Holistic Equestrian LLC

03/26/2025

I had the opportunity to attend a class called "Introductory To Lethal Force" this past weekend. It was a powerful class discussing the legal, ethical, and psychological consequences of using lethal force in a situation that has spiraled into violence. As I was listening to the instructor talk about the escalation path from anxiety to violence that has been studied by psychologists over the years, I was struck by just how relevant it all was to training horses.

The escalation path to violence in humans begins with the person exhibiting signs of anxiety. The instructor said there are two things one can do to change the situation before it escalates:

Disengage or Establish Control

Assuming you were unsuccessful or unable to do either of those things, the next step of escalation from the human is "testing;" yelling, cursing, threatening, getting in your face/space, etc. And there are two things one can do to change the situation at this point:

Disengage or Establish Control

Again, assuming you are unable to do those things, the final escalation step is to violence. At that point, there are only two things you can do:

Disengage or Establish Control

The key is having the tools to know how to do those two things at all phases of this escalation path.

It struck me that the escalation path a horse takes to explosive and/or dangerous behavior is Exactly. The. Same. If you are observant, you will see signs of anxiety before anything else happens. The horse may pin its ears, swish its tail, wrinkle its lips, put its head up in the air, tighten all its muscles, and even chew on its tongue. You have exactly two things you can do at this point to prevent escalation:

Disengage or Establish Control

If you are unaware of or ignore the signs of anxiety, the horse will escalate to the testing phase. It may toss its head around, threaten to kick or bite, sn**ch on the reins, refuse to go forward, try to back up, shy away from objects or noises, etc. Again, you have two options to prevent further escalation:

Disengage or Establish Control

Now, if you still ignore the horse's escalating behavior, or you are unable to arrest the escalation, the next step for the horse will be violence; rearing, bucking, bolting, striking, kicking or biting, or any other number of dangerous behaviors. Once again, your options are to:

Disengage or Establish Control.

I see a lot of riders and trainers who ignore this entire escalation scenario and then wonder why their horse is so explosive. Personally, I like to avoid violent interactions with horses, and I think the horses do too, so I spend a great deal of my focus on disengaging or establishing control at the anxiety phase, in order to give the horses an opportunity to de-escalate and have a different experience.

I have been very fortunate to have built a toolbox over the years that allows me to be able to Disengage or Establish Control at all phases of escalation, though, so if the horse has gotten to a point that they fly through the first two phases and jump quickly to violence because they have an expectation of not being heard at the previous two phases, I can still stay safe, salvage the situation and show the horse a better way. However, I much prefer to avoid that altogether, because... Why? Why risk the horse injuring itself or me, if that can be entirely avoided?

I call it "setting the horse (and myself) up for success." So next time you observe your horse starting to exhibit anxiety behaviors, maybe take a moment and remember to:

Disengage or Establish Control

03/08/2025

It's time to build a better equine athlete!

12/28/2024

It takes a top notch team to help horses become their best selves. Thank you, Tara Kolesar and Dr Hannah Mueller for being part of my team!
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12/21/2024

Time for a body transformation check in on our training horse, Danny. Danny has been with us since September. He was struggling to keep weight on, super unconfident with other horses and some odd physical issues. I fully believe he's transformed as much or more internally than he has externally, at this point, and that's saying something!

Now he's feeling downright sassy and his confidence to express that sass without fear is both heartwarming and totally annoying. 😜 He's way too smart for his own good and uses those smarts to get into all kinds of mischief! 😂🤣 I'm super proud of Danny and give full props to his owner for recognizing he needed something different and making the incredibly difficult decision to move away from all her wonderful barn friends in order to give him that.

12/20/2024

Long-reining (aka, long lining, ground driving, double lunging, whatever you want to call it) is a really useful tool that I utilize regularly in my program of reconditioning horses with asymmetries and soundness issues. But, it's not a beginner friendly tool. It requires feel, timing, and a lot of physical coordination to prevent some potential disasters if the horse gets spooked or confused...

Here's a tip that I use every time I start a horse on the long reins, if the horse is feeling particularly fresh, or the first time teaching a student to use them: I attached the inside line like a lunge line, and the outside line normally. That way in an emergency I can drop the outside line and keep the horse on the circle until it settles again.

I also frequently connect the lines to both the bit and the halter, to prevent the horse from getting a nasty yank on its mouth if something does go wrong. And, with horses, something will inevitably go wrong. 🤪

Hopefully this will help give someone the confidence to try this awesome tool for building their horse's topline and teaching and/or correcting contact issues.

11/07/2024

Horses come to me from all different backgrounds, with unknown traumas, and training usually from a variety of places, and always unrecognized pain somewhere in their bodies. They come with resistances, evasions, defenses, often times having come to the conclusion that nobody will listen to them unless they scream as loudly as possible. Sometimes they are simply shut down and don't want to interact, aren't interested, will look everywhere but at me. It's an interesting thing to observe.

What I do notice, though, is that once they realize that a) I can show them how to be relaxed in any situation, and b) I listen to their small communications and they don't have to scream, the transformation is profound and remarkable. They become interested, they become confident, they communicate, they engage, and they start enjoying using their bodies. They come to me when I go to get them from the pasture. Sometimes they even try to help me put their halters on. 😂 It's inevitable and it's dramatic.

And yet, for some reason I'm always amazed and awed that it works, every single time. 🤷

10/28/2024

Thanks to Equestrians Institute and Cindy Reichel, I had the opportunity to enjoy a wonderful weekend symposium with Sabine Shut-Kerry. It inspired me to write a blog about a topic I've been thinking about for a very long time. I hope you enjoy it.

This weekend I had the thoroughly delightful opportunity to attend a symposium featuring Sabine Shut-Kerry, sponsored by the Equestrian's Institute and ...

10/22/2024

We have a few openings for training (full or partial) in Snohomish, WA. If you need help with your horse's soundness, fitness and conditioning, tension and spookiness, and/or preparing for next year's competition season, this is absolutely the right time to take advantage of this opening. Don't miss out on this rare opportunity! Message me right away!

10/21/2024

Holistic Equestrian has another very special horse looking for an equally special person.

Name: Ziva (Zealous Zoey)
Breed: Thoroughbred (not raced)
Gender: Mare
Age: 10
Height: 15.3hh
Color: Solid Bay, small white star
Location: Monroe, WA

Ziva is a very special horse with some physical maintenance needs, seeking her perfect person.

What makes Ziva truly special is her incredible brain and desire to engage with people. She is beautiful, athletic and wicked smart. Ziva is an enthusiastic ground work, liberty, R+ horse. She LOVES attention, LOVES being engaged in things that make her think, and is 100% ready to learn tricks and show them off anytime, anywhere. She also LOVES to jump, although it is harder on her body than it should be, so we are looking for a non-jumping home. She is not affected by external factors when she is at "work." She is not spooky or hot. Even if she's physically uncomfortable, she will find something to distract herself with so she can stay calm.

However, while Ziva is as absolutely sound as she can possibly be, she gets quite uncomfortable after being ridden. For this reason we are not willing to send her to a home where she will be expected to be ridden. Ziva's owner has gone above and beyond to give her the best chance at being comfortable and happy, but needs to find her a new home where she can thrive doing what she loves and not be forced to do things that cause her pain.

Ziva, unfortunately does not play well with others. She does best when friends are close but separate, so she wouldn't make a good companion horse.

Ziva has emotions and thrives with a person who is patient, steady and non-reactive. She doesn’t have a mean bone, but sometimes needs help to maintain her Zen. She’s very honest, though, and her biggest emotions are almost always related to pain somewhere in her body.

We are more than happy to share the details, x-rays and vet records for serious inquiries.

Free jumping:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/62gdr8xvrq63pomj4bwe1/20240728_122611639-3.mp4?rlkey=4jrmv8sz3723154jiwq54l671&st=1xuotwjx&dl=0

Targeting:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/qcyr1p2e51fucjerju4lm/20241013_1225377321-5.mp4?rlkey=kkf7bp8ir36jf5sn28n3pvxxu&st=o1zvcxrj&dl=0

10/13/2024

Another very important facet to "Holistic Equestrian" is cross training. There's nothing like popping a jump saddle on and riding over jumps for opening the horse's back and refreshing the gaits!

The advantages of doing regular free jumping meant that Cindy Reichel's Giselle was relaxed and confident to go through the little jumps we set for her. Cindy, of course, had an absolute blast and did an awesome job! 😁🥰

10/01/2024

Ground work pattern sand art. 😎

09/24/2024

Little Ziva: May to September. Who says you have to ride a horse to build their topline? She is not comfortable carrying weight (she's getting her girl parts checked), but in every other way she's a very happy girl!

09/20/2024

I'm not entirely sure Adam would approve me posting these pictures of him in his blissed out state, but he most certainly *does* approve of his weekly bodywork sessions with Fiona Boardman (Open Stride Equine Therapy).

08/28/2024

Never, ever, ever give up!

08/11/2024

Sometimes it's hard to believe this is the same mare that I start training in 2020. 😲 Cindy Reichel's Giselle just keeps getting nicer.

08/08/2024

Ahhh, the beauty of a freshly drug arena. 🥰