Twin Pines Performance Horses

01/15/2026

Most people don’t reach out for training when things are “kind of bad.”
It’s like couples therapy.
Nobody goes in when it’s just a minor disagreement. They go in when they’ve hit that point of
“Okay… something has to change.”

That’s usually what it looks like with horses too.
It’s not always some big dramatic blowup.
Sometimes it’s just that slow build of frustration.
The anxiety before a ride.
The constant second guessing.
The “maybe tomorrow will be better” that turns into months.
Tired of feeling like you’re always behind.
Tired of going to ride and wondering what version of your horse you’re gonna get.
Tired of that low key anxiety in your chest every time you swing a leg over.
Tired of loving a horse… but not trusting them.

And most of the time, when they message me, it isn’t just about the bucking or the spooking or the sticky lead changes.
It’s about the feeling of:
“I don’t want to fight with my horse anymore.”

It’s heavy carrying the responsibility of a horse you care about… when you don’t know how to help them.
It’s heavy wondering if you’re ruining them.
It’s heavy getting advice from ten different people and still feeling lost.

But what training should be about is giving people their peace back.

Because riding shouldn’t feel like a constant fight.
It shouldn’t make you feel defeated.
And it shouldn’t feel like you’re alone trying to figure it all out.

01/14/2026

🚨 Clinic Poll! 🚨

If I host a clinic at Twin Pines soon, which one would you be most excited about?

1️⃣ Liberty (foundation of what goes into liberty work)
2️⃣ Soft Feel + Body Control (shoulders, hips, steering)
3️⃣ Confidence Clinic (spooky/anxious horses)
4️⃣ Intro To Reining
5️⃣ Cow Work Intro (dry work, flag work, possibly live cows)
6️⃣ Tune-Up Clinic (fix the holes or polish for show season)
7️⃣ Trail Obstacles + Real World Prep

👇 Comment the number(s) you’d attend!
Also tell me what weekend days work best for you.

01/13/2026

A topic that comes up almost daily at the barn is emotional regulation…
Buckle up this one is a little long…

The more years I spend doing this, the more I realize that so many “issues” aren’t actually training or behavior issues. They’re nervous system issues. They’re a horse being mentally past their limit, and nobody noticing until it shows up as something inconvenient. Spooking. Rushing. Bracing. Getting heavy. Getting reactive. Not standing still. Not wanting to load. Not wanting to be caught. “Attitude.” “Disrespect.” All the labels people love to throw around.

But most of the time… it’s not a horse trying to be bad.

It’s a horse that doesn’t know how to come back down and regulate.

A lot of humans don’t know how to regulate their own emotions or to come back down either. So it makes sense that we sometimes miss it in horses, we’re taught to override it. To push through it. To outwork it. To make the outside behave so we can feel like we’re in control. But that’s not the same thing as having a horse that feels safe enough to think.

There’s a difference between a horse that is “obedient” and a horse that is regulated.

I’ve ridden some horses that can hit every button, stop hard, move fancy, do all the things… but mentally they’re hanging on by a thread. And if you know what you’re looking at, you can feel it. You can feel the brace in their body. The tightness in their jaw. The way their feet are moving like they’re trying to outrun the feeling they’re in. They’re not present. They’re surviving.

You can’t train new information into a horse who is in survival mode.

You can make them perform. You can make them comply. You can make it look right.

But you’re not actually building anything solid until you’ve taught them how to regulate.

Some of the most important work I do with horses doesn’t look like much from the outside. It’s not dramatic. It’s not a highlight reel. It’s the quiet parts, the moments where I ask them to just stay with me. Not physically… mentally. To take a breath. To soften. To stop moving their feet and stop running from their emotions. To figure out that pressure doesn’t always mean panic. That being corrected doesn’t mean being punished. That the world can be loud and imperfect and they can still stay steady.

Because a horse that can regulate their emotions is a horse that can learn. And a horse that can learn is a horse that can become safe, solid, confident and reliable in more than just one arena on one good day.

And honestly, I think this is why I’ve always been so obsessed with foundation. Not because I want things to be “perfect,” but because I want them to be sustainable. I want the horse that can go new places and not fall apart. The horse that can have a moment, get scared, get surprised, and still come back to their rider. Not because they’re shut down but because they trust the process and they know how to come back to neutral.

I don’t want to create robots. I want to create horses with confidence.

The kind that comes from fairness, patience, and time. From doing the “boring” things correctly. From teaching a horse that the answer is always there, even when they’re unsure. That there’s no need to explode. No need to rush. No need to brace and fight and carry the world on their shoulders.

That’s emotional regulation.

That’s training.

And I think more people, myself included… would have a lot more peace in our horsemanship if we remembered that.

01/10/2026

Congratulations to the Rocco family on your purchase of Dually’s White Rose (Toupee) 🤍🌹
So excited for his next chapter, he’s going to be so loved!

01/09/2026

There’s a lot of conversation around when a horse should be started. Everyone has a number. Everyone has an opinion.

But one thing often gets missed in that conversation:

Strength isn’t something a horse gets just by aging.

Time alone doesn’t build balance, coordination, or the ability to carry weight. A horse doesn’t wake up one day suddenly strong enough simply because the calendar says so.

I hear concerns all the time about young horses doing groundwork, lunging, or in hand work, that it’s “too much” and that waiting is always the safest route. And while rushing a horse isn’t the answer either, doing nothing until they’re older isn’t the same as preparing them.

If a horse has never learned how to lift their back, organize their body, or use their hind end, asking them to suddenly carry a rider even at an “appropriate age” can be a shock to their system.

Most horses don’t grow up roaming hills and miles of varied terrain anymore. Many are raised in flat pastures, small pens, or limited turnout. That means their strength and coordination often need to be intentionally developed, not assumed.

Age appropriate groundwork fills that gap.
Correct movement on the ground builds stability.
Learning to carry a saddle properly builds strength.
Gradual, thoughtful preparation builds confidence.

One day, that weight on their back becomes a rider.

Waiting doesn’t create strength.
Education and conditioning do.

The benefit isn’t just physical, you’re also teaching young horses how to process pressure, stay mentally regulated, and handle learning in a healthy way that carries through their entire career.

So the question isn’t just when to start.

It’s whether the horse has actually been prepared.

01/07/2026

Slow work.
Solid foundations.
Every day.

01/02/2026

Lately I’ve been sitting with this thought that horse training has quietly become a luxury item.

Not a need.
Not education.
Not horsemanship.
A luxury.

And I don’t say that with judgment, just curiosity and a little heaviness.

Because the horses who need the most help are rarely owned by people with unlimited budgets. They’re owned by the folks trying to do right by their horse,
working full-time jobs, juggling life, saving where they can, and feeling stuck when professional help feels financially out of reach. Quietly wondering if they’re failing because they can’t “just send the horse off.”

Meanwhile, the narrative has become:
If you can’t afford full training, clinics, lessons, hauling, and all the extras… you must not care enough.

That doesn’t sit right with me.

Good training shouldn’t only be available to those with disposable income and flexible schedules. Horses don’t become unsafe, anxious, confused, or reactive because their people don’t love them. They become that way because they live in a human world we didn’t always prepare them for.

So I keep asking myself…
How do we make education accessible again?
How do we bridge the gap between “DIY and overwhelmed” and “full-service training program”?
How do we help the people who want to learn, not just the ones who can afford to outsource?

I don’t have a neat answer.
But I do know this:
If training becomes something only the privileged can access, we lose the heart of horsemanship and the horses pay the price.

Maybe the solution looks like more teaching, more transparency, more creative options. Maybe it looks like meeting people where they are instead of where we think they should be.

I’m still brainstorming. Still listening. Still learning.

But I don’t think the answer is shame.
And I don’t think it’s gatekeeping knowledge.

I think it starts with remembering why we got into this in the first place…
for the horses, and for the people trying their best for them.

01/02/2026

I’m incredibly grateful for the trust my clients place in me and the horses I get to work with every day. As things continue to stay busy, I’m setting clearer boundaries so I can show up fully for the horses and the people who depend on me.

Going forward, calls and texts will be returned during business hours. Messages outside of that time will be answered the next business day unless it is urgent or emergency situation involving a horse.

Thank you for your understanding and continued support it means more than you know.

01/01/2026

New year. New standards for your horse.

If you’ve been:
• Feeling like you’re going in circles (not the good, intentional circles. The same issues, different day kind)
• Avoiding certain rides or situations
• Waiting for things to magically click
• Looking at the calendar and realizing spring is closer than it feels
• Wanting your horse actually ready by summer, not “we’ll get there eventually”
• Thinking this is the perfect time to get those colts started right

This is usually the moment people finally say,
“Okay… it’s time.”

At Twin Pines Performance Horses, I don’t do quick fixes or cookie cutter programs. I focus on correct foundations, clear communication, and building horses that are confident, rideable, and prepared for real life, not just the arena.

I have limited training openings going into 2025.
If you want honest work, thoughtful training, and progress you can actually feel, let’s talk.

📍 Sisters, OR
📩 Message me to see if your horse is a good fit.e

12/31/2025

12/31/2025

A new year doesn’t mean reinventing the wheel.
It means getting honest about what actually works.

12/29/2025

Failing to prepare a horse for the human world is negligence.

A spooky, reactive, herd bound horse or a horse with behavioral issues is usually a horse having a hard time navigating human life due to a lack of correct exposure, experiences, or training.

Horses are prey animals. They are meant to have a flight response, to be suspicious of new things, and to rely on a herd. Those instincts kept them alive long before we put them in stalls, loaded them in trailers, and expected them to function in a human designed world.

Reactivity isn’t misbehavior or disrespect, it’s a lack of clarity. Horses don’t understand our expectations, environments, or routines unless we teach them. Until they’re shown how to process pressure, new situations, and change, their default response is to react first and think later.

Farriers, vets, tack, hauling, deworming, new environments are part of a horse’s life, but it’s the owner’s responsibility to make sure the horse is mentally and physically ready for those interactions.

Yes, there are absolutely situations where pain, trauma, or past experiences play a role, and those should never be ignored. But using those factors as the explanation instead of addressing the discomfort or doing the work to build new, positive pathways only keeps the horse stuck in a cycle of stress and confusion. By not preparing them and keeping them “sheltered” from real work experiences is actually causing them more stress when they need to be in those new environments or exposed to new things.

Horses didn’t ask to be domesticated, ridden, hauled in metal boxes, or separated from their friends so it’s our responsibility to help them navigate our world.

Teach your horse real life skills. I promise, you’ll have a happier, more confident horse because of it.