The Red Pony - Horsemanship

11/09/2025

In mijn lesgeven zie ik regelmatig paarden die licht gebogen staan met hun carpus (knie). Tijdens pauzes tussendoor kan het dan zijn dat er tevens een lichte trilling in het been optreedt.

Een gezond paard heeft geen trillende benen, ook niet na een klein beetje inspanning.

Deze manier van staan wordt ook wel 'over at the knee' genoemd. Hoewel dit in sommige gevallen aan conformatie (bouw) kan liggen, is het in mijn ervaring bijna altijd een symptoom van caudale voet pijn, met andere woorden pijn in de hielen, waardoor een paard op de tenen afwikkelt en staat.

Als we het been optillen, vinden we ofwel een nauwe, samengedrukte achterkant van de voet, ofwel overgroeide steunsels, een diepe, pijnlijke middelste straalgroeve, een rotte allesoverwoekerende straal, of andere ongemakken die ervoor zorgen dat een paard de druk op de hielen zal willen ontwijken. Soms lijkt het alsof de smid al een soort van wist van het teveel aan druk op de toon, en als snelle oplossing dan maar een stuk van de teen heeft afgeknipt. Nu heeft het paard helemaal niet veel meer om op te staan.

Een eenvoudige, maar goede bekapping met oog voor vervorming en hiel comfort zal al een zucht van verlichting veroorzaken bij deze paarden, letterlijk genomen. Daarna is regelmatige opvolging nodig.

Ik zal dit altijd benoemen in mijn lessen, en als de eigenaar ervoor openstaat kijk ik samen met hem of haar naar de hoeven, overleg ik met de huidige bekapper, of kijk ik of ik het paard kan opnemen in mijn eigen bekapbestand.

Bron: 'Anatomy of Equine Bodywork' door Debranne Patillo

10/09/2025

MMO 1st Challenge: TRAIL

The trail was the first test of the weekend. Knowing how lost in detail I can get, I had prepared for the global picture and the time-factor.

I remember my knees turning to mush while coming through that gate for the first time and approaching the 1st task, and then June whinnying. She suddenly felt alone coming from the warming-up arena, and I was more worried about my knees than with her. Her calling helped me come back to center, and the 2nd task, circling 2 times in trot, worked out well.

Then there was a fluttering curtain, which we hadn't had the chance to practise, and so that was a no-go. Remembering how much trouble June has had with understanding tree branches in general (clearly no trees in Nevada or in the BLM holding stations) I wasn't surprised and didn't pursue it. Looking back I would have had about a minute to work on that a bit.

Coming to the bridge I got to smiling again, while June showed off what now seems to have become her signature-move, standing on the pedestal and looking around proudly. She loves the stretch. I looked up at her and just had to reward her, even if the bridge was meant for walking over instead of standing on. I saw her up there, relaxing in the feeling that she was right, and looking so beautiful. Looking back, this is where we forgot the audience for the rest of the weekend.

is really the only competition where you get scored on your horse's expression, reading your horse in the moment, your timing, feel and level of trust. I love that. A big thank you to the judges , .viviangabor and

📸 , , .steinert

09/09/2025

Bij nieuwe aanvragen werk ik met een Kennismakingsconsult. In 1,5 uur bespreken we wie jij en je paard zijn, wat, in hoeverre relevant, jullie geschiedenis is, waar de uitdagingen liggen, en wat jullie doelen zijn. Ook bespreken we het management van je paard, de manier van paardenhouden, en evt. medische geschiedenis. We besluiten samen of we wel of geen match zijn.

Wat mijn beweegredenen zijn voor deze manier van werken, in plaats van gewoon een uurtje les doen terwijl we elkaar nog nooit ontmoet hebben?

1. Ik werk holistisch. Het hele paard is belangrijk. Ik kan gedrag niet scheiden van het lichaam en het verdere leven van een paard.

2. Vaak merk ik dat mensen doen aan 'instructeur-shoppen' en compartmentaliseren. In een wereld van consumentisme is hier ogenschijnlijk niets mis mee. Je zoekt naar wat bij jou past, op dit moment.

De moeilijkheid ligt hem alleen in dat les 'geven' en les 'krijgen' geen transactie is, maar een samenwerking. Je kunt het succes van lessen niet kopen; het resultaat dat je behaalt met je paard hangt af van de tijd die je als student zelf bereid bent te steken in jouw partnerschap met je paard - in en buiten je sessies om. Om die reden word ik lichtelijk onwel als ik het woord 'lesklant' hoor. Ik zie mijn 'klanten' liefst als cliënten of als studenten met wie ik een relatie opbouw gebaseerd op wederzijds respect.

Goede 'klanten' respecteren onze tijd samen, de tijd die ik voor hen reserveer en vrijmaak, en nemen eigen verantwoordelijkheid. Ik word niet verantwoordelijk gehouden voor het proces tussen hen samen of onverwachte hobbels op de weg, maar ik loop mee en begeleid. We blijven communiceren en doen niet mee aan een steeds dominantere 'cancelling culture', waar 'ghosting' het nieuwe normaal is.

Er vindt weliswaar een transactie plaats, maar zoals een meditatie-leraar me eens zei: "dit is enkel nodig omdat we in een maatschappij leven waar mentale schaarste heerst. In een ideale wereld zou je willen dat mensen je betalen naar de waarde die zij voelen die jij brengt. In het Westen wordt dit helaas niet begrepen".

***

www.theredpony-horsemanship.com

***

05/09/2025

Was it all a preconceived plan to take June home? Did I always intend on buying her?

These are some of the questions that I got in the past few days.

In all honesty, I did not know that I would ask my friend to bid till Sunday afternoon. The whole thing was nerve-wracking.

Everyone who knows me, knows that I care. This is true. No horse that I ever had in my hands is "just a training horse". I don't really know what this means if I hear people say that: 'just' a training horse. Because, really, if they are in my care, I am going to treat them like my own.

Am I too emotionally involved?

In my professional career I trained a couple of hundred horses, of which 150 were wild, with no owner, and I had to say goodbye to all of them. And I did, with the proud heart of a teacher who saw their students fly out, knowing they would be ready and OK to face the world and their futures. 'Go you', I would tell them before they left. 'You're the best'.

The past few months I've come to love the word 'Wegbegleiter' in German. Because this is what it is. We join the horses for a bit, until they are ready.

I think every good horseman ought to be empathic, and if not, or not anymore, it is probably best to find another job. In horsemanship, it is the difference between feel and mechanical training; the difference between a horse merely 'doing' what we ask, and doing it because they want to. Feel and mechanical training looks different. The horse will look different.

It is what I hope to inspire my students with every day, because everyone can learn it. It can be magical, but everyone can learn feel. If you really want to.

I did not know that I would bid on June before Sunday afternoon. What I did know, is that I didn't think she was ready to fly out, and that I felt responsible. And yes, I do love her. Very much. I will never apologise for loving horses.

Photo Credit: 📸

Thank you so much.

03/09/2025

A big thank you to all of the volunteers of Mustang Makeover Germany who made this weekend possible for us trainers, so that we could present our horses in the smoothest way possible. From the excellent and super yummy hay, to the people hurrying to the showground's gates for us, to the guys at the Abreithalle, to the people putting work in the Livestream... I've felt the MMO mission, the 'Begeisterung' and respect for these horses in all of you.

Thank you.

31/08/2025

What happens backstage! Waiting for our turn today with Merel, who came to help us all the way from Drenthe. Yesterday we had the trail and the "dressage", and today is the final show.

You can't really prepare for a stadium. Training doesn't necessarily get you a relaxed horse once you're in there. You can do as many repetitions as you want, ride as often as you can, but still relaxation can evade you.

Harmony was my biggest goal for the weekend. To make a winner out of June and to not ask her for things she can't do.

We had the trail test yesterday, where I couldn't really feel my legs but she still did the best regardless of me not really helping, and the 'dressage' where she couldn't have been better.

As always, I have flashbacks to moments in my horsemanship journey.

2016: "take care of your horsemanship, so your horsemanship can take care of you".

2017: every interaction you have with a horse, is training. Don't let them feel like they are being trained

2018: encourage the horse to see you as a place of peace

June does me proud. I hope I do right by her.

Thanks
for being part of the team!

29/08/2025

Our last update is Online. We loved the journey, and we are going to have a great weekend in Aachen. June is already a winner for me 🏆

26/08/2025

I wanted to thank everyone who was there last Friday, and especially the hosts of the evening. I received so many little messages, DM's and emails from people who were there, who were touched and could see the little things that matter to the horse. I really felt that we were with a group of like-minded people.

It took a long time for me to get here, where I feel like the right people know how to find me. Where I don't feel like I need to over-explain and justify the horsemanship, where people can see the difference between a soft horse and a horse that does what we ask, but is braced while doing it.

Ten years ago, when I returned to horses after concluding my Masters and Post-Grad program, I didn't want to be a horse instructor. I wanted to stick my neck out for refugees. Not many people know that I did my masters research in a Kenyan refugee camp. I had my head full with injustice. I thought changing the world had to be big.

Somehow, I was led back to the horses. And there were parallels between what I had studied and what I saw in the horse world - the horses, like refugees, often, still, even though a lot has changed already, do not have a voice. They still, in the end, need to 'do what we want'.

Wild horses will tell you, sooner or later, that they need their voice heard. VHL's Bright June is a good example. I'm happy that she was there with me, for the past months, and whatever happens in Aachen, I am grateful to her for the opportunity to bring people together who can resonate - because it is in community, in finding similarities more than differences, that the horse world changes for the better. And man, how that change is still needed.










Mustang Makeover Germany

22/08/2025

Horsemanship is not new.

Dr Temple Grandin is one of the best known animal scientists in the world. She grew up in America, and she is autistic, which means her brain works a little differently to most people’s. She often says she “thinks in pictures.” This helps her notice tiny details about animals that others might miss.

Most of her career has been spent improving how cattle are handled on farms, making systems calmer and safer. (Which is why many farms have safe handing pens for cattle on farms today)But her ideas are just as useful when we think about horses.

Temple reminds us that animals don’t see the world the same way humans do. A shiny puddle, a flapping jacket, or a garden chair in the wrong place might look like danger to a horse. Horses are prey animals, always on the lookout for threats. What seems silly to us can feel very real to them.

As she explains: “Horses have to see the same object from all angles. They don’t automatically transfer learning from one side of their brain to the other.” In other words, a horse that walks calmly past a wheelbarrow on the left rein may still shy at it on the right.

For coaches and riders, this matters. If a horse spooks or refuses, it isn’t “naughty”, it is reacting in the only way it knows. Our job is to slow down, let the horse look, and give it time to learn.

Temple also talks about how animals respond to pressure. A gentle aid, released at the right moment, helps the horse to understand. But rough hands, loud voices, or constant pushing only build fear. As coaches, that means showing riders how to be clear but kind, guiding, not forcing.

And this links horse welfare with rider welfare. A calm horse gives the rider confidence. A frightened horse makes the rider nervous. By putting the horse’s feelings first, we create safer, happier lessons for both.

Temple Grandin may have made her name with cattle, but her lessons about patience, clear signals for animals are pure gold for anyone who works with horses. When we see the world through the horse’s eyes, we become better kinder horsemen.

21/08/2025

This photo was made by a kind lady spotting us. We are having such fun and heartwarming encounters with people - telling the story of the mustangs. When people see the freezebrand there is so much interest, kindness and compassion.

What I love about travelling longer distances with young and inexperienced horses is not just the hugely beneficial impact that the exposure of their senses has on their brain and nervous system, but also how much passers-by get a smile on their face seeing us, not just the kids.

Somehow, having fun and being in harmony radiates outward. Horses like to travel, they are made to travel; it's in their DNA. And it turns people's heads wherever you go.

19/08/2025

Het aftellen is begonnen. Op 30 en 31 augustus zijn wij met

Wil je er last minute bij zijn? Dan kun je met mijn trainerscode MANDY-10 nog kaartjes bemachtigen met 10% korting.

👉https://tickets.mustangmakeover.de/

Ik verheug me op een weekend van uitwisseling, paardenwelzijn, en partnerschap met onze Mustangs.