Kendall’s Colt Connection

07/09/2025

How NOT to train self carriage🎠

“Pick her shoulder up”

“More inside leg”

“Don’t let her lean”

“Hold her up with your outside rein”

Any of these sound familiar to you? I rode for a long time with sayings like these, trying to keep my horse straight and in a frame by holding her all together.

The problem is, that can only take you so far. How on earth are you supposed to attempt anything more advanced if your horse can’t carry themselves properly without help?

The good news is, there IS a way to teach proper self carriage, and it’s much easier than you may think.

I start by teaching my horses how to bend properly in a circle at a walk. Meaning, they start bending in the poll, then the neck, then shoulders, then rib cage, then hind end. Once they can walk a circle effortlessly doing that, I will teach the same thing at a trot and canter.

They start to learn over and over again that when I pick up on my rein to bend them, they have to pick themselves up. Overtime they will start traveling around softly in their body.

April is a lovely reining prospect we’ve been starting under saddle this year. She used to travel very stiff and crooked, and now she’s really starting to carry herself nicely. Cerise isn’t doing anything to hold her in a frame, she’s merely a passenger guiding her around😍

06/24/2025

I’m Looking for 5 Dedicated Owners of Young Horses who want to effectively prepare their horse to be saddled for the first time.

… without causing unnecessary fear, pain, or resentment

… or feeling like you are incapable—and have to send your horse to a trainer you do not fully trust

I can teach you how to create an emotionally regulated horse so you can prepare them well for the rest of their career, particularly with being saddled for the first time.

My clients have gone from:

→ having horses who were anxious, spooking, bolting, and even running people over; or simply young and untrained

→ not having the tools to handle their horse in an ethical way WHILE still moving forward

To having a well regulated horse who is mentally prepared for being started under saddle, and is respectful to humans WHILE remaining connected and truly loving their job.

Here’s how I can help YOU next:

THE C**T CONNECTION ACADEMY

CCA is my 8 week online coaching program that teaches emotional regulation and foundational groundwork to prepare your horse for a successful career under saddle.

So you can stop feeling like you’re missing the pieces to develop a mentally sound horse, and learn how to create true connection and harmony WHILE preparing them for the first saddling.

In CCA you will:

→ Learn how the equine nervous system works, deep dive into creating connection and a well regulated horse who is totally relaxed during the first saddling

→ Receive live trainings and action steps from me each week that will walk you through each concept and how to implement it with your own horse

→ Be a part of a community of other like minded people who you can share your experiences

→ Message me your questions anytime, so you never get stuck!

**Enrollment opens June 25th.**

Accepting clients on a first come, first serve basis.

Once the 5 spots are gone, they’re gone.

Comment “INFO” below, and I’ll send you the details.

06/13/2025

Creating Your Desired Outcome☀️

We can never control our circumstances, but we can control how we respond to them.

Denver had not learned many ground rules at all yet when this incident occurred, so I was now dealing with a young horse who has no idea how he’s supposed to interact with humans.

Instead of getting in a big fight with him about putting something in his mouth, I simply changed how I was going to approach the situation by making it more appealing to him.

Allowing yourself to view situations differently often leads to the outcome you desire!

06/10/2025

Baby Singley is coming in October! 💛

While we are excited to see what the future holds, fear not, horse endeavors WILL continue! My good friend and assistant Cerise will be making sure things remain running smoothly…

Anddd I have a new course that has been in the works for the past several months that will be coming out very soon! 🙌🏻

06/03/2025

A Key Factor in Training Success 💯

The first and biggest thing I address when building a foundation with any horse is emotional regulation.

The horse needs to be able to be relaxed and mentally present in order to learn and retain information well. When you can teach skills with no other baggage attached, the results are amazing 🙌🏻

Bo**ie is relatively new to my program, and she tends to do lotttts of laying down before a training session. It might not look like much, but giving her the time to do this is going to be important in the long run!

05/22/2025

The Counter-Intuitive Key to Training Success☀️

Humans love to take action and to be busy. We like to try and fix problems before they even appear, and to fill the void with DOING something.

One of the best mental skills to develop when it comes to horse training is observation. Many times the skills required to find a problem are really simple when they’re boiled down- using common sense and process of elimination.

However, we can’t utilize those tools if we take action before we even truly understand what’s happening to begin with. We tend to RE-act, instead of act.

To pause, and wait to see what the horse is ACTUALLY doing or telling us can make all the difference in the world. Ironically, changing our perspective and asking more questions first often leads to finding the correct action faster.

Thinking before we speak is a powerful thing!

12/20/2024

The coming of the New Year brings with it some new and exciting changes… I am happy to announce that I will be moving the business to Cielo Hills Ranch located in Gilroy, CA starting in January!

It is bittersweet leaving the Bar SZ Ranch- it has become a place dear to my heart in many ways. I am forever grateful to the Borland family and the rest of the people there who have given me the opportunity to grow my business and who have shown me what true community looks like ♥️

Though it is hard to leave, I am really excited about the new potential awaiting at Cielo Hills. This facility offers multiple barns, a beautiful outdoor arena AND covered arena, nearby access to trails, and is much closer to town, among other things! I am really looking forward to being able to serve my clients and their horses in even more ways this year. More training and lesson spots will be opening up soon, message me for more information or to reserve a spot!

11/14/2024

With business growing like a w**d this year (yay!), the need for more help has equally grown with it. I’m excited to announce that Cerise Archuleta has joined the team and I am no longer a one man band! Cerise is a long time friend and equine professional with lots of diverse skills to bring to the table. I’m looking forward to seeing where this next step in the journey goes. Welcome to California, Cerise!

09/12/2024

This little lady found her home! ☀️ Polka joined my program as an 8 month old, we worked through some beginning foundational work, and has since been growing up with my small herd in Colorado. She now belongs to one of my amazing horse trainer friends from college Cerise Archuleta, and I can’t wait to see where their journey together goes!

08/31/2024

So important!

CONNECTION VERSUS PROXIMITY

Something I hear from people a lot when they are asking about their horses is "We have a good connection, he's kind of a pocket horse, he follows me everywhere, but..." and they then go on to describe a problem that usually is a result from a lack of connection.

Proximity is not connection.

Clinginess is not connection.

Try not to get connection and physical closeness confused.

Connection is rooted in attunement, which is (as Sarah Schlote of Equusoma: Horse-Human Trauma Recovery puts it) 'the sense of being seen, being heard, feeling felt and getting gotten". It's about them trusting you, trusting you have their best interest at heart, and the feeling of safety you give them when you have proven that you are as aware as the rest of their heard members.

Clinginess is a juvenile behaviour that the mother (and other herd members) allows up until the age of weaning, then they start to work on collision avoidance (a term I picked up reading the works of British ethologist Lucy Rees). Installing collision avoidance is what allows a herd of horses to move safely together at speed like a school of fish or a flock of birds. It's also part of the mental maturation process, and if that process doesn't happen horses tend to retain a that and a lot of other juvenile behaviours.

So beware of the trap of thinking that you have connection because you have constant proximity. It may just be a juvenile behaviour in disguise.

06/09/2024

HALTER BREAKING

It is widely accepted in the training industry that all horses will have a reactionary response, or brace, in them of some sort when a pressure is applied. A brace starts in the mind and is demonstrated by the body, as a result of a response to stimulus. The common horsemanship quest is the matter of how small we can get that reaction (brace) to become.

Given that horses are prey animals, they rely heavily on their fight or flight instincts for survival. Training philosophies are typically formed around these instincts using methods of pressure and release. IE in the case of halter breaking a young horse, a pressure is applied, a fight or flight reaction happens, and the pressure goes away when the reaction stops and the correct answer is “rewarded”. The common belief seems to be that all horses will react that way in some sort, that is how they are wired. And there will inevitably be a fight of some kind during the process.

But what if we looked at the whole situation differently? What if they are reacting in such a way because that’s the only viable option we are giving them? What if we changed the way we ask the questions?

When I observe horses interacting in a natural herd setting, their instinctual method of communication with each other is not pressure and release, or fight or flight reactions, but the language of intention. Survival skills and reactions start from a threat of safety, whereas communication of intentions start from a net of safety. They need the herd dynamic to survive, and without a communication tactic the herd would be useless.

So, when we approach our horses with a method that is going to create a survival reaction first, and a thought second, there is ALWAYS going to be an aversion to that, because it stems from a threat of safety. it’s just a matter of how small that aversion can become.

Or, we can teach them to understand our intentions first, and THEN react accordingly, like they do naturally in a herd. This allows them to actually engage in the process because it stems from their natural need of safety for survival, which is desirable. Not only does this teach them how to think first, and react second, but there is no aversion to our intentions, they get to be a part of the conversation.

Here are a few clips of the steps I took in halter breaking my foal, Beau. To quickly sum it up, I started by creating connection through a change in his focus. When he understands how aware I am of him, it’s easy to get his attention. Once I can draw his attention easily and keep it at pretty much at any moment in time, then I attach the lead rope. By this point, he pretty much knows how to lead, just without the rope. Whenever he feels the slack come out of that rope, I show him the answer with the flag, drawing his thoughts to the right spot. Basically, from the VERY beginning I start with being able to get their attention easily, and every training principle builds off of that. The lead rope is just the physical connection point between our thoughts.

04/04/2024

Meet Polka! This cute little filly has been growing up at the ranch, but is now officially on the market and looking for her people! She has been in The C**t Connection training program with me for the past few months, gaining connection and learning the important, foundational skills that she needs for a successful future.

If you’re looking for your next partner AND want to be invested in their training from the beginning, comment “Polka” below and I’ll send you more information!