Lydia Scott Equine Services

04/14/2025

Beautiful aspect of a solid foundation…
First ride in two months and in a new place..
No lunging, or running him around before getting on just full of curiosity and enthusiasm ♥️

03/07/2025

This young gelding has been ridden at this location probably a dozen times and has hiked and longlines here before that.
He is now starting his riding out on the trail without another horse journey. When I’m starting horses out (always)but especially solo, we spend as much time as they want watching, listening, experiencing the environment through this new experience of depending on themselves and me to make it a safe and hopefully enjoyable experience. I’m not focused on how far we get on the trail, that will come in time. What I put at the highest value is the horse I am working with developing a solid foundation in being secure, regulated and present.
Sure there may be some horses who have a natural propensity toward “ herd bound” behavior, horses are herd animals after all, I would say that learning to be on their own with a human, is a learned skill. It is our responsibility as the humans asking them to participate in this activity to set them up for success.
I have put foundations on many different horses to be solo adventures at this point and I would say the successful recipe has been, helping them shape a foundation of achieving an empowered confident, regulated self. How to do that looks different for different horses but always seems to involved time for processing.

02/17/2025

Emotional Mutualism
Shifts in mindsets happen over time. I find quite often that something in my subconscious knows the deep meanings of a thing and my equine experiences facilitate the revelation of it over time. For me, experiences with horses are too exceptional and broad to reduce them to a routine of one sided commands and body manipulations. The experience and the goals have to be beneficial for both of us.

01/14/2025

Well said! Learning verses Coping.

Many trained horses are patterned in coping. We may see “undesirable” behaviors show up, or horses who have “ one lane” as long as you don’t deviate from the one thing they have been able to manage they act obedient but if you go out of that lane your horse may act out. Or often, the complacent horse who has learned to disassociate.

Over and over again I have seen Foundations of Learning create patterns of empowerment, emotional regulation, curiosity, understanding and engagement.

01/03/2025

When I let go of my agenda and the timeline and went on the journey this horse had to offer….
Hours and hours out hiking together on many terrains
Listening, reflecting, learning, trying and listening some more
Trusting and allowing and accepting
Shared experiences, wholistic care, awareness
These are some of the words that come to mind..
and here we are out on the trail together, just the two of us sharing a thoughtful, relaxed, enjoyable mutual experience…
For me, this is fufilling beyond any blue ribbons or championships I have ever won 💗

01/03/2025

NeoHorsemanship.......
embraces a role shift from Director of Rote Performances to Facilitator of Experiences. Horses don't need human dictators, they need human grounding rods. I hope to inspire people in forming a mindset shift from 'how do I make the horse __________' to 'how do I become a facilitator and cooperative partner in mutual experiences'? It's not healthy for us to live in a mind mode that emphasizes obedience and behavior control. When we seek mutually meaningful experiences, we are elevated to the rewarding responsibilities of emotional regulation, safety, stability, life enhancement, and so much more.

12/31/2024

Challenges of being in a boarding facility...
Although I made sure to find a facility that does daily turn out with other horses, there are days that doesn’t happen.
I share this because for those of us that have to board our horses there are inevitable challenges.
Being out grazing, moving and socializing are high value, arguably essential activities for horses. Days that is not possible, I prioritize getting my horse out for grazing time, a walk together, arena turn out with buddies over riding time. A few of us at the barn will get each-other’s horses out so they can get out multiple times in a day.

12/30/2024

Are you interested in Positive Reinforcement training?
Curious about exploring your relationship and our collective relationship to horses? What does mutualism mean in regards to spending time and working with horses?
Join us for a dive into awareness building and relationship based learning as we explore these concepts together.
Kimberly Dunn is an exceptional learning facilitator with a very thoughtful approach grounded in foundation. To learn more check out her page at Get Grounded Equine
Please feel free to reach out with any questions or if you would like to sign up.

It's been a while hasn't it? I'm coming out of my hermit hole, feeling like I have spent enough time in the lab and ready to begin sharing again. Lydia is coming along this journey and also has some thoughtful insight to share as well. Not stated on the flyer, I do have a few reasonably priced overnight stay spots available on sight for anyone coming from out of the area.

12/28/2024

This sweet and very curious Fell pony mare is getting started as a riding pony for her new family. Q is incredibly thoughtful and connective and has fabulous body awareness!
Today on the trail she was given the opportunity to lead out on a well-traveled trail with lots of different smells and experiences coalescing in the environment.
I was given the opportunity to realize how pushing horses who are highly curious through these experiences, can in fact brew and potentially start a pattern of them feeling anxious. Horses who are highly curious may take a bit longer to process information in new environments early on in their training because they are “invested” in multiple layers of experience. Giving them the time they need to process and find understanding in this early stage is foundational to building positive experience and understanding. Allowing and supporting this mare in stretching her comfort zone, feeling her energy elevated and the opportunity to find and experience her own emotional regulation before adding more has way more value to her foundation than how far we get on this trail.

02/04/2024

When you are use to riding ponies in the forest and don’t realize the log won’t be tall enough to get on the green riding HORSE 😂 He handled my leg bouncing off his butt very well!
Lordy Lordy I am now past 40! I clearly don’t have the flexibility my mind still thinks I have 🤣

01/10/2024

On a rainy day hike with this lovely mare.
As we were hiking we heard a noise off in the trees, it sounded a bit like a fox screech and of course Isabella keyed in right where the sound was coming from. We stopped to look and saw a group of deer bouncing through the forest. This got me thinking…
Partnership verses leadership.
I don’t subscribe to the narrative that horses need us to be a strong leader. I think horse relationships are way more nuanced and dynamic than that. Horses are incredibly intelligent, have very good memories, much stronger instinct than most humans and hold awareness that I can only strive to build in my life time. I want to honor the horses I work with in what they bring to the table in leadership. For example , if I’m out on the trail I absolutely want my horse to have agency to tell me about something or someone coming up around us that I likely do not notice yet, then we figure out navigating the situation together. I think it is important that we remember what we are primarily doing with horses is asking them to participate in the human world in ways that suit us. So even in scenarios with horses we deem “ spooky” what we are really saying is that they are experiencing the environment in a way that doesn’t suit our needs. This is absolutely ok and essential to our safety to figure out but I do think it is important to recognize it is usually about our safety, not necessarily our horses. So what’s the point of this…? I believe it is our job as humans to learn to read expressions and signals from our horses. Spend time, ideally lots of time observing the horses we work with, get to know them, do our best to learn to understand them as individuals and build the relationship so when we ask them to do things with us, navigate with us, we can work from partnership instead of the idea that somehow as humans we are the leaders and for a horse to feel safe they need us to lead them. Do we need boundaries…absolutely, like any healthy relationship. Do we ask our horses to do things they maybe don’t necessarily want or would choose to do on their own… yes, again like most relationships. But I also advocate for the value and even importance in supporting thoughtful, intact, well rounded horses, that we give them chances to utilize their stellar leadership skills with us as well.

01/09/2024

A dusky stroll with this handsome dude. He is going to be a phenomenal solo ride horse, such a stellar navigator and ranch walk extraordinaire! I am so grateful to Kimberly Dunn and Get Grounded Equine for helping open up the possibilities by teaching me about long lining. The benefits are vast! In this instance, working on the lines is a bridge between hiking with this horse and riding this horse on the trails. Being able to build his skill and confidence going out solo with me before I put myself on his back on the trails is such a gift.

12/21/2023

There are so many ways we can spend time with our horses…