Fine Print Farms

Fine Print Farms Fine Print Farms is an Equestrian (English and Western) Destination in the Texas Hill Country. HORSE BOARDING
Need to board your horses? PM us to discuss.

Currently, we have slots open for pasture boarding. Each pasture is over a quarter of an acre. Horses are matched in pastures by compatibility -- normally three horses per pasture. PM us to submit your request. Cost is $550 / month / horse. We provide free-choice coastal, and grain twice a day (approx. 9 am and 6 pm). Alfalfa is available for an additional cost. Special grain requirements and supp

lements can be discussed. TRAINING -- DRESSAGE & WESTERN
Looking for training? We are offering Training for riders of all ages. We have young energetic trainers who are excellent riders and have good experience. PM us if you are interested. TRAINING / EXERCISE HORSES
Can't ride that often? We can provide daily training and exercise for your horse -- through both ground work or riding. HAUL-IN SERVICE
Looking for a great place to ride? We also allow daily haul-in service by appointment. Cost is $25 / horse / day, plus an additional $10 trainer fee / rider / day. Experience woods, trails, open fields, a quarter mile gallop track, and hills. AMENITIES
Current Amenities include:
• 60’ x 80’ sand arena marked for dressage
• 80’x100’ lighted sand arena
• 150’x 200’ dirt arena
• Limited Cross Country Jumps
• Large boarding pastures (1/4 an acre each)
• 100 acres open riding (great footing)
• External Trainers are welcome for a fee ($10 trainer fee / rider / day)
• Round Pen
• Quarter Mile Gallop Track
•Hill Training Area
• Wash Racks and Hitching Posts
•TheraPlate

11/20/2025

"He feels unbalanced, like he's limping! We need to stop," my student says.

"The tempo is too slow, he needs a greater stride. As soon as he can get the right tempo he will be more balanced."

My student goes into a kind of fetal mode, half urging the horse forward, half hauling the horse back. "It isn't working, she says."

"You need to let the reins out so he can go forward," I say.

She starts to cry. And this is where I realize the problem -

It's not really a riding lesson. This is so often the case - and I think back to my 20's, where I didn't have a clue about these inner workings. The horse needs to go forward to be safe internally and physically, and yet this is the human's greatest fear - and somehow the two of them have come together, and the human is the only one who can bridge this gap.

So we pause the riding and we talk. Logic is not the answer, I remind myself - where are these feelings coming from? It all stems back to a childhood bolt.

"If it's hysterical, it's historical," I remember to myself, a quote I heard from a friend

So what is missing here, and how can we go forward? First understanding the root - we are not riding in the now, we are riding in that childhood bolt. So we ground - how does your horse feel, sound, smell, look? What do you see around you?

And then, we discuss what skills we need to go forward. What the horse needs, and what she needs.

I say, I understand your fear, I really do - but it is imperative that you guide your horse. He is scared too. But we can find a way that you can stay mentally with him - in hand, at the walk, for now, but you have to stay here with him. He needs you.

I'm not a therapist, but it turns out I'm not really a riding instructor either. And so often, we are not riding today's horse - which is why the training, the logic, the reasoning, the lessons are not helping us get where we want.

The root, somewhere deep down is buried. Our real task is to find a way to ride today's horse: to be present with today's horse and learn to honor them. They need us, desperately. And only we can bridge the gap.

And so a choice has to be made at a certain point - what will you do to honor today's horse?

11/19/2025

Horses will meet you exactly where you are—whether you know where that is or not.

One of the hardest truths in horsemanship is that you cannot separate the rider from the human being riding. You can learn theory, techniques, and timing—but if you don’t know what drives you at a deeper level, your horse will feel that gap long before you do.

Most of us move through the world with old narratives still running without our awareness in the background. Maybe you were taught, directly or indirectly, that you were small, inconvenient, or unimportant. Maybe you learned to keep your head down, not make waves, not ask for much. Or maybe you learned to overcompensate: to become hyper independent, to feel important.

Those early experiences don’t stay in childhood; they become the lens you see yourself through, and the filter you misinterpret the world through.

And the horse—sensitive, perceptive, honest—becomes a mirror for every part of that story.

A horse refusing or resisting becomes “rejection.”
A moment of hesitation becomes “I’m not good enough.”
A correction feels like conflict, and conflict feels dangerous.
Or, the opposite—you search for conflict because you expect it, and it feels safer to control it than wait for it.

None of this comes from malice. It comes from the unexamined places inside us, mirrored in the world around us.

But a horse isn’t rejecting you. A horse isn’t judging your worth. A horse isn’t reenacting the dynamics of your childhood. They are responding to the energy you bring, the clarity you offer, and the steadiness—or lack of it—behind your choices.

When we don’t know what drives us, we keep repeating the same emotional choreography over and over, in the barn and everywhere else. We avoid setting boundaries because we fear being “too much.” We micromanage because we fear losing control. We rush because we fear being behind. We freeze because we fear doing something wrong.

The real work is not really about the horse. It’s about getting curious about ourselves. Identifying the motives that subconsciously steer our hands, our timing, our expectations, our reactions. Asking, Where did this pattern come from? Who taught me this? And is it actually true?

Because once you see your own story clearly, the horse stops being a mirror of your inadequacy and becomes a partner in your growth.

Horses don’t need us to be perfect. They just need us to be honest—especially with ourselves.

And when we learn to operate from clarity instead of old wounds, our work with them becomes lighter, cleaner, more present… and our whole life tends to follow.

11/18/2025

What makes a good trainer?

I believe a good trainer is someone who helps a horse be the best it can be.

I believe there are great trainers that never win—some never even compete.

Some trainers are also great competitors.

Either way, I still believe that the best trainers help a horse to be as good as it can be.

www.betweenthereins.us

11/18/2025

Let’s talk SI pain… stifle pain… hock pain… hamstring tension… low back pain/tension…and how it ALL can trace back to one sneaky root cause: low hind angles.📐🦶🏼

🔥𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐑:🔥
𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠! 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐗-𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐚 𝐯𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥!

I’ll die on this hill: a LOT of the “mystery” issues people bring their horses to me for aren’t actually mysteries. They’re compensation patterns stacked on top of compensation patterns… all starting in the feet.

When those hind feet have low angles or underrun heels, the entire hind limb chain gets thrown out of balance. And guess who ends up paying for that?
➡️ The SI,
➡️ the stifles,
➡️ the hocks,
➡️ the hamstrings
➡️ the low back
➡️ AND the horse’s posture from the ground up.

I see it constantly in the rehab barn. These horses come in sore behind, tight through the low back, tight hamstrings, dropping their shoulder, dragging toes… people assuming it’s a stifle issue or that their horse just “has a weak topline.” And sure, those things show up. But the root? Nine times out of ten, it’s that the hind feet can’t support the rest of the body the way they’re supposed to. And one of the FIRST things I look for is that “U” shape in the neck.

You know what I’m talking about. That upside-down neckline where the horse bulges the underside of the neck and almost hollows out in front of the wither. That “U” is a huge red flag for me. Why?
Because a horse that’s compensating behind can’t properly engage their core or lift their topline, so they brace with the underside of the neck instead and hollow out their entire body because they’re experiencing pain & tension trying to evade it.
The neck literally tells on the hind feet. Which also creates stifle pain & tension. 🤷‍♀️

Low angles = overloading.
Overloading = chronic tension and faulty movement.
Faulty movement = SI strain, stifle fatigue, hock irritation.
And when the hind end can’t function correctly?
➡️ The core disengages,
➡️ the topline collapses,
➡️ the “U-neck” appears,
➡️ and the snowball starts rolling FAST. ❄️➡️🏔️

And here’s where my experience continues to come in:
I don’t just look at the symptom. I look at why the body chose that compensation pattern in the first place. I’ve rehabbed enough of these cases to confidently say… fixing the feet is step ONE. Not step five. Not an afterthought. STEP ONE.

That’s why in my facility, I’m so grateful to work with our farrier, Joe. 🙌
Joe balances these horses beautifully and isn’t afraid to make the changes they truly need. When we’re dealing with low angles or underrun heels, we often use:

✔️ Leather wedge pads for lift and cushion
✔️ Frog support to distribute load where it belongs
✔️ A setup that encourages REAL heel growth instead of crushing the capsule

And let me tell you, the changes in the SI? The changes in the stifles? The changes in the topline and that neck? MASSIVE.
When the foot is corrected, the body finally gets permission to stop bracing and start engaging. The “U-neck” starts to disappear. The horse starts lifting through the core again. You can feel the release. You can SEE the movement change.

This is why I preach whole-horse rehab so hard. If you’re only treating the pain and not the cause… you’re just chasing your tail while your horse keeps compensating.

Balance the feet. Support the structures. Retrain the muscles.
Do that… and your “mystery lameness” horse suddenly looks like a comfortable, functional horse again. 💜🦄

11/18/2025

🛠️ Physical Therapy Isn’t Just for Injury Recovery

When we hear “PT,” we often think of horses coming back from a serious injury or surgery — a bowed tendon, a ligament tear, or kissing spines surgery.

But here’s something important to consider:
Every horse benefits from thoughtful, targeted rehabilitation principles. Therapy isn’t only about fixing damage — it’s also about building strength, balance, and resilience before injuries occur.

🧠 Think of rehab as corrective conditioning: helping your horse develop the postural strength, proprioception, and body awareness they need to move well, carry a rider safely, and stay sound for the long haul.

Even if your horse isn't “injured,” they may still be dealing with:
💥Muscle imbalances
💥Weak core or underdeveloped stabilizers
💥Asymmetrical movement patterns
💥Compensatory tension from past pain or poor posture
💥Chronic low-grade discomfort that doesn't yet present as lameness

Here are just a few examples of how rehab-based work supports long-term health:
✅ Core activation & spinal stability
✅ Controlled movements to retrain mechanics
✅ Groundwork that develops strength without strain
✅ Balance-focused exercises to improve coordination and confidence
✅ Incremental progression tailored to the horse’s current condition — not a one-size-fits-all plan

Horses don't need to be “broken” to benefit from bodywork, movement therapy, and intentional exercise planning. Prevention is the most powerful kind of rehab.

✅ Takeaway:
Rehabilitation is for every horse. Whether you’re managing an old injury, correcting poor posture, or just building a better athlete — slow, structured work that prioritizes the horse’s body awareness and comfort pays off for years to come.

11/18/2025

Is It Behaviour or Soundness⁉️

A Practical Guide to Reading the Whole Horse📖

You know that moment when your horse spooks at a leaf, pins their ears at a saddle pad, snakes their head at you, or decides the mounting block is cursed and must be avoided at all costs?

Most people call it behaviour.

But sometimes it is actually your horse saying “I am struggling” in the only language they have.😕

Trouble is, horses do not come with subtitles.

And the horse world is full of confident people offering confident answers based on hope, habit, or the last guru video they watched while avoiding folding the laundry.

Meanwhile, the real clues are sitting quietly in front of you.
➡Etched in their muscles.
➡Hidden in how they move.
➡Shifted in their posture.
➡Expressed in their emotionality.
➡Revealed in changes of willingness.
➡Red flags masquerading as sass.

I used to miss these signs.

I was a training purist. Everything was behaviour until proven otherwise.

Then I learned the hard way that many behaviour problems are early warnings. And once you know how to read them, you cannot unsee them.

And here is an important truth.

Sometimes the answer is not more training.

Sometimes the most responsible thing an owner, coach, or trainer can do is recognise when a horse does not need a trainer at all. They need an equine vet or another expert professional. Early referral is not failure. It is how you protect horses and avoid bigger, more expensive problems later.

Which is why I created this workshop.

Because owners deserve better than guesswork.

And horses deserve better than being labelled difficult when they are trying to cope.

This is not a fluffy feelings class.

It is not a “learn your horse’s love language” afternoon.

It is a practical, evidence informed, eye sharpening session that will teach you how to actually read your horse so you can prevent problems, support them early, and stop spending money on the wrong solutions or waiting until symptoms become significant and management becomes unaffordable.

If you want clarity, confidence, and the ability to spot things long before they turn into big, expensive issues, you need to be in this room.

Seats are limited because I prefer quality learning environments.

Come along, to this non-horse event and sit down and learn without distraction, and finally learn how horses are trying to tell you what they need. This is real, tangible information and no spirit world communication required.

Is It Behaviour or Soundness?
A Practical Guide to Reading the Whole Horse
There are 4 workshops I am holding around Australia. The first is next Saturday 22 November 2025 near Canberra - see comments for link.

11/17/2025

I saw a post a few weeks ago that was giving out tips & tricks for a horse who has a “difficult lead”– of which none of the solutions resonated with me.

While it’s true a lot of horses naturally have a preferred “side”– it’s not to the same degree we experience as humans.

Biggest reason - We move on two legs, horses move on four.

This creates a completely different baseline of balance and preference. Horses may still show preferences from one side to the other, but they are not naturally (or should not be) as uneven as we tend to be. With that being said- sometimes the rider’s own patterns can amplify that preference, or create the issue entirely.

But when a horse struggles immensely on one lead under a very balanced rider or out in the pasture, that tells a different story. They can lope off smooth and balanced to the right, but the left - the head pops up, the body braces, the back inverts. Maybe they rush into the lope or launch into it instead of stepping through.

If nothing changes at the hands of the rider, maybe the message gets louder. A head shake, kicking out, & if they need to yell– maybe a buck.

That is not attitude. It is the body saying something is stuck.

Having recently attended a dissection it has become even more clear that restriction can start or show up from anywhere.

Fascial pull. Hyoid tension. Rigid ribcage. Stuck sternum. Braced diaphragm. Medical diagnostics can’t pick this up on imaging but trust me, it’s there.

When one piece of the horse’s body is restricted, they are magicians at reorganizing their body around the limitation.

So when a rider “collects them up,” disengages, side passes, reverse arc’s, takes their head to the outside, changes bits, drags them into a stop or adds any other gimmick– they are creating even more dysfunction for the horse to work around.

Inability or “attitude” is simply the horse trying to speak to us. And: the answer to a difficult lead is rarely more loping.

When I have a problem at the lope, I usually find the issue in the walk. Most of the time they need to open and lengthen at the poll, find lateral flexion at the AO that makes the spine fall in line. Maybe sprinkle in some gentle abduction & ensure they have access to all the important points in their body to do a lead departure. My list goes on, & will never include punishment for not picking up a lead

If you want to know how to use the walk more effectively in your workouts, comment “walk” to be the first to know when my new course “Work the Walk” launches early next year!

11/16/2025

Take care of the horse's stifles! Even though "disengaging the hindquarters" is a popular technique when training young or unschooled horses, it taxes the stifles and often leads to soreness and dysfunction. Stifles are not designed well for sideways movement of the limbs.They must first be made stable and strong with forward, balanced work. Otherwise, not only is the stifle joint compromised, but the supporting musculature which originates from higher up the pelvis and lower back is also strained. The result is often inflamed joints, diminished range of motion, and poor use of the hind limbs. So, at the risk of being controversial, I would encourage all of us to avoid disengaging the hindquarters in an unfit horse.

11/13/2025

A horse handleable by all?

I believe all horses, as much as possible, should be safe to handle in an emergency or in our absence. Someone should be able to go in and halter them, lead them out, put them on a trailer, or some simple thing.

I have helped teach horse handling to first responders in classes of large animal rescue (the rescue of large animals in emergencies) and quite often these first responders - the ones who will be leading your horse out of a barn fire or trailer accident - are not horse people. It's imperative that your horse be safe to handle in these situations, and that their training is not so complicated that an unrefined tug forward of a halter cannot be understood. A firefighter is not going to understand or even think about some complicated system of targets and pulleys and buttons -

BUT

Does this mean your horse needs to tolerate, on a regular basis, poor feel or rude handling? No, I do not think so. And in fact, I think this makes them harder to handle.

I am extremely protective of who handles my young stallion and how. I do not run a petting zoo, and so he (and my other horses) are not available for public entertainment. People have a way of approaching very rudely and for their own needs to be met and creating behaviors out of a horse who objects, which they then punish. I can remember a time a woman, who was asked to not pet my one eyed horse, approached him on his right (eyeless) side and poked him right in the mouth. He opened his mouth in alarm, and she immediately said "oh, what a nasty boy, he bites!" --This is why I do not allow the public to smear themselves rudely over my horses. I don't need them to have to defend themselves from rude touch, and I don't need them to learn how to avoid or go after people (even if those people deserve it).

I'm quite confident my young stallion would be easily haltered and loaded by a stranger. In fact, I have proven this by having him transported across the country by someone I had never met, who had never met him, when I was unable to be present. He got nothing but good reports for behavior. This was not created by a million sloppy and rude interactions with strangers - but quite the opposite.

He never learned how to nibble on people, push on people, or use his strength against people because there never was a necessity for it. And so it was not in his vocabulary - Could it be pulled out? Absolutely. But we don't need to do that. It's not fair to him.

I think it's very fair to expect your horse to be handled on a basic level by most. I do not think it's fair to expect your horse to tolerate ALL handling, especially when it is not necessary.

Think about it: there are levels of relationship. A basic handshake (halter and leading), all the way up to marriage. I can ride and produce from my own horses a certain level of feeling we have developed TOGETHER, like a marriage. I do not expect them to be robots for any and all people, just like I would not expect some sort of wife swapping to produce emotional intimacy. They are gentle enough that someone could ride them without being tossed, and get in the general direction they want - but the rest you have to earn. And I think that's more than fair, its their right.

11/12/2025

Posture is very important. Reading into and discovering pain signals is important too

But I’m finding the current climate is so unsure, so tentative, backing off for every potential signal of discomfort either physical or emotional, that horses are actually worse off for it.
If you never put the horse straight, they will BECOME painful. If you back off EVERY time the horse has a question, often interpreted as resistance, the horse WILL break down.

Why? Because without some guidance, some straightening, some questions and answers, horses and people will never get anywhere.

Imagine going to a fitness coach. Imagine he backs off every single time you’re remotely uncomfortable, a little sore, a little unsure, not perfectly comfortable. Imagine you need this for PT to recover from an injury.

Not only will you never get fit, you’ll actually become more anxious and more lame. Why? Because you have no guidance through and forward. Your coach will be feeding into, and building anxiety and weakness.

This is what I see in the world at large now- a well meaning attempt to create comfort in horses is actually building more lameness, more body pain, more anxiety.
Of course we need to address and solve sources of pain and discomfort.

Get good fitting tack, learn to sit WELL, and learn to ride straight. I’m not saying don’t listen to the horse - but don’t become so tentative you’re no help.

A lot of people are capitalizing on people’s good intentions to create confusion, dependence, and mystique. This stuff isn’t new - it’s been around for ages. We’ve known how to straighten horses and keep them sound for a long, long time, but suddenly it’s like the Tower of Babel out there and nobody knows what to do.

Calm; forward, and straight. Soundness is actually quite simple. Get your seat right, your tack right, and then ride them forward and put them straight.
—obviously there are some horses with lameness or congenital issues that this will not apply to. But a qualified vet or other professional will be the best help, not every Facebook post or forum you can find

Almost all of my horses came to me unsound. At a certain point I decided they were either going to be ridden to soundness or retired. And wouldn't you know it, they are all sound now. Sometimes you just gotta go for it.

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285 Obst Road
Bulverde, TX
78163

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