Willow Grove Ranch

02/21/2025

02/21/2025

More of what we will discuss at the Bits clinic on March 15 and 16!

02/19/2025

Meadowbrook Cart (likely Mill Run) for sale. Good condition. Too small for the horse ;). Originally used with a Haflinger so it would work for a cob to a heavy cob.

Russet leather harness (likely Smuckers) in good condition comes with it.

Shaft length: 71
Width at singletree: 35
Width at narrowest part of shaft: 26.5
Shaft height: 34

I'll get better pix when the weather dries up! The vehicle is clearly too small for this horse ;)

$1500 for harness and cart. A great package to get going with your driving cob!

02/16/2025

Headwig will be a central teacher in the upcoming Bits: Design & Function Clinic on March 15-16 at Willow Grove. Sign up at https://www.willowgroveidaho.horse/events/bits-design-function

02/14/2025

One of the reasons I love this breed and am so excited to be involved in promoting and preserving it. They are still bred to purpose. Real purpose.

“The End of the Day” 🐴🦌 This photo was taken after the highland pony had carried the stag down through the glen on the Isle of Rum and had been unloaded. I had spent the day with filming and photographing these special ponies working for the documentary “Each man Eilean: Scotland’s Native Horses”. This is traditional work for the breed, and it was interesting to see the pony not only in its natural surroundings, but also doing a job it was bred for. Rum, like the rest of the UK, has no natural predators for red deer, and as a result the deer numbers need to be managed to prevent overgrazing (and ecological damage). One of the traditional roles the Highland pony developed was to carry deer back off the hill - even today, the terrain is so steep and uneven that machinery cannot always be used. Their job is to go out onto the hill where they are loaded up with the carcass, and they then bring it home for processing (where the venison goes into the food chain). These ponies can access places where modern ATVs cannot, and they still have a valuable role across Scotland carrying these deer. The ponies have to be highly trained to do this work, and the highland pony is perfect for the role - it is valued for its strength and courage, which allows them to physically do this very demanding job. Some stags can weigh over 20 stone and the pony has to keep its balance as it picks its way across the hill - when you seem them moving, you soon see that it is not like carrying a rider. It was quite something to witness, and very interesting to see first hand. Highland ponies are categorised as “At Risk” by 🐴🌄 ___________________________________________

02/13/2025

Any Willow Grovans out there looking for a really nice lease horse to take lessons from me? The horse is located in Eagle.

02/08/2025

This will be an in-depth, very thorough, and interactive 2 days on bits, design and function, use, and interaction between the hand and the mouth.

Day One is "lecture," Q & A, and demonstrations. You can also bring your own bits. $50 per person

Day Two is for 10 participants who want to go forward with applying what we learn on Saturday! $100 per participant

I've got the booking link up on my website now:

https://www.willowgroveidaho.horse/events/bits-design-function

02/08/2025

Indeed a very good perspective to consider! Did the horse who's lineage you want to propagate not only perform well but stand the test of time? Perhaps in various activities as well?

02/08/2025

Highland ponies on the job!!! Amazing ponies, I am so glad to be getting involved with this breed!

02/07/2025

We are so pleased to announce a micro grant we have received from the Livestock Conservancy to collect our purebred Hackney Horse stallion Chambords Kodiak for evaluation and freezing. There are under 2000 Hackney Horses left in the world. Hackneys are resilient, charismatic, have great stamina, flamboyant movement, bone, and are incredibly intelligent. Preserving Hackney Horses is one of our prime missions at Willow Grove!

Livestock Conservancy Microgrants help farmers, ranchers, shepherds, homesteaders and breed groups save Conservation Priority List breeds from extinction. Microgrants up to $2,000 each are awarded in three categories. National Microgrants support adults working with heritage livestock and poultry; Y...

02/02/2025

Registered Shetland Pony, Dial A Handsome Prince, sets his show career aside each holiday season to become Handy Man, Holiday Pony!

We, Handy's owners and fans, are asking the Breyer Model company to consider him for a Holiday model since he is an actual Holiday pony!

Contact the Breyer Company by email [email protected]
or by telephone (800) 413-3348 to let them know that YOU would like to see a real live holiday pony as a Breyer Holiday offering!

Registered Shetland Pony, Dial A Handsome Prince, sets his show career aside each holiday season to become Handy Man, Holiday Pony! We, Handy's owners and fa...

01/30/2025

I've been there....riding western pleasure horses. Tail jobs and all the rest. I decided to honor the horse and work with who and what they are, not what I want to manufacture, so I can look just like all the other guys to try to win. (Sidenote: if everyone is trying so hard to look like everyone else and make their completely unique horse look like everyone elses, what actually is the point?)

I used to spend my days telling horses to do less, to be less. Less knee action. Less hock action. Less head movement. Less looking around. Training was centered on aversives: a harsh bit so they won't "lean" on it or lift their head. Aversive hands that see-saw or bump-bump to mandate the horse to dully stare at the ground. Spurring and spurring to somehow magically "lift the belly" like it's super athletic for them to work in the pooping position. All that work for what? In the same time I could do something completely different.

I want every horse to be more, not less. More expressive, more energetic, more noble, more charismatic. More interactive, wanting to be with me and do things that are beneficial to them mentally, emotionally, and physically. More wow.

Taking myself and my ego out of the equation and focusing on the horses, with their infinite variety, while using techniques to respect and honor them is what love and care is all about.
Since my youngest years, I dreamt of the magic so evident in horses. I don't want to dampen any of it. I want to champion it.
Long explanation of why I won't do tails, as well as many other things folks find to do for shows.

01/29/2025

Zoey continuing on in her driving training. She is currently in an open bridle. Shelby is taking her through her regular work in a relaxed, easy, balanced (for her education level) way. Great job! Proud of both of you!

01/29/2025

This is the main reason I spend so much time educating the hand and the mouth.

01/27/2025

PSA from an educator of troubled and young horses:

𝐒𝐋𝐎𝐖 𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐍

Friday, I was riding a horse given to me because of his previous troubles and ponying our carriage-driving pony (something familiar to both), when someone flew down the private road bordering my arena. The pony spooked, the horse spooked, and I ended up on the ground.

Think about it for just a minute. It would have taken less than that minute in the driver's day to slow down and not spook the horses.

If I get hurt, I can't work.

The math is easy. It's a 1/2 mile private road. At 30 mph (likely to scare the horses at close range), it's a 1-minute drive. If you cut that to 15 mph (horses can usually tolerate this at close range), it's 2 minutes. You can even play it safe and go 10 mph by the arena and 30 mph after. Either way, it won't take you more than 2 minutes.

With the difference of 1 minute in your day, less than the time at a stop light, you can help prevent injury and the risk to my livelihood. Not only that but the safety of every other person working with, driving, leading, or riding horses on or near the road.

𝟷 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚜 𝚊𝚝 𝟷𝟶-𝟷𝟻𝚖𝚙𝚑.

I'm glad it was me and not a client. If it had been a client and they had gotten badly hurt, I could lose my insurance or have the premiums raised to where I can no longer afford it.

𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄 𝐒𝐋𝐎𝐖 𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐍

01/27/2025

She explains it well, no need for me to repeat, just share. Educate your eye, educate yourself if you want to live lovingly with your horse. Not just say you love your horse but make positive, caring, enlightened, healthy choices for your horse.

“Foundation first”

Is the foundation in the room with us right now?

It’s always eye opening to me to see videos like this with captions that proudly imply superior training methods that have a focus on foundation…

And then you watch the video and it’s simply depicting someone taking the laziest path to creating false softness in the most hands off manner possible.

This speaks for trainers who know the words people want to hear but don’t actually have the actions to follow it.

Watch for actions over words and don’t fall for training that you feel off about just because the trainer knows how to talk and can tie it up in a pretty little bow to make it sound good.

How does the training look and feel to you without any outside comment?

Learn to develop your eye through learning about horse behavior so that the horse is telling you about the training primarily.

Horses tell the truth with their behaviour, their musculature and their overall demeanour.

People can be prone to being manipulative and can also be easily misled even with great intentions.