazy horse.”

Often, the horse has learned that there are two different systems:

**Trainer:**
Leg → immediate response → release.

**AA:**
Leg → no response → stronger leg → more pressure → horse braces → resistance.

The horse learns that the AA's leg is negotiable.
But what is actually happening in the horse's body?

When the rider is asking the horse to go forward while simultaneously restricting him through the hand, seat, or body, the horse can develop an energy conflict.

The rider says:

“Go forward.”

But the horse simultaneously feels:

“Don't actually go anywhere.”

Instead of energy traveling:

**Hindquarters → back → neck → contact**

the horse can become:

**Restricted → braced → shortened stride → more leg → more resistance.**

The hind legs become less effective at stepping underneath the body and contributing to propulsion. The back can become tense rather than swinging. More weight stays on the forehand, and the horse can become heavy in the rider's hand.

This is why a horse can look “round” while still being completely behind the leg.

Round is not necessarily connected.
A short neck is not necessarily collection.
More leg is not necessarily more impulsion.

If the horse is constantly being squeezed, he can also become desensitized to the leg.

Instead of:

leg → response

the horse learns:

leg → background noise.

The rider then uses more leg, which can create even more tension.

Eventually the horse may anticipate the interaction. Ear pinning, tail swishing, bracing, rushing, kicking, or bucking can become part of the cycle.

That doesn't mean every buck is training-related—pain and discomfort should always be ruled out—but the physical and mental pattern is important to recognize.

So what's the answer?

It isn't to kick harder.

The goal is to make the aid clearer and more meaningful.

The rider should be able to say:

Light leg = GO.

If there is no response, reinforce promptly.

The instant the horse goes forward:

RELEASE.

The horse learns that responding to the first aid is the easiest option.

For these horses, I often like to temporarily take the emphasis away from the perfect dressage picture and go back to:

Forward → Straight → Rhythm → Connection → Engagement → Collection

A horse cannot truly be collected if he isn't genuinely forward.

Let the AA ride the horse in a more open, forward frame. Work on transitions, changes of direction, bigger and smaller steps, and simple forward exercises without constantly worrying about where the horse's head is.

One of my favorite exercises:

GO → COME BACK → GO

At the trot, ask for a few strides of a bigger, more powerful trot. Return to working trot. Then ask again.

The goal isn't to make the horse run.

QUICK TRANSITIONS

TROT → 4 STEPS WALK → TROT
TROT → CANTER → TROT

The goal is to teach:

My rider's leg means bigger steps.

And equally important:

When my rider stops asking, I maintain the gait.

The rider's position matters, too.

When the AA asks the horse to go, are they accidentally:

• Leaning backward?
• Gripping with the knee?
• Bracing through the stirrups?
• Tightening the reins?
• Locking the hip?
• Driving continuously?
• Holding the horse in the front while asking him to move forward?

That creates the classic:

“Go, but don't actually go” feeling.

The horse needs to feel that the rider's leg opens the door rather than pushes him into a closed front end.

The ultimate goal isn't to make the horse “behave” for the amateur.

It's to teach the horse that the AA's aids mean exactly the same thing as the trainer's aids.

When that communication becomes clear, consistent, and predictable, the horse no longer has to spend his energy figuring out how to respond to conflicting signals.

Instead, the energy can go where we actually want it:

Hind legs → swinging back → forward movement → elastic contact → connection.

That's when First Level starts to feel completely different.

Forward isn't created by more leg.
Forward is created by a leg that actually means something.