Valencia Training Facility

03/05/2024

Smiley

03/05/2024

Do something you love today💕

23/04/2024

Embrace all you new adventures “little Audrey” , We miss you!

02/03/2024

March 2nd….58 degrees…

01/03/2024

29/02/2024

Beautiful afternoon with Lusitano Azul and owner Caitlin.

05/09/2023

Gwen…of course you want to be a horse trainer! Best job in the world. ADORABLE!

14/08/2023

Well worth the read.

I love the word incisive. in·ci·sive - adjective, intelligently analytical and clear-thinking I don't use it often but yesterday Claire Barker made this incisive comment, "I see a lot of "PhD" level horses with elementary school riders, and they are SOOOO shut down." regarding riders not working to achieve unity with their horse. There were also several comments about how sad it is that so many riders never feel that feeling of unity.

Claire's comment on how riders who sit in the saddle with no sense of unity is indeed sad, but the "shut down" part about the horses is even more heartbreaking. It got me thinking again about how money undermines horsemanship and how dangerous that is becoming. Riders are dying and being injured because they have the money to buy a PhD horse and they haven't learned the skills that keep a horse like that awake and agile. They have the money for the best instruction but very often a wealthy person's idea of "the best" means comfort, status or the ability to win without the fundamental skills.

The other side of that coin is that riding instructors need to make living and wealthy students are often not into "no pain, no gain". It is difficult to teach a rider who is entitled by their wealth and sees a trainer as a service vendor. No pain, no gain becomes "here's a big check, I expect gain". I have been there and because I need to live with myself more than make a living (I live very cheaply) I refused to teach students who refused to take the time to do the things that make a rider secure and safe on a horse, which is probably why I learned to live cheaply.

It's simple, a dumbed PhD down horse that starts to phone in their performance is dangerous. A PhD horse, forced into dullness by elementary school riding, gives up on unity and accepts aloneness. Sitting on a horse as if you are a passenger on a bus, makes your horse into a bus, and because your horse has become a bus that has no driver, only has a passenger, it is safe to assume a crash will come. No one seems to be telling the wealthy students that this is the truth of it. Thank you Claire for your incisive comment. It caused me to see the problem more clearly.

Scissors cuts paper, paper covers rock, rock... and money kills truth.

08/08/2023

What a fun morning with Audrey and Jasper.

23/06/2023

Congratulations to Audrey Rooney and Gabby Papineau for competing in their first show at the Croixside dressage rally. Both girls have ridden with me for years and as you can see by the pictures below they rode beautifully. I am so proud of the girls and their horses Jasper and Luka.

05/06/2023

Welcoming Genesis. He’s a 9yr OTTB adopted from “This old horse” by Angie S. I’m looking forward to working with him and showing his progress.

04/06/2023

I’m expecting great things the next few rides together. Emma Dalzell Shayla Fox

27/05/2023

Emma Dalzell with 4yr Dracarey BP.

27/05/2023

Brillante 5/26/23

27/05/2023

Never doubt the perseverance of a young horse that against all odds amazes me every day.
This is Brillante my 6yr Andalusian gelding. In 2021 at 4 years old he was exposed to strangles. His temp ranged from 105 to 107.3 and he was taken to the U of M and placed in solitary confinement. He was so sick. He lost hundreds of pounds and against all odds he survived.
2022 he was diagnosed with ringbone in his right hind. Shortly after that he sustained a secondary injury to his right stifle. Possible tear and laceration. Secondary injury took priority and took months of walk and rehabilitation work.
As for the ringbone I was offered a few suggestions medically. As we all know many people feel it’s a death sentence in the horse world. I know this all too well because I had to euthanize my 17 year old Andalusian last year due to ring bone in the front leg which had progressed quickly and was very painful.
With Brillantes ringbone in the hind I plan on working him throughout his treatments. Shockwave treatments along with a Adequin, joint injections and daily equioxx. I am bound and determined with correct work in hand, lunging and mounted work I can show the importance of keeping your horse in training and active whether they are recovering from an injury or have been diagnosed with a long term ailment. The mounted trot work was videoed 5/26/2023 which I will attach.

27/05/2023

Emma Dalzell and Aventura BP

13/05/2023

Sunday morning with Rachel and Smiley

13/05/2023

Azul and Caitlin, it’s fun to be teaching again.

06/05/2023

Alex and her first trail ride Smilie!

29/04/2023

What a nice surprise to see this from Karen Freitas. Thank you for putting a smile on my face today:)

20/01/2023

How lucky am I to come across an article about Tori Gagne in Equestrian Living magazine. I was so happy to see Inceno (Encino) in the portraits she chose to use to show her work.

09/01/2023

It’s so cute!

12/10/2022

What would I do without my “Emma”? First time on a lunge line mounted and 3yr Dracarey offered this pretty little trot. Starting work has been inconsistent to say the least so I am very proud of this little guy. He’s going to be something.

05/10/2022

Fall afternoons

05/10/2022

Working on canter departures with Mary and Denzel.

11/09/2022

Sunday morning enjoying watching Gabby with Luka and Alex with Grand.

11/09/2022

The curiosity along with trust when mounting your 3yr old for the first time never grows old. Dracarey, bred by Kim Pittman and owned by me! Such a nice horse💕💕