Kendra Van Beek Horsemanship

11/12/2024

I’ve never liked headgear on a horse aside from a bridle; but in starting up my body work practice and being around a lot of high-level equines I’ve grown to like them even less. 👎🏻

Tie downs, bonnets, and draw reins all strengthen the wrong muscles in a horse as well as cause major restrictions in their body. 💥

Aside from restricting maximum extension (which directly correlates to stride length and speed) these forms of head gear also

🚫Lock the A/O joint
🚫Create a 5 car pile up in the c-spine
🚫Drop the horse on the forehand
🚫Overload the lumbar spine
🚫Paralyze the pelvis in flexion
🚫Cause continual micro trauma to the body leading to eventual lameness 🩼

I understand why people may turn to a tie down but they are a quick fix to temporary problems. Lack of balance, coordination, or too much speed may seem like a good reason to use restrictive head gear however the better choice would be slowing down and building the horse’s strength slowly. 🐢

If that’s not enough, these tools are often used even more inappropriately than intended. Tie-downs too low on the nose, draw reins with curb bits, and all bonnets should be burned in my nerve-release-practitioner-opinion. 🔥

Heck, even a heavy hand can cause all the problems above.💪🏻

I recently took a tiedown off a horse and was astonished with the decline in his topline health after wearing it for just a few months.

Give me a 🙋🏼‍♀️ in the comments if you wanna read the case study and see the before and after photos. 📸

11/02/2024

Start out refined, become even more refined
Start out exaggerated, make a sloppy mess and have to fix it up

I used to start a bunch of young horses, and thought the best way to make things clear to them was to exaggerate my cues. More often than not, horses figured it out- but it wasn’t until excellent teachers in my path made clear to me how often I was blocking, confusing, and frustrating the horse.

Horses are gracious, and excellent at pattern recognition. Eventually they can figure out anything if you repeat it enough.

But along the way, I came to realize how many bad habits in not just the horse but in myself I had created. Making the leap from greenie to advancing was difficult because my position had developed sloppy habits, and the horses had learned to lean, fall on the forehand, or fishtail the hindquarters around. All areas that took me quite a bit of work to clean up, and created a lot of frustration in the horse as I tried to advance them - suddenly I was saying now don’t lean on a shoulder, don’t fall over your sternum - the very things I had CREATED in the horse I was now trying to block.

It’s not a very fair approach to training - and as I became serious about advancing horses and my own riding, my teachers gave me a stern warning to start my horses as I wanted them to go - not just to seek an easy beginning but a good beginning.

It takes quite a leap sometimes of the imagination with the youngsters to imagine what it can be - especially if you’re used to doing too much. Sometimes you have to offer and trust it will work if you’re not used to expecting it to work, especially if you’ve created in the horse the habit of expecting more exaggerated and loud communication from you.

Sometimes it takes an excellent teacher to knock the obvious into us -
If you always offer lower levels of communication, you’ll always be trapped in this.

So start out refined, and continue refining - or create brace and sloppiness, and live there.

Pictured is Brent haltering a young one for the first time, already layering in higher level concepts , gently and fairly. Not expecting too much, but creating the building blocks for advancement. It wasn’t until I felt this that I could believe it to be true. Just because we haven’t felt it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

“The horse is born with lightness -why kill it and then spend years trying to build it back up? “ -Brent Graef

08/16/2024

Riding is more fun with friends🤪

08/08/2024

WASHINGTON PEEPS!

Catch me while I’m in town later this summer, and unlike Nitro, I promise I’ll be happy to be caught😉

I’ll be doing TWO clinics in Bellingham, info will be posted later this week. Feel free to message me for early sign up!

I’m excited to see both new and familiar faces🤠

07/31/2024

Showing horses how to get along with people, and teaching people how to get along with horses-that’s my jam!

What most folks don’t understand about c**t starting (even some professionals!!😱) is that the horse WANTS to get along with you, but for him the situation is life or death. Once you show him the way, he will grow up in that confidence and softness that we all look for. Trying to force him or hold him when he doesn’t yet know he’s capable of what you’re asking will usually create problems initially, but if it doesn’t you can be sure there will be bigger problems further down the line.

Always send your c**t to a reputable starter, and you will set him up well for the rest of his days🤠

07/02/2024

“Horsemanship is neither slavery nor a partnership; it is a stewardship with great responsibility and great reward.” -Bret Davis, The Started C**t

03/29/2024

Good training doesn’t always look good.
A great life still contains scrapes and tears.
A good ride still contains bobbles and even arguments.
Good trainers get to fix poor education and resistances that’s others already put into that horse, and even if we get a lovely horse from scratch, just like raising teenagers, some days they are going to push your buttons.

The real struggle of the Horseman is to acknowledge that these days are in evitable, but to try to improve and fix them anyways. We must constantly learn and grow and improve while also acknowledging that our current skill set is enough and that we are allowed to push this horse through this temporary difficult spot, and not feel obligated to cry ourselves to sleep at night because of it.

It’s a balance of unapologetically offering the best leadership we can today, while studying our mistakes tonight, so we can do even better tomorrow.

And isn’t that just life?

And if your life is on social media at all, someone else will be studying those mistakes so they can hold them against you in a court of public opinion. This makes the best and most ethical of horse trainers want to remain behind closed doors, which makes it harder for us all to learn and improve, if we can no longer publicly share, or admit the tiniest of mistakes. 

Current society doesn’t give much room for middle ground.  A highly ethical trainer can get slandered with zero proof, while completely unethical trainers are still in business after numerous videos show the systematic abuse.

Anyways, I’ll be here on my property, training horses and students, and doing the best I can, and making a ton of mistakes along the way, and hopefully learning daily so I can keep getting better.

03/12/2024

This week I was blessed with the opportunity to do a clinic in beautiful Costa Rica! I am so passionate about what I do, and it’s extremely rewarding to be able to pass on the knowledge and see it taken to heart.

Thank you to everyone who attended, to Judy and Ericka for setting everything up, and to my many wonderful translators who made this possible☺️🐴

See you all again soon!

03/05/2024

✨Transformation Tuesday✨

This stud c**t went from dull and independent to soft and willing in just a handful of sessions! I’m thankful for owners who are involved in their horses training process, and my heart is so full knowing that they have the tools to continue growing and make a fabulous team. Not all c**ts are this fun and easy going!

02/27/2024

02/19/2024

Change your language to change your mindset

Lately I’ve traded out “I need to get the horse to do XYZ” for “I’m going to teach the horse to do XYZ.” It seems like such a simple and unimportant swap, but heres what I’ve noticed -

1. If the horse doesn’t quite get the right answer, it’s because I didn’t teach them enough tools to get there. This has always been true, it’s just now more obvious.

2. It’s about more than putting them in a position, it’s about giving them the tools to find that on their own.

02/14/2024

In my opinion, standing tied is one of the most important life skills your horse can have. Enjoy this pic of Khalil learning that he can relax tied even when scary stimuli (my flag) are present, and Abby in the background standing tied and saddled to think about what she learned, and observe Khalils session from afar. Horses CAN learn by osmosis😉

02/10/2024

This afternoon I had the privelage of presenting at Skagit County’s 4H Equine Extravaganza! I got my start in my local 4H club, so it was an honor to share my knowledge about bit mechanics with so many young members. We talked all things anatomy, mechanical principles, and got to look at a huge variety of bits. Knowing how your bit functions in your horses mouth is key to unlocking their athletic potential, and these young riders are on their way! 🐴🤠

02/01/2024

“When you are in control of your body, your body will be in control of the horse, and you need never resort to bashing him about.” -Mary Wanless, the Natural Rider

My current read focuses on mind-body connection, something that I work on extensively with myself and my students! Too often when one tells their shoulder to move their brain actually talks only to the hip, or vice versa, or any other combination of body parts. Connecting the brain to what your body is actually doing and where you are arranged in space can be so transformative for riders because until you know and can feel what is actually happening in your body, how are you supposed to change anything for the better?

01/29/2024

The many “headsets” of a working horse in motion. These all were taken over the span of maybe 5 strides as my horse experiments with his balance. Next up: suppling to the left and right 😎

11/13/2023

Allow the horse the freedom to find his balance point in the movement.

We know what the textbook says about where and how the horse should be and look, but each horse is different, each stage of fitness is different and each stage of training is different.

Instead of pressuring the horse to fit in the box you desire, allow him the freedom to develop his skills, understanding and ability over time.

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11/06/2023

New swag, who dis !!!

If you are a past or present client, leave a review for my business and get a free hat! Message me for more details 😉

11/02/2023

If you've been thinking about booking a lesson or training service with me in 2023, now is the time! I'm currently accepting a limited number of new clients and I'm so excited to share all that I learned in the land of c**ts and working cowboys.

Lessons and training are done at your facility with your horse, ideal for working through problems that you will see in your every day rides and getting "homework" unique to you and your riding area. I am fully licensed and insured, PM for more information.

Happy trails! 😄🐴