Basis Equine, Friday Harbor, WA (2026)

12/12/2025

How to Treat a Rescue Horse

A long time ago I heard some great advice on how to train an abused or rescued horse. Obviously as trainers when someone says they rescued a horse we cringe a bit. 😖 Unfortunately the person saying it often carries with them a persona and energy that make several things harder. No offense to anyone but most trainers have had a bad experience with the “rescue” crowd.

Back to that good advice! It started as a question, “how would a pasture of horses treat them?” If you turned an abused or mistreated horse out in a pasture with 10 others, they would treat it like a horse. Doesn’t matter if it was abused, skinny, fat, or unhandled. In the horse world there are rules and a hierarchy. That doesn’t change based on a horse’s past.

I use this as my guiding light when I work with a horse that has had a difficult past. The rules and boundaries are there for a reason. For my safety and theirs. I’m human and can also feel the urge to soften the rules on a horse with a tough past. That’s why it’s important to have a game plan to overcome my feelings. If our training is fair, then we shouldn’t have to change anything for a horse with a tough past.

I want to share a fun story about how I helped someone without ever handling their horse. They had picked up a wild mustang and on their way home they got in a car accident. Of course the horse had “trailer trauma”. They were able to proceed with gentling and training but the trailer loading was a hard spot.

So I asked them, “would you train any different if you didn’t know he had trailer trauma?”
Them- “oh yeah, definitely!”
Me- “Okay. I want you to do that. Act like you don’t know he had trailer trauma and just work on trailer loading like you would any other horse.”

The next time I talked to them they said it worked amazing! It’s funny how knowing a horse has “trauma” makes us apprehensive, we do things different. I think they sense that energy and pretty quick they realize they don’t have to do things they don’t want to do. People think they are respecting the trauma but they’re actually feeding into it.

You can’t change the rules for certain horses and expect them to reach the same finished product you typically create. I feel bad for the horses who have had it rough, but I’m more concerned with their future than their past.

Long story short, how do you treat a rescue horse? Treat them like a horse, it’ll make all the difference. 😉

11/29/2025

The fire and ice pair. Ocassio has matured so much in the past two years having Zaatar as his best friend and little (but very dominant) brother. He has now gotten to step into a big bother role with Cove here. And it has been the best thing ever.

Cove arrived with a hefty amount of attitude. I compare him to a 12 year old boy who suddenly grew to 6ft tall and realized that he can bully smaller kids and doesn’t have to do anything he doesn’t want to. Likely a result of coming off the range as a large 2 year old and then getting put in a pen of all young boys without moms, aunts, or dads to correct his behavior. He’s a smart horse, just with a kids short attention span and a big ego. Cove arrived with Salty who is the absolute opposite, low on the totem pole and just wants to get along with everyone. Poor Salty got beat up a little bit.
This meant that when I would step into the pen with Cove, I frequently got what felt like the middle finger. It was an exercise in patience for me. Often having to set myself a timer for 15 minutes as his attention span and my patience didn’t last longer than that.

Ocassio has been the perfect help. O is a little socially awkward and can come in a bit to strong for some horses. He then takes offense when they run away from him. He can be a brutal chaser in the wrong herd. Cove is pretty bold and unfazed by that. So Ocassio gets a friend that’s not afraid of him, and Cove still has to move out of his way constantly. Having Ocassio push Cove around all day every day. Has brought sanity to us all. Cove has come around to the idea of listening to others. And they both get a friend that will play bitey face and share a haynet.

11/23/2025

This might make you laugh, or p**s you off, or make you think, or make you feel seen and validated — depending on what level you're at.

But I want to share this to start a discussion around what is typically called “the horsemanship journey”.

I don't think that term is an accident. In fact I've both attended and taught so many horsemanship clinics and lessons lessons by now, that I see repeating patterns — like horse owner “archetypes” — that come up over and over again.

It’s gotten to a point that these archetypes have become so obvious that I had to write them down.

I won't go too deep into the neuroscience in this post, but I wanted to state in plain language what the actual “Levels” are that I believe we go through in developing our “Horsemanship Consciousness”.

In other words: How your level of awareness, and the manner in which you relate to horses, changes over time as you gain knowledge and experience.

I’ll describe what each level feels like from the perspective of the person experiencing it.

Like me, you may see yourself — or older versions of yourself — on this list.

Let’s climb the ladder:

-

📺 PHASE I: THE SIMULATION

Horsemanship = Ego Projection

-

Level 0️⃣- The Passenger

Knows nothing except “horses are pretty”.

Felt State: Benign Helplessness.

You are literally unaware that “training” as a concept even exists. A horse is either rideable or it’s not. Riding or interacting with horses feels like gambling, or sitting in the passenger seat of a car driven by a toddler. Sometimes you “win”, and the horse behaves and does things you like. Sometimes you “lose” and get frustrated or hurt. That’s horses. It is what it is.

Internal Monologue: "I hope he’s a good boy today. Last week he was kind of crazy, but I think he was just in a mood. My friend said he’s a Gemini, so that explains it. Oh, he’s stopping to eat grass... okay, I guess we’re stopping. He’s so strong! It’s amazing how big they are. I’ll just kick a little... nope, he’s ignoring me. That’s okay. We’ll go when he’s ready."

-

Level 1️⃣- The Tourist

Treats the horse like a child or a dog.

Felt State: Fantasyland of Warmth and Denial

Horse ownership feels like a Disney movie. You feel a swell of affection in your chest. You are constantly scanning for validation that the horse loves you back. When reality intrudes (a bite, a spook), you feel a sharp pang of betrayal or cognitive dissonance, which you quickly cover with a story.

Internal Monologue: "Look at him looking at me. He knows me. He knows I’m his mom. We have this connection, you know? I don't need bits or spurs because our bond is enough. Ow! He just nipped me. He’s just playing. He didn't mean it. Look, he’s saying “Sorry, mom”. He’s probably just sensing my anxiety from work today. I need to be calmer for him. I’ll just give him a cookie to let him know we’re okay."

-

Level 2️⃣- The Bebopper

Flitters around doing purposeless nonsense, fishing for reactions from the horse.

Felt State: Low-Grade Frustration & Vague Desire.

It feels like trying to tune a radio but never finding the station. You always feel "busy." Your body is constantly moving—pumping, squeezing, kicking, pulling, nagging. There is a sense of impatience: "Why isn't this working yet?"

Internal Monologue: "Come on... let’s go... more... MORE. Why are you so lazy? Go forward! Ugh, now he’s too fast. Quit it! Slow down. Why is his head up like that? Get your head down. I’m squeezing as hard as I can! This horse is just being difficult today. Maybe I need a different bit? I just want to have a nice ride, why does he have to make it a fight?"

-

Level 3️⃣ - The Operator

Uses the horse for ego validation and/or to scratch a competitive itch. Filled with insecurity about not measuring up; are in denial about this. Worships highly accomplished trainers and wants to be like them, but does not take coaching or criticism well (despite paying lip service to “learn something new every day”).

Felt State: Pressure & Rigid Judgment.

Riding feels like a performance review. You are tight, braced, and vigilant. Your ego is fused to the saddle. The horse is a prosthesis for your personal identity (“I’m a reiner” or “I’m a roper” or “I’m a jumper”), and the urge to find peer validation and keep up appearances drives everything you do. Every mistake the horse makes feels like a personal insult or a public embarrassment. You feel powerful when it all works, and furious when it doesn't.

The Internal Monologue: "Don't you embarrass me. Get in the ground. That felt like s**t. C’mon, get stopped. HARDER. Good. Now spin. Faster! Come on, you pea-hearted sunofa— don't quit on me now. I paid good money for you. I paid way too much money to get you trained. Knock it off. We’re doing this, now. There—see? He just needed to be told who’s boss."

-

🔥 PHASE II: THE AWAKENING
Horsemanship = Learning Lots of “Rules”

-

Level 4️⃣- The Zealot

Knows they need guidance, so outsources their thinking entirely to a method or guru. Depends on that security blanket to make decisions. Rigidly defends said guru like a mindless fangirl. Often overwhelmed with second-guessing and self doubt. Struggles to identify their own mistakes.

Felt State: Anxious Compliance.

Horsemanship feels like taking a math test you studied really hard for. You are terrified of getting the answer "wrong." You are constantly checking your own position against a mental image of "Correctness." You feel stiff, trying to apply perfect technique.

Internal Monologue: "Heels down. Chin up. Elbows in. The method says ‘Step 1, Step 2, Step 3.' Okay, I’m at Step 2. He’s not responding. Is my leg in the right spot? What would [Guru] say? I have to maintain the frame. He looks tense... but the book says this is the correct frame, so I have to hold it. Am I doing this right? I hope I'm doing this right. I don’t want to mess this up.”

-

Level 5️⃣ - The Technician

Sees horsemanship as a problem to crack. Physically more fluent but mentally still overthinks everything. Has enough knowledge to recognize their own mistakes, but struggles to act on the information they’ve gathered. Brain is going a million miles an hour, while limbs are often stuck in a “traffic jam” of thoughts and struggling to catch up.

Felt State: Mental Exertion (The Traffic Jam).

It feels like driving a manual transmission car for the first time. You are processing so much data that your brain hurts. You’re down in the trenches, fighting your own latency. You can see the solution, but your hands are too slow to catch it. You feel "clunky."

Internal Monologue: "Okay, he’s falling in on the left shoulder. That means I need to apply the inside leg and... wait, now he’s speeding up. I need to half-halt. One-two... missed it. Dammit. Okay, reset. Why is the left hind dragging? Biomechanically, that means the psoas is tight. I need to engage the core... okay, applying aid... now."

-

🧠 PHASE III: MASTERY
Horsemanship = Systems Thinking

-

Level 6️⃣- The Architect

Sees horsemanship as a great game. Diagnostic thinking is more fluid, has better discernment. Self-correction is more automatic. Understands the horse’s psychology more deeply, understands the training process, and trusts their own intuition.

Felt State: Cool Clarity.

The anxiety is gone. The emotion is gone. You feel like a chess grandmaster or a scientist in a lab. You are “above the fray”, observing data points; enjoying the process more than the actual outcome. When the horse resists, you don't feel anger; you feel curiosity. The world slows down. You feel more present and alive.

Internal Monologue: "Interesting. I asked for the hip, and he braced the jaw. That’s a diagnostic. Let’s verify. I’ll ask again... same brace. Okay, the root cause isn't the hip; it’s the anxiety about the contact from my leg. I’m going to change the constraint. Let’s go back to the Anchor exercise and isolate the hip for now. I’m going to work on some simpler leg yielding. There’s the release. There’s the breath. Okay, now we can try for the complete movement again.”

-

Level 7️⃣ - The Alchemist

Treats horsemanship as a process of mutual transformation — an adventure where you encounter chaos, master it, and become a better person as a byproduct of that process. Both horse and human become higher expressions of themselves through this dance.

Felt State: Fluid Competence

You’re “in the zone”. Riding or interacting with horses feels like playing jazz. You know the structure, but you are improvising the notes. You feel the horse's energy as a raw material that you can shape. You are comfortable with chaos because you know you can transmute it.

Internal Monologue: "He’s got a lot of energy today. Good. I won’t fight it; I’ll use it. Let’s funnel that speed into some work on our transitions and spins. Easy... let the pressure build... wait for the thought... there. Redirect. Beautiful. He thinks it’s his idea, but he’s actually following the incentive structure I already built. My hands and legs structure and channel his energy, not fight it. I’m just setting the banks; the river flows itself.”

-

🎉 PHASE IV: TRANSCENDENCE
Horsemanship = Effortless Congruencey

-

Level 8️⃣- The Centuar

Rider no longer feels like an external agent acting on the horse. They are a symbiotic organism that interfaces seamlessly with the horse's nervous system. They provide the decision and intention, the horse provides the energy and power. “Riding” becomes a two-way stream of subconscious, intuitive communication.

Felt State: Emptiness & Expansion.

You are fully present. There is no "voice in the head." The internal monologue stops because thought and action have become simultaneous. You do not feel your body ending and the horse’s beginning. You feel the ground THROUGH the horse’s body. You know where each hoof is under you, and where each hoof is going to be, at any given time. You feel the horse’s intention as your own thought. Time collapses. You stop living in the future (simulation) and the horse stops fearing the present. You meet in the exact millisecond of the stride (T=0).

-

Level 9️⃣ - The Steward

The highest level. You have achieved the skill of the Centaur, but you also realize that you are now an heir to a six-thousand year old tradition. It must be guarded, preserved, and transmitted for future generations.

Felt State: Reverence, Responsibility, Deep Sense of Meaning & Purpose

-

⚠️ WARNING: THE HORSESHOE TRAP

Now, before you self-assess, I have to advise caution.

There is a phenomenon known as the "Horseshoe Theory”…

The way it applies here is that if you bend a horseshoe, the two ends — Level 1 (Tourist) and Level 8 (Centaur) — curve around and look almost identical to the beginner’s eye.

The Level 1 Tourist rides on a loose rein because they are afraid to touch the horse, or they believe that "freedom" equals love. The horse is wandering, distracted, and disconnected.

The Level 8 Centaur rides on a loose rein because the horse is Self-Carrying. The connection is so potent that the rein is unnecessary. The horse is tuned in, energized, and waiting.

Big, big difference.

Many riders stay stuck in the lower levels because they use the masterful and spiritual-sounding language of Levels 7 and 8 to bypass the hard work of Levels 4, 5, and 6.

But you can’t “teleport” like that. You can’t skip all the discipline and mechanics, and go straight to being a Jedi Master.

Your horse needs a complete foundation… and you do too.

So, what level are you?

Be honest.

You cannot solve a problem at the level of consciousness that created it.

You cannot fix a Level 2 (Chaos) problem with more Level 2 behavior (Nagging). You need Level 3 (Order).

You cannot fix a Level 5 (Overthinking) problem with more Level 5 info (More Contradictory Advice, More Clinics, More Lessons). You need Level 6 (Diagnostics).

🪜 If you’re somewhere in PHASE II or higher in your journey right now, and you’re ready for the next level, you need a system designed to pull you up that ladder.

That is exactly what Foundations of Excellence is built to do.

It is the ladder from Simulation to Reality.

The roadmap from Foundation to Finesse.

Let’s get to work.

—Jake Lundahl

🐎 🧠 💡 🪜

11/18/2025

The beautiful Elle rocking her new hackamore. One that actually fits her!

Last year, I picked up a bosal like this for the first time. And felt a magical sort of success with the first horse I put it on. I was fascinated. I’ve been reading and watching what I can. Muddling through on the rest. Learning by feel. Watching hackamore demo at the brought some new ideas and clarity.
I put that same hackamore on this lovely mare and it just didn’t work. Well, it worked fine, but not great. She felt confused but good natured about it. So I went back to the snaffle as I hunted for a better one. I wasn’t ready to give up. She needed a shorter nose button and some higher quality braiding. Well, I finally found one that I thought would both fit well, look nice (sort of match my saddle), and not cost me an arm and a leg.
And the magic appeared again! We had the most delightful ride. She was soft while staying light and responsive, steady without me holding her together, able to ride off the weight of the reins and that heel knot.
I would still call this style of riding my personal study. I’m not an expert, just an enthusiastic student.
This is not me converting, just diversifying. I still have plans to train some English eventer types 😉.

11/12/2025

A ghostly ghoul in the forest!

Salty was real brave about me and my flashlight for a late night check in. With the clocks gone back, the days feel real short. And sometimes i spend the whole day on other islands and commuting by ferry.

11/10/2025

Little bit soggy, little bit of blue sky.
I’ve got a good looking crew in the rotation right now!
Three mustangs and a quarter horse. Three geldings and a mare.

10/31/2025

When you reeaaallyy want to roll, but you’re standing just a little to close to people to be comfortable (you could walk farther away you know) so instead you pull out this move!

Cove is such a character who’s goofy personality continues to bloom.

10/27/2025

Sweet Sassafras.
Today we said goodbye. We went for a walk, ate apples to his hearts content, and then he was laid to rest.

It’s heartbreaking, even though it’s been planned for months. With his eyesight deteriorating at a more rapid pace than we had hoped, this summer he quickly became a dangerous horse to handle. Watching the herd interact with him made it even more clear. Nobody would stand close to him unless he was lying down. For they did not trust him not to spook and spin into them at little things. We left him be for the sweet tail end of summer. Lots of space, lots of grass, his friends still looking out for him.

As his custodian, it was my responsibility to make this call. Now, while the pastures are big, and the ground still reasonable. Now, before he or someone else gets hurt. Now, so we can plan it for the most beautiful sunny October day.

Beautiful photos taken in July by

10/23/2025

Margo has had many years of a hind end disengage being drilled into her. Or so it appears to me. Even now, when leading from beside her, if you stop, 8 out of 10 times she will disengage the haunches until you are in front of her. Not to mention the many difficulties it causes when we started working under saddle! We have put a lot of effort into finding neutral. Helping her find an emotional balance where she can stop moving her feet without spinning around.
Now that she is more relaxed we can introduce a hind end yield coming towards us. I waited to introduce this until I was very sure she wasn’t going to dramatically swing her butt around when confused. (And now her person has mentioned that it’s a skill she would like to have!) Eventually, we will be able to climb up on a mounting block/stump/car bumper/whatever object we need to, and simply wave a hand to have her sidle over perfectly.

10/21/2025

“The horse will trust you more if you listen to their no”

Maybe - with some context.

Listen to their no? Yes. But always backing off gets you easily trapped with an un confident horse who doesn’t have much try in their vocabulary. That is, to me, a cruel thing to do to something in our care.

My kids say no all the time. No I don’t want to get dressed. No I don’t want to eat that. If I only listened to their no’s, our world would be very small.

My daughter especially has a certain set of challenges in life - fabrics and sounds and all kinds of things are very hard for her. There are some no’s I truly respect. She can’t help the way she feels and it would be cruel of me to force her into clothes that feel like torture. But for a long time she wouldn’t wear clothes at all. During a harsh winter this is not a safe option.

So I hear the no - I understand it - and then I go to skill building. What skills are we missing to wear SOME clothes?

A horse who only says no will not get in the trailer when it really comes time to. They will not accept veterinary care when it is life saving.

Some no’s don’t matter - I like a bosal over a bit - sure. But I won’t get caught? That one can be deadly.

If we back off for every no, we need to consider the long term ramifications. What are we really teaching here?

It’s easy and gives immediate gratification to let the horse walk away. But what if there is an emergency?

It’s our job to build skills. To develop trust. To support and honor the horse. And sometimes life comes at us unexpectedly and we need to say to the horse, I know you don’t understand this but I need you to try anyway because it’s important (say an evacuation).
The horse needs to trust that you will get them through it, and that only comes through experiences where you have gotten them through it.

So hear the no, sure. But go deeper. WHY are you getting no? Have you developed a habit of no? Is a skill set missing? Are you asking in a way that doesn’t suit? What do you need to get to a yes? That’s the more important question.

Six years of no’s from my daughter have lead me to learn to build confidence through skill building, support, and now she has more desire to try hard things. We have a lot more yes’s, and her world is bigger than ever - and she is much happier for it.

Basis Equine

12/12/2025

11/29/2025

11/23/2025

11/18/2025

11/12/2025

11/10/2025

10/31/2025

10/27/2025

10/23/2025

10/21/2025

Address

Telephone

Website

Alerts

Contact The Business

Shortcuts

Share

Category