Behind the Bit Stables

Behind the Bit Stables Equestrian Competition Team Page
(1)

11/22/2024

šŸŽOne time slot available tonight šŸŽ
4:30-5:30pm lesson comment if you want it!

10/26/2024

Always be mindful

So proud of my fabulous dressage students, Makenzie and LoisšŸ’«!!Makenzie jumped into her first show last year and snagged...
10/20/2024

So proud of my fabulous dressage students, Makenzie and LoisšŸ’«!!

Makenzie jumped into her first show last year and snagged 2nd place in her dressage test! šŸ„ˆ Then she took multitasking to a whole new levelā€”because why not add having a baby to the mix? šŸ‘¶ Now sheā€™s back in the saddle, heading into her second show in November, leveling up like a true champ! šŸ… Super mom, super rider!

And then thereā€™s Mrs. Lois, whoā€™s living proof that age is just a number (and that you should never say 'Iā€™m too old for that!'). She rode as a teenager, took a brief hiatus (a couple of decades or so šŸ˜‰), and a year ago came to me with a spark for dressage. Now, sheā€™s going to be competing in her very first show also in November and I couldnā€™t be more excited! šŸŽ‰āœØ

These ladies are amazing reminders that itā€™s never too lateā€”or too earlyā€”to chase your dreams, no matter how crazy life gets!
So thankful to call you both my friends!šŸ’•

Dear Behind the Bit Stables Family,Thank you for an amazing year with us! We are thrilled to invite you to our Thank You...
09/30/2024

Dear Behind the Bit Stables Family,

Thank you for an amazing year with us! We are thrilled to invite you to our Thank You Dessert Party on November 7th from 4-8pm. This special event is to celebrate the first full year of our riding school, and we couldnā€™t have done it without your trust and support through our ā€œnewnessā€ and growth!

Weā€™ll have a delicious spread of desserts for everyone to enjoy, and weā€™re also offering a special treat: a family photo shoot with the horses! These photos will make beautiful holiday cards, and weā€™d love for each family to have a memorable portrait with our horses.

In addition, we are gifting each student with a private photo shoot with their favorite horse! We want you to have beautiful photos to showcase your progress. Please reach out to me via email or text to schedule your private session.

A few important updates as we head into the new year:

Starting November 1st, group lesson rates will be $75 to help cover the rising costs of feed and care for our beloved horses. We appreciate your understanding.
We will also be implementing a $25 cancellation fee for any lesson cancellations made within 24 hours to account for trainer time and feed costs with the inability to fill that slot within a short notice. Thank you for your cooperation with this change.
We have loved watching each of our students grow in their riding skills and their love and care for the horses. We look forward to celebrating with you on November 7th and continuing this incredible journey together!

Warmly,

Makenzie Cline & Kaitlyn King
Behind the Bit Stables

Actress Elizabeth Taylor at 14 years old rides her horse King Charles. She was gifted the horse on her 13th Birthday by ...
09/10/2024

Actress Elizabeth Taylor at 14 years old rides her horse King Charles. She was gifted the horse on her 13th Birthday by MGM studios after they both stared together in 'National Velvet' as 'Velvet Brown' and 'The Pie', respectively, 1946, United States.

Movie: National Velvet šŸæ

ON-SITE LEASEā­ļøLeDomā­ļø Meet LeDom, this horse is the absolute sweetest boy and is so gentle with kids. He is a 20 year o...
09/09/2024

ON-SITE LEASE
ā­ļøLeDomā­ļø
Meet LeDom, this horse is the absolute sweetest boy and is so gentle with kids. He is a 20 year old Dutch warmblood who is retired from hunter jumpers. He is the perfect horse for all riding levels. If you want some extra riding time, and need a solid horse to do it on, this is your guy! Located in Green Cove Springs, FL. Message for more details

āœØ Riding Lessons Available Now at Behind the Bit Stables! āœØLocated in Green Cove Springs, just 10 minutes from the Shand...
08/07/2024

āœØ Riding Lessons Available Now at Behind the Bit Stables! āœØ

Located in Green Cove Springs, just 10 minutes from the Shands Bridge.

We offer lessons for riders ages 10 to 85, and we're also seeking candidates for our show program. Horse lease options are available.

Choose between Western & English disciplines!

Special days and pricing for riders 10 & under.

Message us here or call us at (904) 826-9867 to book your spot today!

Yes! šŸ’•
07/24/2024

Yes! šŸ’•

Warranted discipline or abuse??
The truth is some behaviors are absolutely not acceptable, and horses are 10 times bigger than us. If a horse swings their head the wrong way and knocks into our head, it would be like Babe Ruth taking a swing at us with a ball bat. If a stallion playfully nips or strikes at us, the way he would another stallion, it could put us in intensive care. Sometimes we must be very ā€œloudā€ in order to override a horseā€™s fear response, or ingrained habit, or even a playful gesture, that our weak tiny little bodies cannot sustain- not even once.

As a teenager I was exposed to trainers that make the video of Charlotte look unfortunately mild. šŸ˜­ (Iā€™m horrified by her video, so please donā€™t twist my words into thinking Iā€™m justifying any of it- Iā€™m not.) Sadly, I was taught that horses needed harsh discipline, and I delivered. (I think itā€™s pretty clear that Iā€™ve gone in a very different direction since.)

Since I have become much more educated , I am now much better at preparing a horse for the next step. I now completely understand that all of that harsh discipline that I dished out, and that those trainers dishes out, was entirely unwarranted. That said, I have also been in positions where horses did require some pretty sharp discipline at times! I work with stallions that naturally think biting is a game. In my 20s I had a lot of horses in training and I was the lowest priced person around. I got exactly what clients you would expect- the horses that had been so spoiled/shut down/etc that already came with deeply ingrained and dangerous responses, and I only had minimal time to make huge changes. Some behaviors needed stopped immediately and effectively, which often required a large amount of pressure.

So when I first heard there was video of Charlotte Dujardin whipping a horse, I didnā€™t immediately judge. But then I saw the video- and itā€™s bad.

So how do we determine whatā€™s acceptable but intense, versus whatā€™s abusive. And hereā€™s my thoughtsā€¦.

1.) Why?? Why is someone beeting this horse? If a Horse strikes out at me, I am likely going to, rather violently, chase that horse backwards. Iā€™m going to make it very clear that striking out a human is not acceptable behavior ever. If a horse is about to jump on me, regardless of the reason, I will use whatever force is required to protect my personal space because I donā€™t want to die! What is absolutely vile is when someone is bludgeoning a horse in order to make it perform better to win a prize. I donā€™t mind some well-timed, tap taps to get a horse to cross over more or increase engagement (especially if the horse is a little stuck in his body, and I know that the long-term benefits of changing his posture are going to make him more comfortable and more sound for years to come). But when someone is sharply disciplining a third level horse to make it a fourth level horse (or up) that is absolutely doing it TO the horse, and not FOR the Horse. Youā€™re not doing it for safety, and youā€™re not doing it to improve the overall life of that animal. Youā€™re doing it to win a stupid ribbon.
2.) There MUST be an easy obvious ā€œoutā€. As a dressage rider and a professional trainer and instructor I have no idea what the horse in that video could have done to make Charlotte stop whipping himā€¦ and that is absolutely not okay. I have a very low energy lesson Horse that occasionally gets belligerent and when students ask him to move forward, he balls up instead. Thatā€™s a behavior that obviously needs fixed- that is something that can become dangerous. I had a student with a solid seat, work on retraining his response to leg and stick by putting by applying light pressure and slowly escalating. When she pressed the stick against him, he would brace through his whole body, and when she quickly but lightly tapped he bulged into it, and when she first escalated to an actual whack he kicked out the back similar to the horse in the Charlotte video. I had my student keep rhythmic pressure on this lesson Horse until he went forward. The only pressure from the bit was just enough to keep him from dodging to the right (which is his go to) and the absolute moment he went into a trot we released all the aids and verbally praised him. And within a few repetitions, he no longer kicked out the back, and within about 15 minutes, she could put very light pressure on him, and he trotted forward immediately without the brace.
In our scenario the horse had an obvious out- do a very easy thing that we know that you know, and the pressure is released immediately. We were not pushing him forward while holding him backward. We didnā€™t put the pressure on randomly when the horse was close enough. šŸ™„. We kept on steady pressure that was released the moment the horse gave a semi correct ā€œyou are getting warmerā€ answer. What we did was CLEAR and FAIR.
When pressure never comes off, it doesnā€™t take much to really stressed a horse out. The pressure we used never lasted more than 20 seconds, and when it released, it released completely. If you canā€™t get a correct answer within 20 seconds, then the horse doesnā€™t know the answer and you need to use a very different method.

3.) Does the horse know the answer? This obviously links in with the story I just told- our lesson in Horse already knows that leg means go forward. Yes, some beginner students might have accidentally trained it out of him, but overall, this is something heā€™s known for many years. We definitely put more pressure on him that I would a young horse that Iā€™m sitting on for the first time. I do a heck of a lot of work with young horses to teach them that leg means forward because they donā€™t just come out of the womb knowing that!! On the ground, I will touch them with a stick and have them move their hip over and then go forward. We repeat that enough that I can replicate it under saddle. Then I would touch with my left leg and then touch with the left stick on the hip to move their hip over and then send them forward. Iā€™m going to repeat that stuff until they understand one leg at a time, and eventually, they understand that both legs together means go forward. And if the 15-year-old lesson Horse really needed it, I would go through that whole process with him as well, but the truth is he knew the answer so we could put on more pressure and fix the problem in 20 minutes, but if it would not have satisfied the additional things below, I would have taken the week or two to explain it to him like I would a baby horse.
4.) How is the horse afterwards? If you smack a horse with a stick and they are now afraid of you, you know that you went too far too quick. But sometimes you smack a horse with a stick, and their expression is more like, ā€œha ha, yeah I know- just checking!ā€ (yes, thatā€™s anthropomorphizing, but wording like this has helped some of my students so Iā€™m going to use it here.) If the horse seems more relaxed, and more trusting, AFTER youā€™ve disciplined him, then Iā€™m gonna say you probably did a good job of gauging your pressure. (Not to be confused with learned helplessness but that is pretty extreme and a lot of people love to throw that phrase around when it doesnā€™t apply.)
Gauging how much pressure to use is a big part of horsemanship!! In general, horses donā€™t care if they are in charge or if you are in charge, but they want to make sure that whoever is in charge should be! Often if you increase pressure to make yourself very very clear, they actually appreciate it. They arenā€™t real big on having to guess what it is that you want!
A great example is an electric fence. Horses respect the hell out of a good electric fence, but they arenā€™t afraid of it- they will graze right up against it! No horse has ever been attacked by an electric fence. Itā€™s clear. Itā€™s fair. And itā€™s predictable. It also really really hurts!! But most people agree itā€™s the safest boundary for your horse. I donā€™t know too many people who think electric fences are abusive.
So if I set a boundary with my horse, and I clearly explained the boundary and they cross it, and I deliver discipline that is harsh as an electric fence (which I doubt Iā€™ve ever been THAT harsh), but the horse saw it coming I knew it was fair, they are unlikely to be afraid of me afterwards.
But if someone is not clear and not fair with their discipline, then the horse is (rightfully so) likely to remain upset for quite a long time! Lol and thatā€™s a good indicator to know that what you did was not okay and you need to find a better method. BTW- the lesson horseā€™s expression and behavior was much better after our session. Heā€™s still easy to catch, and shows zero fear of humans or whips. And heā€™s been great for the rest of his lessons this week.
5.) Premeditated or emotional? When I put that student on my lesson horse a few days ago, and had her work through his forward issue, I knew what the lesson plan was going to be before her car pulled in the driveway. I explained to her the timing and the method, and I picked a student that I knew would be able to carry out proper timing.
When a trainer is rushed or angry, or feeling immense pressure and starts wildly ā€œdiscipliningā€ a horse, we all can see and feel the difference. Itā€™s gut wrenching.
Someone in the charlotte video was laughing every time charlotte went after him- it was NOT a funny ha ha laugh. It was an uncomfortable laugh. Humans often times laugh to try to downplay or dissipate strong tense emotions. Itā€™s actually a fairly typical response when stuck in a situation where emotions are very high and we are trying to regulate, not only our own emotions, but other peoples as well. Charlotte appeared emotionally ā€œdoneā€ in that video. She was not regulating her emotions. She was not taking a moment to problem solve. She just wanted the thing and wanted it now so that she could be done.
Unfortunately, I get it. I went through a very ugly time last year as my marriage imploded, and there were so many days that I refused to work a horse because I knew I didnā€™t have the ability to emotionally regulate. Thankfully, I was still confident and happy while teaching lessons. But if Iā€™m really emotionally done, and I sit on a horse, itā€™s too easy for the bu****it that I learned as a teenager to rear its ugly head. But I know that about myself, so I try really hard to not put myself in those positions.

I could probably write more, but this post is already tremendously long - it could probably be its own book to be honestā€¦ A book that I really honestly donā€™t want to write. This whole thing kind of has me on the muscle so Iā€™m going to go chill out so that I can emotionally regulate before I go ride!!!

Dressage students often go through a phase where they feel like things are supposed to ā€œfeel hardā€ā€¦. They over aid, over...
07/10/2024

Dressage students often go through a phase where they feel like things are supposed to ā€œfeel hardā€ā€¦. They over aid, over complicate, and over think.

This stuff IS COMPLEX! For sure.
But when the stars align and your body cooperates and you are in the right position, then it š“ˆš’½š‘œš“Šš“š’¹ š’»š‘’š‘’š“ š‘’š’¶š“ˆš“Ž!

Once you get into the correct position, relax and smile and enjoy! Just allow your intuition to maintain the movement and allow the horse to do the thing instead ofļæ¼ trying so hard to MAKE it all happen.

-from Dee Rudy Horsemanship

Camp Fun!
06/23/2024

Camp Fun!

Camps still going on!We loved our RED WHITE AND BLUE horse!! So much fun! Next camp July 10th-12th!
06/23/2024

Camps still going on!We loved our RED WHITE AND BLUE horse!! So much fun! Next camp July 10th-12th!

Happy Fatherā€™s Day to all the horse dads out there! Your kids will grow up grateful for their time in the saddle. Iā€™m ve...
06/16/2024

Happy Fatherā€™s Day to all the horse dads out there! Your kids will grow up grateful for their time in the saddle. Iā€™m very encouraged to see parents engaged, motivating, and spending time with their kids during their lessons! Yā€™all make the difference . šŸŽšŸŽšŸŽ

Address

6430 Sandhill Road
Green Cove Springs, FL
32043

Opening Hours

Monday 2pm - 7pm
Friday 2pm - 7pm
Saturday 1pm - 7pm
Sunday 1pm - 7pm

Telephone

+19048269867

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