Equine Freedom Solutions

04/23/2025

So glad there are other people out there who see that real horsemanship is on the decline and is being replaced by this type of BS. A confused horse is either a flat-out dangerous horse or a numbed-out horse that will be dangerous when it snaps out of it.

Fantasy Horsemanship: Where ‘Doing Nothing’ is Marketed as Mastery 💸

“A safe space for humans. A weird time for horses.”

Once upon a time in a paddock not-so-far away, a horse dragged its owner across the arena to a hay bag.
And lo, the guru said:
“Did you see that? He’s finally feeling safe enough… to express his autonomy.”

And the crowd nodded.
For they were moved.
And the horse, dear reader, was not. 🙄

Welcome to Fantasy Horsemanship — where dragging, balking, spooking, and shutting down are framed as spiritual breakthroughs.
Where confusion is revered, clarity is oppressive, and stillness is sold as “deep integration.”
Where your horse is not trained — but interpreted. 🎭

Let’s take a closer look…

1. The Guru Speaks (And You Stop Thinking)
In this world, the guru is your translator.
You don’t learn to read your horse — you learn to believe his reading of your horse.

A tail swish becomes trauma. A head toss? “Reclaiming boundaries.”
And a shut-down horse staring into space?
That’s “sacred integration through parasympathetic recalibration.” ✨

It’s not horsemanship.
It’s interpretive spirituality with a rope halter. 🧘‍♀️🐴

Sprinkle in some polyvagal jargon, somatic buzzwords, and vaguely-academic pseudoscience, and suddenly everything makes sense… except your horse.

2. Feeling > Function
“I feel more connected.”
“My horse gave me a soft eye.”
“We just stood together and cried.” 😭

Lovely.

But did your horse stop spooking at the mounting block?
Can he walk forward when asked?
Did you learn anything… practical?

Of course not.
Because in Fantasy Horsemanship, progress is an emotional experience, not a behavioural outcome.

If you cried, it counted.
Even if your horse is still stuck, shut down, or silently screaming for guidance. 🐎💤

3. No Tools, No Plan, No Problem
“I could use a tool… but that would betray the trust.”
Translation:
I don’t know what to do, and I’ve built a philosophy around that.

No leadership? Enlightened.
No aids? Ethical restraint.
No plan? A bold rejection of the patriarchy. ✊

Doing nothing is rebranded as depth.
The guru has no method, no map, and no measurable outcomes — and that’s exactly how he likes it.

Where there’s no criteria, there’s no failure.
Only more feelings. 😌

4. The Guru Believes His Own Bull$h!t
And here’s the real kicker:
The guru isn’t running a con — he’s running a one-man theatre production he believes in deeply. 🎤🎭

You’ll see a horse lurching, lame, shut down, clearly miserable —
and he’ll whisper, misty-eyed:

“Wow. That was amazing.” 😍
He’s not evaluating the horse.
He’s performing a show.

And he’s too high on his own narrative to notice the horse is tragically unsound and about to file for emotional leave. 📋

5. Your Horse Is Not Your Life Coach
“I’m forever changed.”
“He unlocked something in me.”
“We breathed together under the stars.” 🌌

Lovely.
But your horse still won’t load on the float.

He’s not your therapist.
He’s not your mirror.
He’s not your trauma doula.

He’s just a horse — trying to survive a training session that’s turned into a TED Talk narrated by someone who’s read one too many somatic healing blogs. 💻🐴

He doesn’t want to co-regulate.
He wants clarity.
And maybe a carrot that doesn’t come with a full emotional disclosure. 🥕

6. Bonus Truth: When Fantasy Replaces Vet Checks
Here’s what Fantasy Horsemanship won’t tell you:

The only time horses aren’t easy… is when they’re unsound. 🚫🏇

Pain changes behaviour.
Discomfort makes horses emotional, evasive, or disengaged.

But instead of checking for pain, lameness, or imbalance, the fantasy reframes it all as “emotional blocks.”

And for women — especially those not feeling strong in their own bodies — this becomes a trap.
When movement feels hard, stillness feels safe.
When strength feels distant, softness becomes the story. 🧘‍♀️🕯️

And suddenly, both human and horse are stuck.
One in pain.
One in fear.
Both being told they’re “healing” — when really, they’re just avoiding.

7. And Still, the Horse Pays the Price
Behind the hashtags and healing mantras is a horse who didn’t ask for this.

He doesn’t get trained.
He doesn’t get listened to.
He gets filmed mid-meltdown while someone whispers,

“This… is integration.” 🎥😬
He’s confused.
He’s burdened.
He’s trying.

But nobody notices.
Because everyone’s too busy being deep.

8. Epilogue: The W**d That’s Spreading
This isn’t just one guru.
Fantasy Horsemanship is everywhere. 🌱🔥

It spreads through spiritual marketing, emotional manipulation, and the promise of transformation without accountability.

It appeals to those who want connection but fear discomfort.
It flatters women conditioned to be agreeable, self-doubting, and endlessly apologetic —
those trying to people-please their horse into loving them,
dreaming of a ba****ck beach ride with wind-blown hair and 100% safety. 🐎🌊💨

But your horse isn’t looking for magic.
He’s looking for someone who knows what they’re doing.
Not someone side-tracked down a rabbit hole to nowhere.

Final Thought
Horses are beautifully simple.
They don’t need make-believe — they need meaning.
They don’t want therapy — they want to be understood as horses, not projected humans.
They don’t care about your journey — they care if you can help them feel safe. 🧠❤️🐴

They are easy to train.
Easy to make feel secure.
Unless they’re unsound — or the human is untethered.

So if the fantasy is fading… if your horse is still wary, still stuck, still waiting…

That’s not failure.
That’s reality knocking. 🚪

Answer it.

Find someone who teaches real horse training and treats you with respect.
Learn to understand horses — and build the skills to influence them.

Because when the fog lifts and the narrative dies…

It won’t be the guru standing with you.

It’ll be your horse.
Still confused.
Still waiting.
Still hoping you’ve finally shown up —
not with a story…
but with a plan. 🐴✔️

If you’ve climbed out of the fantasy rabbit hole — or realised your horse biting you wasn’t over zealous engagement but frustration — you’re not alone. Tell your story. Let’s talk about it.❤

If this said what you’ve been thinking — share it. If it said what you wish you wrote, still… share it. With credit. You’re welcome. 🐴😉

04/15/2025

The barefoot trimming students got to work alongside the forging and farrier skills students on Saturday. We were divided up into teams of 2 - a barefoot trimmer and farrier working together on a horse with each horse receiving a half set of shoes in the front.

My partner was Mike, and our horse was a super sweet mare that was toed-in in the front, and worse on the right side. Mike started by mapping out her front hooves and then trimming them up. Afterwards, I mapped and trimmed up her rear hooves which weren't that bad. Then Mike put front shoes on her and the relief she expressed through yawning, licking and chewing showed us just how uncomfortable she had been previously. We left her tied with the other horses and took a break for lunch.

The way I approach a horse for body work is that I let them present to me what they want worked on. I might see other places needing work, but I do not work on them unless given permission. Horses are actually pretty smart about the order in which things need to happen for them to experience relief. This mare was not presenting anything to me when she was first brought in.

After lunch, I had some time to kill, so went back to check on our little mare. During lunch she had some time to adjust to the changes made to her hooves and had a lot to tell me about it. The right front hoof had created a diagonal tension pattern that presented itself as tightness in the left poll. She also had not been comfortable relaxing the left hip and leg due to how it was uncomfortable to put too much weight on that diagonal right front. I helped her release her poll to her satisfaction and then she had me work on her lumbar back which was tight and rather straight with little flexion.

After the work on her hooves and the bodywork, she was standing much straighter in the front and was even relaxing the left hind. When we got to watch her move, she was moving much more fluidly and was able to flex the lumbar area.

04/14/2025

Learned and practiced hoof mapping on cadavers to locate the tip of the coffin bone and point of breakover. After we did our measurements, the E.L.P.O. instructors would then cut the hoof in half using a band saw to see how we did. I took photos at an angle where you can clearly see the coffin bone and my mark on the bottom of the hoof where my measurements said the tip of the coffin bone would be. The mark 1/4" above is where I marked point of breakover. What really impressed me was that everyone in the class was doing well with this which just proved how accurate this system is!

04/12/2025

In beautiful Colorado Springs studying barefoot trimming at the Equine Lameness Prevention Organization.

11/26/2024

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlIMwJWuCJI

Join Cathrine Hunter on a journey to reshape the way we connect with and care for our horses. With decades of experience and a passion for horse welfare, Cat...

11/04/2024

04/27/2024

What am I looking for when I look at a horse during an evaluation?

There are several things that I am looking for when I am evaluating a horse for a client. I felt that sharing these things with everyone would be helpful for horse owners and trainers. These are not in any particular order.

1) Does the horse have good weight? Pretty self-explanatory I hope.

2) Can the horse stand still? A horse that cannot stand still is usually a horse that is experiencing physical discomfort.

3) Is the horse standing square? Square does not just mean the front hooves are parallel to each other and the rear hooves parallel to each other. It means the horse is balanced over all 4 hooves. When the horse is balanced over all 4 hooves and standing on flat ground, the cannon bones will be perpendicular to the ground. The horse will not be camped under or parked out, both of which are considered abnormal compensatory postures. The most common cause I have found for a horse being camped under is underrun heels. A horse that is not able to stand square is often a horse that struggles to stand still and is shifting its weight around from one leg to another.

4) Is the horse base narrow? When looking at the horse from the rear, are the hooves under the hips, or are the hooves close together? The cannon bones should be parallel. A base narrow horse is like an upside down triangle and can trip easily, especially during tight turns, due to being unbalanced. Most base narrow horses I've seen are usually also camped under.

5) Does the horse stand with any of the hooves pointing out or turned in? This is usually a result of a medio-lateral hoof imbalance or injury.

6) Are the tuber sacrals (bony bumps on the top of the hindquarters) pronounced or uneven? If they are pronounced that can be the result of undeveloped muscle on top of the hindquarters, underrun heels in the rear hooves, or it can be from a hunter's bump. If they are uneven, one will sit higher than the other when the horse is standing square and can be caused by injury or a medio-lateral imbalance of a rear hoof. Both hooves could be experiencing medio-lateral imbalance, but one more so than the other.

7) Are the tuber coxae (bony bumps on side of hips aka, point of hip) even when the horse is standing square? You can check by running a piece of baling twine from one to the other and then standing on something to look down on the top of the horse's hindquarters. If the baling twine runs crooked (one side higher than the other) then they are not even. This can be caused by injury or a medio-lateral imbalance in the rear hooves.

8) Does the horse's hindquarters or front end lean to one side? The horse should not look like the leaning tower of Pisa! I once worked on a 4th level dressage horse that had this issue in the rear. It can be dangerous due to the horse being unstable and possibly stumbling when going through a turn or circle.

9) Does the horse pull its tail to one side while standing or while at a walk, trot? There are numerous reasons this can occur from unbalanced hooves, injury, unbalanced rider, saddle pinching nerves along the back...

10) Does the horse have shoulder pockets, and if so, to what extent? This is an indicator that the horse is not able to use its hindquarters correctly for some reason, a saddle that is too narrow, or the horse being forced into a frame.

11) Does the horse have a dip in front of the withers at the base of the neck? This is an indication that the horse is not using its hindquarters correctly and therefor is not able to lift its thoracic sling. It can also be an indicator that the horse is being forced into a frame.

12) Does the horse have grooves running down the sides of the hindquarters near the rear that are visible from the back and sides? These grooves are common with horses that are camped under. A horse with these grooves is overworking its hamstring muscles and isn't stepping under itself well.

13) Is one pectoral muscle larger than the other or sit higher? This can indicate that the horse has a rolled barrel which is mostly caused by a rider incorrectly mounting from the ground repeatedly. It can also be the result of a medio-lateral imbalance in the front hooves.

14) Does the horse clamp its tail against its buttocks? This is a sign of discomfort, especially if the back is sore since the tail is a continuation of the spine.

15) Are the nostrils pulled up to where it creates wrinkles or do they look relaxed? Wrinkled nostrils is a sign of discomfort. Sometimes it will only be one nostril, but usually both.

16) Does the horse look made up of angles or is the horse round and smooth looking with quality muscle development? The top of the hindquarters should not be flat, the haunches should not look sunk-in.

17) When walking, does the horse flex the lumbar spine and step under itself? The lumbar spine acts like a shock absorber and if the horse is not flexing it then it can develop sore hocks, stifles, and SI joint. Usually culprits of a horse not being able to flex this area are repeatedly being forced into a frame, being ridden in a saddle with panels that are too long, poor rider position in the saddle, underrun heels. The horse will also looked "upside down" meaning that back looks sunk with a protruding belly and the underside of the neck will often be overdeveloped.

I hope this helps everyone! If you feel your horse is struggling with any of these, please contact me or another knowledgeable, skilled equine professional to help you develop a plan of action for correcting these. Correcting these will help ensure your horse is comfortable and sound throughout its life and into old age!