http://www.kealeyhorsemanship.com/

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

11/10/2025

Whenever you use pressure as something for a horse to escape from you add tightness and trouble instead of a quiet understanding. Humans often see the role of movement from a purely mechanical viewpoint; They are a body to drive into efficiency rather than a mind to engage.

Driving the hind end is something that is taught in most disciplines. You will hear people talk about the hind end as the “motor” of the horse. When he doesn’t step under well enough, the common approach is to add more driving pressure (ie: body language, leg, whip, flag, etc).

The best results I’ve had with getting a horse to use himself more efficiently is when I converse with the brain rather than driving the feet. A calm and quiet understanding creates the natural building blocks necessary for putting it all together.

VIDEO: This horse has been driven a lot. When we first started working with him he didn’t know how to focus or feel OK about pressure. He had only been taught how to escape to stay safe from it. Below is a before and after of how I changed up his response to following a feel into a hind quarter yield.

In the first clip, I’m demonstrating what he has been taught to do when a human walks towards his hind end. You can see he is trying to block me from going to his right side, and he’s pretty tight and edgy in every interaction. He then spins with his hind end to avoid more pressure. His movements are tight and every structure in his hind end is bound up and rushed as a result of his mental state. He is using his body to escape, rather than stay connected to me.

In the second clip, I’m breaking things down and changing up the routine. I’m asking him to think around the corner strong enough that his hind end steps over to align with his thought. There are moments where I have a few pounds of pressure, and others where I’m doing just enough to keep the bend. I can adjust my feel based on his level of try, focus, and softness. When he has moments of thinking with me it weighs nothing, and when he feels the need to be elsewhere he runs into some pressure.

The result is a much quieter horse inside and out. He is able to relax and fulfill his end of the conversation. I’m no longer something to get away from, but rather an engaging conversationalist that adjusts for his ongoing needs to understand the question.

The most important concept to take away from this demonstration, is that I’m working to build a connection by using pressure that guides a thought. When you constantly tell a horse what to do with an agenda, it builds a wedge in the relationship and diminishes the quality of physical softness and engagement.

11/01/2025

Happy Halloween!

Helping this spooky ghost to feel OK enough in his costume. We shouldn’t translate his thoughts to English 😂

10/28/2025

Video assessment:

The better we can understand our horses, the easier it becomes to meet their needs for a better partnership. Every time I notice something that troubles a horse, I do my best to help them. This mare is very guarded about having people on her right side. Even though it’s likely been done to her a thousand times by now she has never felt OK about what has been done.

I have the rope loose to allow for an ongoing conversation. (When a horse is physically tied or in the cross ties, they often learn to shut down making the signs much more subtle or explosive).

The moment I go to approach the mare, she looks a little stuck and then her mind shifts to getting really busy. Her blink reflex changes and she puts an effort into blocking me from approaching her right side. When I ask her to let that go and look the other way, she is quick to respond but then the second I touch her she disconnects by taking a strong interest elsewhere.

I then ask her to check back in with me by adjusting my position, and her discomfort causes her to tighten up and block me again. She bounces back and fourth between finding somewhere else to be mentally- either by looking away or putting up a wall.

The trouble about having me on that side is evident in her expression and the tension she displays physically. I could force this mare time and time again to let me be on her right side, but it still won’t get the result I want. She packs this worry in everything to do with saddling, ground work, and most likely riding. You can get a horse to yield its feet, but movement doesn’t automatically correspond to a harmonious thought.

The way through is persistence, and proving to her that she doesn’t have to worry. In this particular case the quickest way to get her to begin the let down process is to take things slow and consistent. The more she lets down and changes how she feels about working with people, the easier it will be to progress in the work.

10/24/2025

What do you see in this short video clip? My interpretations to follow…

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

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1AMQnf4MuK/?mibextid=wwX

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.

Ellen Kealey Horsemanship

11/10/2025

11/01/2025

10/28/2025

10/24/2025

10/21/2025

08/03/2025

06/27/2025

06/25/2025

06/19/2025

05/29/2025

05/16/2025

02/25/2025

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