Leslie's Force Free Horsemanship

10/06/2025

Do you have a horse that is a fast walker, is anxious or tends to get way ahead of the group on a trailride?

If you find yourself holding them back using the reins, or needing to constantly stop them by pulling them and then holding them there, try this!

1. Teach them a good verbal woah first (reinforce them every time they stop)
2. Extend the amount you ask them to stay stopped.
3. Start reinforcing them each time once the rest of the group has caught up.
4. Watch as they start to initiate the woah and wait for the group to catch up on their own 🍪👏🏻

Works like a charm and zero drama necessary

10/04/2025

When instructing new riding students, the focus should lie on correctness, not domination or strength.

Too often I see students being taught "gentle but firm" but then told "get after him", "don't let him get away with it", "more leg", "be the leader!" or I see students who were clearly taught to immediately pump up to higher pressures, if the horse doesn't start going at 0.2 seconds, bump them.
To any new riding student, whether they're younger or older, this is not going to make them better, more ethical riders who are also effective with light cues. Instead, it's simply going to continue to normalize harsh treatment of horses, make dominance theory more ingrained, and leave horses frustrated and dulled out.

It's time to instead normalize teaching students that when their horse isn't responding, it's not because they're not being firm enough, but because they're being unclear with their signals, their horse is mentally struggling, or because they're physically unable to do so.
In any ethical riding school, the answer usually is going to be the first one. Since no school horse should be so burned out that they "simply don't want to" anymore. And if that is the case, again i think it's time to change the program, or give your horse a break.

When I started learning about horses as a young girl, It was engrained into me that "it's never the horses fault, the fault lies with the rider" and yet, as I grew up around horses the more I realized, how very few people truly follow this mindset.

Really it's usually easy fixes in a riding school setting. A horse isn't walking forward on voice and light leg cues? Are you sure you're not lifting your reins and tightening your seat? chances are that's what's causing it.
Your horse is refusing to turn the corner? Chances are you're telling them to go right with your reins, and outside leg, but your inside leg or seat is telling them to go left.
Fix those details and voila, suddenly the horse is responsive, and there was zero need for more "firmness" (which really often means just kick or pull harder).

So while "gentle and firm" is a good concept, the practice of it is sadly often backwards. I much prefer "Gentle, and with Confidence" with the biggest focus on "ask correctly".

07/13/2025

Excellent comparison!

07/10/2025

Can we just stop with the stupid 20% rule already? If you are riding endurance then I guess it applies, since that number was created by the cavalry.

But here’s the thing, if your horse is 200 pounds overweight, that certainly does not mean that your horse is capable of carrying 40 pounds more rider, then if he wasn’t. Some people say to go by the Horses ideal weight, but do we have to calculate for his extra weight?

OMG, all the people suggesting draft horses or crosses!!!! Just stop!!!! You can occasionally find a draft horse that is well-suited for a large rider, but the average draft horse is built to push! Not carry 🤦‍♀️
They are not known for the best saddle area, can be hard to fit, and some of them are quite short in the thoracic and long in the loin, which is fine when pulling a cart.

If you are a heavier rider, please look for a roping bred, quarter horse! Roping horses are bred to drag a steer off the saddle horn. And many roping horses have much longer careers than you would expect for such a difficult discipline 

When looking at individual horses look for wide, short loins, and something that would fit in a full quarter horse bar saddle.

Oh, saddles …. Oh yes, a big western saddle is heavier than an English saddle, but it also distribute the weight across a much larger surface area. (again, some common sense that the 20% rule does not take into consideration).

If you want to know, if a rider is too heavy, watch the horse’s hips and stifles. Oh, if they are dropping both hips, or if the stifles look wiggly, that’s often a sign that the Rider is too heavy.
If the Rider is posting and the horse looks a little lame and the Rider changes diagonals, and now the horse looks lame on the opposite leg, that could either be that the writer is too heavy, or that they are landing too much on the cantle of the saddle (this happens often when the thigh blocks are too aggressive)

I found this picture in an online article of the team roping Journal. Photo credits are included.

07/07/2025

Turning a Natural Horsemanship exercise to an R+ one!

(Note: all halter pressure seen here was originally behaviours that were taught with R+ and then transferred to a tactile cue. Its important for the horse to understand what these pressures mean beforere attempting such an exercise)

In natural horsemanship, this would’ve been taught with pressure and release, but I wanted to see if it’s something that can be used in R+ as well, as I do like what it teaches the horses! Perhaps this is an exercise that can become a regular part of my young horse basics!

07/04/2025

What trimming looks like when you focus on consent/relationship/reward or science based, force free horsemanship.

There are many benefits to working with your horse in a force free manner. Of course, for one, you get a willingness and enthusiasm you’re not likely to find otherwise, and you get open two-way communication with your horse. Because of that you also get a horse that is very safe, and has increased patience.

But when you want to truly be force free and focus on building a relationship with your horse that is based on the horses actual willingness, not just them doing the tasks you asked of them because ‘that’s what they were taught’. Then you do have to learn how to accept “no”

And yes, learning how to accept “No” from our horses, and letting go of the constant need for control can be very challenging for many! We’re so conditioned to make sure our horses are responsive and “well behaved” that we sacrificed equal communication for it.

Which is ironic, since the most responsive, and soft horses I know are the ones that have a choice.

But one of the most important lessons to learn is that, the more you allow your horse to say “no” the more they will say “yes!”

07/04/2025

From Reynaldo Salazar…

“When my instructor repeats to me: 'Straighten your shoulders and open your chest!’ It doesn't just teach me how to have a good position. It teaches me that in life you must always walk straight and face the problems with your head up.

When my instructor asks me to lower my legs and keep them very close to the horse, he teaches me that in life there are no distractions allowed and that it takes little to deviate from your path.

When my instructor tells me ‘Too much hand, don't hold on to the reins!’ Teach me to give and not to take, with the utmost respect for others.

When he puts the deep voice and repeats myself infinitely: ‘Look forward in the direction you want to go!’ He teaches me the importance of setting goals and never losing sight of them to realize them.

When I ask to move to the rhythm or the higher movement and my instructor says I'm not ready, he teaches me that in life you must always respect your rhythm and never burn the steps.

When I fall and come back I learn that there are always setbacks and moments when one gets excited, but the important thing is to get up more determined than before.

If I hold my breath and he says jokingly ‘Breathe! Are you purple!’ I understand that you have to let go of emotions in order to get rid of them.

And if at the end of the class I am happy with the work done, my instructor tells me ‘Bravo, thank your teacher, the horse.’

Now, you who look pass a rider/amazon ridden, think that horse riding is not sport and I say: I agree with you

Horseback riding isn't just a sport. It's a great lesson in life.”

07/03/2025

How to horrify every professional trimmer and farrier out there🫣
But hey, whatever it takes to trim comfortably for both of us.

07/02/2025

It never ceases to amaze me how much smaller George makes himself for me. 🥹

It’s so easy to forget how big he can be until he raises himself up to full height to see into the distance.

Makes me wonder how absolutely magnificent he’ll be once he can carry himself stronger

06/28/2025

The last bit I’ll ever own.

I don’t usually involve myself in the bit vs. bitless debate. Despite having strong opinions regarding it, this is a topic I usually just address with clients in person, or people that ask for my opinion, where nuance can be expressed.

However, yesterday, I rummaged through some old tack and horse bits and bobs and spotted this one.

This bit represents the start of something huge for me. It was the last bit I ever owned, it was the last bit I ever used.

Going bitless was a catalyst for my journey into force free horsemanship.
Having played around with different bits and bitless bridles over the years, there was a moment I decided to take the plunge. We just moved, and I decided the move was a good moment to just say “F*** It” and just take the bit off my bridle, chuck it in a bin and replace it with a proper noseband.
It was around that same time I had another “F*** it” moment and decided to use food to try and solve a training problem I had for years, despite everyone saying “never use food”. At that point I had nothing to loose anyway.
The change I saw in my horse from then on, pushed me down the rabbit hole, and resulted in where I am now.

Now personal journey aside, I have become a huge proponent for going bit-less for nearly everyone. At this point there’s not a single horse on our homestead that has a bit, and hasn’t for years. I encourage all my clients to go bitless too, and try to support that journey as best I can.

And honestly, the primary reasons for it are simple.

• You don’t need a bit to do anything with your horse. You just don’t, not for steering, stopping, fine riding, collection, etc. So why not go bitless?

• The max *potential* of pain and discomfort is way lower for a bitless bridle compared to a bit of the same order

note that I am saying *potential*.
yes you can absolutely cause pain with a bitless bridle. Riding bitless doesn’t fix unkind riding, but it minimizes the amount of pain you can cause, either by accident, or by ignorance.
Could you be kind with a bit? Yes, you absolutely can be. However, the reality is that very very few people are skilled enough to truly use bits in a manner that never causes the horse discomfort or pain. And even in those cases, there are unpredictable moments where you’ll accidentally hit that bit with enough pressure to cause discomfort and pain. A level that is much much lower on a bitless bridle.

So while it is vital to ensure we educate ourself to become soft, clear, effective and kind riders no matter whether you use a bit or not, bitless can be a wonderful change for your horse, and I notice that if you do it right, it actually makes us better riders, trainers and horsemen too.

06/28/2025

There is no such a thing as "bombproof horses", if we want these horses to remain...just horses, that is to say naturally reactive prey animals who instinctively tend to remain always alert, with this being a fundamental trait of their species specific needs in order to survive.
Consequently, horses being truly horses will always notice and be careful about any new stimuli or potential threat to their animal mind: yes, they can surely learn to calmly investigate it instead of simply reacting, but they will always remain alert and they just won't tolerate what is simply too much for the mind and instincts of a prey animal.
So, horses not reacting at all instead to anything, no matter what and no matter how, are simply completely shut off because of the learned helplessness: by the use of forceful training methods like Flooding, they simply learned to have no escape at all from whatever they may have to endure, they learned to have no way to avoid it and so they finally end by passively accepting anything without reacting.
But not because they aren't scared or bothered by it anymore, but just because they know to have absolutely no choice...
Well, surely not something to be ever proud of, reducing horses to become just some sort of programmed robots without any autonomy and real life left in them 💔

Picture credit: Fed Up Fred

06/24/2025

There’s a fine balance between taking it slow and getting stuck.

It’s easy to accidentally get stuck with our training, especially when our own hesitations come into play.
We have to find the balance between taking things slow, without becoming stagnant.

It’s easy to accidentally get stuck with our training. We have to find the balance between taking things slow, without becoming stagnant.