http://www.kealeyhorsemanship.com/

Ellen Kealey Horsemanship, 30894 Iran Path, Northfield, MN (2025)

10/21/2025

IS YOUR HORSE ACTUALLY OK WITH SOMETHING?

When we think of a horse that is “calm” or “feeling good" we often consider their behavior on our terms. We see a horse stand still in the cross ties and assume he’s a good solid horse. Or we watch a horse not move a muscle to get saddled so we think he is OK with it.

The best training is the kind that is true to working with a horses’ thoughts and emotions. The best way to tap into a horses brain is to abolish the routine and start asking questions.

I get a lot of horses in work that are struggling in certain areas. Things usually compound in a horses life to create a high level of anxiety in all areas of the work. There are often many areas where people don't see the trouble behind an obedient face.

The blueprint of a horses daily working life can go something like this-

The horse doesn’t want to be caught, so now he is being chased and cornered or given treats (neither influence a better change of thought about being caught). The horse is 3/10 levels of worried.

He is then taken to an indoor arena where he can’t see his friends which are his only current source of safety and comfort. Now there are a bunch of strange noises and horses running around with high energy. His worry now shifts to a 5/10.

He won’t stand still to be saddled, so now he is taken to the cross ties where he is punished for every move me tries to make. His brain is really busy and the saddle is too tight- his worry jumps to a 7/10.

Now he has a bit in his mouth and the rider goes to get on. He is already high levels of alert, and his brain is so unsettled that he moves while being mounted. A nearby friend has to hold him just long enough for the rider to get on. His worry jumps to a 9/10.

As soon as the rider gets on, the horse mentally and physically leaves at a trot. The rider does everything she can just to get the horse stopped. The horse can’t hold it together anymore and bucks the rider off.

This process is then repeated every time the horse gets handled. Things will get worse and maybe eventually become manageable with a few bandaid fixes. The horse is consistently forced to fit in rather than to feel OK.

This is why every step along the way is just as important (if not more) as the moment you swing a leg over their back. If the human had stopped to help the horse the second they went out to catch him, and then made it a priority every time the horse got worried, the outcomes would be much different. Over time with this sort of approach the horse would gain confidence and comfort in a world with humans.

Photo: This mare was a prime example of a horse that could stand still and "fall asleep" for saddling, but was explosively worried when saddled without the confines of the cross ties. She had learned the routine of standing still, but underneath had learned to put up a wall.

When she was asked to be a responsive participant- everything trapped inside came rushing out. It was no surprise that the mare struggles with more than just the saddling. These happenings are almost never isolated to one area of a horses life.

While you can get by with a horse that holds it together and keeps their emotions under lock and key, it will often always come to the surface. It is best to find it and help them, rather than using pressure as a means to enforce obedience.

08/03/2025

I had a great time giving a demonstration this morning at Lee-Mar Ranch Equine Center. A huge thank you to Melanie Halverson for hosting, and Lois Lensing for bringing her mare.

This demonstration was all about helping Fancy find ways to join in conversation with me, rather than anxiously creating distance in fear of what’s to come. We also began to address her negative association with pressure on the halter which has caused her to habitually pull back when tied. She is a nice mare with an endless try and I look forward to seeing her progress.

I will be teaching a clinic at the Lee-Mar Ranch facility on November 1st and 2nd. Contact Melanie Halverson for more information or to sign up.

Thanks to everyone who came out today! It was a good group with great questions and discussions.

06/27/2025

I showed up to my first Ross Jacobs clinic about ten years ago. I was told he is very thoughtful about what he teaches and that I should attend with questions (which was not a problem for me). As I was walking in (late) I saw him in the middle of a session with a horse asking for a hind quarter yield on the ground. He began tapping the horses back to get a change. I immediately asked, “Why wouldnt you wait?” He went on to explain that the horse wasn’t trying. The exercise wasn’t about getting the horse to do a hindquarter yield, but rather to get him to mentally engage and put out an effort. If the try in a horse is lacking then waiting is often not the answer.

At the time I wasn’t looking for try or anything else when I did exercises, I was mostly focused on the movement and the correctness of it. I looked for things like how light the horse felt in my hand and how much could I get him to cross over in his hind end.

Little did I know at the time, this way of thinking and approaching a horse would open Pandora’s box for furthering my observational skills and judgement calls with different horses. It developed into a much deeper and more precise understanding of mentall and emotional awareness. It insipred me to gauge what is happening on the inside of the horse rather than having a singular focus on physical effort and making assumptions from there.

Lots of people see an expert do something and try to repeat it because it worked well for that horse in that moment. But we’re often not taught to modify our approach if a horse isn’t trying, or they’re unsure, or rushing to escape etc. And likewise people will see a trainer firm up and either think it’s unfair or the new thing to try without understanding the happenings of the moment.

There are many things that I’ve learned from Ross over the years, but technique and exercises are two things we don’t spend much time discussing. It’s always about learning to read the horse rather than following procedures. Learning about the “why” and improvising on the how under his observation with many horses over the years has helped my horsemanship immensely.

Photo: My mare Piper is naturally sensitive, smart, and can get big feelings about her strong opinions. Sometimes she needs firming up, where other times I need to go quiet and sometimes everything inbetween. I am grateful to have a mentor like Ross to talk about the judgement calls that inspire the bigger changes.

06/25/2025

I was recently working a young horse that has been driven a lot to go forward. Rather than teaching him to follow a feel, and working on the forward as a continuation of his understanding, the pressure he has experienced has always meant “leave.”

I did a lot of work on a shorter line getting him to go with my pressure and not be so defensive about me coming in with a hand or a flag. I also explained to him how to leg yield and do various transitions other than just moving forward. The physical exercises were only meant to be a manifestation of him learning to get with me while finding clarity and comfort in the pressure.

He already knows how to trot and canter on the line, but he pulls away and his emotions escalate. The best transition I got during a recent session going his hard way was a counter canter. Most horse people would criticize the physical and insist on a proper departure and in turn bring the emotions back up. What I was looking for was a state of calm and ready, forward and adjustable, and a nice transition.

“Correct” is not always synonymous with OK. Once you can get a horse feeling with you, it takes a lot less to get adjustibility on the end of the line or on their back.

What are you looking for in your transitions? What things do you take notice of?

Photo: Hanna is my new working student. Her and I have worked together for a couple of years with various project horses of hers. Hanna was recently looking for a jumping prospect and stumbled across this nice Mare named Varda.

Even though Varda has done some things, she has never learned to quietly go with the human on the ground or under saddle. The emotions she carries through the work gets in the way of her adjustability and her readiness to follow a feel without a brace.

Hanna is doing a fantastic job getting the mare in a better spot. This calm, stretchy and forward walk on a loose rein didn’t exist before they started working together.

06/19/2025

People think of the term “partnership” often when it comes to their horses. This tends to be an interdisciplinary concept, yet few actually take the time to consider what it really means. Putting it into words is confining, yet there are a few defining principles that stand out when I think about getting along with a horse.

For starters a partnership with a horse begins as a one sided operation, and requires different skill sets to engage different personalities in something close to what might be considered a partnership. You don’t see horses begging to be ridden, so it is largely our responsibility to make it the best deal possible for them.

Partnership requires empathy for the other. This gets challenging when two opposite thinking species come together. One thinks it’s always going to die, while the other has big agendas and wants to take the bull by the horns so to speak. If we want them to be on our side, we have to be understanding of their sense of survival and innate ability to save themselves when these emotions become activated. This aspect should also include an understanding of the tack we use, the farrier, the vet, and other resources we employ to keep them as sound and happy as possible.

Secondly, a good relationship requires constant engagement. There is never a time where I’m not aware of my horses focus, stress, and levels of understanding. Every time a horse at my side or under me communicates feelings of uncertainty or distraction etc I listen and take care of it before moving on. At first it’s a lot of work, yet over time less is required and you can hang out with your friend in silence. Until they begin to feel confident, more conversing is needed for things to be OK.

Thirdly, every horse has areas they struggle with and no good partnership is without hard conversations. The best horse people learn to get really good at it. This doesn’t mean throwing punches until somebody “wins” but rather learning to actually make life better when things get tough. You can absolutely get by and become surface level friends without these things, but ultimately your partnership will not go further unless you have troubles, expect more, and have things come out the other side. Some couples are bound to struggle more than others. Every individual is different in nature and every person and animal has experiences that shape who they are. All of these aspects are at play in a relationship with a horse.

Photo: Working a horse I’ve had in training for the last few months. He packs a lot of uncertainty and it gets in the way if things don’t get resolved from moment to moment. When he feels good, you name it and he will try his heart out to get it done.

05/29/2025

Thank you Good Horsemanship - Ross Jacobs for coming back year after year to coach on us. I wish it were realistic for every one of my students to work with Ross while he is here.

He is incredibly insightful and works hard to think of the best ways to help horses and students from moment to moment. Even if you just show up to ask a question, his answers are insightful and backed by years of critical thinking and experimentation.

I am enjoying some time outside of the clinic for my own horse and insights on some of my training projects. I’m already looking forward to next year!

05/16/2025

Good Horsemanship - Ross Jacobs is coming to Dakota Stables for a clinic on May 23rd-26th.

Ross has an incredible ability to see the inside of a horse and uses this feedback for what they need from us to do better. He has started hundreds of horses, fixed habitual problems, and also worked with people who are competitive in different disciplines.

There are still rider slots open If anyone is interested!

Contact me directly for questions or if you want to sign up

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02/25/2025

Below is a before and after photo of a horse I have in regular work. What changes can you notice from a standstill?

The way the body presents is continuously colored by thoughts and emotions. The physical is merely an external indicator for making ongoing observations.

In the first photo Boone is mentally clinging to the safety of his pasture mates and other horses in the vicinity, yet he is physically in the arena for training. His brain is busy trying to be somewhere else which made it hard for him to stand still for a photo, yet some obedience is coming through to get the job done. When he is in this state, his body becomes like a balloon. His posture is short and elevated, every motion is quick and snappy, he struggles to move out with ease even though he is quick to respond, and every muscle is high and tight- especially in his hind end.

When he begins to let go of these thoughts, everything changes.
Here are a few examples of the big picture shifts in his mental and physical state.

Smoother transitions: When Boone gets focused, he is no longer "lightly" ahead of the pressure to rush and hang onto his thoughts. As a result his transitions become smoother, his strides become more elongated, and his hind end begins to swing, soften and reach. Along with this, he begins to show less signs of tightness and agitation, which in his case are extreme counter-bending and twisting his neck to get relief from the feel of the rope etc. His footfalls become increasingly quieter and more rhythmic and he begins to have many available gears within the gates.

His feet are easier to handle: Carrying anxiety and tightness causes discomfort and agitation in regards to being touched and handled. When he lets down emotionally his limbs can soften and stretch with more precision and focus.

His straightness improves dramatically: Boone has taken on some common physical patterns that are directly related to his fleeting mental state. He has learned to lean heavily on his left shoulder on the ground so that he can physically keep track and stay out of trouble with the human, while mentally he stays glued to other horses and his surroundings. This has been such a strong part of his sense of survival, that his body is always reflecting this desire in some capacity. I have done very little to address his straightness, and a lot to help him settle his mind. When his mental state and emotions begin to dissipate, he travels much straighter on a loose rein without being policed.

If a method was used to put a horse like him in-between the reins without addressing his worry first, it would only backfire and the symptoms would compound.

He is less reactive to sounds and objects: During the first session I noticed that he would crumble if I moved too fast, or jump sideways at shadows or objects like ground poles and mounting blocks. His owner also noted that he seemed to never get over these obstacles no matter how hard he worked at desensitizing him. Over the course of the last few weeks, all of these things don't seem to flood and take over his mind. He still notices, but doesn't feel the need to react.

All of these things changed incrementally not because I worked on them, but rather because every interaction prioritized getting him with me. Helping a horse get "here" and feel OK about it can fix a lot of the problems we thought we had.

02/07/2025

If you go to lead your horse out of the paddock and you can feel him start to rush through the gate, get him right so that he doesn’t feel the need to. If you sense a tightness coming in the canter transition don’t push through until he bucks or bolts, get him ready in preparation for something that feels better. If your horse is leaning on the pressure, take the time to get him following the feel instead of putting up a wall.

If you’re always prioritizing getting your horse set up to do things to the best of his ability in the moment, the more you can achieve as a team rather than opponents trying to survive in a relationship. You might find that operating from this mindset solves a lot of the habits and patterns of behavior that you wish would change. Sometimes this means going back to something that needs more clarity that has nothing to do with the task, and other times it means letting go altogether of the things we had planned to work on.

Horses are always giving us feedback about their thoughts, emotions, and limitations. If you address this rather than getting something done your horse will get with you for a learning frame of mind. It’s the constant work of the relationship that keeps everyone below threshold and puts us on the path to softness throughout the questions.

Photo: Selah is a highly sensitive OTTB who has a history of leaving in a big way when asked to go forward. In this photo I am enjoying a nice moment from the previous work I did to help her soften mentally and physically from the feel of the inside rein.

When she gets "right" on the inside, everything about her mindset and movement changes. She no longer needs harsh bits and other gadgets to keep a lid on her reactions.

02/04/2025

The Big Changes are in the Small Details

My skillset is largely the same from years ago, yet I see and feel a lot more than I used to. Every year I do better because I get different variations of the same species, and I have more training sessions under my belt. This is ultimately what separates a trainers skillset and power of observation from the average horse owner. Even if someone has been around horses for 30+ years they may have had experience with just a handful of horses, which means less opportunities for total confusion and needing to find solutions.

You can know your skills are valuable, yet also know that what you are doing isn't helping a certain horse. You may be left feeling like your horse knows things, and can perform yet still can't get it together when he sees a squirrel on the trail, or leaves his herd. Some sessions are great, and others feel disconnected with a countdown to meltdown if you don't play your cards right.

Undoubtedly, it is important to have skills and an idea of things you might try with your horse to get him more checked in and responsive to pressure. But over time, your mindset will shift entirely (especially if the right horse or teacher shows up in your life).

Rather than learning more maneuvers, you begin to learn things like releasing for a thought in the right direction. You take an interest in doing silly things like seeing if your horse could lead just as well under his chin, or by his tail as he can on the end of a line. You learn that the exercise itself isn't what changes everything, its the process of helping a horse learn to get "here" regardless of where the feel is coming from. Influencing a thought alone becomes a short cut for having better days and weeks because now the worry and resistance is out of the way enough that the horse can actually be himself and learn the things we are trying to teach him.

When you get to a certain point, learning more skills isn't the obvious path to getting more out of your horsemanship, its learning how to tweak the little things within a bigger skillset.

Photo: Helping a horse with anything goes far beyond the exercise itself. The best conversations tap into a relaxed and flowing state, where small adjustments are available with the least amount of trouble. Working at going together becomes the constant state of training.

PC: Kadie Osgood

01/24/2025

Learning to Recognize a Change of Thought

Understanding what change looks like is crucial for relating well to our horses.

Humans often perceive change as synonymous with something monumental. In recent times our culture is shifting to present change in small increments over time. You can find more content that implements hacking habits as something that begins by spending minutes daily. The beginning of a change with any habit starts with a thought and ends with the benefits it eventually brings into our life if we stick with it. A deeper change happens when we begin to actually feel the benefits, making this new habit an essential and rewarding part of our day. All of these principles are humanized, but can apply similarly to how we work with horses.

So what is change in a horse? The biggest obstacle is often that it begins as something that we want for them. This requires us to be cognizant of the approach and relaxed about the timeline. If the change is going to last, what we work towards doesn’t just prevent something from happening, or force something to take place, but rather gets a change of thought and emotions in the horse.

The level of change that needs to take place for a horse to do their best in a world with humans is always reliant on the nature and past experiences of the horse. Some will struggle to want to try anything at all, while others are quick to figure out what works for them in different scenarios. In either case working consistently, and working for the preparation of tomorrow is the best way to create a solid horse over time.

If you spend time observing any horse, you notice the patterns they choose and the responses that coincide with their safety and ongoing thoughts. This could be as dramatic as habitual bolting, or as subtle as using their posture to brace against something.

All behaviors are relevant to the internal world of the horse, and all reactions can be placed on a scale for how troubled a horse feels inside. Struggling to know how to actually help a horse is what leads to bandaid fixes that work around a situation rather than through it. The most powerful changes come from a horse who wants to do something because it feels better, rather than a horse who thinks I better do this or else. Even though the latter is still a change, it will often contain trouble and lack confidence which will create future roadblocks in the training.

EXAMPLE:

We are taught to do hindquarter disengagements on the ground for a variety of reasons. The most common approach to communicate this idea to the horse is to step around towards the hind end with various levels of driving pressure (giving the horse something to get away from). This will get the job done and yield results, but the horse will still be left with internal troubles. Methods that focus on a result often create a horse that is committed to getting away with hyper focus, or a mind that physically goes through the motions but looks for reasons to be somewhere else.

The best changes come from influencing a thought. Here are some ideas for how I might break down getting a change in this scenario, which could apply to thinking through any change with a horse.

The first step is just getting a horse to look in the direction that we want him to go. If we can get his thought committed, his feet will follow accordingly. When a horse has been taught to defend himself against pressure, I first try to get him to let go of his defenses so that he can join a back and fourth conversation. This almost immediately brings down the worry to a level where I can get a more thoughtful try out of the horse.

The ongoing indications of change will vary from horse to horse. It may present as a stronger look, a slowing of the feet, or a lack of twist through the head and neck. Humans often miss the small moments of change, and fail to converse by giving micro releases during these moments. Shaping behavior is all about ongoing observation and the ability to break things down into smaller moments of try.

The result of the session may be slower and quieter steps that are the result of the “let down" the horse feels on the inside. When a horse lets go of needing to defend itself, stops worrying about leaving, and understands what is being asked, everything changes. It will be subtle in the beginning, and substantially different over time. This change is what allows us to work through more advanced maneuvers and experiences in the future without everything falling apart.

Understanding and feeling the small changes are what sets a horse up for success. Helping a horse understand something is always about our ability to break things down into micro moments, with an awareness of how were aligning the mental with the physical.

Photo: I took this mare to to a Harry Whitney clinic this fall to get some better insights on how to lessen her troubles in life. She lives her life in uncertainty, irregular breathing, and defensive walls. Many horses are always holding onto various levels of self preservation, rather than working with the human.

The changes she makes are constantly happening in small moments, yet the uncertainty is always underlying in the background. This has been the result of past experiences and her nature ( I don't know if I would be as forgiving with people as she is). The changes she has made are huge in comparison to where we started. I'm fascinated by every horse, their timeline, and their ability to make changes despite the things that have convinced them otherwise.

01/15/2025

When a horse is full of worry and potential energy the most common approach is to move the feet. The issue with this method is that it often reinforces the need to disconnect in a stronger way. It convinces a horse that leaving is where safety and comfort awaits, while the human stands in the middle and continuously offers something to get away from. After inducing or allowing a physical explosion you may experience a more subdued horse without the benefits of a quiet, focused, and direct-able mind.

Horses have a strong capacity to simultaneously figure out how to do enough to get along, while still hanging onto their idea of somewhere else they would rather be. If we focus solely on behavior and don’t get the mind thinking with us, we will only have a shadow of the horse we could have if the change began at the control center for the body.

The best approach is often the exact opposite of what we would think to do when we’re feeling overwhelmed and needing a fix for our anxious horse. The human perception of a behavior and the internal world of the horse are often two very different things. People often view this behavior as something a horse is doing to them, and therefore try to make things happen as a punishment for the trouble that bubbles inside. What every horse really needs is help getting focused and staying in the moment. The closer a horse is physically to where they are mentally, the more the whole system can let down and pay attention. Their posture and movement will change too.

A better relationship begins with two minds working together.

Photo: This mare really struggles to have her thoughts with me. When she leaves mentally it feels like she has constructed a brick wall causing the human to become inconsequential. I spent a lot of time getting her mind here in a stronger way, and then making it the best place to be. This process can look like nothing is happening because checking in becomes more important than movement. Some horses latch onto these concepts with close to nothing, while others can take more convincing.

It is clear to see how sending her away from me in this moment would be counterproductive ( the physical manifestation of counterbent) for going somewhere together.

Ellen Kealey Horsemanship

10/21/2025

08/03/2025

06/27/2025

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