Alli Wallace

26/02/2024

Killin it ♡

01/01/2024

I have been very fortunate this year to have met some amazing horse people! I loved my Christmas gifts, and I really appreciate ya'll going the extra mile to make me feel special 😘
For everyone who frequents my page, thank you so much for your continued support!
It means SO MUCH to have your encouragement and kind words.
Will see you guys next year!

25/12/2023

Merry Christmas from Double Rose Horsemanship!

12/12/2023

✴Cash✴

He is just a good boy, waiting for his new people to come along and love him 💙
Another video gem from my good freind Melissa Sherman !
You're the best girl! 💕

09/12/2023

I love this little mash up that Melissa Sherman made me of our session with the girls tonight thought it was too cute not to share 💕
❤Brandi and Emma🍒

28/11/2023

Do I spoil them by heating up their bits.... maybe....🤣

19/11/2023

14/11/2023

If you train horses for the public you’ll have to inevitably face the reality that you’ll never fulfill everyone’s expectations no matter how hard you try.

There often seems to be a disconnect between peoples expectations of how a horse should progress and the reality of things. This likely stems from what people see on social media, selective marketing from other trainers or holding the opinions of their friends who’ve owned horses maybe 6 months longer than they have, over an experienced professional. When you have the experience of having worked thousands of horses, you start to lower your expectations, especially given that the horses you’ll get often are on one end of the spectrum of challenging horses.

When you send a long 2 year old to be started, particularly one who’s been bred for a job, you’re going to have dramatically different results than a 4 or 5 year old mustang, who’s genetics have been selected by nature, for survival. You need to have different expectations when you decide to rescue a 10 year old OTTB than when you buy a baby that you start educating early on.

Many horses I’m sent typically have a background of having been started already, but sometimes for some reason or another things didn’t working out or the owner or horse has had a wreck that stems from a lack of good preparatory skills. There are horses that are on one end of the spectrum of being good prey animals and these horses are often the ones that you may end up with. Don’t expect someone like myself to just jump on these horses with no regard for the outcome. I am a mere mortal and so are you.

You’ll always find someone, somewhere, willing to get on your horse for a few bucks, but that doesn’t mean the problems are gone and that certainly doesn’t mean you’ll be able to duplicate their results.

I used to approach each horse like it were my own. What would I want to see in this horse accomplish to be my partner? Now I take a different approach. The owner is going to be the one to ride them long term, so I work each horse with the skill and experience level of the owner in mind. How well do they ride? How well do they handle themselves under pressure? How good of a partner does this horse need to be to take care of this person?

I’m sure these ideas won’t make everyone happy. In fact they will probably make a lot of people unhappy. But this all stems from a lack of understanding of how this process works and how to work from where the horse is at. And in the long run I believe it is the best way to get the optimal results for both the horse and the owner.
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
*Wise words from Evan Bonner Horsemanship*

03/11/2023

? RCMP are looking for the owner of a black mare horse found in Rocky View County, west of Cochrane. If you have any information please contact your local livestock inspection office: https://bit.ly/3QGPNsK

13/09/2023

https://fb.watch/n0ZXdJhyaI/?mibextid=Nif5oz

12/09/2023

Quick shout out to Stephanie Fakner for keeping up a truly beautiful facility, so pretty I almost dont want to mess it up! .....But I did 😅😉......

25/08/2023

23/08/2023

🦁Leo🦁
Patience is key young grasshopper 🦗

19/08/2023

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10161201974789414&id=718414413&mibextid=Nif5oz

16/08/2023

Hey folks, I apologize for being behind on my videos. I'm still working hard, but havent had enough down time to sort through the videos.
How about some lovely pics of Cheyenne to tide you over until then!
Today was the first time I got up in the saddle with him, and his reaction was good natured curiosity, despite an aggressive wind.
Proud of this fella 😍

10/08/2023

SOMETIMES HORSES BUCK

I aim to not have a horse buck when I saddle them for the first time.

If I’ve done all my preparatory work and simulations, if the relationship is good, I consider it a good thing if they don’t buck.

I’ve started hundreds of horses under saddle, and I take some pride when I can get it done without any bucking, and that’s the majority of the time.

However.

There are always going to be some horses who are going to buck, especially when they canter with the saddle for the first time.

I’ve done a lot of different styles…
Saddling at liberty, saddling with clicker, saddling with start buttons and consent when I was using no pressure and release and only positive reinforcement, saddling after doing extensive groundwork over years, using a surcingle first and then a saddle with no cinch, and removing stirrups, and trying to reduce trigger stacking…

And there are still some horses where it just feels weird in canter, or when they feel all the sensations of the saddle parts together in motion for the first time, and that feeling is impossible to simulate in our groundwork.

If someone claims a horse should never buck during the first saddling, that’s pretty naïve.

It’s is a nice thing to aim for, but I don’t think we need to crucify ourselves or others if it happens.

Like many other things, we can get a little fixated on behavior, when we need to be looking at emotional state, instead.

Looking at the emotional state of the horse before and after the behavior of bucking can tell us a lot.

Are they confident and trusting before and after the event, and just ‘had a moment,’ or was everything escalating into a wreck from the get-go?

Sometimes we are more affected by the event than the horse is, and that’s where we need to do our own work. That’s a place where the horse can teach us about not holding on to emotional states.

That’s what we need to be looking at, and when we’re playing the critic, a picture or a short video on social media can’t give us that, so sometimes it’s best to withhold judgement.

Sincerely, a former critic. 🙏

09/08/2023

We see a lot of information on trailer loading but judging by how the parents were pulling in to the parking lot for a 4H clinic I was teaching, I got to wondering if there shouldn’t be a discussion on how to haul? The dust was flying, trailers were rattling and you could hear horses scrambling as they pulled up. Clearly, this called for drastic measures!

Despite reading and being told, there’s nothing like “learning to do by doing” – and pulling a trailer is no exception.

Before getting underway, I suggested they all tie their horses someplace safe before climbing in my trailer for a free ride. The arena was on a quiet country road and the locale made it possible for us to have a short, albeit illegal, journey. I asked the parents to stand in the slant haul without hanging on, just bracing themselves to take whatever came their way. Easy, right?

When we pulled back into the yard, they were horrified! First, the trailer, while a good make and recent model, was dusty on the gravel when the windows were open; it was also surprisingly noisy. They could hardly talk amongst each other, let alone think. When I accelerated, they were thrown backwards. Braking had them hitting the front dividers. Then, I purposefully braked while negotiating a curve. Chaos – and all the while, I’d not exceeded 50 kilometres (or 30 miles) per hour!

Back at the arena, I had the parents climb into one of their own stock trailers. This was worse, because it was windy, rattly and a bit rank, as it hadn’t been cleaned out in eons. The fumes of the built up manure gave them watery eyes. In the roomy stock trailer, whenever they lost their balance, they staggered in a pile on top of themselves. Clearly, there was more to this hauling than they’d bargained on.

We agreed the miracle is that so many horses load willingly when their owners have so little regard for what hauling entails.

So, where to begin? First, make sure the tail isn’t wagging the dog. Being able to accelerate with a full load doesn’t mean that your truck will be able to stop! Reckoning the weight of the trailer must also include the maximum number of horses, along with all that you’ve got in your tack room.

Do you know where to put your horses for the safest hauling? When asked, few drivers seem aware that the load goes at the front of the trailer, not balanced over the axles or behind them. By putting the weight on the towing vehicle, it greatly reduces a trailer's tendency to fish-tail, even in high winds. The lighter horses will be loaded after the heavier ones to stabilize the load.

With so many highways allowing speeds in excess of 110 kilometres (about 70 miles) per hour, you'll need to keep a lot of room in front to stay out of trouble. Are your mirrors adequate to see around your vehicle with a minimum of blind spots? Do you even know where your blind spots are? Have you adjusted your trailer brakes to help stop your load?

Do you perform a visual inspection of running lights, brake lights, turning signals and emergency flashers before you hit the highway? Have you made sure your trailer is towing level from front to back? When was your trailer last booked in for maintenance of the wiring, floorboards, tire wear and bearings?

Do you clean out your trailer after every single haul?

Now, practice pulling the unit with a handful of change thrown on the truck dash. You should be able to accelerate, turn and slow down to a stop without the coins sliding around. Deceleration is made smoother with the truck engine helping to brake the load, either with the transmission set to tow/haul, or by manually shifting (yes, even an automatic) down to reduce the forward momentum. This takes practice and knowing your vehicle.

Slow down before and not during turns; wait until your trailer has made the turn before smoothly speeding up. If your horses are scrambling, if you feel them moving around back there, you’re being too abrupt. Letting the greater pressure off the brake pedal a snick after you’ve stopped will absorb much of the force of stopping.

Learn how to back your trailer!

When I was a teenager, so keen to haul myself to shows, my father forbade me to go on my own until I could prove that I could handle it. This meant being able to back into any place that I could pull into (and yes, you can back into a lot of places you can’t make a forward turn). It always surprises me, the number of people hauling to weekend shows who need help parking their trailers.

Looking back, I’ve never had a horse that was hard to load. I’ve bought a few that came that way but with love and rules, along with good riding, they very quickly got better. I like to think that keeping my trailer clean and my driving mindful have had a lot to do with this.

Here’s to a long, safe summer for all of us... with only nice, smooth trips!

***

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31/07/2023

⚡Skooter ⚡

Today he had his first pedicure in 5 years😍
Typically I would hold a horse for the farrier, but two people close to him is a lot of pressure for this guy.
He did really good, and I am so proud!

31/07/2023

Everyone meet Leo!

30/07/2023

This week's Wednesday Wisdom

29/07/2023

⚡Skooter⚡

It may not be western, but we did get a saddle on! It was hard earned I will say that 🤣

28/07/2023

Another visit at the to the North 40.
Is it just me, or do you think they sense the apple chunks in my pocket?
Ranger left, Cheyenne center, Dakota right.

26/07/2023

Old Man of the Onaqui
Although this image breaks the photographic rules, this stallion always has and continues to take center stage in our hearts. I wholeheartedly believe his spirit still roams the hills and grasslands of the Onaqui wild horse range.
You are always close to my heart, Old Man❤️

21/07/2023

💚💜Barney💜💚
He has found his kids and is leaving the program!
I am so happy for him, his new kids are obsessed with him!❤
Also, Ariya snuck in a ride too, she shouldnt be hard to spot.

20/07/2023

To everyone who reached out regarding Abbey. I believe I have the best possible home lined up for her!
I was overwhelmed with warm sentiments from you all about a mare I care deeply about, thank you for the kind words ❤🤗

19/07/2023

Congratulations to Westwick Ranch on your purchase of Jake's Cruizin On.
I will miss this sweet boy 💔 but I know he will enjoy BC!