Twin Oaks Farm - Horses and Fun

11/17/2024

Scary- never did like those!

11/15/2024

Do you know how people say “life is short, buy the horse!” I disagree.

Maybe don’t buy any horse. Instead take more lessons, or lease one.

So often students lock themselves into one horse way too early. Badger is one of our safest lesson horses. He’s a great guy and I feel good putting just about anyone on him…. But of those who ride him regularly, I don’t know that any of them could own him and him still be the horse he is now!!! It doesn’t take long for him to turn into a bully. He is hard to motivate and if riders don’t have a good timing with their aids, if they don’t follow through, or worse, if they never let up and just keep squeezing and nudging and kicking at him, he will get quite belligerent very quickly!
We do a lot to help riders be successful, and to keep badger happy in his work. The timid or green riders we put on him do not yet have the skill set to do that on their own.  even though they can write him in a lesson doesn’t mean they would be successful outside of lessons. And if badger was not schooled regularly by more advanced riders, then he wouldn’t be so lovely for the beginners.

The point being, even if you buy a badger, he’s not gonna be a badger for long if he’s not overseen by professionals, the way badger is here.

11/14/2024

From Keystone Equine. Interesting read!

It is a human thing, this need to touch and be touched.

So many times, I will watch someone whose horse has done exactly as they’d wished and immediately, they take the relax and let down response of the horse and turn it into something else. Another thing to be borne.

Rather than rest and soak in the beautiful feeling of accomplishment, we’ll ruin everything that came before with a pat or a sudden forehead rub.

I know that I share this observation with the risk of ruffling feathers. Yes, your horse loves you. Yes, your horse will stand to be petted for hours. Yes, he’ll leave his friends and even his feed, to come and stand with you. Yes, you have built up a wonderful relationship based on love and sensitivity. Yes.

But wait. If your horse could talk—and trust me, when I’m watching his subtle but telling responses, he is—he would thank you for noticing this heroic effort he has made. He would love that you stopped and gave the long rein, or let his lead rope hang free. He would appreciate that you stopped chattering and just stood there, breathing deeply, melting into one another’s space.

He would be grateful that you behaved like another horse.

He would hear you when you silently were still and formed the thought of contentment. He would shake his forelock out of his eyes, in relief, when you suddenly got it… that this thing you do with your hands is to please yourself, rather than to gratify him.

Hey, I’m not against stroking my horse’s neck, or breathing deeply into his soft nose. I’m not saying that I never straighten a forelock, or gently clean out a horse’s windblown eyes, or that I don’t give a heartfelt hug. I am not against all shows of affection!

I’ve spent a lifetime observing horses and their people, however. I have seen much. Our need to touch, to pat, to caress, to reassure is as often a reflex action, done without mindfulness or empathy, as it is to show our appreciation. Many times, our loving hands have all the softness of a habit, a craving unmet, or a nervous tic.

I’ll go ahead and say it.

So often, when we pat our horses, or rub their foreheads, we’re doing this to please ourselves. Those little pats can be a selfish act, uncaring of the needs of others. It’s one more ask for which they must stand still. For when we stop and really watch, we’ll see that if we sit quietly and with nothing but love in our hearts, they will yawn and rub their noses against their knees. They will feel free to self-soothe, to let down their guard and to wholly relax.

I have seen that the horses who really crave the hands-on, will stand straight on to us with their heads at our stomachs. They will stand close beside us, so that we might reach that one nagging itch. They will not be mouthing at us, or looking away when we reach for them, or standing as unmoving/unblinking/unbreathing as a stone.

It is telling that when we are praising our horses, so often they try to move away…

I have written of this before. I have learned that people will get angry about my drawing attention to such a small thing. They scoff and defend themselves, they will mock this idea and call me names. So be it; I am ready.

Welcoming one’s touch is very different from enduring it and recognizing the difference is a subtle thing deserving of our contemplation, particularly as women. We, of all people, should understand. We claim that we want relationship. This is a two-way street, my friends. Being in a healthy pairing means that one’s needs do not automatically trump another’s.

No, our petting—and even, our constant chattering—is seldom about them. Learning to stand with our hands in our pockets is a self-discipline that is darned near Zen.

That said, what a beautifully soft and private moment this is, between Henry and Cait. I think it is telling that it is he who is stretching his head out, to reach her hand.

11/09/2024

"We must never forget in all training that the horse must feel that he can go forward--- that for him, the door is open to the front. "
~Walter Zettl
in "Dressage in Harmony"

A horse can be in a "frame" and still feel "free" if we do it correctly. If a horse never feels Slack in the reins (release), how do they know if their effort is correct or what we want?

Energy in front of the Driveline (the bit) naturally/instinctively stops or turns the horse. Energy behind the Driveline (us) naturally/ instinctively sends the horse forward. I challenge you to ponder that... ponder the confusion that occurs in the horse's mind, when we want to collect our horse. It is not a simple as bending the neck and poll with the reins and driving them forward with the legs.

Helpful hints:
*Have hands that hold (a frame), don't pull (and contort).
*Have Forward "arrows" in your hands.
*Teach the horse to carry themselves... never hold them up.
*And "open up the door!" as Walter would say, over and over again in his lessons 😉

✌️Kalley

11/08/2024

11/08/2024

From Keystone Equine…

Love this! I have always felt when we let go of them they feel everything must be OK…so they relax as well!

Maybe we need to look into that good old term, riding ‘on the buckle’?

More and more, I’m finding that people, including students who come to me for lessons, aren’t fully aware of what this means. It is a telling thing, calling for trust and relaxation. Too many horses and riders are not able to ‘let go’ and ride on the long rein.

The term comes from the English world, where to let the horse truly have his head and relax under saddle, you would slip the reins through the fingers and hold them, with one hand, right on the buckle that joins them. If a rider has learned how to efficiently and quickly shorten the reins, should a shy happen, it’s not a big deal.

I am also finding that people are making a lot of unnecessary motions and fiddling, when shortening their reins. Perhaps, that's another post.

My goal, when I’m riding out, or schooling my horses in the sand pen, is to be confident in allowing my horses to have this break. If we remember that the reins are merely our conduits to the horse’s thoughts, then it stands that they deserve a break from us, every so often, mentally as much as physically.

I do not ride in roundness, asking a lot of my horses, without giving the reins to them after the big ask. I see so many people who do not, who continue to ride on, whilst hanging on to their horses’ heads.

It gets rid of that grey area where we have become addicted to micro-managing our horses. I usually try for a 50/50 mix of riding in roundness and giving a free rein—more regular breaks are granted to the young, green or unfit horses—and it is peppered throughout our riding, building up to all gaits. It is magical, the number of hot, or ‘chargey’ horses who immediately begin to breathe and slow down, as soon as they are given their heads!

That brings us to the nitty gritty of this ‘riding on the buckle’ thing.

It takes confidence and relaxation, along with an acquired balance on the part of both the horse and the rider. I am seeing so many people who have skipped this step of building enough trust in their horses to let go. I am talking about just walking on a long rein and not of the next steps of trotting and cantering on the buckle, too.

So, the act of fully giving the horse the reins shines a spotlight on any fear that is present.

If this is you and your horse, don’t despair. Just start working towards it, okay? Start some place safe. As your ride progresses and your horse becomes less silly, reward him fully by letting the reins slip through the fingers until the buckled part is all that is left in your hand(s). Eyes up and smile, going forward with pulsing legs...

Gaining some autonomy is a mighty step in a ridden horse’s education, as is the ‘advance and retreat’ mentality that makes an effective and empathetic rider. Both require trust in the other.

There are less worthy goals.

11/02/2024

What is THE ONE THING that must be preserved, or re-installed in all our horses and ponies? Whether they are for riding or driving, feeding and leading, loading, pretty much anything… what is the one key ingredient that we miss—or mess up—at our peril?

CALM AND HAPPY FORWARD.

Period. Knowing this and reminding ourselves of this essential building block is key to keeping it simple. No matter the level to which we aspire, if we have lost ‘calm and happy forward’, we’ve pretty much lost it all.

Forwardness is not speed, though a forward horse can cover a lot of ground. To be truly forward, a horse cannot be struggling with fight, flight, or freeze. He must be feeling well and not dealing with hidden issues such as ulcers, pain or unsoundness. He will be BREATHING and confident. He will have rhythm and purpose.

He will be pushing efficiently from behind.

Without calm and happy forwardness, nothing else much matters. Lacking it can be the reason our horses won’t load, or that they swish their tails with every leg aid. It can be why they bolt suddenly, shy out, or refuse the jump. It can be why they rush around and pull on the reins, or why riding some horses just feels like plain ol' hard work.

They are not lazy; they lack forwardness. They are not high-strung and unpredictable; they lack ‘calm and happy’ forwardness.

Once we have this clarity in our minds, that we don’t want or need to be pushing and pulling on any horse… We don’t want to be casting about for anything else, until we have this state of wellbeing and purpose. Suddenly, we are clear.

This really matters. Why we mightn’t have it is the next step in the journey. Delving into the reasons why a horse is no longer calmly and happily forward becomes THE goal in all our riding, driving and groundwork. This, no matter our disciplines, our lofty ideals, or the supposed ‘value’ of our horses.

Yes, forwardness is a dressage term but it should matter to all of us. It should matter because we want joy and purpose, good energy and a sense of confidence between ourselves and our equine partners, no matter their ages, breeds, shapes or sizes.

What really speaks to me is that most of our horses were born having the happy and forward urge. They don’t usually lose this, until they cross paths with us!

Photo: Mike McLean.

10/31/2024

It is with great sadness that we share the loss of Hatchet-owned and loved by Linda & Michael. After a somewhat brief illness with no clear answers he took a sudden turn for the worse. We will all miss this awesome young horse.

10/31/2024

10/28/2024

Good read…and I agree!

Random horse training thoughts:

There are several fundamental lessons I preach……if you’ve been to any of my clinics or taken a lesson or had a horse in training with me, you will no doubt know them by heart by the time you leave my ranch 😉

1. Make doing the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard (for the horse).

example: So good ole’ Flicka has decided that she will not stand by the mounting block, you say whoa, you re-position her, the mounting block, they the minute you go to step up, Flicka steps just far enough away that you’d be doing yoga to reach the stirrup. Stop, think, make doing the right thing easy (standing quietly by the mounting block) and the wrong thing (moving away from the mounting block) hard. So immediately when sweet ole’ Flicka steps away, step down, assert your body energy and make flicka trot around that mounting block in a small circle until she wants to stop, then go another lap and start over. It won’t take long for her to realize, wow, when I just stand here, I can breath and rest, but when I move away, she makes me work hard.

2. Horses learn from the release of pressure, not the pressure itself.

example: You are working on lateral flexion, you are asking the horse to give it’s nose to it’s side, either on the ground or under saddle. You have the horses nose pulled to the side, the horse gives and goes to return it’s head to it’s regular position and before that happens, you pull it around again. You read somewhere that you need to do it “X” amount of times each way. I am okay with the multiple exercises, but what you missed was the opportunity to reward that horse and achieve success with that task. Horses don’t learn from the pressure, they learn from the release of it, So the minute that horse bends how you want, give the horse it’s nose, let it take a breath and then repeat.

3. Whoa….means whoa or slow or quit or listen to me or…………

example: You are riding along the rail at a walk and Ole’ Flicka speeds up and starts trotting, without being asked, you yell Whoa, and make her return to a walk. You have now UN-TRAINED your horse….whoa means “ALL FEET IN CONCRETE”…..nothing else, not slow down, not listen to me, not stop what you are doing, it means stop. Pick an other word, any other word (although I suggest not using NO, as it sounds too much like Whoa”, and use that to focus the horses attention. I use the world Quit, when I say quit, that horse knows that whatever their last action was, it was wrong. Because one day when you need whoa, if you’ve used it for everything else, you won’t have it.

4. Let the horse make the mistake…..don’t stop them before they do it.

example: You have been working on straight lines with your horse, who usually drifts or drops a shoulder. You ask for the trot and you can already feel your horse drifting and you know within a few strides he’s going to be off course, your first instinct is to correct him before he veers from your straight line. Don’t! If you always correct your horse before they make the mistake, they will never over-come it and learn correct self carriage. Let your horse make the mistake first, then correct it.

5. Expect success…….

example: You are riding your young stallion in the arena, and look up to see someone with a mare, who is in flameing heat come in to ride with you. Expect success, don’t just stand there waiting for the worse to happen, take a deep breath and focus your horse on you, small trot circles and lateral drills are great for this. Often times, I see riders, expect the worst from their horses and they almost always get it!

6. You must have lateral flexion to get vertical flexion…..

If you can’t get lateral flexion and can’t move each of your horses’ body parts laterally, you are not going to be able to achieve vertical flexion or collection. Lateral is the key to almost everything.

7. The nicest bit can be the harshest in the wrong hands…..it’s not the bit, it’s the hands that hold it that matter.

I’ve seen horses mouths ruined in snaffles (and for that matter, I’ve seen horses noses’ scarred from sidepulls and bosal’s too) when used by riders with harsh hands and I’ve seen horses in spade bits and correction ports, go with little to no contact, to the point they didn’t know it was there. It’s not the bit, it’s the riders hands it’s in that matters. Same for spurs, the only rider that should wear spurs, should be able to guide with their legs, knees and calves with enough control that the horse has no idea that the rider even has them on.

8. Air is priceless………

The worst thing you can do is run a horse out of air. You will take away their trust and try in a single instance. There is no shame in getting off, tieing the reins up and taking a breather yourself, you owe the horse the same respect.

9. Short and Sweet versus Long and Lenient………..

One of the biggest and most frustrating situations I watch with novice riders and trainers, is they don’t know when to push and when to stop. Instead of asking and insisting on answers from their horse and rewarding that behaviour immediately, they spend hours and days and weeks and years…..doing the same thing over and over and over again. If you find yourself repeating the same lessons over and over with your horse, stop, get outside help. I once watched a “trainer” try to de-sensitize a horse to an object for 3 weeks straight. They’d approach and instead of sticking with it, they were afraid they’d scare the horse, or put too much pressure on it, they’d retreat before they made any progress at all. In those few weeks, that person taught that horse more bad habits then they will ever realize. If you can’t follow through and don’t have the experience, don’t start it in the first place. And don’t be afraid to stop a lesson quickly if you get quick success. example: you decide to work your horse on lead changes and circles today. You warm your horse up, expecting this to be a lengthy lesson and drill, but much to your surprise, your horse nails the first 4 lead changes perfect. STOP, get off, loosen the cinch and forget the circles, that lesson will last for decades, you will have plenty of time for circles tomorrow. Many incredible training sessons have been accomplished in 15 minutes.

10. Your mood and focus matters…………

Having a bad day, headache, tense, upset, sick? Your horse knows it. If you are not set for success, don’t set your horse up for failure. Skip the training session, the sayng is “5 minutes to make a bad habit and 5 months to break it”. Pay attention to your horse! Take your ear buds out, put your phone down, silence your ringside fan club, give your horse your full attention. Horses aren’t trained in between TikTok videos or texts or railside chats every 10 minutes.

10/26/2024

From Charlotte Moore Training

SLOOOOOW DOWN!

SLOW your walking down to 1 step per second with and without your horse next to you.
SLOW your hand movements down as you touch or do things.
SLOW your talking down.
SLOW your breathing down.
SLOW your pulls and pushes down on the leadrope.

SLOW to FLOW!

Humans are WAAAAY to fast for horses and this is one of the leading causes of reactivity and opposition reflex in horses.

Speed = stress.

Let me teach you what speed does...

When the brain perceives a threat, it causes the body to release the stress response hormone cortisol. Cortisol levels and speed go hand in hand.
Cortisol provides the body with the fuel it needs to flee a scary situation or fight against it.

The thing with the mind-body relationship is that the brain feels an emotion such as fear, which create a physical response in the body, but the body can also move at a certain speed or in a particular way and create an emotion in the brain. It can be reverse engineered.

This is how special the intimate relationship is between the brain and body.

The other thing to remember is that, collectively as a social animal, when speed is noticed by another mammal (no matter the species), it alerts the unconscious brain to threat.

Speed is an alarm system in a social system (consciously and unconsciously).

If you walked down a road and everyone started running, you'd find it hard not to run even if you didn't know what the cause was. You are noticing that others are running and in a direction, so you mirror them to increase your chances of survival. You don't need the reasoning part of your brain for this. You just activated your primal (survival) part of the brain.

One other thing to remember: HORSES CAN SMELL CORTISOL. So not only does your speed act as a visual alarm system to your horse, it also acts as an olfactory one!

Would you want to interact with someone who caused you to feel constantly on alert?

These little things are the beginnings of what ripples into chronic stress in both humans and horses.
You spend enough time around someone who is fast in their movement, your nervous system will condition itself to being on high alert.
HELLO 👋 CHRONIC STRESS!!!

Slow your movement down = slow your thoughts down.
Slow your movement down = lower your cortisol.
Slow your movement down = feel connected with yourself, the world and others in it.
Slow your movement down = slow your alarm systems down and eventually they'll turn off.

Slow down so much that it is uncomfortable. It won't be uncomfortable for long, I promise 😉

Happy brain training 🧠
Charlotte 🙂

10/18/2024

It’s hard NOT to get greedy!

What training a new movement should look like….
In the beginning it might take a full circle to get your horse to flex left at the poll, or an entire long side to find the correct positioning of haunches in, but as soon as you finally get it, RELEASE. Praise. Allow your horse to take a moment.
Then repeat.
The goal is that each time you can find the new positioning a little quicker. Initially your horse may pinball back-and-forth between your age until they find the right answer, but the moment they get it, let them know they were right!
ONE GOOD STEP is all we are looking for at this stage!!

We stay in this stage until we can get one good step as soon as we ask. 
Once we can consistently get one good quality step right away, only then do we ask for two or three consecutive steps.

This is where people tend to get greedy.
Don’t.
Because once you start asking the horse to maintain it for three steps, you might lose the ability to get it right away. Resistances you thought you worked through might pop back up, and in your eagerness to maintain the movement, it’s easy to ignore the fact that you’re no longer getting the movement right away.

But if you want to teach softness and not tension, it’s important to continue telling the horse, “Yes! Good job! You’ve got it!” after 1-3 steps.

When you have little to no resistance, and can get one to three excellent steps, then you can start to ask for five or six or seven. You slowly work up until you can ask for a haunches in the whole way down the long side, or maintain lateral poll flexion for the whole circle (or whatever it is, you’re working on).

Where people get stuck is because their goal is to do the movement for the whole long side, and in the beginning, it takes the whole long side to get anything that even resembles the movement, so they tend to just always work on it for the whole darn long side, and then quit in the corner. So, even if the horse starts great, and then loses it and starts to get it back and then loses it again, they release when they get to the corner and not based on the quality of the movement. So the horse never really knows when they have it and it’s easy to accidentally train in resistance.

10/14/2024

We are looking for 2 people interested in helping with Friday PM chores. Approximately 4:30 -6:00. In exchange for pay or riding time.
Call Debbie at (502) 432-2623

10/10/2024

no details at the moment but looks like 4 horses and a mini donk from North Caroline that may need accommodations if anyone might be able to help if necessary

10/10/2024

🥰

10/09/2024

Love, love, love mares. Some of my best lesson horses have been mares!

Beware the trainer who stereotypes mares as being too hormonal, too b*tchy, too difficult…

Their aversion to an entire s*x of horses says nothing about mares and everything about how they approach training and horses in general.

Mares are hardworking, loyal and honest.

The people who tend to strongly dislike them are typically the ones who want to force mares to work through pain, stress, discomfort — or otherwise wish to ignore communication attempts.

They tend to “prove” their mindset correct by eliciting reactions from mares after ignoring warning after warning.

So, yes, they encounter a lot of “cranky” mares but the common denominator is them.

The sad thing is that the hatred towards mares is all too common in this industry.

Despite it being so female dominated.

We need to reframe the way we think about things.

A mare having pain that results in behavioural change due to her cycle is a normal thing.

It is not a sign that she should withhold communication that she’s uncomfortable.

Most of us who also cycle can attest to the discomfort of cramps and how we aren’t always going to feel our best.

Mares are a great lesson in consent and communication.

They are the matriarchs of the herd and the horses who are given the immense responsibility of educating youngsters and teaching them what it is like to be a horse.

Of course they are going to be open with their communication.

The success of their species has been reliant on them educating their young with such communication skills.

Mares have much to teach, to those who wish to listen.

And for those who don’t… well, mares serve as a great litmus test for who actually wishes to improve their horsemanship and honour the horse in the way they should.