Matthew Doyle Horsemanship

09/24/2023

Grab ahold of the moments that light you up. The sounds, smells, feeling of how you and your horse felt. Grab hold of those moments and use them to help light that fire to keep moving forwards!

08/22/2023

Can’t wait for another great clinic with Come out for a weekend of great learning!

08/12/2023

08/10/2023

Been having lots of fun teaming up with Brooke for some amazing clinics. Mark you calendars for the end of the month. Please note the requirement for the host barn is 6-way and strangles. Can’t wait to see everyone!

07/12/2023

A great clinic opportunity coming up! I’m excited for another great weekend!

06/09/2023

Brooke Gamble and I are excited to announce our upcoming clinics. Find details below and email for any questions or to book. Look forward to some good learning!

05/07/2023

What goes up, must come down. Remember to ride the waves of your journey. Enjoy and embrace when things are going well. Take notes, learn, and embrace the awkwardness when things are not. If we focus on growing our ability to ride the waves without being overwhelmed by them, our growth with our horses never stops.

04/17/2023

Had some fun with a little filly I’m working with named Maven last week. Working on some bridal-less riding. I love playing with this as it is so good for so many reasons. Not only does it provide great insight for me on how I am doing not overusing my reins, but it also helps to show a horse that I am willing to give the trust back to them that I am always asking for. Being vulnerable with our horses is a powerful thing.

02/22/2023

The goal is to produce try. It doesn’t have to be what we want, or even close to the right thing; it just needs to feel like effort. When we feel effort there is conversation. Where there’s conversation there is growth.

02/14/2023

Spending quality time with your horse is crucial to the growth of your relationship. It’s easy to get into a working mind frame all the time. Constantly training or “fixing” things; but taking the time to simply be and go for a ride together is so valuable to the relationship. Always remember to stop and breathe in those moments. Enjoy being with them!

02/08/2023

Creating vision is crucial to our journey with horses. Spend time discussing, visualizing, and practicing tools that will bring you closer to that vision and goal. Find things to inspire you to it, and keep striving towards it.

02/04/2023

Always remember to pause and be present. This can sometimes be hard. Especially in moments when we feel challenged. However it’s a crucial thing as all a horse desires is your authentic self.

11/30/2022

Enjoy the place you are in. Weather it is where you want to be or not. There is beauty in every moment, to enjoy and soak up. A affirmation or lesson to be learned. Sit in it and breathe deep.

11/07/2022

One of my favourite quotes is, “Life is our resume. It is our story to tell, and the choices we make write the chapters. Can we live in a way where we look forward to looking back?”- Matthew McConaughey.

10/18/2022

Our goal is to empower our horses to think under pressure. However part of this process requires us to wait and allow the horse to make a choice. These are some of my favourite moments to share with them.

09/25/2022

Don’t forget to look back front time to time. Look back on how far you’ve come, how much you and your horse have grown, and how much you’ve accomplished. It’s a beautiful sight, looking back.

09/17/2022

Never make assumptions of how a horse may react when attempting to push into new places. Just allow the horse to present themselves and the knowledge they have. Allowing ourselves to listen and be with them in every moment.

09/17/2022

Never make assumptions of how a horse may react when attempting to push into new places. Just allow the horse to present themselves and the knowledge they have. Allowing ourselves to listen and be with them in every moment.

08/23/2022

A solid foundation opens up doors to expand our horses world. If the foundation is shaky or unstable, and we attempt to expand, the horse and person will struggle. However if it is solid and the trust and understanding is mutual, expansion is possible.

08/15/2022

Amazing to watch a young horse, when equipped with the right tools, achieve amazing things. Good work!

12/15/2021

Horsemanship is a journey. It’s full of ups and downs, twists and turns. It’s filled with moments of amazing excitement and connection, and moments of struggle and confusion. Just remember that it’s all part of the journey. Enjoy it all, the highs and the lows. It will go by faster than you think.

12/05/2021

When we meet needs correctly and offer a safe space where horses feel heard and understood, relationship will deepen and beautiful moments like this will be born.

11/25/2021

It’s the small things that bring a horse and rider together. The small try’s, the small releases, the small changes, stacked on one another over time. This is what develops a horses ability to trust and desire to connect.

10/19/2021

Seek out moments of pause. There is great learning in these moments. For horse and person.

09/16/2021

Confidence is not the replacement of fear. It’s the ability to look at situations that make us fearful and then choosing otherwise.

09/02/2021

The pressure horse.

The pressure horse is a exciting creature. There are in fact two different types of pressure horse; each needing different support and tools. They tend to have a low threshold level and need a lot of guidance in the beginning of there learning.

The first type of pressure horse we run into is what I call the expressive pressure horse.

These horses are horses that you never have to wonder what they are thinking. They will share there thoughts openly about the pressures they are faced with. This can look like anything from a small jump, to even some of the more dramtic versions of leaving.

The second type of pressure horse is what I call the holding pressure horse.

These horses will hold and hold onto all of the pressure they feel until they eventually pop. This pop is generally VERY dramatic and can often times be hard for them to recover from.

The tell tale for these types of horses is their eye and presentation. They will come off initially as very calm, and relaxed. However at second glance you may notice a rather anxious and tense eye. Also a feeling as if they are just "off" or "just not relaxed".

Now the key to a pressure horse is showing them how to handle pressure. The three main ways being, come find me, go forward calmly, and soften to pressure when asked.

A person must first learn how to communicate these tools, but also how to show these horses that we will handle life for them and they don't have too. The rider must become the pressure horses safe place. Using tools to help guide the energy rather then stop it.

These horses often make fantastic liberty horses and can be great partners given enough time and patience.

08/13/2021

Feel is not governed by the length of our lead line.

08/03/2021

The Mind horse

The mind horse is a horse that needs its mental needs met. The way they show this need is often dramatic and passionate.

The mind horse is, generally speaking, the type of horse that is easily distracted, hard to maintain focus, and easily fired up when they feel they are not being heard. Their minds are quick to wonder and bounce between thoughts. By the time you've finished processing one, they've already had 4 more.

They are surprisingly hardy creatures. Willing to work long days and rarely run out of gas in the tank. Once they understand how to discipline their thoughts and allow you to help filter some of the excess, they are incredibly willing and deeply relational horses.

You may find, in the beginning of your journey with a mind horse, that you will need to be patient, be able to hold your space and remain the pillar of calm in their world. You may learn how to become disciplined in your own thoughts and processes, and learn how to help regulate energy and shape it into something productive.

Does this sound like a horse you may know?

07/18/2021

The space horse.

The space horse needs its spacial need to be met. When they’re worked with, they can present this need in several ways.

They present by doing things like leaning on the aids, the seat, legs, or reins, and by communicating to you using there personal space when they feel pressured. Possibly walking into you, or ahead of you. Maybe not moving at all.

They are, genrally speaking, calm horses. Not easily fired up and maintain a level head. However they’re strong in there thought process and are not bothered to share their opinions.

Often times space horses get called things like "disrespectful" or "pushy"; however this is not the case. It is simply that they’re attempting to begin a conversation the best way they know how.

When working with a space horse, it is important that a person stay calm and patient. It is not about getting bigger or pushing harder for a change; rather it is about learning to own our space with purpose.

My first horse was a space horse, and he taught me so much about ownership of my own space, how to be purposful without becoming emotional, and how to follow through on my thoughts even when faced with a challenge.

Does your horse sound like it needs its spacial need met?

07/15/2021

When working with horses we have three primary needs. These needs are mind, space, and pressure.

When we learn what these needs mean, how to communicate to them, and apply the tools necessary to help our horses, we then gain the ability to begin to find our horses centre.

Stay tuned as we begin to dive into these basic needs.