Kendra Van Beek Horsemanship

Kendra Van Beek Horsemanship Kendra Van Beek is passionate about the proper biomechanic development of both horses and riders, applying universal truths to all disciplines.

She values continued learning and horse-informed methods, specializing in western and english equitation.

✨Meet Callie✨Just 3 years old, this 16.1 hand Warmblood mare (Oldenburg X Canadian Sporthorse) has the looks, brains, an...
07/27/2025

✨Meet Callie✨

Just 3 years old, this 16.1 hand Warmblood mare (Oldenburg X Canadian Sporthorse) has the looks, brains, and talent to excel in a variety of disciplines.

Callie has been lightly started under saddle, and is ready for an experienced rider who is looking to bring one along. She is easy to handle on the ground, and handles new experiences well. Callie is currently going walk/trot, and beginning lateral work, but will need more training to improve her confidence at the canter.

She is currently ridden western in a snaffle, but shows talent for English disciplines.

Asking 🔟0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣

Will be sold UTD on vaccines and coggins, PPE welcome at buyers expense. Located near Denver, CO

What’s on my bookshelf?•••Special shout-out to “The Started Colt,” “The California Hackamore Horse,” and my current read...
04/24/2025

What’s on my bookshelf?
•
•
•
Special shout-out to “The Started Colt,” “The California Hackamore Horse,” and my current read-not pictured- “Baucher and his School.” Plus, a good novel, because not everything in life can be about horses😉

“Doing less can sometimes be more challenging because it forces us to admit to ourselves where we need more work and be ...
04/17/2025

“Doing less can sometimes be more challenging because it forces us to admit to ourselves where we need more work and be content with that.”

-Shared during my morning yoga practice, relevant for my afternoon rides

Getting in shape for spring! (Them AND me🤣) Feeling blessed with a beautiful boarding facility to ride at, good people a...
04/09/2025

Getting in shape for spring! (Them AND me🤣)

Feeling blessed with a beautiful boarding facility to ride at, good people at the barn, and two very different personal horses to challenge my skills with. Can’t wait to see what this year brings 🎉💞

02/14/2025

A horse can feel a fly land anywhere on its body, ride like you believe it.

“The bridge of his nose should be turned to me, and the jaw under his neck.” Quoted from Ray Hunts colts starting videos...
02/12/2025

“The bridge of his nose should be turned to me, and the jaw under his neck.”

Quoted from Ray Hunts colts starting videos, in reference to lunging the horse without pulling his nose out of alignment. There are many common sense gems in these videos, but this one stood out to me in particular. I’m not sure when or why we, as a general equestrian population, traded in alignment of the spine for pulling the horses nose and not caring-or noticing!-what is happening to our horses body…because to quote Ray Hunt again, “if I walked around with my head on a tilt like that, you’d ask me what was wrong with my neck!”

With so many horse trainers online, how can you possibly know whose method to trust, who to follow, who to learn from, a...
11/22/2024

With so many horse trainers online, how can you possibly know whose method to trust, who to follow, who to learn from, and who to trust with the training of your horses?

Personally, I highly value the availability of knowledge, and some of the most interesting things I’ve learned to implement in my horsemanship were found in self-study, whether that be books or on the internet. It is important, however, to make sure that we are bringing these ideas back to the horse to see how they affect the body and mind.

The first thing that I look at when determining if an online trainer is reputable is the bodies of the horses they have in training. This is easiest to spot in the neck. Good training improves the horses balance and posture, along with behavior. Poor training results in tension, both in the body and mind.

Yes, this is a small piece of the puzzle, and it takes time to change a horses natural or trained tendancies, but I know which of these four necks I would like my horse to develop…do you?

11/15/2024

A few weekends ago, Andy and I had the great privilege to ride under the brilliant Pippa Callanan! Along with showing us the magic of the snaffle and the feel-good releasing effect it can have on the tongue, jaw, and the rest of the body as a direct result (as Andy is displaying in this clip) she lit up our brains with new questions and answers that we have been searching for the better part of two years.

✨✨✨

Like “dressage,” a “bridle-horse” means many different things to many different people. It sure is a blast to explore how these traditions work together to develop horses mental and physical balance

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. 📸

Address

Bow, WA

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Kendra Van Beek Horsemanship posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Kendra Van Beek Horsemanship:

Shortcuts

Share

Category