Let’s talk about pain management. Ultimately it is up to the horse to decide what is working for them.

We need to create a moment of silence after our aids make a request of our horse. We do not need to nag until we get the answer we want. We do not need to prevent them from making a mistake. It is our job to present our request with accurate aids. It is the horse's job to interpret that request and formulate a response. They might get it wrong. Let them. Do not get frustrated, angry or irritated. Review and present your aids again. Do not make your aids more firm. J

We get more from our horses by giving then we do by taking. Taking generally creates bracing. Bracing will never lead to relaxation or self carriage.

Things that make you go hmmmmm

One of the hardest things I have to teach a horse is how to be a horse. I often get horses that have been kept in small areas, kept in isolation, been on high sugar diets, not been socialized and kept in a bubble trying to keep anything being unpleasant for them.

Change takes time. Sometimes years. A positive change won't last if not nourished and maintained. We live in a world of quick fixes and instant gratification. We want the same concepts with our horses. The facts are that horses are a living organism and building muscle, changing hormones, repairing and supporting pathologies take time and constant maintenance. There are no quick fixes when it comes to horses. There are no easy solutions. Change takes the involvement of multip

Your horse did not grow up dreaming of being ridden. They didn't long to get in trailers and visit new places or get passed off from owner to owner, herd to herd. Horses want to be horses. We require them to participate in our dreams and desires which go completely against what is natural for them. So when you feel frustration rising...when you think you aren't advancing fast enough...when your horse has a bad day...they didn't wish for any of this. Their dreams are food, fri

I love my continuing education. One course I took with Ida Hammer and Deb Davies, they explained how the feet are sensory organs that are like 4 little brains. The feet gather information from the environment. The more substrate you expose those feet to the more adaptable they become. (Obviously if there is pathology, there are limitations and considerations).

Wisdom Wednesday

If you don't want your horse to play with you, you better give them friends. Horses that live in isolation often see any interaction with you as a game or play time. They need to express that part of themselves through interaction with another being. The problem is horses play rough. Bite, kick, rear, spin and they need to.

A day late. We are dealing with management of many horses during an extended rain event.

Well Texas is getting ready to be rocked by winter. 70 tomorrow and 14 for a low Sunday with 48hrs below freezing.

If your horse doesn't improve how they use their body, your hoof care provider is limited to how much improvement they can make on the feet.

Let it go...

If you do not have a good connection with your horse on the ground, do not expect to have a good connection in the saddle.

Goals are a funny thing. They can get us motivated and inspired. They can also make us feel insufficient if we don't meet them.

How a movement is ridden is more important than how many times the movement is ridden. Too often I see rider's fighting their horse over a movement and they ride the movement poorly just to check the box and say the movement was completed. They will drill the movement hoping that continuous repition will improve the quality. Poor quality repeated will not produce great quality. This is part of the reason I stress no more than 3-5 repetitions of any movement regardless of

The average age of rehab horses at my house right now is 8yrs old. The equivalent to a 24yr old human. They are plagued with multiple...

Carrying a human is a job for a horse, not a hobby.

Wisdom Wednesday