ReidSporthorses

05/17/2025

🌟 NEURODIVERSITY IN DRESSAGE: THE SUPERPOWER WE’RE OVERLOOKING 🌟

What if the future of dressage isn’t about changing people to fit the sport…
…but changing the sport to embrace all kinds of brilliance?

🧠💡 Neurodivergent minds, those with autism, ADHD, dyslexia and more often experience the world differently. But in dressage, where subtle communication, deep connection, and focus are everything… that difference is a strength.

Here’s how neurodivergent riders can not only belong, but thrive:

🐴 Hyper-awareness & sensory sensitivity → a natural strength in reading horses’ micro-signals.
🎯 Pattern recognition & precision → ideal for mastering complex routines.
🔥 Passion & hyperfocus → unmatched drive for training and performance.
👥 Alternative thinking styles → innovative approaches to coaching, learning, and problem-solving.

💬 But this can only happen if the dressage world makes room:
✅ Flexible coaching methods
✅ Celebrating different ways of processing, learning, and performing

🌈 Neurodiversity isn’t a challenge to overcome—it’s a perspective to honour.

⸻

🤔 Have YOU seen the power of neurodiversity in equestrian sport?
👇 Drop a story, tag someone who inspires you, or tell us:
What would inclusive dressage look like to you?

💥 Let’s start a conversation that could change the future of this sport 🐎

05/02/2025

Premier dressage facility in Monroe, Washington with full-size indoor and outdoor arena currently offering boarding and training spots!

Half-day grass turn out year round! No standing on gravel or up to their knees in mud

We are rarity in our area- we have minimal mud due to our well managed pastures

Secure, heated tackrooms and lounge, laundry room, etc.
Horses are fed up to four times a day and staff is on site 24 /7

USDF Bronze, Silver and Gold medalist (with distinction) on site for lessons and training.

Years of experience from Young Horse level through to CDI (international) experience.
Many clients with Year-end awards and medals

We host regular clinics with Olympic and international trainers including Conrad Schumacher, Nick Wagman, Anne Gribbons, Britta Pederson

All levels welcome from beginners to GP

PM me directly for further information or to set up a tour

04/26/2025

Credit goes to Stephen Forbes, but this is so damn accurate. I will be crying in my truck because the wind changed directions. 😂

Dressage is absolutely, unequivocally dumb.

We spend decades and life savings trying to convince a horse, an animal that would rather nap or fart in a field, to perform controlled interpretive dance… while we wear white stretchy pants and pretend we’re not crying inside.

We argue online about nosebands and neck lengths.
We watch slow-motion trot videos like they’re Oscar-nominated films.
We talk about “feel” like it’s a sixth sense, and nod solemnly when someone says, “He wasn’t truly through in the right rein.”

Nobody knows what that means. We just say it so we don’t feel alone.

“Needs more schwung.”
Schwung????
Apparently it’s German for "make it fancy and pray".
We all pretend to know, then throw money at a new saddle pad hoping it comes with free schwung.

Special this month: Every new Solo bridle now ships with 3 ounces of authentic German schwung. Use responsibly.

And we obsess over the perfect halt.
THE. PERFECT. HALT.
As if a square halt will heal our childhood wounds.

We film our rides. Watch them back. Cry a little.
Zoom in. Rewind. Cry again.
"Why is my left leg doing that?!?"

We whisper sweet nothings to an animal that just tried to murder us because the wind changed direction.
We spend fortunes, literal fortunes, so a stranger in a box can frown at us and say: “Tension throughout.”
(You mean me or the horse?)

And speaking of showing.
There's you, before your class, sitting in the front seat of your Subaru, white breeches slightly transparent in the wrong places, eating a granola bar, listening to whale sounds to calm your nerves, and somehow believing this will help you nail that medium trot.
(It won’t. But you keep listening.)

And the wildest part? We take this seriously.
Like Olympic-level seriously.
Like, cry-in-the-stall-because-your-horse-has-a-poo-stain seriously.

But here’s the twist:

There’s something addictively beautiful about devoting your life to something this ridiculous.

To whispering with your body.
To the micro-conversations.
To trying to talk to your horse in French… with your seatbones.
It’s composing a symphony using only your spine, breath, and unresolved anxiety.

But that's just it, the best parts of life are kind of dumb.

Love is dumb.
Poetry is dumb.
Art is dumb.
Pursuing perfection you’ll never reach? Extra dumb.

But that’s what makes it holy.
So yeah, dressage is dumb.

Which makes it kind of genius.

04/19/2025

Then vs Now:

Just in case anyone was wondering how “True Grit” a.k.a. Jorge is developing

Here are some of his latest photos 😍

True Grit is a 2021 GOV stallion by Totilas, co owned by myself and bred in the USA by Kate Landon

02/23/2025

Due to the retirement of one of our lovely long-term boarders, we will have a rare opportunity for boarding and training

Premier dressage facility in Monroe, Washington with full-size indoor and outdoor arena.
Half-day grass turn out year round.
Secure, heated tackrooms and lounge, laundry room, etc.
Horses are fed up to four times a day and staff is on site 24 /7

USDF Bronze, Silver and Gold medalist (with distinction) on site for lessons and training.

Years of experience from Young Horse level through to CDI (international) experience.
Many clients with Year-end awards and medals

We host regular clinics with Olympic and international trainers 

All levels welcome from beginners to GP 

PM me directly for further information or to set up a tour 

02/01/2025

The cutest little yellow horses on the farm…

As soon as the camera comes out, both of these two make the most unimpressed faces though 🤣🙄🫠

11/30/2024

This is where I got the terms “banana in/out/left/right” when I’m teaching 🤪
Actually, a really helpful visual for students especially when you are teaching lateral work on a circle

04/10/2024

Interesting that wraps are now not allowed at shows in Holland…

https://youtu.be/w7jHY5Icut8?si=Fizey5Zmvv5o4hW0

I strongly believe due to the current veterinary studies that wraps will not be allowed in the future at competitions.

There are a lot of conclusive veterinary studies on a cellular level that show the excessive heat of boots and bandages contribute to cellular death of the soft tissue in the lower limbs contributing to an increased incidence of injury.

This is why I have not wrapped my horses for years… Including no boots in turnout
They only wear brushing boots when shipping to prevent injury from other horses

Just one study:

Tendons that store energy during locomotion, such as the equine superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) and human Achilles tendon, suffer a high incidence of central core degeneration which is thought to precede tendon rupture. Although energy storage contributes to the efficiency of locomotion, te...

12/31/2023

This may be a long one.

It’s that time of year! New Year’s Eve! The time where most people are celebrating change and setting new goals for themselves both personally and professionally.

Every year I have goalsetting conversations with all of my clients.

This helps me as a coach and trainer provide effective and positive development for my clients throughout the year.
It is also very helpful for clients to have to define what they are looking for. Many clients don’t necessarily have defined goals

(There is nothing worse than the frustration between trainer and client when goals are not clearly expressed, and the two of you are working at cross purposes)

For years within these goal setting conversations I have often said to clients “that is not a goal that is an idea“

So what separates an idea from a goal? It took me a while to find my own definitions for these
Turns out that there are actual definitions (Who knew?!? Not me)

When goalsetting most people set outcome goals which can be overwhelming.

For example… Client “I want to be able to ride at Grand Prix“

In order to reach our outcome we actually have to set process goals which are quantifiable steps taken to reach our outcome.

“my goal is to take three lessons a week every week for the entire year“

In between process and outcome goals there’s actually a third thing called performance goals.

“I want to score 65% or better at third level test three “

I found an excellent excerpt from an article about this from the University of Washington

“There are three types of goals- process, performance, and outcome goals.

Process goals are specific actions or ‘processes’ of performing. For example, aiming to study for 2 hours after dinner every day . Process goals are 100% controllable by the individual.
Performance goals are based on personal standard. For example, aiming to achieve a 3.5 GPA. Personal goals are mostly controllable.
Outcome goals are based on winning. For a college student, this could look like landing a job in your field or landing job at a particular place of employment you wanted. Outcome goals are very difficult to control because of other outside influences.”

The last line of this rings, especially true in the equestrian world, and is often why people become so frustrated or burnt out.
There are so many factors that lead to outcome goals that are not under our control, especially in this sport, where we deal with large and often fragile animals

It’s normal and healthy that we all set goals for ourselves… But if you are finding that you are frustrated because you are never quite achieving your goals, perhaps will help you break it down.

1)Have a talk with your coach or trainer or mentor
2)Set process goals.
3)Write them down
4)If you are visual like me… Find a place to stick them where you will see them every day
If not find a way to keep yourself reminded of what your goals are and why you wish to stick with the process
5)Stay focused on the process, not the outcome

Happy 2024 planning!

Lessons, Training , Sales, Clinics in the PNW by USDF Bronze,Silver and Gold medalist Catherine Reid

12/21/2023

Looks can be deceiving. Case in point, the undeniable adorableness of The Hot Topic Of SpringSong, a 14-year-old flashy Welsh cob buckskin pony. People see him at dressage shows and remark about how cute he is, what a wonderful mover he is, and how they want to take him home for their grandchildren,...

12/18/2023

Somewhere in the world, the 2028 Olympic champion is a foal out in a field. He’s ewe-necked, sickle-hocked, downhill and shaggy, with a club foot and a chunk of mane missing, because his buddy chewed it off.

Somewhere in the world, there’s a young horse that everyone says is too short to make it big. In three years, he’ll be jumping the standards, but right now he’s fat and short and no one is paying him any mind.

Somewhere in the world there’s a 7-year-old who can’t turn right, and a 10-year-old who has not shown the ability to put more than two one-tempis together without losing it, and a 14-year-old who hasn’t yet reached his peak, and all of them will be at the next Olympic Games.

Somewhere else in the world, there’s a rider who is thinking of packing it in. Maybe the bills are getting out of control, or she’s killing herself to get enough help in her own riding development because she’s having to spend all her time riding and teaching to make ends meet and change needs to happen, and she’s wondering if it’s worth it. She’s thinking it’s time to just give up and be a local trainer, to shelve her dreams of international competition. And then she’s going to shake off the doubt, double down, and make a team in the next 15 years.

Somewhere in the world, one of the next great team riders is 9 years old and couldn’t tell if she was on the right posting diagonal if her life depended on it.

Somewhere in the world there’s a future team rider who just got told that she’ll never make it because she’s too chubby, because she’s too short, because she’s too late.

There are horses who will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars that will never amount to anything, and there are horses who will be touted as the Next Big Thing only to be never seen or heard from again, and there are horses who will fly under the radar until suddenly they’re setting the world on fire.

There are riders who will win Junior and Young Rider competitions only to quit riding completely, riders who will be touted as the Next Big Thing only to get stuck in their comfort zones and never come to fruition, and there are riders who will make their first Olympic team at 50, at 55, at even older than that.

And yes, there are the horses that will be brilliant from day one, and there are the riders for whom success both comes early and stays late. But more often than not, history has shown that the unlikely story, the horse who was passed over in favor of his more expensive stablemate, the rider who no one saw coming, is the more likely path to greatness.

Credit and written by Lauren Sprieser at Chronicle Of The Horse

💕💕💕💕💕

12/09/2023