Where The Heart Is Ranch

06/17/2025

I love this! What a fun game to have for a camp!

06/16/2025

Being a truly good rider is a definite commitment!

You don’t HAVE it, you LEARN it.

So many riders, so many horses, if something isn’t there sort of soon, right away, it is assumed that it never will be all that much more than what they see in front of them right now.

People, mainly, don’t think anywhere close to long term enough, either about rider progression or horse development. Think, maybe, 5 years at least for a horse and at the very least a full ten years for a rider, and that’s just to BEGIN to reach full competence.

Daryl Kinney here with Beaulieu’s Simply Cool are good examples of that time line. Too many try, and actually try quite hard, but give up too soon. If they’d stuck with it another few years, which might seem like a long time AT the time, they might well have found those skills they’d been seeking.

It is HARD to get good. And especially so for those who won’t or can’t think in terms of decades of practice. Decades, not years.

06/09/2025

Author is believed to be a William Steinkraus
Read , let it sink in, then read again :

“No. 1. Get your tack and equipment just right, and then forget about it and concentrate on the horse.

No. 2. The horse is bigger than you are, and it should carry you. The quieter you sit, the easier this will be for the horse.

No. 3. The horse's engine is in the rear. Thus, you must ride your horse from behind, and not focus on the forehand simply because you can see it.

No. 4. It takes two to pull. Don't pull. Push.

No. 5. For your horse to be keen but submissive, it must be calm, straight and forward.

No. 6. When the horse isn`t straight, the hollow side is the difficult side.

No. 7. The inside rein controls the bending, the outside rein controls the speed.

No. 8. Never rest your hands on the horse's mouth. You make a contract with it: "You carry your head and I'll carry my hands."

No. 10. Once you've used an aid, put it back.

No. 11. You can exaggerate every virtue into a defect.

No. 12. Always carry a stick, then you will seldom need it.

No. 13. If you`ve given something a fair trial, and it still doesn't work, try something else—even the opposite.

No. 14. Know when to start and when to stop. Know when to resist and when to reward.

No. 15. If you're going to have a fight, you pick the time and place.

No. 16. What you can't accomplish in an hour should usually be put off until tomorrow.

No. 17. You can think your way out of many problems faster than you can ride your way out of them.

No. 18. When the horse jumps, you go with it, not the other way around.

No. 19. Don`t let over-jumping or dull routine erode the horse's desire to jump cleanly. It's hard to jump clear rounds if the horse isn't trying.

No. 20. Never give up until the rail hits the ground.

No. 21. Young horses are like children—give them a lot of love, but don't let them get away with anything.

No. 22. In practice, do things as perfectly as you can; in competition, do what you have to do.

No. 23. Never fight the oats.

No. 24. The harder you work, the luckier you get."

Credit believed to be William Steinkraus

05/24/2025

We all have seen the horses that have mismatched feet. I've even heard people say "wow, it looks like the farrier trimmed the feet completely differently!" as if the high/low appearance came from the trim or shoeing alone. I've even seen that appearance blamed for lameness. But the majority of the time, mismatched or "high/low" hooves are a symptom of something going on the body.

A few weeks ago, I started interviewing for a series of "case study success stories," of hoof rehab cases where things went right. Because we all need a little hope now and then! For this week's podcast episode, I reached out to Rachel Thompson, a hoofcare provider in Georgia, about her interesting journey with a high/low case. We chatted about all the diagnostics and approaches she tried, what they ended up finding in their investigation, and how the horse is doing now.

You can hear the entire conversation on any podcast app under "The Humble Hoof," or directly at this link: https://thehumblehoof.com/2025/05/23/case-study-high-low-and-not-quite-right/

Thank you to our amazing sponsors:

Cavallo Hoof Boots is offering 15% off a pair of Trek hoof boots at cavallo-inc.com with code HRN

A special shout out to Grid as New, Mud Control Grids – they are a game changer for any mud issues, big or small! – mudcontrolgrids.com

Also be sure to check out HayBoss Feeders – haybossfeeders.com – for all your slow-feeding needs. I get my Hay Boss feeders from Mountain Lane Farm in NH!

05/23/2025

05/22/2025

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05/20/2025

Many human athletes, regardless of their sport, use weight lifting to add strength and power.

Horses can be gotten to weight lift, too, with the same goals in mind.

One of the simplest ways that doesn’t require much rider technique is to use hills. As the horse climbs, it has to push and propel harder than it would on flatter terrain.

Another way, based upon the half halt, is to send energy into some degree of containment in such a way that the horse engages its hocks, stifles, basically sits down and lifts. This is a rather sophisticated dressage based technique, not to be confused with “riding backwards.”

This is one good reason to take dressage lessons from an educated instructor, to learn how to encourage a horse to step under and weight lift itself into greater self carriage. Be prepared to spend months, years really, as this isn’t a quick fix to learn, and it isn’t a quick fix for a horse, but must be built a step at a time.

05/19/2025

Be a scientist

05/10/2025

https://amzn.to/3RWMMEv

05/04/2025

No matter what you post about horses, someone’s always ready to tear you down. And lately, I can’t help but wonder, what’s it like to live carrying that much anger?

But here's the thing.

Anger doesn’t just make you shout. It makes you small.
It collapses complexity. It trades understanding for certainty. It feels like power, but it’s just a shortcut to being right.

Love does the opposite.

Love widens the aperture.
It asks better questions. It holds paradox without demanding a solution. It makes you curious, not combative.

This isn’t just philosophy, it’s practical. In dressage. In business. In life.

The angry rider tries to fix the horse.
The loving rider listens to it.

Anger wants control.
Love seeks connection.
And only one of those builds something that lasts.

04/26/2025

How do you develop a relationship with a horse?

With the changing of the culture of horsemanship, more people now are interested in developing a connection, which is a great direction to go in

But I find that in this search, we often find a romanticized fairy tale approach that focuses on the butterflies and rainbows aspects of horse ownership, and leaves out the nitty gritty.

It doesn’t help that we’re bombarded with videos of videos showing the highlights, like bridleless flying changes, kissy face photos, laying together in a field…. But we don’t get much of a view or conversation about hours spent perfecting our technique and timing so we can feel inoffensive to a horse.

There aren’t many popular reels of learning to pick up a hoof with respect to a horse, or handle a lead rope quietly so you don’t feel like a wild caveman to your horse.

So what does it take to develop a relationship?

There’s no way you can buy it, you can’t bribe it or force it.

A relationship is formed by being a trustworthy, stable and calming influence in the horses life

And to do this requires you have the skill to guide
The awareness to keep your horse out of trouble
The understanding of his needs to support his health and wellbeing
The mental flexibility to adjust the goals as needed and not get rigid
The discipline to stick to it when it gets hard or you meet resistance
And the balance in yourself, emotionally and physically, to guide the horse to a better balance too

So you see, it is an act: it’s not just something you voice as a desire, it’s not something that just spending time together gets you:

It’s active and ongoing work, starting with you -

And the horse’s response continually gives us the truth about ourselves and what we offer -

A peaceful relationship with a horse comes from a person who can guide and support, actively, frequently, and quietly. This daily act does not make for exciting online content, but it’s the only way to really accomplish a connection.

Photo by Jasmine Cope

04/25/2025

😴 Horses don't need a lot of sleep (around 3 hours or so a day), but at least 30 minutes of what sleep they do get needs to be REM sleep. 😴

💤 REM sleep can only happen when they lie down, because it requires complete relaxation.

💤 For other types of sleep, many horses do this while standing up because they are prey animals and naturally want to be able to make a quick getaway if a predator appears.

💤 They have a clever and unique ‘stay apparatus’ in their bodies which acts as a stabiliser to enable them to sleep.

💤 This is an anatomical mechanism which locks a hind leg in place to keep horses upright.

💤 It consists of the patella, which is located in the stifle joint on the hind leg and will pop out of place to lock the hind leg into the standing position.

💤 The stay apparatus only locks into place in one hind leg. The other hind limb will be relaxed.

💤 When the horse wakes up, they simple unlock the patella and start moving again.

💤 A second reason for sleeping standing up is that horses are large animals. If they were to lie down for extended periods of time it would restrict blood flow to internal organs.

🌜 Who knew sleep could be so fascinating! 🌝

Read the full article about how horses sleep below:

https://www.yourhorse.co.uk/horse-care/how-do-horses-sleep/