Brass Tacks Horsemanship, LLC

03/02/2025

Got out for the first show of the year. Took baby Bo out and he caught on fast. Brittany Montgomery did fantastic at her first show, super proud of her. Thank you for trusting me with your gang

02/14/2025

Hey guys, I'll be at the Midwest Horse Fair this year on Stable Lane. Stop by and see what kind of shenanigans we are up to

12/23/2024

A sunny Saturday with snow means SLEDDING!!

11/24/2024

💯

08/16/2024

Daddy - daughter. Melt my heart

08/16/2024

Group lessons are filling up fast! Limited private lessons available as well. Beginners to intermediates. Toddlers to adults. Show opportunites, barn activities, trail rides. Exposure to multiple disciplines. PM me to get signed up.

Benefits of horse lessons:

Learn about horses hands on and how to take care of them
Responsibility
Patience
Grit
Problem solving
Make new friends
Coordination
FUN!FUN!FUN!

07/25/2024

Everyone's baby crazy at the barn. Rain's first lesson back from maternity leave while Penny started her maternity leave. She should pop any day now!! ❤️

06/14/2024

Unloading and stacking hay tonight if there's anybody out there looking to make some cash

06/08/2024

A little fun get together this rainy morning. Obstacle challenge in the arena. Thank you Maverick and Steph Wise for helping make the obstacles and everyone for coming out.

05/30/2024

Scheduling summer lessons.

Beginners learn how to handle horse on the ground, anatomy and tack, taking care of horses, basic horsemanship and introduced to multiple horse sports.

Showgoers and competitors improve fundamental skills and apply to their discipline.

Students have the opportunity to show at local open shows in events like pleasure, hunter jumpers, gymkhana and speed events.

Our barn family and friends enjoy activities together like rodeos, trail rides, barn parties, clinics and challenges.

Come have fun with us and make new lifetime friends.

05/26/2024

Another Saturday at a horse show. Raising funds for the Columbia Cty 4H horse project. We didn't win but we learned a ton and got to try some challenging classes. Super proud of these kiddos for stepping out of their comfort zone.

05/20/2024

Congrats on a job well done today ladies! Both received reserve champion and grand champ TIP. Nothing but blues and reds.

05/12/2024

Took some of the lesson kids to their first show out at Laycreek Farm. Lots of nerves, some up, some downs but it was a good day for the team. Thank you everyone for your hard work.

05/09/2024

THEY DON’T KNOW THAT IT IS NOT FOREVER.

Horses are not futurists. They can’t see into the future or read our minds and intentions. So when we ask a horse for something the very first time, they don’t know if or even when it will ever stop.

THEY DON’T KNOW THAT IT IS NOT FOREVER.

Let me give you a few examples.

When we first fit a saddle or get on a horse’s back, it does not know whether the saddle will ever come off or whether we will ever dismount.

When we pick up a horse’s foot for the first time or put a bit or a dentist's gag in its mouth how does it know life will ever return to normal?

The first time we load a horse into a trailer or tie a horse to a post or put it into a yard can it ever know it will be given its freedom ever again?

The first time a horse has any of these experiences a large part of the panic they can cause comes from a horse’s lack of understanding that the experience is temporary. It’s not forever.

It takes time and repetition for a horse to figure out that being taken away from its buddies is temporary and it will be with them again soon. Or that if they pick up their foot for us, it will get to stand on 4 legs again very soon and there is no need to panic. Or the discomfort of the saddle or hobbles is not permanent and there is no danger.

These are things we all know. But these are also things we sometimes forget to deal with compassionately. These are things we forget the horse doesn’t know.

For example, some people throw a saddle on a horse for the first time and let the horse buck until it gives up in futility. The horse gives up because it works out nothing is going to get this hunk of leather off my back and now I’m stuck with it forever. That’s a terrible mindset to leave a horse with – helplessness and futility.

To avoid this we must break lessons down into tiny incremental steps. Introduce new things in layers and for short periods of time, gradually building on each layer as the horse grows in confidence, trust, and understanding.

Let’s think about trailer loading as an example.

Loading a horse into a trailer for the first time comes from teaching a horse to lead brilliantly.

Confidence in trailer loading is the result of dozens of in and out exercises, asking the horse to stay in the trailer for longer periods as it feels more comfortable for the horse.

Teaching a horse that standing on a moving platform in a tin box is an okay experience starts with loading a horse in a trailer and driving for 20m, then letting it out. Repeating that enough times to take the worry out of it before driving for 100m and then 1km and then 20km.

The same principle can be applied to the early saddling, the first rides, the first tying-up sessions, the first time a foal is removed from its mother – or whatever lesson you can think of.

Ease a horse’s worry about a new experience by making it very brief. So brief that the horse doesn’t have time to figure out he should panic. Life is not coming to an end and things will return to normal very shortly. This is how you can give a horse confidence and avoid extreme responses and feelings of helpless futility.

I know we all know this principle. But I also know we don’t all practice it.

Photo: This is the horse's first ever ride and is from a c**t starting competition in Australia a few years ago. I'm pretty sure in the 4 or 5 hours preparation the horse had had before this moment, nobody had explained to the horse that the rider was not going to stay on his back forever.

05/09/2024

THIS

THEY DON’T KNOW THAT IT IS NOT FOREVER.

Horses are not futurists. They can’t see into the future or read our minds and intentions. So when we ask a horse for something the very first time, they don’t know if or even when it will ever stop.

THEY DON’T KNOW THAT IT IS NOT FOREVER.

Let me give you a few examples.

When we first fit a saddle or get on a horse’s back, it does not know whether the saddle will ever come off or whether we will ever dismount.

When we pick up a horse’s foot for the first time or put a bit or a dentist's gag in its mouth how does it know life will ever return to normal?

The first time we load a horse into a trailer or tie a horse to a post or put it into a yard can it ever know it will be given its freedom ever again?

The first time a horse has any of these experiences a large part of the panic they can cause comes from a horse’s lack of understanding that the experience is temporary. It’s not forever.

It takes time and repetition for a horse to figure out that being taken away from its buddies is temporary and it will be with them again soon. Or that if they pick up their foot for us, it will get to stand on 4 legs again very soon and there is no need to panic. Or the discomfort of the saddle or hobbles is not permanent and there is no danger.

These are things we all know. But these are also things we sometimes forget to deal with compassionately. These are things we forget the horse doesn’t know.

For example, some people throw a saddle on a horse for the first time and let the horse buck until it gives up in futility. The horse gives up because it works out nothing is going to get this hunk of leather off my back and now I’m stuck with it forever. That’s a terrible mindset to leave a horse with – helplessness and futility.

To avoid this we must break lessons down into tiny incremental steps. Introduce new things in layers and for short periods of time, gradually building on each layer as the horse grows in confidence, trust, and understanding.

Let’s think about trailer loading as an example.

Loading a horse into a trailer for the first time comes from teaching a horse to lead brilliantly.

Confidence in trailer loading is the result of dozens of in and out exercises, asking the horse to stay in the trailer for longer periods as it feels more comfortable for the horse.

Teaching a horse that standing on a moving platform in a tin box is an okay experience starts with loading a horse in a trailer and driving for 20m, then letting it out. Repeating that enough times to take the worry out of it before driving for 100m and then 1km and then 20km.

The same principle can be applied to the early saddling, the first rides, the first tying-up sessions, the first time a foal is removed from its mother – or whatever lesson you can think of.

Ease a horse’s worry about a new experience by making it very brief. So brief that the horse doesn’t have time to figure out he should panic. Life is not coming to an end and things will return to normal very shortly. This is how you can give a horse confidence and avoid extreme responses and feelings of helpless futility.

I know we all know this principle. But I also know we don’t all practice it.

Photo: This is the horse's first ever ride and is from a c**t starting competition in Australia a few years ago. I'm pretty sure in the 4 or 5 hours preparation the horse had had before this moment, nobody had explained to the horse that the rider was not going to stay on his back forever.