Little Orchard Equine

28/02/2025

321 days of pregnancy for Calli today. Signs are currently still pointing to baby being a couple weeks away

27/02/2025

Unpopular Opinion!

It’s totally fine to avoid the thing your horse is scared of.

Wait wait! Hear me out!

Yesterday I was riding and the wind was blowing worse than in the Wizard of Oz.

And my younger, generally more nervous horse was handling everything great.

However, there was this one piece of equipment that had been parked by the arena in a different spot and it just felt sketchy to her. She never outright spooked, but she was very looky at it and just didn’t trust it.

I stepped on and she was wonderful everywhere else in the arena but by that piece of equipment.

I had a decision to make.

I could do the ‘traditional thing’ and drill her by that thing until I made the ‘right thing easy and the wrong thing hard’ and she got over the piece of equipment.

Or…

I could just ride elsewhere in the arena.

I chose the later. And here’s why:

Ultimately what I wanted my horse to learn yesterday was that riding in the gale force winds is no different than any other ride.

If I had made a big deal out of that one piece of equipment I would have taught her that riding in the wind was stressful.

Instead we had a lovely ride on the other side of the arena, we even got some of the prettiest canter transitions yet, and she stayed under threshold every time we came around that side because we were far enough away she could eyeball it, but not truly pay attention to it.

When we ended the ride I walked her by the scary thing for good measure, and she poked around at it and that was enough.

Did I teach my horse she could ‘get away’ with being afraid of something? Maybe. If you ask some people.

But what I see is I taught my horse these things:

✨She can still trust me to keep her safe in stressful situations
✨ I hear her when she’s uncomfortable
✨ Riding in the wind is no big deal and she can still be lovely and obedient to my aids
✨ The scary thing never jumped up and bit her - so tomorrow it’ll be less scary

Sometimes it’s totally ok to avoid a scary thing, to teach something else in the moment. And I’d put money on it that the next time I ride, wind or no wind, that piece of equipment will be no big deal at all.

21/02/2025

Day 312 of Calli's pregnancy! We are counting down the days until we have a foal!

The due date is at 330 days, but the foal could arrive anytime between 320 and 370 days realistically.

That means it is time to play the guessing game! What day will it be born and will it be c**t(boy) or filly(girl)? Winner will get to meet the baby, and will get an ice cream cake!

28/01/2025

10/01/2025

This is why when the horses are doing something including any of these behaviours (as well as spooking) we take a step back and check if there is perhaps a pain trigger! A horse who is not calm and willing is trying to say something, and we are responsible for listening

A tough pill to swallow:

Many of the behaviours that equestrians attribute to their horses being excited for work or enthusiastic are actually expressions of stress.

Unlike animals like dogs (who are predators), horses are natural energy conservers.

The evolutionary purpose this serves is to ensure that they retain energy should they need to flee from danger.

Because of this, horses don’t spend a lot of time “wasting” energy needlessly.

While they do still play, these types of behaviours tend to be short lived, with lots of small breaks in between and aren’t the same type of explosive release of energy that we see in videos of riders sharing their “excited” horses who are bucking, bolting or rearing.

Understanding how horses function and behave as flight animals is key to being able to show up as the best horse person we can be.

Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation in the horse world and outdated beliefs.

Research has shown that even elite level horse people, professionals and lifelong horse owners often mislabel horse behaviours and attribute stress behaviours to signs of happiness in the horse.

So, next time your horse displays explosive behaviour, consider the fact that they may be overstimulated or stressed rather than excited.

07/01/2025

Trotting ponies!

I am not overly concerned about them being able to trot at this point. I mostly bumped them up so that they would feel like they are allowed to go forward, as I found they were both a bit reluctant in earlier rides. Especially Boo.

Boo now has 10 rides. Has a pretty good idea of how riding works, and is starting to get wide enough due to pregnancy that she is feeling less than comfortable in the saddle. Because of this she will be groundwork only until after she has her foal.

Goose is at 5 rides! (Maybe 6, but the last time I sat on him was on lead for pictures). He has a very good grasp of forward and steering. We trotted this time to help get some focus, as he was nervous and tense because ice was falling off the arena roof. Giving him some extra questions helped him come back to me and stay engaged. This is useful, as he tends to freeze and check out when worried so I want him to check in with me, and hopefully feel ok to continue to move forward, and I don't mind if he speeds up either.

They are doing super and I am having fun training. I always like starting my own as I have as much time as I want and there is no feeling of being rushed or pressed for time, which sometimes happens for client horses. But, I am happy to take on 1 or 2 outside horses if someone wants to send their horses through my program! We build confidence 1 step at a time.

06/01/2025

Broodmare update!

We are getting very close to foaling season! Horses are pregnant for around 11 months (approximately 330-360 days).

Calligraphy is now a week short of 9 months along, and we are expecting her foal before the end of March!

Sequoia is just about 7 months along, and due end of May (she has historically foaled around 350 days)

Boo is about 6.5 months along, also due for the end of May or early June.

Which foal are you most excited for?

01/01/2025

Happy New Year!

It's been a great year! Can't wait to get started again with students, clients and horses new and old for 2025!

19/12/2024

Christmas is coming!

Do you have someone who is interested in riding lessons, but hasn't taken the step yet?

If so we have just the thing! Gift certificates for 2 or 4 lessons available now until December 31 2024.

These lessons will be redeemable from January 1 2025 until September 1 2025. Send us a message for details!

09/12/2024

08/12/2024

It’s that time of year!!! The barn is full of elementary kids! My favorite part to be honest.
However, when you send your horse off to a c**t starter, I think there is some confusion about what you are paying for. First, everyone has different goals. Completely understandable. For that first 60/90 days. ( don’t even speak of 30, it’s just dumb for everyone) Maybe your goal is to ride them in Medora with your family this summer, maybe to send it to a specialist and go futurity, maybe you want to do lot of the training but that first ride just gives you nightmares, (understandable) maybe your goal is just to ride the thing this year. Remember though, that c**t starter is not just an insurance policy that you won’t end up in the hospital with a broken bone because the first ride didn’t go so well. Yeah, hopefully as a professional we are stickier than most, but that isn’t the job. Yet, time and time again it gets treated like that’s all it is, therefore should be cheap and quick.

Which is why it is a dying art.

We get asked all the time; how many rides will he have in 60 days? How long do you ride her every day? I can’t answer that. It isn’t a paid by the hour thing. It’s a feel thing. Sometimes Princess might be in the arena for 16 hours honestly, she might take many hours of sweat and hard core work, sometimes maybe I might put her away after 15 minutes. It cannot be said enough, horse training is a feel. Where does this feel come from? Yeah talent but gosh; years of work, years of learning, years of mistakes, of accomplishments, of tears, of frustrations, of sleepless nights. It’s knowing when to s***k on one, when to back off and just be quiet. When one needs to go outside and trot down the road, when it just isn’t ready to for a full arena just yet. It’s experience and guidance bottled up into an art that I can now put into your c**t. A pr***en that came in barely handled and turn him into something that can now be ridden, potential seen, and on his way to being a real member of society in just a couple months. That is what you are really paying for. If we say your c**t needs more time or give you advice on what do do with your young horse please please Listen. This is just the beginning of your horse’s education, most would argue the most important. We that like riding c**ts are here for the horse, or we would charge what we are really worth.
Ash

27/11/2024

Took advantage of the tolerable temperature and rode youngsters today.

Ride 3 on Boo and she decided she knows enough that she did not need help on the ground (thank you Brittany for being the best ground person!) Has forward mostly on demand, steering mostly figured out, and stopping.

Gooseberry had his 2nd ride. Walked 2 circles and practiced quiet dismount (last time he struggled but I suspect the saddle we used didn't fit quite right)

The bite sized sessions make a lasting impression on them so I can pick up where I left off in a week or 2

18/11/2024

Now that it is officially cold out, it is time to let riders know that riding lessons will continue through winter depending on temperature.

If the temperature drops below -20°C we will leave the horses outside and do theory instead (theory is important! Especially for riders planning to lease or own a horse in the future. We cover many topics!)

I will announce this to individual classes day of.

16/11/2024

Lunge horses with me!

Boo is beautifully forward and pretty good at a downward stretch at walk and trot. Lately she tends to have her hindquarters slightly to the middle of the circle which ends up with her nose to the outside. Anytime my rope gets tight while lunging her this is what is happening. She went on to have her 2nd ever ride afterwards and was very good. Starting to wean her off the groundperson

Goose was very distracted. First time lunging outside at this barn. First he wanted to eat, then look at friends, but he still tried real hard. You'll see he is quite wiggly and not able to hold himself super straight yet, which is normal for a horse his age. He also struggles with dropping his head at trot which is why I bring him into the in hand position to help him out. Often if he is struggling he will pit himself into the in hand position so I can help him.

Grateful for horses in training that don't mind working only once every week or so.

08/11/2024

Had a working equitation course set up this week for students, decided to have my youngsters explore it. Unsurprisingly only the bridge (mattress under a heavy green tarp) got a sideways glance. But it became an easy task once they saw me go over it. (As you can see Goose even tried it while free).

Other objectively scary obstacles I had were a rope gate, a wooden bull and a spear, and a small jump.

For anyone wondering, I do not do any "desensitizing" as you may see on the internet with people bringing things to the horses and making a deal of them. I simply treat everything as if we have seen it every day and the horses tend to accept that they are not a big deal. (Goose I raised so he is used to seeing whatever strange things I bring out. Boo has only known me since June, and yet they both react similarly).

03/11/2024

HORSES IN TRAINING…

You pay that hefty training bill for the month.

You look to have you horse in training as little as possible so it doesn’t break the bank.

You’re disappointed when after 30 days or 60 days or 90 days, there’s still more work to be done or the goal hasn’t been met. Worse yet, it looks good, you take the horse home and it unravels piece by piece. All that money “wasted”.

When you pay a trainer, that money isn’t paying for a result, it’s paying for someone’s skilled effort.

At least for me, when someone gets unhappy that their horse “isn’t fixed yet”, or comes “untrained” after it’s been home a while, makes the task of training horses for other people, discouraging. Discouraging because the efforts are being made, usually my best efforts that are filled with compassion, determination and lots of ruminating on how to fix complex issues a horse may have. Their disappointment becomes my failure basically. I know that’s not an actual truth but it’s never rewarding when someone is disappointed due to their own expectations.

Training a horse is NOT like being a mechanic on a car. Its not a tune up, it’s not the simple replacement of a part. It’s an animal with thoughts, feelings, emotions, habits, talents, etc. You don’t just program them, tune them up or replace a faulty part and send it back good as new.

You arent paying for results to happen within your timeline, you are paying for the time it takes to reach a desired result. The more complicated the project, the bigger the investment. The more baggage a horse has, the more effort it takes to unravel the mess. The bigger the goal, the greater the investment.

People send their horses to certain trainers because they want the outcome that trainer proves they can achieve. The problem is, people want that result in the shortest time frame possible because time, again, is money. It takes the time it takes to create the vision and time costs money. People who have a diy mentality, value the effort so much more when they themselves invest their own energy into a horse rather than just paying for it. I really feel that those who do it themselves, come to appreciate the efforts it takes far more than those who sign the check.

Be nice to your trainers, they work hard for you and your horse!

Written by: katy Negranti
Katy Negranti Performance Horsemanship