Taylor Monje Training, LLC

02/07/2024

Dry turnouts after 2” of rain sure do make a girl and her horses happy

09/10/2023

Who doesn’t love a good roll after running around on a crisp September morning 🐴🍎
Saguaro quickly realized it was time to come in for breakfast

08/02/2023

Our new boarder, Cassie, enjoying her morning turnout before the heat of the day 🌵

We have 1 stall available on September 1st for Full Care board

06/20/2023

No filter needed for last nights sunset 🌅

06/15/2023

Cruzin’ on Cruz 🌊 First time cantering in the arena. We have a lot of fine tuning to do but I am loving the impulsion and willingness from this young horse Thank you Remy for helping me bring these boys along 💪🏼

06/10/2023

Addressing Spooky Items 👻

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve ridden a bad spook or taken a nasty fall over the dumbest things like a tarp or plastic bag blowing in the wind. Instead of addressing the scary item, many people will avoid the spooky tarp or ‘evil corner’ of the arena to save themselves the trouble of a blow up. Unfortunately that only solidifies your horses stance on the item or area…avoidance becomes the correct answer.

The trouble is that many people think big $$ will = no spook. They either don’t have the time, understanding, or the desire to train spooking issues. A lot of horses we ride (even the very nice, expensive ones) are not desensitized to basic barn items until it comes time to put a saddle on them at the age of 2 or 3. By that age, many young horses have their mind made up about certain things and a large part of their general personality is developed. They may have experienced traumas in the pasture or stall that leave them worried about otherwise normal things. They may have gotten caught up in fencing and now panic when they feel pressure or slipped and fell in some water and now they are convinced that’s where dragons live. Whatever it may be, it often is out of our control until they are in our care years later.

Bodhi is the first horse I’ve raised since he was a baby. Because I have spent the better half of my riding career ridding everyone’s spooky, flighty horses, I promised myself that I would one day find a way to either buy or make my own horse…my way. Well this boy fell into my lap after an vendor couldn’t pay me for lessons (which was sadly a common occurrence) and I traded 2 weeks pay for a stringy little grade c**t she didn’t want. If you know me this isn’t shocking at all to acquire other peoples throw-aways. Since he was weaned, I have spent months exposing him to everything I can think of. Trucks, chickens, bouncy houses, broken shade awnings (Thanks Otto), tire swings, kites…the list goes on. Bodhi is a naturally cautious but curious horse and he often shys away from things before he makes an effort to investigate. I would consider him one of the more level headed horses I’ve owned. One thing he has been, to my standards, overly cautious of is tarps. Typically when I am working through a spooky item I will have the horse in hand and guide them towards it the item and allow them to investigate it. If they try to leave I have some control to help redirect them when they are ready. But with Bodhi and tarps there was no way he was going near a tarp in-hand. Being a strong yearling c**t I knew I needed a new strategy that wasn’t going to traumatize him or get my hurt.

I put the tarp on the fence and left him alone in the round pen. He spent 20 minutes avoiding it and spooking any time it moved. Once he relaxed, had his head down and seemed unbothered by the flapping blue death tarp, I started to lunge him like I do every day and eventually he made an effort to get closer to the tarp. I never put pressure when he was making an effort. I lunged him like it wasn’t even there. If he wanted to stop and walk towards it then that’s what he was allowed to do. Within 10 minutes of me allowing him to do his own thing at his own pace, he had picked it up with his mouth dragged it around and and then walked over it on his own. Shortly after this was the result…happily cantering over the blue tarp of death.

The moral of the story is that young or old, cheap or expensive every horse is going to find something scary at one point or another. It’s our job to react accordingly to make them feel heard and safe. Avoiding an issue will only solidify your horse’s intuition to be scared of that item and reinforce that behavior. When in doubt, let your horse figure it out on their own. Put them in a small round pen or paddock when they can’t hurt themselves and put the item in there with them. I find that we often spend too much time forcing them to not be scared when really they need to figure it out for themselves. There is no learning in force.

-TM

06/09/2023

Remy & Flick make loping look easy 🐴

06/06/2023

Much needed bath for this big baby 🐶

05/07/2023

Flick loves his Jolly Ball from Chewy 💙

04/28/2023

🐴🥕Full Care Boarding & Training🥕🐴

We have 1 stall Available for June 1st

Private Full Care Ranch in Apache Junction

10x20 Shaded Seven Peaks Stall
Included with board:
~Fed 2x daily in weighed hay nets (Alf/Berm)
~Guaranteed 20lbs of hay per day
~Cleaned 2x daily
~Daily Turnout
~Lunch Supplement/Grain Fed (Pre-Bagged)

Facility Amenities 🌵
~Owner/Manager Lives On-Site
~Quiet & Clean
~Peaceful Environment
~120x80 Sand Arena
~Direct Access to Superstition Mnt Trails
~Round Pen
~Wash Area
~Locking Tack Room
~24/7 Surveillance
~Fully Fenced and Gated
~Zero Drama
~Lessons & Training Available

Coming soon…⏩️
~Private Boarder Tack Room
~Shaded Tack up Area
~Matted Wash Rack

04/13/2023

Miss Ripley is settling in so well. She loves her neighbors and had a great turnout this morning. Can’t wait to start working with her and her awesome owner, Tasha 💜

04/08/2023

Oh Bodhi 🌳
How is my baby going to be a 1 year old next month ❣️

✨Some highlights of his training so far✨

-Loads & unloads
-Lunges at a WTC in the round pen
-Changes direction to the inside
-Lunges Walk Trot on a line
-Backs up off a shake of the lead rope
-Ties and stands quiet for hours
-Lifts all feet and stands quiet for the farrier
-Allows a fly mask and sheet
-Loves having a bath
-Absolutly zero mouthy behavior and takes treats like a gentleman

Looking forward to the future with this awesome c**t

04/06/2023

Full Moon 🌕

03/29/2023

Just a heads up, we are completely full for training and boarding. We will have 1 training space available in the Fall. Thank you for supporting my dreams and trusting me with your beloved horses. I truly feel like I hit the jackpot doing what I love in my backyard 🌵❣️

03/28/2023

Another load of dirt delivered! Excited to get 4 more stalls put up before summer comes 🌞

03/21/2023

Here’s how Cruz feels about the rain today. Same bud, same. 🌧

03/12/2023

Lots of fun out on the trails today with the gelding trio! Otto did a great job showing the young guns how to handle themselves in the traffic & rocky terrain. Saguaro did amazing for his first time on the trail at only 5 years old & I’m thrilled to see Angus sound and enjoying the trails too. The weather was perfect and the views were spectacular as usual 🌵⛰❣️

03/09/2023

Little sneak peak of this beautiful mare we will be listing next week… 🦄 Isn’t she stunning 😍
Solid, Sane & in your pocket all around/trail type mount

03/09/2023

Today was a rough day. It is never easy to say goodbye to a horse. After some concerning findings during a lameness exam, we made a very difficult decision to send Little Sister to an amazing breeding facility in Oklahoma to be used as a recipient mare for the next generation of barrel horses. I really believe every horse deserves to have a purpose, especially a young & healthy mare such as Sister. I am beyond proud of Katherine for never giving up hope in finding the light at the end of the tunnel for her horse. From professional training to body work to endless concoctions of supplements…we explored every avenue to find an answer to what ailed Sister. Sometimes we come into a horses life too late to make the difference seek. But I can guarantee that through all the hard and trying times, Sister was one of the most well loved, absolutely spoiled horse I have ever met in my life. Any horse would be lucky to have been loved by Katherine ❣️

Safe Travels Little Sister! We are all rooting for you 💜💜💜

03/02/2023

02/25/2023

Watching these two in the turnout is always entertaining. Young, dumb geldings playing their games. I’m really not even sure what’s going on here….

02/18/2023

Full hay nets = very happy horses 🐴

02/08/2023

Love this view 🐴🌈

01/31/2023

In case you didn’t catch a glimpse of my crazy week last week..

Last weekend we had a huge scare with my heart horse, Otto. After I had fed dinner I noticed he was standing quietly next to the feeders and letting the babies chow down on his alfalfa…something I have never seen him allow. I took him out to the round pen and immediately noticed his labored breathing and head tossing as a sign of pain and within a few minutes he was down and not getting up. We rushed him in on emergency to our amazing vet in Queen Creek and confirmed he had an impaction. The cold weather had put him off his water and allowed the food he was eating to dehydrate in his colon leaving it unable to pass. We had no idea how long he had be dehydrated. He was tubed and sent home with good prognosis. We had to watch for p**p then he could have small hay feedings & wet mash. Well, after a completely sleepless night and only 1 runny p**py in 12 hours we brought him back in for more testing to rule out infection or even worse, gut twist. Thankfully, he was gaining hydration & was making progress passing the impaction. Came home after an extra long trailer ride to get his gut moving and watched him closely for another 24 hours. Thankfully Otto passed the impaction a few hours later and he is on the mend to healing his gut.

I have been completely beside myself with the thought of losing my best friend. I have had Otto since I was 15 years old and can’t imagine my world without him. Moving forward, we have made a very tough decision to fully retire this big boy and let him live his life in 24/7 turnout with the babies. The combination of arthritis, hind gut weakness, and changes in weather are posing too tough for this stoic old man to handle even on his good days. I’m my horses only advocate and it falls on me to make the hard choices for him—even when I rely on those lessons to pay my bills. My horses will always come before my business because I would not have what I have without them. They are worth more than a few $100 here and there from my lessons.

So here’s the the old horses who have carried their weight time & time again. May we honor them & let them live their days with dignity. They are worth everything and then some

01/26/2023

Private Full-Care Boarding in Apache Junction

We pride ourselves on caring for your horse like they are our own...

Our Amenities Include:

-Fully Private Gated Facility
-Owner On-Site
-Lessons & Training Available
-10x20 Shaded Paddocks
-Locking Tack Room
-80x120 Sand Arena
-Direct Trail Access from Ranch to State Land (Superstition Mnts)
-High Quality Hay Fed 2x Daily + pre-bagged grain/supplements
-Daily Stall Cleaning
-Daily Turnout
-And More!

Zero Drama. Happy Horses. Peace of Mind.

Contact Taylor for Pricing and Questions

480.670.5353