Hoofprints Equestrian Program

01/13/2025

Save the date!

01/09/2025

Great study!!!! Quick read! Read and realize how much your mindset matters.

The Effect of a Nervous Human.... one of my favorite studies!

Researchers at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences looked at the effect of an increased heart rate in a human on the horse they were riding or handling.

Here's a link from the abstract... "Each horse–human pair walked or rode between points A and B (30 m) four times on each test occasion.

However, just before the fourth pass, participants were told that an umbrella⛱ would be opened as they rode, or led, the horse past the assistant.

The umbrella was not opened, so this pass was no different to the previous control occasions, but nevertheless there was an increase in HR for both the person AND the horse."

We affect our horses.

When looking at any training "issue", our first responsibility is to to know ourselves and explore if there's something we could do better.

Here's a link to the research article, unfortunately I couldn't find a full text version easily available online, but you can read the rest of the abstract here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S109002330900121X?via%3Dihub

01/08/2025

Success is a Journey……not a destination

01/03/2025

Excuse me Mr. Vicious….you look all grown up now! My baby boy is no longer.

12/27/2024

Had a cowboy in the group today as a special visitor. Jude proved he has a great riding talent and him and Stick were a great team. Last Thursday group til next year….next week🤣

12/19/2024

Who would like an open obstacle day on January 1st for 40$. Let me know

12/06/2024

Written by Amy Skinner "When you pay for a lesson or training, you aren’t buying an hour of my time. You’re paying for thousands of hours of sweat, struggle, success and tears. You’re buying injuries, mistakes, and revelations. You’re buying nights awake thinking about a horse or student I need to help more, thinking about what could be bothering a certain horse. Searching on the internet about possible medical causes for certain behaviours. You’re paying for the time i spend updating owners late at night about how their horse is doing. For the emotional toll it sometimes takes on a trainer when an owner is dealing with big emotions. You’re buying hours of hauling hay, mucking stalls and grooming, of carefully checking your horse over like It was my own. You’re paying for my further education, because i still take lessons as frequently as possible. You’re paying for my care, concern, over dinner conversation, and you inevitably become a central part of my life.
You can’t put a price on education, or personal development, or the bliss of finally being “with” a horse. Thank you for sharing with me, teaching me, and letting me teach you, while I put food on my table and hay in my barn with the most fulfilling job ever. "❤️

12/04/2024

He doesn’t know it yet but 2025 will be a big year for him!

11/24/2024

Had to share…..

To replace a good horse!
The best horses are built over years of hauling, hard work, tough times, good times, bad times, big spooks, little spooks, their mistakes, our mistakes and continual love and care.

No, your breaker can not turn your young prospect into your old faithful in 30, 60, 90, or even 365 days. It takes years.

I’m plagued with the problem of trying to impress on people how long it truly takes to build that dream partner. There’s not a smooth paved path. Your green horse will embarrass you, frustrate you, and maybe even hurt you. For some of you, buying a $20,000-$30,000 horse is going to be worth it and SAVE you money. Even that more finished horse will take a year or more to sync up with.

Cheap rate for horse training is $1,000 a month.
1 year of training: $12,000
2 years of training: $24,000

Many of you won’t believe this but your dream horse is on the other side of two years of training. In reality, it’s likely around two years of training and two years of seasoning (hauling them to town). Will that horse still make mistakes? Yes, they all make mistakes until the day they die. But that horses mistakes probably won’t put you in serious danger and that horse will probably pack your grandkids around.

If you’re trying to decide between a $3,500 prospect or a $15,000 proven horse. My advice is to do an internal inventory and figure out what you want. Buying that prospect is like the first roll on the Jumanji board. You’re entered up, get ready for a journey of ups and downs (possibly quite literally!) If you’re buying that finished horse decide what you really want, get ready for a lot of shopping and painfully overpriced sh💩tters. Take a friend or a trainer on this journey with you and try to double your budget (that’s right, 30k). Be smart and buy something OVER 8 years old. Don’t buy that pretty 5 year old they only want 20k for. He isn’t old enough to be proven for you. Lots of horse traders are trying to flip horses, anything under 8 is likely twice as green as he looks in the video. Maturity, both mental and physical will be key when looking for a safe horse.

If you want a project and a challenge I’m not hating, that’s what I want in a horse too, so I buy young ones. If you need a safe one, bring lots of money and quit thinking you need a 6 year old. You probably don’t have what it takes to mentally support that 6 year old through new situations.

The biggest reason I bring this up is because as folks retire their old faithful they are so far removed from when that horse was green and did dumb stuff. They forgot how tough those two years were back when he was 4-6. They only remember the amazing horse he was when he matured. The 3 year old they just bought is YEARS from filling that horses shoes when it comes to training level and safety level. I see people hate on trainers because the trainer couldn’t make their young horse, “finished” in 90 days. It’s honestly the biggest reason I like taking colts for 30 or 60 days. The expectation is shockingly lower than when I take one for 90 days. It’s weird what people expect from a 90 day start. Most people should commit to sending their young horse out for a full year. Two years would be even better.

Green horses do green horse things, don’t blame others for the challenge you bought yourself. Accept the challenge or pay the price for one further along. No matter which path you choose with horses, it’s going to cost you.

(I didn’t write this one I’m not sure who did, however every word of it rings true)

Edit, author Craig Moore

11/22/2024

Love my life❤️🐴

11/16/2024

Off to a good start this weekend at the JHPH Cowboy Dressage Series. Looking forward to tomorrow.

11/08/2024

He has a new name….

11/05/2024

Nothing better than watching a relationship form……