Foundation First Horsemanship

09/01/2025

09/01/2025

Excited to have 2 clinics at Gundaroo Equestrian Centre at Ambrosia Park this year! 3 day clinic includes mechanical cow work! 🐮

Please click the link to complete this form.

08/01/2025

Quality filly by RS Chisum 👀

𝓢𝓾𝓰𝓪𝓻 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓢𝓹𝓲𝓬𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼 𝓷𝓲𝓬𝓮...

Affectionately known as as “Spice” to us, this little lady is looking for her forever home 🏡 She is out of Pepper, the big paint mare Anthony had on the road teaching off of and she’s by RS Chisum.

She turned one on the 11th of October 2024 & has already had lots of handling and a good start to her education. Ready for someone to further and prepare her for starting when she’s old enough.

We are more than happy to send more photos and videos on request.

Please contact us via Messenger or call/text Anthony’s number listed on the ad!

08/01/2025

YOU UPGRADE YOUR PHONE TO MAKE YOUR LIFE EASIER...

So why don't you upgrade yourself to make your life easier?

The most important project you will ever work on in your life is yourself!

When you start working on yourself and upgrading from the older versions of yourself you cannot help but to get better at everything you do. It doesn't matter what it is. When you get better personally you will get better at your everyday job, being a good father/mother, friend, co-worker, working with your horse, etc. The list goes on and on! As you upgrade personally YOU GET BETTER AT EVERYTHING. It is the best side-effect you will ever experience in life.

AS YOU UPGRADE YOUR CIRCLE WILL AUTOMATICALLY UPGRADE.

Once you start upgrading yourself your circle of people around you will change. Most will get left behind. If you are lucky there will be one, maybe two who will upgrade with you.

You MUST realize this is all part of the process. You have to learn to let people go. It is VERY hard to do, especially at the beginning stages of your personal development journey. There are those people who have been in your circle for many years that get left behind. These people mean a lot to you. Trust me, I know this part is probably the hardest! You are not doing these people (or yourself) any favors by holding yourself back for them. You are just enabling their lack of accountability, and their own responsibility to get better themselves.

If these same people are willing to let you be held back because of themselves or they are not pushing you to get better, the truth is they simply do not care about you and what is best for you!

You HAVE to understand you can only encourage and beg these people so much to upgrade themselves as you upgrade. It is 100% on them to make the choice to get better and grow with you. I know first hand just how sad you will feel and how much you will try to hold yourself back to help just because these people are not willing to change for the better with you.

When rowing your boat upstream against the norm and making your own waves in your personal growth you have to pull the anchors up that is willing to come up, and cut the ones lose that is stuck at the bottom that is holding you back.

DO NOT hold a grudge or wish bad will on people who are not willing to grow for the better right now. They may treat you like the "Bad Guy" but down deep most people are good and are personally struggling with facing their own demons and truths.

Be a great inspiration and example. We all need a guide to follow, and to know it is truly possible to change for the better, even if you have bad habits like I did that consumed me for decades!

Long-term healthy change IS POSSIBLE! You just gotta commit, learn self-discipline, and NEVER GIVE UP!

I am not blowing smoke up your ass when I say this, But if I can do it....
YOU CAN DO IT!

*This post is NOT a target post to any certain individual/s. THIS IS JUST SIMPLY LIFE! If you feel this is a targeted post then that is 100% on you and where you are at in your personal development journey.
Page 6 of 365

📸: Jared H Searcy

07/01/2025

Before enlightenment, chop wood and carry water.

After enlightenment, chop wood and carry water.

- Zen Proverb

I've been thinking about this a lot, particularly after many conversations with Amy Skinner Horsemanship about the importance of the basics. The mundane, daily tasks and the smallest pieces that make up the foundation of our training.

In a society that has become so focused on instant gratification and a need to be wowed by what we consider to be beautiful and difficult, we have lost appreciation for the "ordinary". We "can't see the forest for the trees". You can't get to the extraordinary without the ordinary.

One of the things I appreciate about my mentors, is they continue to return to the basics. No matter their experience or achievements, they come back to beginning with a new lense with which they can view their foundation and get curious about the ways they can improve what they're offering to the horse.

Personally, I don't want to see your piaffe. I would rather see how you got there...what did the beginning look like? There's a lot of people teaching tricks on poor or rushed basics.

Considering advanced work is just your basics done well...I want to see what it looks like when you "chop wood and carry water".

- Terra

07/01/2025

Such a tragic loss of a beautiful young cowboy 💔

06/01/2025

06/01/2025

Quality gear is rarely cheap and cheap gear is rarely quality! 👏🏽

06/01/2025

04/01/2025

What an awesome day to kick off our first group lesson for 2025! Everyone and their horses did amazing 🌟
We worked on our go-go buttons 😅 our stops and the importance of timing when it comes to foot fall. Lots of laughs, encouragement and discussions. We love seeing everyone’s improvement during these group lessons 👏🏽

And whoever suggested freezing orange slices is a genius! They were the perfect after ride snack along with cakes and zooper doopers lol 😋🍊

31/12/2024

New replacement flags from 😍
We use our flags daily and they cop a beating from the elements and being a huge part of our training process.
We get our stainless steel shafts from and I love to get some funky replacement flags to mix things up a bit! Might get our logo printed on some 🤔

**tstarting

31/12/2024

You ain’t no cowboy if you don’t have a hot pink jolly mega horse ball!!

The Christmas present I got for ‘Thomas’ 😂😂

Ps it’s not a cigarette 🚬 hangin out his mouth, it’s the ball pin 😂😂



**tstarter

30/12/2024

Plus feed bills, insurances, injuries to us, repairs to our tools and equipment, the list goes on.

It’s the most rewarding and challenging job in the world. But it doesn’t come for free.

As Rip says in Yellowstone about Colby’s death - “it's a dangerous job and one day it will kill me, too."

This is a long one. I tweaked it to make sense of horse training costs and what we do. There is never truly a "day off" in this industry, but it's worth every minute!

A customer asked me how much it cost to put a month on a c**t.
I answered him: It can range between $600-$2500.00 for boarding and training.
He said: So expensive for this job?
I asked: How much do you think it would cost you?
He answers me: Just my time and dedication.
I say: Okay... I invite you to do it yourself.
- But.... I don't know how to.
- Okay so for $450 (Cost of a weekend clinic) I'll teach you how to. So besides saving you money, you'll get the knowledge for the next time you want to do this yourself.
- It seemed right to him and he agreed.
- But to get started: you need tools, knowledge, experience, hurt, failure, discipline, and dedication just to name a few.
- But I don't have all this time... and I can't take the time out...
- Well then for another $50 per hour more I'll lesson you hourly so you can do it, but trust me, it's NOT as easy as you think.
- Okay, he says.
- Okay! Sunday I'll swing by with my horse... I'm waiting for you to start showing me what to do.
- But I can't on Sunday I only have time during the week, I like to spend my weekends with my family. I'm sorry, but I'm only available Tuesday through Friday to teach you and lend you my stuff.
- Okay! That means I'm going to have to sacrifice my week, and give up my tasks.... Lose on my job, and make this my main focus to get what I'm looking for..
- Do you have time? It takes consistency when training horses, it doesn't happen overnight..."
- Okay!

***A FEW WEEKS GO BY...."***

- You know, I've been thinking... I see how dedicated you are and the outcome of your work... better get the job done. I'd rather pay you the $1250 plus. If I had to, it wouldn't be perfect and it would cost me a lot more in the long run.

When you pay for a job, especially horse training you pay not only for the knowledge the trainer has, but you also pay for:
- Knowledge
- Experience
- Study
- Tools
- Services
- Time put in your horses... (feeding, watering, daily upcare...)
- Dedication
- Accountability
- Professionalism
- Accuracy
- Guaranteed Services as I do Daily Updates
- Sacrifices
-Literally throwing my leg over a 1200 plus animal that could crush me....
- Safety and security...
-Stall Cleaning Services
-An Up kept Facility

Just to name a few. 🙌

No one can denigrate other people's work by judging prices. Only by knowing all the elements necessary for the production of a certain work can you estimate the actual cost. So remember when you're searching for a trainer and they say their prices... Don't go for cheap. Cheap isn't good. Quality work costs, and it's worth it in the long run.

28/12/2024

He was a man who spoke softly but carried wisdom forged in the saddle. A man whose words were measured and deliberate, as if he knew each one carried the weight of a lifetime’s understanding. Ray Hunt didn’t just train horses—he transformed the way people thought about them.

Born in 1929 in Paul, Idaho, Hunt grew up in a world where horses were a necessity, not a novelty. They plowed fields, moved cattle, and hauled wagons. They weren’t companions—they were tools. But even as a young man, Ray saw something deeper in the horse’s eye. There was a question there, an unspoken dialogue waiting to be understood.

Ray’s journey into the world of horse training wasn’t immediate or linear. Like many of his generation, he worked hard and learned by doing. In his early years, he followed the traditional methods: force, dominance, and brute strength. If the horse didn’t obey, you made it obey. That’s just how it was done.

But Ray Hunt wasn’t satisfied with “how it was done.” The harder he pushed, the more resistance he felt—until a man named Tom Dorrance crossed his path.

Dorrance didn’t see horses the way most men did. He didn’t see them as animals to be broken, but as partners waiting to be understood. It wasn’t about forcing the horse to submit; it was about giving the horse a reason to trust. “Feel,” Dorrance called it, and Ray Hunt listened. He listened to the horses, too.

Hunt became a student of this new philosophy, but more than that, he became its most vocal advocate. His mantra was simple yet profound: “Make the right thing easy and the wrong thing difficult.” To Hunt, training wasn’t about punishment; it was about creating a space where the horse could make its own decisions—and choose to follow the human.

Ray’s clinics became legendary. He didn’t sugarcoat his words or offer quick fixes. “You need to think like the horse,” he’d say, “because the horse is already thinking about you.” He taught patience, presence, and respect—for both horse and rider.

But perhaps the most revolutionary idea Ray Hunt championed was this: the horse is never wrong. If the horse didn’t understand, it wasn’t the horse’s fault. It was the human’s. “It’s amazing what the horse will do for us,” he said, “if we treat him like he’s one of us.”

And that’s the part most people miss. Ray Hunt wasn’t just teaching horsemanship—he was teaching humanity. He was showing people how to listen, how to be present, and how to respect another being’s point of view.

Over the decades, Hunt’s influence grew. He traveled the world, spreading his philosophy to cowboys, ranchers, and hobbyists alike. His clinics weren’t about creating perfect horses—they were about creating better people.

Ray Hunt passed away in 2009, but his legacy endures in the hearts of those who understand the quiet magic of a horse’s trust. His teachings live on in the clinics of trainers who follow in his footsteps, in the soft eyes of a horse willing to try, and in the patience of a rider willing to listen.

Ray Hunt didn’t just change the way we train horses. He changed the way we see them.



🎨 The Art of JOHN RALPH SCHNURRENBERGER

https://www.jrsfineart.com