Lydia Scott Equine Services

11/13/2025

“This kind of shaping is the life force that develops motivation and a life habit of ‘try’. The answer is: an attitude of effort.”
This right here.

I was just working with a mare the other day who was started as a 2 year old through heavy pressure and release training. She is very shut down and occasionally will exhibit behavior of dissatisfaction by avoidance or refusal. I have introduced her now over 2 sessions to R+. Now that she has a basic understanding of the concept ( the reliability) I am able to start applying it to skill development. We are working on very simply moving forward with my hand on her halter. At first her answer was “no.” After a few attempts where she could see I was not going to make her do anything, I could see her begin to process. Based off her feedback I adjusted my criteria and we were able to build from there. We ended with her willingly moving forward with my hand on her halter. Not by any force applied but by this very concept of “an attitude of effort”.

11/07/2025

Not a great video or looking particularly impressive but what this represents is pretty freakin great!

I’m making this post to talk about something I think is incredibly valuable…
The practice of learning to listen to our horses.
I had a trainer tell me they wouldn’t ride this horse until I put a bit on him bc one day she was riding him and he flinched like he was going to start broncing ( which he had a history with). Instead of putting a bit in his mouth (which I’m not opposed to)I decided to try to investigate the why behind his behavior.
It ended up being completely related to his saddle not fitting and causing him at best discomfort and quite possibly pain. If I had listened to that trainer and just put a bit on it, he would have either had to get louder or shut down. Instead what this video represents is him with a proper fitting saddle, still bitless out at a roping practice night in an arena he didn’t know that he hauled to by himself at night and he acted like a total champion 💗
That is the value of learning to listen to our horses and not just reach for the equipment to make them compliant.

11/02/2025

Awe what a nice time! Thanks everyone who came out to the Open Barn event! What a sweet group of folks, casual and connective.
Building the kind of horse heart community we want to be part of 😊
Appreciate you all 🙏

11/02/2025

Today!
11-2 ( don’t forget about the time change;)
Come visit the horses and learn about our lesson and training offerings!

10/31/2025

The sweet things and palatable care horses share with eachother is such good medicine for the heart ♥️
Right before I got this photo Finn was sleeping on his side and Resolute was standing like this right behind him taking a soft nap.
These two are starting to look like a 2 up team 😆

10/23/2025

10/19/2025

First ride in about 5-6 months and this is how he hits the trail 🥰 He was so excited to be out, he wanted to explore everything, take every side trail and this horse doesn’t miss a thing! I can always count on him to let me know what’s going on out there. Calm and confident and always seems to enjoy an adventure together ♥️

10/17/2025

Happy ponies out enjoying some sweet fall grass!
With the Fell pony it’s rare to have to be concerned about them being on the rich sweet valley grasses when the Autumn rains return.
Pure enjoyment for horses and this human ♥️

10/13/2025

This video is back from when I was teaching this guy this move but the other day I decided to see if he still remembered. He was loose in his paddock at a new barn, different fence, no treats and I was delighted to see his willingness to play again 🙂

10/11/2025

Working with horses both training and teaching humans over the years I think a lot about how to communicate with horses and humans about horses. It’s a key for relationship and with horses we are learning another language that is also mostly nonverbal and often times (at least we hope) very subtle. Building our awareness as humans is a cornerstone.
When I teach I’m realizing more and more this is both my quest for understanding and primarily what I am trying to teach humans about. Sure riding technique and how to feed and walk with and care for a horse but ultimately the core is about learning these deeper skills. Some people call it “feel”, I would go as far as calling it sacred. These pieces can dramatically improve all of the other pieces . It’s the thing I’m always trying to improve my skills in and the piece I’m always trying to figure out how to teach to the people I work with.
Working on how to listen and communicate with another being that is so different than us in so many ways, as well as how to communicate in ways that make sense and promote learning how to function well in the predominantly human world (let’s be real, almost entirely we ask horses to function within our ideas). Horses are often big and powerful creatures and for the most part incredibly kind and forgiving- humans relied heavily on these qualities. Many horse’s spirits also lend themselves to be “broken” making them compliant with our ideas- they have mastered the ability of dissociation.
Learning to truly partner with a horse is quite possibly the true art of horsemanship.

10/10/2025

Here she is practicing her two point position and notice how even when the pony pulls her head down, it barely even shakes her balance :)

10/10/2025

Check out this glow up!
This student was just starting to trot on her own last winter.
The second video I’m going to post is from a couple minths ago.
This young rider’s dedication and hard work is so inspiring!!