Willow Tree Equine Services

07/16/2024

Thankful for the opportunities that these animals continue to bring. We had a fun filled, VERY hot weekend at the Maine Appaloosa Horse Club show! New experiences for both horses and riders, proud of both!! Especially thankful for our built in groom and horse show dad we appreciate you more than you know!🩷

06/27/2024

EXTREME PRICE DROP if sold within the next week!

06/04/2024

I would say our first show of the season was a success! I am so very proud of each one of these horses and riders and how far they’ve come in the past few months. They have all stayed dedicated to improving themselves and their horses and it has truly shown. You should be very proud of yourselves!! And thank you to everyone that helps make this all possible!

Especially proud of how much Petey has grown and matured. He brought us home 3 blues..so excited for our future together💙

05/20/2024

Due to no fault her own- Meet Indie 10 yr grade paint mare. This horse is beyond versatile, goes both English and western and thoroughly enjoys the trails. Only available to you due to owners major life changes. Has currently been in training throughout the winter as well as used in our lesson program on and off. She LOVES to work. Intermediate to advanced rider as she can forward. Baths, clips, ties and stands for both vet and farrier. Currently up to date on all vaccines, worming and farrier. PPE welcome at buyers expense. Video available upon request. PM for more info and 🥕 ☺️

02/10/2024

Many people pass through the system, but few stay-

Sometimes I feel like the horse world out there is like a shipwreck: people are flailing in the water, begging for help.

Then someone comes along with a life boat, and says I can help you- but you have to pull yourself in, and you have to row your own row -

This is where many people turn down the boat, because they don’t know what they’re looking at and have to be convinced it’s what they need

Or they choose to wait for a better looking one, or with someone in it with the right accent or hat-

Or they get in the boat but it gets hard after a little while, so they jump out and go back to floundering -

The few people rowing away in the lifeboat work hard and don’t see progress for their efforts for a while. Then they see land, and know where they’re headed, and the rowing starts to make sense

But the water is still full of floundering people, waiting for the perfect person to save them

I’ve had many people come in my boat, many more leave - and after all these years only a few core people have stayed long enough to see the shore.

02/05/2024

12/01/2023

Today is the last day for our Black Friday deal!! Don’t miss out!

11/24/2023

Black Friday deals are here!! Buy a month of lessons and receive 50% off your 5th lesson. Any new students will receive 10% off one month of lessons!

11/17/2023

We are running a black Friday deal! Stay tuned for details!! I am also looking to get our page up to 250 likes once we do I will be giving away a lesson!!🐴

10/04/2023

This is what I strive to do as instructor🙌🏻 if my students learn nothing else they have strong basic skills to help them succeed in their future with horses!! Basics are the foundation of a good horseman!

Holding the whip with good technique
Picking up the reins without pulling backwards
Regaining a stirrup without stopping the seat
Holding the lunge line without pulling the head off center
Re-organizing the lunge line without losing focus on the horse in movement
Walking beside the horse in a straight line without pulling the horses shoulder toward them
Saddling, girthing and mounting without tightening the horses back
Taking a horse through a gate with balance and calm

These are essential skills to being a good rider and horseman.
Where are these being taught? Do people still know or care about them?

Everywhere I go, I hear people talk about canter transitions, lateral work, improving a jump -

But I rarely see excellent basic skills

As a teacher, this is where my focus lies. Until you can get organized and balanced yourself, there’s no amount of progress your horse can gain that you can’t disorganize in short order -

Everyone wants to do the fancy stuff. Who wants to get really good at holding their equipment well, putting it on quietly without disturbing the horse, walking better, breathing better, and just being better to a horse in general?

09/21/2023

Leadership.

We hear a lot about this with our horses. And the word respect is thrown around a lot. “That we need to demand it.”

There are two types of leadership really… one being Fear Based Leadership, where as the other being Understanding/Trust Based Leadership.

I’ve seen both work to an extent, but the first has many limitations. You’re always amping up your cues, to ensure they still “respect” them. And the brace/anxiety that comes with it always comes out somewhere.

If we learn to truly communicate with the horse, understand their needs, and how to also regulate our own self, the possibilities with Understanding/Trust based Leadership are endless.

Just because you have an understanding doesn’t mean pressure is never applied, it just means it’s always done so in a predicable and fair manner that the horse understands. Much like the same way they apply it to each other in a herd.

The latter of the two takes longer, and a far better understanding of the horse (and yourself) but I promise you the reward in the product you get from your horse and yourself is truly worth it.

I have a lot of respect for a lot of people, but not one of them has ever come from them trying to demand it out of me. In that situation, they received quite the opposite, actually.

09/11/2023

And just like that our 2023 show season is over! So proud of both our horses and riders. New horses all around for us all, especially proud of miss Delaney showing for her first year on a 3 year old at that!! Great job ladies😃🐴💜

07/15/2023

Quality vs quantity in your training.

Horses need both. But honestly, they need the quantity the most. The best training out there is the consistent kind.

We were having a conversation about this the other day while riding our training horses. The timelines of different horses, and the time it takes. When you send your horse off to training, in most programs they get worked 5-6 days a week.

Showing up consistently for our own horses, isn’t easy. And many times we think 2-3 days a week is enough. And I’m not saying that it’s not if that’s the only thing in your schedule that works. But, we can’t have the same timeline thoughts as the one getting 5-6 days a week work/training.

The horse who gets rode 2-3 days a week, has around 150 days of training at the end of a year, where as the horse ridden consistently 5-6 days a week has around 300. Those are large differences, and your timeline is going to reflect. It’s hard to compete and keep up with someone who’s consistently showing up and putting in the effort for both them and their horse. Each day that
we don’t ride adds up. Motivation is never going to be there every ride, this is where we have to rely on discipline.

07/10/2023

Super proud of this little man. We had his first outing together yesterday and he couldn’t have been better!!

07/04/2023

Happy Independence Day!!🎇🇺🇸

05/16/2023

Sweaty saddle pad season is here🙌🏻

05/10/2023

For a long time there’s been a big focus on suppleness in our horses, and don’t get me wrong- it’s critical.

So many though get so obsessed with suppleness though they miss the other key ingredients…

How good is flexibility with no strength or stability??? It’s not…

Riding a bendy, unbalanced horse is not a good feeling!

When we ride we want to feel our horses take each stride with true confidence in where their feet are and as some would say be ‘sure footed’.

As we develop our horses, suppleness must be complemented with strength through balanced engagement and straightness.

There’s a reason we get our car’s alignment done regularly- so it can drive straight and when we do turn we don’t run into unnecessary resistance because of a misalignment.

When riding we want to develop that level of straightness so the horse can travel with little to no resistance and when we do make a change of direction or speed they are able to do so smoothly and confidently.

Quick Tips:
- Make sure your horse is truly following their nose when they ride (if your horses nose comes past the point of their shoulder, it will effect their balance significantly especially if the feet don’t follow).
- Backing up straight, in circles, in a horse shoe shape, in figure eights are all great ways to develop suppleness, strength & stability.
- Be sure the majority of your communication comes from your seat. Resistance in the face is often a strong indicator of resistance in the body. Focus on the body first.
- Don’t micromanage your horse. You want an independent, confident horse. Set your request up, let them do the work, allow them to make mistakes, redirect them when necessary and go again.

Want to learn exactly how we do it? We we have step by step & real raw training movements just like you’ll face with your horse- check out our online video library.

01/11/2023

Let’s talk arena etiquette…

All barns are different for different reasons. Each barn does the best they can with what they have. Indoor, outdoor, round pen, whatever they have available.

Yes, as a boarder, trainer, trailer in student you are paying to have use of the facility. However, your barn and arena are a community. Therefore if one wrecks it for others… either all have to work around it or all help fix it.

Some days you may have the arena completely to yourself and other days it may be filled and hard to use… a few pieces of advice to ensure you get the most use out of the arenas you rent.

TALK!!
-Talk or look at your trainers teaching schedule
-Talk as you enter AND leave the arena
-Ask where the best place to lunge may be if there are others riding
-Talk as your ride. Telling others inside or outside, diagonal, circle, etc
-Talk if your horse makes manure AND return to retrieve it
-Don’t talk to a trainer as they teach unless it’s your lesson
-Don’t talk if you audit a lesson/clinic. Become literally a fly on the wall.

Your arenas are a community. Take care of it and respect the others who share it with you. How do you want your arena left if you owned it? How do want your lessons to go if you were paying to participate in one?

-Fill in any holes your horse makes
-Retrieve and remove manure
-Avoid only riding the rail… unless you enjoy raking it back in
-If you break it, you buy it
-If you move it, move it back
-If you turn it on, turn it off

You are RENTING the facility. It is NOT yours. Owners, Managers and Trainers are not in the horse business to make millions. The amount of time and money that is spent on footing, dragging, electricity, etc is so often over looked. As a boarder, a trainer, a trainer in student you do NOT own the arenas. Please, respect the time and money spent we take to keep these arenas a community. Clean, bright, level… As they may not always be there to share.

01/03/2023

Wishing you all a happy 2023! We look forward to another year of helping you and your equine partner reach all your goals. Thank you to all our clients for an amazing 2022!

As we move forward into the new year we do currently have limited availability for both lessons as well as new massage clients. Please message or call for more information!

11/24/2022

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours!

11/06/2022

What an awesome show season it was so proud of these girls and their accomplishments! 🏆❤️

09/30/2022

09/11/2022

What an amazing day, we had a not so great week leading up to today but we made the best of it!!

07/10/2022

We had a great day to say the least!! So proud of these kids❤️

06/05/2022

The day didn’t necessarily go as planned but so thankful for good horses and patient students. Thankful for the learning opportunities that today gave us. Wish we had snapped more photos!! And always thanks to our built in groom!

05/29/2022

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