Little Orchard Equine

05/04/2025

When studs are the ONLY “real man” around, they think pretty highly of themselves. When they are surrounded by 20 other studs, they know they have competition and others to keep them in check, and they tend to behave. In some countries, almost all the boys are left entire, so when they show, most of the horses there are stallions, and are well behaved. It’s not so much a difference in training, but environment. 

When I show I often have the only stallion there. SOMETIMES there is one other stallion. I used to own two stallions but now I have one.
I would love to keep him turned out with other horses, but the only geldings I have are not a good match.

There are some little behaviors I know I’m not going to “fix” through groundwork/training…. They are housing issues. When he’s out with others he’s no longer mouthy. The fix is socialization, not discipline!!!!!

Sometimes I’m able to put him in a stall next to another horse with the fronts open where they can play- that makes his ground manners instantly better. And yes, I’m always looking for additional ways for him to socialize- the best would be turnout with other stallions, which I don’t have.

Please understand that none of this is an excuse for my horse being mouthy - it’s my job to continue finding situations where he can thrive! But I admit that I’m not always able to do that, as well as I would like. 
(If he was miserable I would geld, but he’s not, and he HAS been socialized and has been out with geldings- just not recently.)

02/04/2025

Laxmi’s debut to clinic! With

26/03/2025

Višnja isn't the only foal this year.

Sequoia and Boo are both nearing their due dates! I expect both to foal at the end of May or early June.

22/03/2025

Višnja and Calli got to move outside. All the other horses are very excited. Can't wait until I have pasture to put them out on!

20/03/2025

After very little deliberation the newest member of Little Orchard Equine has a name!

Welcome Višnja! (Pronounced vee-sh-nyah)

18/03/2025

A nice little surprise this morning! Sweet filly born early on March 18th. ❤️

Name in progress.

16/03/2025

Day 335, and no baby. Still thinking she around a week out or so

13/03/2025

Day 333. Still no baby, and nothing telling me we are less than 1 week out.

11/03/2025

Calli's due date is today! But no baby, and looks like it will be another few days (or even weeks)!

Anyone who guessed early March is out for this one, but we have 2 more due in May/June!

04/03/2025

Back to riding Gooseberry. We are at 8 rides lol. But this is his 4 year old year now so we will start to pick up a bit more.

He was a little scared of the green mattress that I had propped against the wall but we survived!

28/02/2025

321 days of pregnancy for Calli today. Signs are currently still pointing to baby being a couple weeks away

27/02/2025

Unpopular Opinion!

It’s totally fine to avoid the thing your horse is scared of.

Wait wait! Hear me out!

Yesterday I was riding and the wind was blowing worse than in the Wizard of Oz.

And my younger, generally more nervous horse was handling everything great.

However, there was this one piece of equipment that had been parked by the arena in a different spot and it just felt sketchy to her. She never outright spooked, but she was very looky at it and just didn’t trust it.

I stepped on and she was wonderful everywhere else in the arena but by that piece of equipment.

I had a decision to make.

I could do the ‘traditional thing’ and drill her by that thing until I made the ‘right thing easy and the wrong thing hard’ and she got over the piece of equipment.

Or…

I could just ride elsewhere in the arena.

I chose the later. And here’s why:

Ultimately what I wanted my horse to learn yesterday was that riding in the gale force winds is no different than any other ride.

If I had made a big deal out of that one piece of equipment I would have taught her that riding in the wind was stressful.

Instead we had a lovely ride on the other side of the arena, we even got some of the prettiest canter transitions yet, and she stayed under threshold every time we came around that side because we were far enough away she could eyeball it, but not truly pay attention to it.

When we ended the ride I walked her by the scary thing for good measure, and she poked around at it and that was enough.

Did I teach my horse she could ‘get away’ with being afraid of something? Maybe. If you ask some people.

But what I see is I taught my horse these things:

✨She can still trust me to keep her safe in stressful situations
✨ I hear her when she’s uncomfortable
✨ Riding in the wind is no big deal and she can still be lovely and obedient to my aids
✨ The scary thing never jumped up and bit her - so tomorrow it’ll be less scary

Sometimes it’s totally ok to avoid a scary thing, to teach something else in the moment. And I’d put money on it that the next time I ride, wind or no wind, that piece of equipment will be no big deal at all.

21/02/2025

Day 312 of Calli's pregnancy! We are counting down the days until we have a foal!

The due date is at 330 days, but the foal could arrive anytime between 320 and 370 days realistically.

That means it is time to play the guessing game! What day will it be born and will it be colt(boy) or filly(girl)? Winner will get to meet the baby, and will get an ice cream cake!

28/01/2025

10/01/2025

This is why when the horses are doing something including any of these behaviours (as well as spooking) we take a step back and check if there is perhaps a pain trigger! A horse who is not calm and willing is trying to say something, and we are responsible for listening

A tough pill to swallow:

Many of the behaviours that equestrians attribute to their horses being excited for work or enthusiastic are actually expressions of stress.

Unlike animals like dogs (who are predators), horses are natural energy conservers.

The evolutionary purpose this serves is to ensure that they retain energy should they need to flee from danger.

Because of this, horses don’t spend a lot of time “wasting” energy needlessly.

While they do still play, these types of behaviours tend to be short lived, with lots of small breaks in between and aren’t the same type of explosive release of energy that we see in videos of riders sharing their “excited” horses who are bucking, bolting or rearing.

Understanding how horses function and behave as flight animals is key to being able to show up as the best horse person we can be.

Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation in the horse world and outdated beliefs.

Research has shown that even elite level horse people, professionals and lifelong horse owners often mislabel horse behaviours and attribute stress behaviours to signs of happiness in the horse.

So, next time your horse displays explosive behaviour, consider the fact that they may be overstimulated or stressed rather than excited.

07/01/2025

Trotting ponies!

I am not overly concerned about them being able to trot at this point. I mostly bumped them up so that they would feel like they are allowed to go forward, as I found they were both a bit reluctant in earlier rides. Especially Boo.

Boo now has 10 rides. Has a pretty good idea of how riding works, and is starting to get wide enough due to pregnancy that she is feeling less than comfortable in the saddle. Because of this she will be groundwork only until after she has her foal.

Goose is at 5 rides! (Maybe 6, but the last time I sat on him was on lead for pictures). He has a very good grasp of forward and steering. We trotted this time to help get some focus, as he was nervous and tense because ice was falling off the arena roof. Giving him some extra questions helped him come back to me and stay engaged. This is useful, as he tends to freeze and check out when worried so I want him to check in with me, and hopefully feel ok to continue to move forward, and I don't mind if he speeds up either.

They are doing super and I am having fun training. I always like starting my own as I have as much time as I want and there is no feeling of being rushed or pressed for time, which sometimes happens for client horses. But, I am happy to take on 1 or 2 outside horses if someone wants to send their horses through my program! We build confidence 1 step at a time.

06/01/2025

Broodmare update!

We are getting very close to foaling season! Horses are pregnant for around 11 months (approximately 330-360 days).

Calligraphy is now a week short of 9 months along, and we are expecting her foal before the end of March!

Sequoia is just about 7 months along, and due end of May (she has historically foaled around 350 days)

Boo is about 6.5 months along, also due for the end of May or early June.

Which foal are you most excited for?

01/01/2025

Happy New Year!

It's been a great year! Can't wait to get started again with students, clients and horses new and old for 2025!