Leslie's Force Free Horsemanship

04/07/2025

This is how a first time being tied should look like!

Note how the horse isn’t hard tied to a panel, tree or on a patience poll, pacing, pulling back, whinnying and in distress?

Set the horse up for success, by teaching them a tactile cue or how to relief pressure BEFORE you tie, by not tying them for long periods right off the bat, by building a positive association with food, and supporting them with your presence and attention.

With this in place, you can now build up to hard tying, longer periods of being tied, being tied with less supervision, and being tied in all kinds of places.

04/05/2025

This is why the value of our food reinforcement is so important.
This is why we should use low value food as regular reinforcer (Jackpot rewards are the exception)

Despite being one of the most given advice by experienced R+ trainers, it is still the most common mistake done by R+ newcomers.

🍪🚫High value food is the number 1 cause for pushy behaviour on horses. Because it tends to create anxiety, frustration, confusion, etc. (not to mention, it’s coercive)

You can see all of those here, the very moment high value food was being used.
The instant we switched back to low value, Dolly immediately relaxed again.

🌿🌱👍🏻As low value as possible, that’s the food we want to use to ensure happy, calm, confident horses.

*Note that what is considered high value vs. low value is going to be different horse to horse. Texture, Taste, novelty etc. is all going to factor in and can change for depending on the season, environment, diet and so on.

So feel free to experiment with different types of food and see what works best for you and your horse!

04/03/2025

This resonates so strongly with me!

I’ve read in one of my studies …

A theory of why (especially) women fall in love with horses so badly.

And it was something about women finally feeling the empowerment of controlling another being, because they are so controlled by men in society. They are looking upward, jealousy, to the mens power, but with horses they are finally able of executing the same power over other beings, the horses.

And I think this is bu****it.
(And I bet the study was directed by men).

The woman I am and the women I met tell another story.

Women love horses because they find themselves in them.
They find softness, authenticity, fairness, care and strength in them.

Women love horses because women are like horses.
Not the captivated, silenced, suppressed and broken ones.
But the wild ones.

The ones who are not meant to be tamed. Who are meant to be free.
To cause thunder on the earth with every hoofbeat. To dance with the wind, be fleeting and violently beautiful as they race with the storm.
To be as soft as the whiskers and as loving as the mares, to cherish their families, their nature and home, and reach for the endless horizon.

Women who love horses.
Souls who run totogether in perfect harmony.

03/30/2025

Resist the urge to pull/push on your horses when they are unsure!

I think people are so concerned about not letting their horse “get away with it”, to be ‘the boss’ or accidentally rewarding unwanted behaviours, that they tend to immediately push and pull their horses around whenever the horse stops or gets stuck.
Most of the time all the horse needs is to take a moment to process and understand what’s happening.
Let them hang out and allow them do so! Especially for the youngsters this is so important!
It may feel counterintuitive, but if they’re allowed to calmly process, investigate, respond to a situation that is concerning to them, it actually helps build their confidence long term.

This falls into the same mindset as pushing a horse forward when they are seeing something worrisome on the trail.

I think often people create more issues when they start pushing on their horses in these situations. When the sympathetic nervous system is active (when the horse is nervous) and you push on that horse, the change for them to attempt to flee, or fight increases. That’s when you get into more trouble than necessary.

One of the lovely benefits of Force Free and positive reinforcement based training is, you have an alternative way to reinforce your horse than just the release of pressure! Worried about making sure you’re rewarding them for the right thing? Use food, scratches, and praise to reward the ‘right’ response, rather than adding increased pressures.

03/04/2025

When the arena is too soft to ride in, we take our Lessons on the trail.

It’s good to switch it up sometimes!
Our trails are windy and hilly, with lots of obstacles, which means it’s going to be a very different experience than the flat arena. It allows the students to get a completely different feel for their seat, balance, and aids. Plus they can practice the stuff they learned in the arena, in a new context.
Because in the end, the goal is to become not just kind equestrians, but also effective ones.

02/23/2025

Notice something?

Remember this?!
Match the rider to the picture.
I’ll post the version with the correct answers in the comments soonish.

02/11/2025

“ if you spook at it, you wear it as a hat”

Instead of flooding your horse, here’s an alternative of what to do when your horse spooks at something.
“If you spook at it, I’m going to work through it with you and build positive associations for the future”

When I brought George back to his paddock George, he spooked at the sled I used this morning to feed the big herd. He’s never really seen it before, and it makes a scary noise, especially when it’s behind him.
He has a really good recovery from scary things, due to his training history, but while we were walking back, I took the opportunity to work with it anyway.

Here’s the things I purposely do in this video:
- I remove the leadrope to give him freedom to move if necessary. This also gives him added confidence because he has a history with choice and control at liberty (do this only in a safe environment)
- I pick the sled up and walk past him, so to not spook him again with making noise in a position that’s more likely to trigger a flight instinct.
- I put it down in front of him, where he can see what it is, and make it less scary.
- I reinforce any curious interaction or calm behaviours.
- I verbally encourage and support him
- I gradually move in to his side, where it gets more scary, as opposed to starting there.
- I don’t overdrill it until he’s perfectly “calm” A couple positive consequences, and nothing scary happend, is often enough. Let him process it, and next time it won’t be nearly as scary. Over exposing can do more harm than good.

02/10/2025

This is why it’s so important to work on emotional regulation with your horses.

To be able to go from running around, kicking up their heels, wound up, to standing calmly and quietly while a human stands under you.

Now this isn’t just useful when you want to play with your horses and then do their trim.
But it will also help when your horse spooks, when the vet is here, if you end up in an emergency, when they’re feeling hot & energetic, and many more situations.

01/12/2025

Exposure is just one factor that plays a role in creating a calm horse. But it sure is a big one!

It’s important though ‘how’ the horse is exposed to unfamiliar things.
Allow them to experience these new situations in a safe environment, with their buddies as support, and somewhere where they can explore it at their own pace, and remove themselves from it if necessary.

01/09/2025

A open letter those within the R+/horse-centered/LIMA/force-free/kind/ethical/compassionate equine community:

We can disagree without there being hard feelings.

We can disagree without it being personal.

We can disagree while remaining respectful and kind to one another.

We can disagree while valuing what the other person is bringing to the table.

It’s important as a community that we are able to talk about things, bring ideas to the table, share our thoughts, and have disagreement without causing widespread dissension.

We can hold another professional in high regard and treat them with respect, while strongly disagreeing with them on certain points. I know there are many professionals that I speak highly of, that I also disagree with in certain areas.

Not only is this critical for the survival and furthering of ethically minded training (as well as other professions within the equestrian community), it’s important for representing the very thing we are such advocates for!

Kindness, compassion, consideration, empathy….

For people too.

I don’t say all of this to imply we should never disagree. It’s important to disagree. We will never move forward if we never disagree, if we never exercise reconsidering positions on things, if we never are put into the uncomfortable position of change.

Disagreeing is important. Being disagreed with is important.

But as we know, being confronted with conflicting ideas or information to your beliefs and what you have been practicing is uncomfortable. And all too often we redirect this discomfort at the person making us feel uncomfortable with their opinions and information.

All I ask is that we pause before we react.

-> You don’t have to agree with everything you read or hear or see, but for the sake of the health and future of our community, please treat others with kindness and respect.

-> And when someone disagrees with you? It doesn’t mean they don’t like you or respect you. It’s okay for people to disagree with you. You are still a valuable, important member of this community that we want to hear more from! ❤️

12/15/2024

I believe part of the reason why self-regulation is so often not addressed in horses is because most people don’t know how to address it. Additionally, it is difficult for trainers to teach it, because It’s something that takes patience, intuition and feel.
Even though trainers can help owners with by providing insights, by offering different approaches and pointing out the right moments, the reality is many people simply prefer to be given a simple solution. “Do this, and you’ll get a horse that will self-regulate” and the reality is, that’s just not how it works.

Now teaching the horse self regulation isn’t complicated, but it requires consistency over longer periods. You cannot expect the results in a couple sessions of “training”.
Instead, what’s required is good welfare, a healthy environment, the 3 F’s fulfilled, trust from the horse in people, trust from the handler in the horse, the patience to allow the horse to process things, empathetic training, and the willingness to wait for the results to show.

This is especially true for older horses. A horse that had the chance to develop this skill from a young age will have learned this quite a lot easier than one that has lived for a while in a constant dis-regulated state.
But then again, this is partially because we tend to have less expectations from a younger horse than an older horse. Even though a older horse that has never learned to regulate themselves, would be emotionally not as matured as a younger horse that has learned to regulate themselves.

Coming full circle, this leads back to people’s expectations for their horses and how training should look like.
It is why so many horses struggle with self regulation, and why so many equestrians don’t know how to manage it.

The solution? Changing the mindset of the equestrian world.
You can have a responsive, willing, confident and happy horse, with ethical training methods, and it doesn’t even require hours and hours of training.
BUT, you need to change how you view horses and their behaviours.

12/13/2024

Setting boundaries is one of the hardest things to learn when you’re starting to practice progressive horsemanship.
Having had the privilege of exploring my horsemanship in a safe space, I very distinctly remember the first time I went away from home with my horses and having been given unsolicited advice (which actually resulted in someone physically grabbing my arm and preventing me from giving my horse her food reinforcement after I politely declined their advice). To be able to stand true to yourself and your horses wellbeing in a moment of confrontation is incredibly difficult. Being prepared on what to say or do in such a moment will make this situation easier on yourself.
Lockie has some excellent examples in this post!
I especially love “No” 😉 remember that “no” is a full sentence!

Calling all caring horse people! You need some key phrases, in your back pocket. Key phrases, you have practiced and prepared, to help you navigate being a horse person in the world.
Specifically, to help you navigate being a horse person in the world who does not force, manipulate, over-pressure, scare, enrage or harm their horses and call that training.

Pop these phrases in your back pocket, and deploy them next time someone comes inappropriately into your space, having no idea that they are not entitled to being in your space, and they do so with judgement, or to patronise you.

You know the people who unsolicited come over to you, in person or online and say things along the lines of;

"Did you know that X means Y and you're supposed to do Z?... (insert something you're very aware of, and already taking action on here)"

"You're doing something dangerous (Insert you doing something quiet, peaceful and patient with a horse that you have carefully studied and prepared)"

"When are you going to ride that horse? (Insert you developing a horse patiently, as afforded by scientific evidence of skeletal development)"

"You are too soft with that horse (Insert you teaching your horse skills that are bounded and structured so that you never need brutalism to make your point)"

You see, almost everyday, I also get people coming inappropriately in my space. Always have. Most of the time, they have no awareness that they have come into my space in a way I dislike. Because nobody has told them. Or my boundaries are ones they have not met before. But it is still my right to communicate that to them, and reclaim my time, energy and space. People do not need ill-intentions, to engage in poor behaviour towards you. And if they do it to you, they are probably doing it to horses too.

When I was at boarding barns, it was constant. And now I am online, it is constant. I think I am succeeding in building a reputation where folks know that I am not a public figure running for political office that they are entitled to engage with and ask me to change (for them), and that I am a business owner and a human being that sets a standard for how people are in my space, in my energy, the same way horses have certain ways they like to be approached. So, it happens all the time. And I have a few phrase I deploy to protect my energy, my time and my space, have used them for years.

No guarantee the person you say these to is going to like you for saying them. Often, if they are not aware of their transgression, and are made aware, they will say that they have good intentions, good meanings, as a "Get Out of Boundaries Free Card". But again, good intentions are not good behaviours. The two are not always happening at the same time. So, these phrases are best used if you have consolidated your fawn response and you're no longer afraid of displeasing people that cannot be pleased, or who are shocked to discover that there are specific ways you want to be talked to, and ways you don't. And they are not allowed to behave anyway they want to you. Unless you entitled them to be all over you.

Here are some phrases to save into your back pocket, so that you can navigate being a caring horse person, in a brutal and entitled world, without losing your mind.

"Thank you for your concern. I do not share the same concern."
"I understand that your intention is good by doing X, but that message/thing you said is inappropriate for me. Thank you for giving me space."
"Thanks for taking an interest. At this time I am satisfied with what I am doing, and how I am doing it. Thank you for leaving me in peace with my horse."
"No, thank you."
"No."
"Hey, can we talk about this later, I am busy with my horse right now. Want to have coffee/lunch/dinner and talk about this calmly?"
"Can you please in the future wait for me to ask you for advise before making a comment?"
"Thank you. I am already aware of/know that."
"Thank you for caring about my safety. That's important to me too. I just have different ways to stay safe."
"I see how you can see that. I don't see it that way. But I don't judge you for seeing my situation differently."
"Thank you, but I have my teachers in place, I am not seeking unsolicited advise at this time even if it is well intentioned."
"Please do not speak to me like that, or engage with me like this."
"Thank you for respecting my space, my peace and leaving that to me. I will do the same for you."
"I know that you care/are interested/want to help/want to engage with me, but the way you are doing that right now, is inappropriate for me. That's a boundary for me, and thank you for respecting that."
"I don't need anybody else to like or agree with what I am doing, but I do kindly request that you respect my right to be different to you, and leave me in peace."
"Leave me alone please."

And if these clear boundary setting phrases don't work. DEFCON-5 is to simply say, with your shoulders back, chin up, and with calm eye contact, or clear written english...

"Please mind your own business."

12/08/2024

It seems like the theme this last week has been the topic of emotional self-regulation with horses.

I’ve had several conversations this week with clients and colleagues about horses and their ability or, more so, the lack of ability to self-regulate. It’s a widespread issue I come across. I feel that often, a lot of effort is placed into teaching horses compliance or to perform certain tasks/behaviours, but not enough effort is placed on emotional welfare, mental fortitude and teaching horses how to emotionally regulate themselves in the world we place them into.

Ask yourself: how many anxious horses do you know? How many spooky horses? How many that don’t do well in new situations? How many that can’t settle down once they’ve been riled up? How many feel like a ticking time bomb or appear to have big mood swings?

These are all problems with emotional self-regulation!

Horses that can self-regulate will be able to work through moments of anxiety. They come back to a calm state after a spook in a short time, won’t spook at every little thing in the shadows, and will handle new situations without, as we’d say, “losing their marbles.”

Now, keep in mind that there is a difference between a horse that can self-regulate and one that is simply shut down. The goal isn’t to have a horse that never reacts to anything, or that doesn’t show any worry or fear! If I have a horse that doesn’t show any response to being in a stressful situation, then I’d be seriously worried!
Instead, we’re looking for a horse that can, even if a situation is worrisome or even scary, think through that situation, place trust in their handler, and come back from that situation into a calm state.

Unfortunately, so many horses aren’t ever allowed to learn how to do so, and they end up overwhelmed in the situations humans place them into.

It’s our responsibility as their trainers, owners and guardians to set them up for success in our world!

12/08/2024

Isabell Werth on how success in the show ring “changes” horses.

Apparently, a horse going from calmly tolerating horses passing them or walking near them to pinning their ears flat back any time another horse comes close is evidence of “arrogance” and a sense of the horse knowing how talented they are…

Instead of, you know, a sign that the horse has learned through experience that competitions are stressful, other horses may be a potential threat and is now displaying signs of more discomfort than they previously showed.

This level of anthropomorphism is delusional and harmful to the horse.

Horses do not have the capacity to be “arrogant.”

They don’t know they’re winners.

They don’t even know how competition is structured, what constitutes a win and what the purpose of their travel around the world to compete even is.

Wendy, the horse, is simply displaying signs of behavioural change that speaks more for an increase of stress than it does for anything else.

I am so sick and tired of elite riders trying to rebrand communication of stress, pain discomfort etc as signs of an exceptional and successful horse.

The reason why so many competition horses behave in this way is because of the shared similarities in trauma… not because they win.