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Monday 9am - 5pm Tuesday 9am - 5pm Wednesday 9am - 5:15pm Thursday 9am - 5pm Friday 9am - 5pm Saturday 9am - 5pm Sunday 9am - 5pm

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Wild Roots Horsemanship, LLC, 118 Chapman Grove Road, Pelzer, SC (2025)

04/18/2025

Just a casual nineteen pound feline reminder that personal space isn’t actually a thing here at WRH. Thanks for understanding.

04/16/2025

The beginnings of “stop and wait” practice for the impatient kiddos 🫠

Recently, we posted about the importance of a trail horse that can not only slow but completely stop and stay stopped. For those that really struggle with the concept, it doesn’t always begin with the ride itself and it doesn’t always look so easy. Vincent is a go, go, go kinda dude so his stop and wait began on the ground in driving reins and, most importantly, WITHOUT a bit.

You’ll notice that Vin does a great job of demonstrating that energy in our horses has to go somewhere…I get control of his feet and he begins to head toss (hence why I don’t have him in a bit…the last thing I want to do is tear his mouth up). When relief doesn’t come, he takes back his feet. I don’t increase my pressure. I don’t up my energy. And I really make sure I don’t overcorrect. I simply ask my question again - can you stop? Can you stand still?

Just because Vin sometimes answers with a “no” doesn’t mean I begin to get loud. I do my best to ask the simplest form of the question(s) I have and hold true to the lowest expectation of answers. If I can get even three seconds of “yes” from a kiddo who was previously hollering “NO FREAKING WAY” I give back. Horses have to see a light at the end of the tunnel. This guy clearly needs a release and if I never give him one until he does exactly what I want and perfectly how I want it, he’ll stop looking for the right answer.

Don’t let your horse’s anxiety or confusion or frustration get you to react in the same emotion. You have to remain neutral, clear, and soft in your ask even when their answer is a little rough. Give a lot even when it feels like they are only giving a little. Do not escalate the situation; instead ask again - simply restart, repeat, or rephrase. Think of it like this:

If I ask you at a normal volume, “What’s 2+2?” And you answer, “I think it’s 6.” Does me shouting, “NO! WHAT IS 2+2?!?!” help you get to four any faster?? Probably not. In fact, quite the opposite, it’ll likely cause you further confusion and deepen the fear of getting the answer wrong a second time. If instead I say, “That is really close but not quite right. Let’s try again. What’s 2+2?” you’re more likely to think on it a little more and make your next guess.

We want the same learning experience for our horses. Their expression of the wrong answer can sometimes look really rough but that doesn’t mean they aren’t trying. Horses can only learn if they stay out of flight or fight - I do my best to keep Vincent in a headspace where he can learn from my releases even though he’s frustrated and technically getting the answer wrong a few times. And in the end? It starts to pay off. Notice how by the last attempt he gives me a nice stop, a sincere wait, and walks off without hurry.

Way to stick with me, Vinny 👏🏻

P.s. check out the comments to see how Vin did under saddle with this same concept 👀

04/14/2025

My beautiful boy 🥹

The world’s most pampered feral has to be Hank. He got his seasonal bath, toes done, and Spring shots all in a week. Got my man out here looking like a Mane and Tail commercial.

I sure do love this sweet boy. Now, if we can just get through grass season without doubling in size 🤪

04/08/2025

Now…I don’t actually wear one of these myself so it’s hard to say for sure but I am 99% positive you’re wearing that wrong Juno…

It’s gonna be a long bug season at WRH, y’all 🤦🏼‍♀️

04/07/2025

Teach a proper load from day one and on day 48295819592 you’ll thank yourself 😉

Dixie is a youngster at Southern Magnolia Gypsy that is going on quite the adventure soon! She needs to know how to properly load, ride, and unload in a trailer for her future to be a successful one. So, we practice and we pick - what matters most to us when loading and unloading to create a safe, sane experience? 🤔

1) Loading WITH me or self-loading. You will never, ever find me trying to pull a horse onto a trailer. We need to have sending power so that our horses either (in a perfect world) self load OR at the very least load up with you - as in you lead them on and their poll stays even with your shoulder. A tug of war match with you standing in the trailer and them standing outside only leads to well…a war. You will never, ever be stronger than your horse and if they learn to plant their feet or, worse, set back you will find yourself in a dangerous situation very quickly.

2) Knowing the “wait” cue. Once a horse is hard tied in a trailer, we have to be able to walk away from them and they must stay in place. This concept, especially for the young and/or nervous loader, can be very difficult. We JUST walked on together…why do we not get to walk off together?? Teach your horse to wait. Practice first without hard tying them to stand in place while you move about the trailer. Then add the hard tie once you are able to move freely around the trailer without them trying to follow. A small hack?? Before you even get to the trailer itself try teaching them to ground tie when you say “wait”. This translates to the skills needed in the trailer quite well!

3) Learning to unload slowly - think one foot at a time. All too often, I meet horses who have been taught by rushing owners that as soon as the divider is released it’s GO TIME. These horses begin to unload themselves and that inevitably leads to setting back on the hard tie, trying to turn around to race out, and other unsafe habits. Teach your kiddos that unloading does not begin until there is a cue from you. Just because the divider is removed doesn’t mean it’s time to get out of there (notice how I wait a good 5 seconds before cuing Dixie to back even though the divider is moved and she’s unclipped from the trailer tie). If I move the divider and the horse begins to move, I stop all forward progression until they settle. I do not approach a fidgeting horse in a trailer. You must know how and when to wait just as much as they do. Only after Dixie stills do I resume my approach to untie and cue for the back. And once you begin backing? Pause randomly. Don’t unload quickly. Slow their feet, slow their mind. The safest horse is a thoughtful horse - make them consider every step and don’t teach the habit of flying off the trailer by backing them nonstop once you start. Remember, there has to be relief and release IN the trailer in order for your horse to want to be there. If all the relief and release is only on the outside, that’s where they will rush to be.

A+ work, Dixie 👏🏻

03/24/2025

Yesterday was truly something special 🥹

WRH traveled to Swannanoa, NC to volunteer for a family event hosted by Warrior Heart Restoration and it’s hard to describe the feelings we experienced there simply because there were so many. Stories were told of the destruction Hurricane Helene brought to homes, businesses, and entire communities and with it came a deep sense of grief; mourning the loss of what used to be. But as people pet, brushed, and held the ponies close, they began to tell a slightly different story - one of hope and recovery and coming together. They spoke of the strength they had come to know and the reward of being there for one another. There were tears and laughter and sometimes just pure silence as people visited with the horses and I watched as my kiddos held space for everyone no matter what they needed.

And I suppose that’s what we really walked away with yesterday. The reminder that amongst great tragedy, where it can feel like there’s nothing we can do, we can still hold space for one another. We can meet people exactly where they are and just let them…be. We can accept that the road back to normalcy is not linear; does not come with a set of rules and the best thing we can do is just show up for each other no matter what. There are so many things we can lose in this life, but what we can never afford to lose is each other. We have to support one another. We have to love one another. We have to realize that at the end of the day, we are all we have.

Thank you WHR for having us yesterday. We may not share a zip code but we do share a love for bringing people together. Here’s to many more events full of all the feelings as NC rebuilds, restores, and reminds the entire nation the importance and power of community.

03/21/2025

WRH is heading to North Carolina this weekend Sunday the 23rd 😍

Warrior Heart Restoration has invited us to lead the pony activities at their community event and we could not be more excited to bring some much needed joy to an area that has experienced so much heartache since Hurricane Helene. Efforts are still being made to make the Blue Ridge community look and feel like home again, and events like these not only bring people together but remind us all of the greater purpose that is rebuilding and healing. WRH is honored to play a small part in a big effort.

We hope to see as many of our NC people as possible! Message WRH directly or the number on the flyer if you’d like more information. We are looking forward to a beautiful day connecting with families.

Here’s to a wonderful weekend ✌🏻

03/12/2025

Annnnnnnnnd wait for it…ok, now we can go 😮‍💨

We talk A LOT about the importance of moving your horse out on the trail - achieving all three gaits helps prevent a nasty spook that turns into a bolt. But! Our stop AND wait is just at as important. A horse that is all go and no whoa is just as dangerous as a horse that has sticky, creeping feet that explode when asked to move out. We need our horses to be forward but willing to come back when asked.

Magik started his trail retraining as a go-go-go kinda dude. He only felt comfortable when his feet were moving. Many, many horses experience this. An anxious horse is a horse that typically seeks lots of movement - the energy has to go somewhere and most feel better when it goes to their feet. After all, on a very basic instinctual level, horses that move stay alive. And while 90%+ of trail riding IS forward motion think of all the times we’ve needed to stop to consider a map, give a human a bathroom break, assess a tricky piece of the trail, adjust our tack, or on a very serious note address a sudden injury on a horse or person. In many situations, we need our horses to be able to stop and wait. It’s an often forgot about skill…until you desperately need it.

And so we do the horseman thing and we practice this skill long before there’s a necessity for it. When it comes to teaching horses, I love doing things in three’s. So, here you will see me ask Magik three times in a row for the stop and wait. I let a big, deep breath out and ask for my whoa. Then I ask for the wait. Whatever moving he does, my correction matches it. One foot forward means I ask for one foot back. If he had been swinging around or trying to turn circles, I would simply put him right back where he started and insist he face/stand in the direction i originally asked for the wait. Next, I count to three before I cue him to walk three strides and we repeat the process. More important than the count is the commitment from the horse to actually stand and wait; I don’t even consider moving on until I see some sort of commitment from the horse (a sigh; lick and chew; head down; feet still - anything that indicates the horse isn’t desperately seeking out of the wait).

Note what Magik is telling me in this video - this. is. hard. His head is high; ears are twitching all over; he’s looking around all in the name of waiting for the release forward and when I finally let him walk on he head shakes (remember the energy has to go somewhere). As his rider, I can feel him buzzing a bit. The key is for YOU to stay neutral. Sink into your seat bones, steady your breath, and don’t feed into the horse’s energy here - think “come back and stay back” not “sweet Lord please don’t move forward”. If they move, we correct. It’s that simple. Don’t fear your horse making a mistake here. Patience is your best friend in this exercise.

Nicely done, Magik Man 👏🏻

03/03/2025

Psssssst 👀 Juno wants to make an exciting announcement for WRH…

We are officially expanding into equine nutrition! I have been accepted into the Equine Nutrition Advisor I program by Legacy Equine Nutrition and I start the 14-week course in May 2025. By the end of the course, I’ll hold a certification in equine nutrition and be qualified to give consults on how best to fuel your kiddos. I am so looking forward to learning this new piece of the puzzle - my goal has always been to be able to help the horse in every possible avenue and learning nutrition will be key to getting closer to that goal. WRH cannot wait to share what we learn with you all!

Cheers to a very bright, very nutritious future 😉

02/20/2025

Just a quick message from our massage client Shiloh to never, ever forget how important the thoracic sling is on your kiddos! Abandon this area during body work (and exercise) and you are bypassing one of many crucial systems to how our horses move with balance, symmetry, and strength.

The thoracic sling is a real fancy way of referencing the group of muscles, tendons, and ligaments that form the connection between the forelimbs and the body of the horse. Seeing as 60% of your horse’s weight is carried on the front end, this system is particularly important. It’s responsible for helping our horses move in multiple directions - forward, bending, jumping, and turning just to name a few.

Since your massage therapist works on muscles, let’s focus there. The TS is made up of several muscles - and by several I mean 9+. These muscles include the pectorals, serratus ventralis, rhomboideus, trapezius cervicis, trapezius thoracis, latissimus dorsi, brachiocephalicus, omotransversarius, and sternocephalicus. Shew. A million dollars to anyone who can say those nine words fast three times in a row. To simplify, the TS makes up your horse’s chest, shoulders, neck, in front of the withers, and the girth area. That’s a very watered-down visual but it helps us non-doctorate horse people get a small understanding on a big topic.

That’s A LOT of muscle and responsibility…all those pieces of the horse working together just to make sure our horse has proper balance, coordination, stability, posture, and shock absorption during movements they participate in almost every single day. We see the signs of a weak thoracic sling all the time in horses (falling/heavy on the forehand, lack of engagement and push from the hind, trouble navigating hills, reduction of stride length and flexibility, and even girthiness) and as a result it is so, so important body workers address this region but it is just as vital that we recognize how to advise owners on continuing to strengthen those areas in between visits with us. Exercises like hill work, raised poles, backing, and lateral flexion can all improve muscle function and posture in the thoracic sling.

Thanks for sharing, Shiloh! 👏🏻

02/14/2025

Just a girl and her Valentine…Roseanne the chicken (who isn’t even mine she’s my neighbor’s but who am I to resist true love??).

And for those wondering, yes my husband did ask me to be his but we’ve been Valentines for 13 years so like…it was Roseanne’s turn.

02/12/2025

This kid would jump over the moon, cross a thousand streams, walk a million miles through the woods all if I asked him to…but he absolutely will not ever stop constantly getting into crap I tell him not to touch 😒 That, my friends, is a pony who has already had breakfast but saw the scooper laying out and decided to paw at it to look for, you guessed it, more breakfast until he broke said scooper and got his hoof stuck in it. To alleviate a cliffhanger - his hoof came out just fine with the help of a set of thumbs.

No horses were harmed in the making of this video…just highly embarrassed. Which translates to the gelding learned nothing.

Thanks Fitz for the reminder that if they can, they will 🤦🏼‍♀️

02/11/2025

Just a small reminder from a very big black bear errrr I mean Gypsy Vanner to always achieve all three gaits on the trail 🤘🏻

A slow, peaceful walk is great when trail riding but don’t let your transitions become a skill of the past. Remember how little we control in the woods! If your horse were to spook into another gait would you be able to cue them back down?? If you aren’t sure, practice BEFORE you find yourself in that situation. Teach your horse that moving out and coming back down are just another regular piece of the puzzle out there. In other words, don’t let your first canter on the trail be a bolt 😬

Such a good man, Vroomie 👏🏻

02/05/2025

Anyone else have a Dragon on-site they can summon or is that a WRH thing?? 🐉🤪

My stud c**t spends his days practicing being independent from the herd by free-grazing solo and when he hears his name he comes right to me like, “Ok what’s up?!”. I just adore this kiddo. He loves to play with friends but he also doesn’t mind his alone time. This is all I want for all my ponies - a herd they can rely on but independence they find peace in. Now, if he would just teach everyone to come when called…

Good man, Draco 👏🏻

01/20/2025

Some kiddos are truly once in a lifetime kind of partnerships and Fitz is mine.

A few weeks ago, at the Spartanburg Horseman Association award ceremony, Fitz and I won the Jumping Adult Highpoint. I know. I know. The award says rider but…who am I without my pony?? Not much.

While the shiny wins are no complete measure of a partnership, it certainly represents at the very least how far we have come from where we started. I first met Fitz when he wasn’t even mine; when he wasn’t even broke to ride; when he wasn’t even interested in people. Fitz came to me for training and he threw me three times the first time we trotted together if that gives you any indication of how little he cared for me and my “professional” opinion 🤣 But as we continued to ride together, something grew between us…and by the time his owner decided Fitz would be better off in a different home, him and I had ridden over 100 miles together on the trail, spent nearly four months finding a give and take in a technical space, and countless hours staring at each other in the pasture trying to figure out what the heck the other one’s problem was. So, of course…I bought him.

There’s just something about the kiddos that make you earn it. Fitz and I did not get here on some fairy tale. We fought. We sweat. We kept going. All because I had some crazy “feeling” about this gelding. And when we discovered jumping together, that feeling became a reality. Finally, we found something that brought out the best in our relationship; something that made us a team; something that forced us to listen to each other. Fitz was supposed to be for Xavier…but…I think we all knew after Fitz and I’s first jump course that the plan had officially changed. We feel like one together out there and I like to think that on our very best days, it shows.

I will never be able to describe the grittiness of this kiddo. I’m so deeply grateful he came into my life and ignited a fire in me that I thought had died long ago. Fitz gave me a reason to grow outside of my comfort zone; gave me room to discover a new skill; gave me wings. We may not have had the easiest past, and I know the future will hold its own challenges, but in this moment, in this in between the before and the yet to come, I am filled with so much love for this partner of mine.

Fitz, you are such a good boy. I truly cherish you and every single ride we have together. Thank you for reminding me how much I love to fly.

Wild Roots Horsemanship, LLC

04/18/2025

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04/14/2025

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04/07/2025

03/24/2025

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03/12/2025

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02/20/2025

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Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
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Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm
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