Dragon Scale Equestrian

10/28/2025

Baby horses are not for the faint of heart.
Totally worth it but Lordy it’s a long road.

I was talking to someone new to +R/ethical behavior shaping type training just yesterday about all the highs and lows of it.

I think the hardest one for me is how long things take sometimes. Not because I’m in a hurry, but because sometimes I feel like literally nothing is happening or we are going backwards for weeks at a time and it makes me feel like I’m epically failing, ruining my horse, etc…

But inevitably there finally comes a day when it just clicks! That day, that moment, is worth every single tear and worry and moment spent painstakingly tenfold.

One thing that has been a huge undertaking for me and William, and a VERY important one for me when I often have limited mobility due to my health issues, is moving his body parts around gently and sometimes in small or large increments.

Growing up I was always taught to teach this to horses with lots of smacking and pushing and poking and jerking… things I didn’t want to do. Things that I found made horses mos themselves quickly out of fear and without a solid stop cue involved. Two things that would be dangerous for me.

In looking up training information for what I needed I honestly found that most similar maneuvers where taught in a manner that really didn’t provide the benefits I needed or use cues that would benefit me as I needed. Soooo I kinda went rogue and just winged it.

It took almost two weeks of doing it daily before I got the first side step into me with the cue I wanted. Annnnnnd he almost knocked me over with his butt…. He’s very eager… that almost 18 months ago that I started this project. Early this year I pretty solidly had him moving towards me and away from me from my hand cues I wanted buuuuut it was still…. Abrupt… 🤦🏻‍♀️

A brief explainstion of the cue is - touching his side and saying *over* asks him to Mo awsy until I stop touching him, while holding my hand out away from him and saying *hip* (was not supposed to be the cue word but ooops its stuck now…) and he steps towards me until he touches my hand. The moving part has gone well, the stopping part has been… an adventure. 😅🥴

TODAY!!! TODAY!!! For the first time!!!! He was PERFECT!!!! In fact he stopped when the tips of his hair barely touched my hand, and when the pressure of my hand barely let up. He even followed me sideways as I backed up several feet before cuing him to stop. Most importantly, he did it all very gently. It was golden. Wonderful. So worth the literal 18 months it has taken to slowly shape and adjust this behavior gently.

Today he also respected the *wait* command perfectly! Something else that has been being installed for months at this point.

Sometimes it’s like I’m doing the same thing over and over again for months with zero results, and then one day he just does it like a fairy came and trained him overnight. It’s weird. And wonderful. And now on to the next thing that will make me question my abilities and sanity all at once for months…

01/12/2025

🤩🤩🤩 I have been sitting on this for a couple of weeks. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to update the North Texas Eventing Association logo with a sleek, modern version.

Thank you guys so much for trusting me with this special project!

Last night we unveiled our new logo and announced that we have kicked off the new website project that will launch around April 2025! Massive shout out to for the logo design.

12/24/2024

"Exciting things are coming! 🎉 Paige’s Pages and Dragon Scale Graphics are currently working on a rebrand and redesign to kick off the new year with a fresh look! Stay tuned for all the creative changes we have in store. ✨ "

10/11/2024

It’s been a min since we posted anything, and here’s why! William had OCD surgery on September 26th and we have been surviving his first two weeks of stall rest one bandage change at a time… it took a few tries to find a system that he didn’t remove in less than 24 hours… thank you for absolutely saving our butts!! Yesterday he got his sutures out and was cleared to start hand walking and no more bandages!!! Poor dude is certainly feeling the wiggles from being cooped up but he is truly doing his very best to be a Good Boy™️ anyways. Two more weeks of full time stall rest with hand walking and then slowly introducing small paddock rest. For now enjoy the last two weeks summed up in 10 photos/videos.

10/01/2024

I have had lots of questions about Williams OCD, especially what signs he showed that made me take him to the vet.

So, because he’s my horse and I can’t have anything normal, he never showed a single “normal” clinical sign of OCD. No swelling, no sudden lameness, no actual lameness really at any point. In fact, the only time in his life he has ever been lame was when he was 3 months old and his breeder got home to find him dragging his *left hind leg*. He was rushed to the vet who did a very full and thorough exam including X-rays and did not find anything. He improved with stall rest and NSAIDS and then came home to me a few weeks later when he weaned. When he came home he still had a mild limp but it went away as he grew.

Fast forward 2 years-ish to last fall at YHS championships and I really felt like he was uncomfortable in his hind end. Again, no limping, no heat, no swelling. He just looked and felt off to me. He was also having bouts of super grumpy behavior, especially with growth spurts. It was all written off as “growing pains” basically. I was still very concerned though and after consulting with multiple trusted sources including vets and physical therapists, I decided to set up a rehab plan for him to build muscle and balance and try to support his growth.

After a couple of months of sticking to this and starting him lightly under saddle (to be able to walk him and do light trail riding to help build muscle) I still wasn’t happy. It was at this point that we started the process of ruling things out:

Changed farrier, saw improvement pretty quickly.
Then he just stalled improvement and was still just “off”…
At this point he also started having weird behavioral problems and *got really spooky*, which anyone who knows him knows that became a really big red flag really fast, my giant sweet stoner baby has NEVER been spooky.
He also got SUPER defensive about his hind end. Anyone or anything that was anywhere near his hind legs was super likely to get kicked if they moved too fast.
He also developed a “hunters bump” in his lumbar spine out of nowhere one week.

I finished out my list of things to check off with the saddle fitter in August. He had about a month off before that. We rode him maybe five times, including his off property trip where he was wonderful and looked sound going around, but when I got on him a couple days later he REFUSED to move forward. Absolutely would not go anywhere. This was the final straw for me to pull the plug and say, no something is VERY wrong it’s time to push his vet to investigate further.

What’s funny is that back in April right before we switched farriers was about the closest to actually being lame he ever was and one day o had a total meltdown and told a friend, “I just know he has OCD. I know I sounds crazy but I just know he has OCD it’s the only thing that makes sense at this point. I think it’s in his right stifle, but possibly his left hock…”

So anyways, obviously I was creepily correct somehow… but the bottom line is, *something* was just WRONG with my baby and even though no one else could see/feel it I knew something wasn’t right. Something was very very wrong.

My vet said there is a really good chance this lesion initially happened back when William came up lame at 3 months old. Unfortunately he was so small at that point it wouldn’t haven’t shown up on an X-Ray easily and was understandably missed. His improvement means it probably was minor initially, but at some point in the last year either trauma or growth caused it to worsen and begin to cause pain. The surgeon also looked at Williams diet (literally since before birth as yes I do actually have a whole record of his feed from what his mom ate while he was in utero to now) and said it was very unlikely related to diet but was more likely either due to some sort of trauma or just an unfortunate result of his fast growth.

In some ways I wish the surgery had happened sooner, but I’m also thankful that his feet are well balanced and he’s fit overall. All of the work we did to make sure everything was right from the feet up prepared him to have the most successful recovery possible from the surgery.

TL:DR- I am psychic and kind of a freak… I have absolutely zero helpful advice except for *if you think something is wrong with your horse DONT STOP LOOKING for the cause* trust your gut. Listen to your animal.

Good news is:
It’s only been a couple of days and he is completely back to his sweet silly stoner buddy self. He’s standing square on his hind legs, his posture is improving, and he is immensely more relaxed again. I’m very thankful we found an easily fixable problem and I feel so much better knowing he’s improving so drastically so soon.

10/01/2024

Who needs pink?

I still have my PAIGE20 code for a 20% off discount!!

They’re here! Our annual October special Hot Pink 4 Pack is available with matching FREE bell boots! While supplies last. A portion of proceeds go to Breast Cancer Awareness Charity. See website for details.

09/28/2024

Life is too boring for boring stall information signs. Or stall information signs you have to update constantly. 10/10 recommend laminated stall signs you can use wet-erase markers on to update dates and such.

09/15/2024

As someone with a chronic condition that causes pain of varying levels and presentations, I absolutely 100000% agree with this.

As someone who had a horse that I spent 13 YEARS trying to convince anyone to believe me that something was WRONG with her only to be told over and over again that “we ruled out pain” just to discover after 13 YEARS that I was right the entire time and all she needed was a hair test, I 10000000% agree with this post.

As someone with a horse that I spent the last several months going “seriously, something isn’t right. I think he’s in pain” while everyone else looked at him and said “I don’t see anything” only to find he has a rather large OCD lesion requiring surgery that he completely passed a flexion test on, I 10000000000% agree with this.

Just because pain can’t be found doesn’t mean it isn’t there.

I hear this phrase ALL the time and every time I do my heart breaks for the horse in question.

It is a very big misconception in the industry that pain can be ruled out in the horse.

What leads to this statement can also vary drastically from person to person.

The horse might have had a quick muscle palpation, they might have just been scoped for ulcers, or they might have had a very extensive (and expensive!) veterinary work up over days or months.

Regardless, you cannot rule out pain. You might not be able to find a source, but you cannot rule out pain.

Ask any human who has not received an immediate diagnosis for their pain or not been listened to regarding their own health concerns.

Pain does not have a blood test or a specific color or feel.

Pain can be obvious, it can be concealed, it can be complex, it can be poorly understood.

There are certain things, like gastric ulcers, that can be definitively ruled in or out as a SOURCE of pain with a gastroscopy.

But it is the horse’s behavior that says whether pain is or isn’t present. And unfortunately, very often pain in the horse is not a simple thing to diagnose and cure.

When a trainer, owner, rider, or vet says “we have ruled out pain” it is often an invitation to train the horse with harsher methods to overcome performance or behavioral problems.

If the horse refuses to do something, doesn’t cooperate, struggles with tasks, has a change in behavior, or exhibits behaviors that have been scientifically studied to indicate pain in the horse (such as the equine discomfort ethogram and ridden horse pain ethogram)….ALWAYS keep in mind that just because it can’t be located, DOES NOT mean a horse is not in pain.

09/01/2024

I have had a couple of people reach out and ask if there was anything specific William might need/want to help with recovery after his surgery. I made an Amazon wish list with some toys and treats for stall rest, plus a couple of items that will help with recovery and rehab.
I figured I’d go ahead and share it here incase anyone else was interested.

Also if you have any of these items used you’d be willing to sell please let me know.

If anyone has any other stall toy suggestions please send them my way.

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3G85X1C94YHNF?ref_=wl_share

09/01/2024

I have had a couple of people reach out and ask if there was anything specific William might need/want to help with recovery after his surgery. I made an Amazon wish list with some toys and treats for stall rest, plus a couple of items that will help with recovery and rehab.
I figured I’d go ahead and share it here incase anyone else was interested.

Also if you have any of these items used you’d be willing to sell please let me know.

If anyone has any other stall toy suggestions please send them my way.

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3G85X1C94YHNF?ref_=wl_share

07/25/2024

“It’s only a 1 minute video”
-I. Don’t. Care.

“We don’t know what the horse did to deserve that reaction”
-literally nothing. There is no universe where that horse did anything to deserve being struck 24 times. She’s lucky that horse was already so wholly shut down it just took it. Molly, and William actually, would have kicked her daylights out.

“It happens in barns all over the world every day”
-those trainers and riders should face consequences too.

“It was probably a one time thing. She doesn’t deserve to be punished for a onetime incident”
-well, people are in jail for only stabbing someone once, only driving drunk once, only shaking their child once, only doing drugs once, only stealing once…

“Everyone has done something like that at some point”
-yup. I sure as hell have. I know I have. And if video surfaced and I received sanctions today, or next year, or in ten years, I would take them and know I deserved all of it. We are not entitled to this sport. We are not entitled to these animals. We damn sure are not entitled to profit off of their pain and suffering. Sometimes the threat of external repercussions is the only thing that controls some people’s behavior and forces change. This industry has too long turned a blind eye on these type of training techniques.

I’m exhausted. I’m so damn tired of being so damn disenchanted by what should be *literally* the most magical sport in the history of the world. These living, breathing, thinking, feeling, magical creatures are as close to unicorns as mere humans will ever have the privilege to demean the presence of… yet they LET us ride them. They let us put them in tiny boxes, travel the world with us, sometimes literally walk through fire for us…

It is absolutely our responsibility to put in every effort possible to provide them with kindness and compassion and safety. Not a single human on this planet is perfect, myself thoroughly and completely included, but actions have consequences. Period. As an industry it is far past time for a major restructuring of what kind of behavior is acceptable. The gaslighting and pressure to “sit down and shut up” just because an adult ammy doesn’t have an Olympic medal, or a Jr rider is only 16, or whatever lack of human designed accolades someone is painted with in order to make them compliant to poor behavior.

Riders should feel safe saying “I’m done. I’m leaving. Your behavior is unacceptable.” To ANY trainer at any time and not fear the entire horse community shunning them, or worse verbally and emotionally abusing them beyond repair. But they don’t. ESPECIALLY Jr riders. And this gaslighting goes beyond speaking up about horse abuse, just look at people’s reaction and behaviors anytime a SafeSport allegation is made against someone’s idol.

Stop.
Putting.
People.
On.
Pedestals.
Period.

Hold everyone accountable. Everytime. IF it’s truly a lapse in judgment, then accepting responsibility and taking your consequences will provide more time for education, anger management, whatever is needed in order to move past that mindset that resulted in that lose of control. Then move on and do better.