Sunny Side Horsemanship

Sunny Side Horsemanship Horsemanship trainer and coach. Helping others create connection & build confidence with compassion.

I am so very thankful for all the opportunities I am given in the lives of my family, friends and clients including bein...
11/27/2025

I am so very thankful for all the opportunities I am given in the lives of my family, friends and clients including being entrusted with training and teaching to help you achieve your goals while I chase mine.

A very happy Thanksgiving to you and your family, 2 and 4 legged.

11/26/2025

Speed up, hold steady on a loose rein, slow down, stop and stand quietly on a loose rein, walk off quietly when asked. Good boy Levi.

11/25/2025

Gaited horses can and should have the same basic skill sets as every other breed.

Skills like standing quietly for tying, tacking, and mounting. Being soft and responsive in a bosal or snaffle, walking quietly down the trail on a loose rein solo or in any order with a group. Being light and responsive to the rider regardless of whether other horses are amped up on the ride too, and able to increase and decrease energy (gait, canter, etc.) without fuss.

What else are some must haves for any horse you have?

Living life to the fullest is knowing how to be where your feet are currently.
11/24/2025

Living life to the fullest is knowing how to be where your feet are currently.

Maverick on his first baby trail ride! When getting youngsters under saddle, I get them out of the arena as quickly as i...
11/23/2025

Maverick on his first baby trail ride!

When getting youngsters under saddle, I get them out of the arena as quickly as is safely possible. The miles on trails creates a curious, forward horse that can emotionally regulate themselves better.

I like to start out with them following a baby sitter, then as they build confidence we’ll start going out solo. Once I feel confident that they are ready for it, we’ll even haul off farm for some additional exposure in different places.

Between trail rides, I’ll mix in arena rides teaching them how to carry themselves better and all the basic cues that begins to develop a fun and well rounded mount.

Levi is here for some fine tuning and to build confidence on trails. He comes from a barrel racing background and tends ...
11/22/2025

Levi is here for some fine tuning and to build confidence on trails.

He comes from a barrel racing background and tends to be forward and most comfortable in an arena.

Our main focus right now is building confidence going out solo which includes being able to walk calmly back to the barn on a loose rein, and stop and stand quietly and patiently along the way.

11/21/2025

Working on narrow and mushy creek crossings with Leo. I have found that these are harder mentally for horses than a large crossing that you can ride down and through.

My goal when doing these is to teach the horse to slow down and quietly step through them rather than leaping and rushing.

The truth of the matter is that nothing in this life will be fully how you wish it to be. Even when our best and wildest...
11/19/2025

The truth of the matter is that nothing in this life will be fully how you wish it to be. Even when our best and wildest dreams come true it happens in a way that we never saw coming and includes things that we would rather not have in our lives.

When those things come, it is up to us whether we will chose to open ourselves up, learn things we never knew that we’d have to know, rise to the occasion and thrive. Or, we can sit down and wallow that we didn’t get our way and allow ourselves to be held back.

11/13/2025

Leo learning how to ground tie.

Teaching a horse how to ground tie helps them learn to maintain focus on a task you’ve given them and not get distracted by everything else going on around them.

It is also one of the concepts I make sure a horse understands before I introduce tying or any other form of restraint.

Don’t be afraid to look deep into yourself. Your reactions. Your emotions. Your thoughts. Don’t fear sitting in the sile...
11/12/2025

Don’t be afraid to look deep into yourself. Your reactions. Your emotions. Your thoughts.

Don’t fear sitting in the silence. Don’t fear feeling pain. Don’t hide in busyness. Don’t shut down your thoughts and emotions. Let them come. Let them hit you. Even if they knock you down.

Then get up and go fill your life with goodness. Don’t stay in depths consumed by the fear, the pain, the struggle, the hurts.

Understand where you came from. Don’t hide it. Embrace it. Accept it. Feel it and let it help you help others that walk into your journey.

Believe in goodness, love, peace and joy even in the midst of sorrow. Believe that the strength will be there for you when you reach for it. Believe that there is greater and more than you can understand. Embrace all this wonderful life has to offer.

Life will always give you choices on which path to take. It’s so easy to stay in our comfort zone and do just enough to ...
11/11/2025

Life will always give you choices on which path to take. It’s so easy to stay in our comfort zone and do just enough to get by.

It is my experience though, that the path that is less comfortable, gives us more challenges, and stretches us into growth, is the one that has the most beauty along the way.

Choose the path that is right for you, but I highly recommend the one less traveled on.

Modern day life is busy. It is chaotic and noisy. We are flooded with messages, thoughts, ideas, catastrophic events, an...
11/10/2025

Modern day life is busy. It is chaotic and noisy. We are flooded with messages, thoughts, ideas, catastrophic events, and horrible things people do to each other. We are desensitized and taught, purposely or not, to shut down, fake emotions, pretend to be something we aren’t and fit in. But make sure you stand out too. But only in a way we deem acceptable. Then we walk out to our horses.

We walk out to the barn after bracing and blocking ourselves to every day life and carry it there. We make our horses our “therapists” dumping negative energy on them and then block out the communication they try to give us that they aren’t happy. They don’t feel safe or understood. We selfishly demand they be perfect for us requiring from them something they can’t give us. Peace, joy, confidence and self love and acceptance.

Your horse is not a therapist. The barn can only be a place of peace if you deal with your 💩 elsewhere and bring peace and calmness to the barn. The horse can only bring joy when you stop fighting and learn how to listen to what your horse needs to feel safe, comfortable and understood. If things aren’t going well, slow down listen to what your horse is telling you. They reflect back our mental and emotional state and how well we are communicating and listening to them and aren’t wrong.

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66 Lula Lane
Farmville, VA
23901

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