X7 Performance Horses

10/23/2025

“I can’t give up.”

I get so many of the same scenarios: where people tell me generally the same story, and feel completely alone and hopeless. I see people struggle for YEARS with the same horse.

I’m here to tell you... if you’re not having fun... let it go and sell that sucker! It’s ok! You’re not a failure!

Let me start of by saying I learned this out of necessity. Saying you’re a horse trainer might as well read “You could make more money at McDonald’s and following Dave Ramsey.” But we do it anyway. My first real, solid, winning barrel horse was “Hottie.” I loved her! I could win small stuff, Northside, and small pens, she was great, but my life situation wasn’t. I was getting divorced, I had bills to pay, I had colts to ride and I made the tough decision to “let it go” and I traded her for a truck. I NEEDED that truck.

Is that the end of my story? Did I never find another good horse again? Heck no! They got 100x nicer. Things I didn’t even know I would like, papers I never thought I could ride... I sifted through horse after horse, always selling my nice ones and always finding nicer ones.

Fast forward a few years and I had Jay, I LOVED that horse like my kid. He could win and place at the level I wanted to compete at, if I didn’t hit a barrel, I got a check. He was great! But again, my life situation wasn’t. I was in college, and I wanted to cash flow it, selling Jay meant I could pay cash to finish my degree and graduate college with no student debt. I cried when they loaded him up. I still get to see him here and there, of course I still miss him, but I’m glad he got to make other girls dreams come true too.

I tell you about these two because it was HARD to let them go. I thought I would never have another winner and I’ve had tons.

Now if I could let those good ones go, how hard do you think it was to let the bad ones go? Maybe they weren’t bad horses but they were bad for me. I love a challenge, but some horses simply aren’t worth it.

My first Dash Ta Fame I got stuck on. I wanted one so bad I couldn’t see straight. I worked for years to afford one, I got him broke, and trained, at the end of the day, him and I just weren’t a match. He would give me just enough hope, laying a good run down sporadically enough for me to keep trying. I wasted THOUSANDS on him, between time, riding him, vet bills, etc... and he just wasn’t going to be what I needed. It was a black hole, and I blamed myself. Years later, he still hasn’t shown up to compete... and he should have, he was bred to be a champion, but sometimes that’s just how it goes. If I could do that over, I would have sold him when I was offered good money as a 3 and 4 yr old, instead of taking an incredible loss later. Lesson learned. I bet I’ve had 6 DTF’s by now, all much better than him.

Now when I was younger and super broke, I struggled longer with them than I would today! (Bye Felicia 👋🏻) I got help and rode with trainers to help me overcome situations I hadn’t been in before. I learned a lot of things, and I learned how to pick which problems I will deal with, and which ones I won’t.

First, I had to overcome the thought that I had something to prove, because I don’t. This should be fun. I want to enjoy the time I spend with my horses, and I don’t want to feel like a failure or feel hopeless every time I go to the barn.

On another note, I often hear people tell me they are scared to sell them because what if someone else does good on them? GOOD FOR THEM! Again, that doesn’t mean you’re a failure, it means that wasn’t a match. If you HATE a person, are you going to keep trying to be friends with them? Going to try to get them down the isle? NO! You’re going to tell them to peace out and not look back. ✌🏻why do people want to hold on to bad horses so long?

So many people hold on to that a$$hole horse and stifle any chance you have at finding a horse that’s a great fit for you!

Now as much as I like a challenge, and I love my problem kids, I do enjoy having one that’s easy peasy, no BS 💩, and wants to participate at the event every time! I’ve always had to sell that horse in the past, which is why I went to college (and in case I ever broke my leg riding or something lol McDonald’s is just sounding better and better😂), I wanted to get myself in a financial position that if I had that horse, I could turn down ridiculous amounts of money for him just because I wanted to keep one.

I had to go through a gajillion horses to get to that, and a lot of stellar horses that are still winning today with other jockeys.

Selling horses is like dating. Each time you learn something else that you won’t deal with, or what you love most and you apply that to the next one. Expanding your knowledge and skills.

I sell NICE horses everyday that I would be more than happy to keep and go on with myself. It’s a good problem to have. I learned that skill set by not being afraid, and not getting stuck on one.

So to whoever needs to hear this today, it’s is OK to let go. It doesn’t mean you’ve been defeated, or you’re a failure as a rider. It’s ok if someone else can get that horse figured out, because you’re looking for your perfect match. 🦄 When you find that horse, I promise you will wonder why you dealt with all those bad ones so long.... sound familiar?

You're not giving up, you're getting smart.

10/09/2025

08/12/2025

08/07/2025

08/07/2025

07/28/2025

07/24/2025

Stop Fixing Problems You Created

There’s no easy way to say this, so I’m just going to say it plain:

A lot of the problems people bring to me — barn sour horses, buddy sour horses, horses that won’t load, won’t stand at the mounting block, don’t stop, don’t steer, don’t pick up the right lead — didn’t come out of nowhere. They weren’t born that way. And most of the time, they weren’t trained that way either.

They were made that way. And most often? They were made that way by the very people trying to fix them.

Now before you get your feathers ruffled, hear me out. I’m not here to shame anyone. Horses are honest creatures. They respond to the environment they’re in and the leadership they get. If you’ve got a problem horse, that horse isn’t out to make your life miserable. That horse is just reacting to what it’s been taught — directly or indirectly — by you.

So before you go looking for a fix, stop and ask yourself one simple question:

“Did I create this?”

Horses Learn Patterns — Whether You Meant to Teach Them or Not
Horses are masters of pattern recognition. They don’t just learn what we intentionally teach — they learn what we repeatedly allow.

Let me give you a simple example. You ride your horse for 45 minutes, and every single time you dismount right at the gate. After about a week of that, your horse starts pulling toward the gate at the 40-minute mark. Two weeks in, you’re fighting to stay in the arena at all. You say, “He’s barn sour.” No — he’s gate-conditioned. You taught him that the gate is where the ride ends, and he learned it better than you realized.

Same thing with mounting blocks. You let your horse walk off the second your foot hits the stirrup? Don’t be surprised when he refuses to stand still. He’s not being disrespectful — he’s doing exactly what he thinks he’s supposed to do. You taught him that.

Buddy sour? Happens when every ride, every turnout, every trailer ride, every everything happens in pairs. You never ask that horse to be alone, never train it to focus on you instead of the herd, and then act shocked when it melts down the minute its pasture mate walks away.

These are learned behaviors. And if you taught it — even accidentally — then you’re the one who needs to un-teach it.

Avoidance Creates Anxiety
I see it all the time: the rider knows their horse doesn’t like something — maybe it’s going in the trailer, riding out alone, crossing water, walking past a flapping tarp. So what do they do? They just avoid it. Again and again.

And you know what happens? The horse gets more anxious. The issue doesn’t go away. It gets bigger. Because now that thing is associated with stress, and the horse has never been taught how to work through it. The human’s avoidance has created a mental block.

And then one day they try to address it — maybe they need to trailer somewhere, or they’re in a clinic and someone pulls out a tarp — and the horse explodes. And they say, “I don’t know why he’s acting like this!”

I do. You’ve been letting it fester. You taught your horse that he never has to face the thing that scares him. Until now. And now it’s a fight.

Inconsistency is the Fastest Way to Ruin a Good Horse
You can’t train a horse one way on Monday and another way on Wednesday and expect them to understand anything. And yet that’s what a lot of folks do.

Monday: you make him back out of your space.
Tuesday: you let him walk all over you because you’re in a rush.
Wednesday: you smack him with the lead rope for doing the same thing he got away with yesterday.
Thursday: you feel bad and let him be pushy again.

That horse has no idea what the rules are. And when there are no clear rules, a horse will either take charge or check out completely. Either way, it’s not going to end in a safe, willing, responsive partner.

Stop Saying “He Just Started Doing That”
I hear that phrase constantly: “He just started doing that.”

No, he didn’t. You just started noticing it once it became a problem you couldn’t ignore.

Most bad habits start small. A little shoulder lean. A step into your space. A half-second delay in picking up a cue. But when you ignore those things, they grow. Horses don’t suddenly wake up one day and decide to bolt, buck, rear, or refuse. They show you the warning signs first. It’s up to you to listen and respond before it becomes a crisis.

So the next time you say, “He just started doing that,” stop and think: Did I actually miss the signs? Did I allow this to build?

Horses Are Honest — But So Are Results
Your horse is just doing what it was taught. Maybe not on purpose. Maybe not maliciously. But consistently.

The results you’re getting today are a direct reflection of the leadership you’ve given up until now.

And the good news is — that works in reverse too.

If your horse is a problem today, and you take responsibility, and you start showing up consistently, with clear expectations, fair corrections, and better timing — the horse will respond. Horses aren’t holding grudges. They’re not being stubborn just to spite you. They’re not political. They’re not bitter. They’re honest.

They will follow a better leader the moment one shows up.

Final Thought
If you’re spending your time trying to fix a problem, the first place you need to look is the mirror.

Because if you’re the one who taught it — even by accident — then you’re also the one who can fix it. But only if you take responsibility.

Stop blaming the horse. Stop acting surprised. Start being the kind of leader your horse actually needs — not the one that avoids, excuses, and compensates.

The horse isn’t broken. The horse isn’t rebellious. The horse isn’t hard to train.

You’re just trying to fix something you created without first owning the fact that you created it.

And until you do that, nothing is going to change.

07/14/2025

07/14/2025

07/03/2025

06/19/2025

There are barrel racers and there are barrel racers. There are the kind that help their horses balance and there are the kind that don't. Good riders balance their horse to help them keep their center of balance centered in their body mass, not leaning outside of it. Riders do this by keeping their body mass and center of balance over their horse's center of balance.

The rider on the right is putting more weight in the outside stirrup, which helps the rider stay more upright and centered over the horse's body mass to maintain a more effective shared balance with their horse.

The horse's head position at right is aligned vertically with the rider's balance. This demonstrates the more effective shared balance between the horse and rider. Effective shared balance makes the turn easier for the horse, and it eliminates much of the horse's difficulty in transitioning to the upright position required to take off fast to the next barrel.

The left rider is a passenger aligned with their horse's lean into the turn. The rider is aligned more with the centrifugal force of the turn, which drives the horse outward from the line of the turn. It also intensifies the angle of the horse's lean in the turn, which can slow the horse's transition to an upright exit from the turn into the needed acceleration to the next barrel.

Note that the balanced horse on the right is already lifting their inside foreleg to begin accelerating to the next barrel while the left horse is struggling with their leaning in the turn. Look at the left rider's feet in the stirrups. The outside foot has almost no weight in the stirrup while the inside foot has almost all the rider's weight in the stirrup. This intensifies the horse's leaning in instead of limiting it for a better balance turn.

Riding in shared balance with your horse means you must bring your own good balance to the party in order to share it with your horse for a more effective ride. When a rider balances only by following the horse's balance, they are a passenger contributing nothing to the ride.