X7 Performance Horses

09/17/2024

🤔😳😲🤩

08/05/2024

This 👇🏼🤌🏼

08/05/2024

🙌🏼🧡💛

“Only those whose dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”
- Robert F. Kennedy

08/05/2024

08/04/2024

What he said. 😆😆🤣

08/01/2024

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑭 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒅...
We all have that image in our heads. The new winner wraps their arms around a sweaty horse with gratitude as they catch their breath. The dust from the winning shot still lingers in the air while the crowd cheers and photographers rush to capture the flood of happy emotions.
What we don’t often see captured in the photos is 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗲. What we don’t often see in the photos is 𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁. What we don’t often see in the photos is 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁. We all know it, and we know it well. Whether it's team roping, another discipline, a business, whatever, failure, if you're doing anything is, at some point, inevitable. Why? Because as Billie Jack Saebens stated, “You're going to lose way more than you win. We all think about the winners when they win," he reflected. "We don't think about the losers when we win.”
Billie Jack had six runs in the highest paying Rope Horse Futurity in history on Saturday, and he didn’t catch one steer. Not one. He was mounted on some of the best heel horses in the country. He was prepared. His horses were prepared. Yet, he didn't get one score. This is a guy who works sun up to sun down. A guy who ropes nearly every day. This is a guy whose word matters. A guy that does right by his customers and right by their horses. A guy who recently ranked in the top 10 on ARHFA’s list of Top Riders for 2024. But on this particular day, he just could not get it together. He, by definition, failed.
So what goes through someone’s head after a day like that? For Billie Jack, failing is fuel.
“I have to get better. It’s that simple. I need to work harder," he said the morning following the event. "Yes, I’ll go back and watch the videos and try to see what happened and where I can improve, but for me it comes down to work. I’ll work harder. It’s easy to beat yourself up, and I’ll do my fair share of it. I have an 18-hour drive home to think about what I did wrong. But in the grand scheme of things, it’s ok. My horses were good. They felt as good as they ever have going into this deal. It just didn’t work out.”

Something else that wasn’t captured in a photo that day, something else that won't go into a database with a chart value or dollar sign on an ad was a valuable memory.
“I was walking Bigs back to his stall, and this kid came up to me and asked for my autograph," Billie Jack recalled. "He said, ‘I’m sorry you didn’t have a good day.’ His dad said they were thinking about breeding to Bigs next year, and we visited for a minute. It was pretty cool. Things like that will remind you real quick what’s important.”
We felt it was important to share this and give people an insight not just to the wins, but also the losses. It isn't the losses or the failures that define us. It's the comeback and it's the lessons we learn along the way that shape us.🖤
📷 EC Equine Marketing

07/31/2024

07/21/2024

It's "let's blast the cold hose & stand in the shade awhile".... kinda weather.

07/21/2024

So many people say:

”I don’t want to Futurity because it will blow the horse up.”
“I don’t want to put the pressure on them.”
“I want a long term horse.”

I’ve heard it all. What people don’t talk about though... what happens when you go too SLOW???

•What happens when your horse isn’t challenged regularly.
•When his mind is numb.
•When he doesn’t care.
•When he can aimlessly go through the motions to please you.

>>>This might not be shown in any type of “bad behavior,” but I can dang sure tell the difference sitting on a horse craving to learn and one that’s just ready for this class to be over.

I see this wayyyy more than the horses being blown up.

So because we compare training horses to people here, to put it in perspective... when you were in school, do you remember attending classes that you wanted to be in, and attending ones just for attendance? Classes where you were engaged to learn, and classes you couldn’t wait to be over? It’s the SAME THING.

Sometimes going slower or taking longer is not the answer. Go at the speed YOUR horse needs.

“The hardest part of training your colts is watching everyone else’s.” Go at your own speed. Go at your horses speed. Don’t get stuck on “perfect.” Keep the mind sharp.

07/18/2024

Brooks, Alberta

𝙒𝙝𝙤’𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝙏𝙬𝙞𝙧𝙡 𝙉 𝙒𝙝𝙞𝙧𝙡 𝙗𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙡 𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙚! 𝙃𝙚𝙡𝙙 𝙖𝙩 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙎𝙞𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙎𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙖 𝙞𝙣 𝘽𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙨, 𝘼𝙡𝙗𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙖. 🌪️ 🌪️

See the poster below for the details!

20th- Warmup Race
21st- Saturday 1st Go
22nd- Sunday 2nd Go

Entries open August 1st.

Watch for more details 👀

SAVE THE DATE. SEPTEMBER 20-22, 2024

07/18/2024

07/18/2024

I so enjoy her run style, so centered and quiet in the saddle. Sherry Cervi and Lisa Lockhart also consistently quiet in the saddle. A pleasure to watch.

07/17/2024

I really resonate with Steve Young's approach to training. I like his methods, I also really appreciate the amount he shows of the interaction. Are the videos longer, sure. That is how you're able to truly see the changes and catch the nuance of what is transpiring.

This is a really great experience to watch, with such a tremendous outcome for this owner and her mare, Toast.

Problem loaders can be a real thorn, and be near impossible for some owners to manage. They can be deal breakers and they can be dangerous. Especially if there is fear and disrespect both in the mix.

Fear and disrespect in the same space, is the most volatile recipe for disaster. Without a solid foundation built on good ground work, trust and respect, you haven't got the tools necessary to mitigate a situation escalating when fear enters the picture.

In my years as a trainer, coach and mentor, I've had both the privilege and misfortune (depending on your view) to work with many problem loaders.

I've worked with horses that outright refused to load, horses that had previously reared, flipped over, set back, horses that took upwards of an hour to cajole aboard, previously only loose loaded, first time loaders, and have worked with horses that had been in a trailering rollover accident the last time trailered. Always with great outcomes.

In every scenario, focusing on fundamentals of respect in the groundwork, getting control of the feet: leading the feet, leads the body, guides the mind, this is where trust is built. Once you have that, you can mitigate and manage fear. Now you have a horse that neither fears nor disrespects being asked to load up.

How do you keep a willing loader, willing? Help make their experience aboard a good one. Hay, water, safe footing. To be frank, be a good driver.

~ E. X7 Performance Horses

07/17/2024

The Alberta Stock Horse Association would like to announce a change to the show format October 16 - 20, 2024!

The finals show will now consist of the Jensen Silver Futurity, Year End Horse Show, and for the first time ever, ASHA will be hosting a Hackamore Classic instead of the Derby.

The move is largely due to the growth that ASHA is seeing across the board with entries, and the desire to keep event schedules optimal for our competitors and their equine athletes.

The Hackamore Classic is designed to showcase the traditional cow horse evolution. This event will host both the Open and Non-Pro riders and top 4 & 5 year old horses as they compete in the traditional hackamore headgear through the herd, rein, and cow events.

07/13/2024

07/12/2024

Mark Johnston, one of the most successful trainers of the modern era in Britain, joined forces with his son Charlie last winter and things couldn't be going better for the father-and-son team in their first full season holding the licence together. The Middleham team sent out 100 or more winners for...

07/11/2024

Just a friendly reminder, just because your horse hasn’t coughed, refused the gate or bled out their nose, doesn’t mean they haven’t bled or aren’t bleeders. This heat is brutal! If they bleed out, chances are they’ve been bleeding back for awhile. Trying to breathe with blood/ fluid in their lungs is a scary feeling for them! Getting strong, running off or diving at barrels is a good sign. Giving Lasix is easier on them then bleeding 🩸💉



We treat your horse as a whole 🙌🏻
If you don’t know where to start-
• Enter a race with a vet on site to have your horse scoped after your run. It’s cheaper, more convenient, and more accurate.
• If they scope with mucus or blisters, ask your vet about a allergy panel or pulling a BAL.
• No money is wasted when taking care of their lungs! 🫁

🚩🚩 If they are bleeding through lasix, stacking meds isn’t going to help. There’s an underlying reason as to why they’re bleeding. Do your vet work before stacking meds!