CF8 Horsemanship

05/28/2024

Thumper has been feeling really adventurous lately. Her inquisitive side was showing and she was asking to go down any trail that didn’t lead home🤩

04/28/2024

Thumper has her summer ✨shine on✨
She’s available! Message me with any questions!

03/31/2024

Getting an Easter ride on Thumper!

03/31/2024

Happy Resurrection Sunday!

02/15/2024

I love getting these faces right when I step off a horse🥰

02/01/2024

Nap time at the farm 😴

01/21/2024

Anybody who prefers the cold to the summer heat is welcome to join me busting water troughs! I’m ready for summer!

01/09/2024

Today was a beautiful day… if you were inside 😅

01/01/2024

We’re starting off the New Year right!

12/14/2023

How much do double headed horses sell for? 🧐

10/29/2023

Striker is living the dream!😍

07/20/2022

I would be rich if I could clone this guy! He may be a goof ball who is fascinated by his shadow in our weird lighting but he tries so hard for me. I know the picture is terrible but he was coming to stand by me and ask if he did good🥰.

The marks in the dirt are from him sliding to a stop after working on our lead changes. We haven’t worked on stops in a while but when I asked for one he tucked his butt hard and put on the breaks.

He works his heart out for me and I try to be better for him in return.

07/18/2022

“Loud people make quiet horses”

We by no means baby horses in our barn about being loud and moving around. Dogs run under horses and we are not shy about noise. Tiptoeing around them just makes them ill-prepared to go out in the real world.

07/17/2022

Anybody have any spare parts lying around?

05/19/2022

Does anybody else’s horse try to waterboard themself? No? Just my suicidal maniac?

05/07/2022

Nothing to see here, just a morning bromance.

They barely made it through the gate before they started grooming each other.

05/05/2022

Little Man and I worked on riding ba****ck for the first time today! He is such a neat horse and tries so hard for me. He had trouble understanding the difference in my seat at first but we worked through it.

05/04/2022

Thumper learned one of my favorite tricks, how to side pass over to me. Anybody who has used a mounting block knows the struggle of getting their horse in the right spot. This teaches them to be responsible for that! She learned in under 10 minutes!

Ps: I love that she follows me at the end. We have never worked on that but it comes naturally when they start to see you as a leader.

04/29/2022

I forgot to post this of earlier this week. This is actually the land Thumper grew up on and she was loving the water! She would stop at the higher water to paw and play in the water. She wanted to take a bath, saddle and I included😳

04/25/2022

Come join me for my mini clinic in Salado on May 15th!

Here is the schedule for the weekend! We are 3 WEEKS OUT from this awesome educational and fun event! Put it on your calendars, pack up your lawn chairs and come on out to Rising Above Equine in Salado! We are so excited. If you are not bringing a horse with you to participate IN a clinic, you can purchase an armband at the gate to listen and learn from ALL THE CLINICS AND DEMOS! Don't forget there will be market day shopping and food trucks set up. Along with live country band music on Saturday evening to enjoy!
Courtney Winslett Colton Aaron Chelsi Duncan Brittany Janes Misty D Aaron 3C Cowboy Fellowship Pastor Bryan Miller Flat Broke Customs Miles-Lauren Ischy La Familia’s Rolling Restaurant Flexin' Texan Jazzy J’s Southern Way Flying 4A Horsemanship Steel Country Outlaws Greg Dial Horsemanship Clinics Central Texas Dani Zimbelman Summer Melody Tharp Jason Williamson Savage Performance Horses & Therapy K1 Equine Massage Turquoise Rhinestones & Relics Online Boutique Rooster Drake Mitzi Angelle

04/23/2022

I was honored with a chance to participate in meet the masters! Thank you Ken McNabb for all the guidance and always being willing to share your knowledge. Attending his apprenticeship clinics gave me the confidence and skills to chase my dreams.

In the last post if you guessed COURTNEY WINSLETT, then you were correct! Here is a little more about her 3-week journey.

❓𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗗𝗜𝗗 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗗𝗘𝗖𝗜𝗗𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗦𝗧𝗨𝗗𝗬 𝗛𝗢𝗥𝗦𝗘𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗣? In 2020, my amazing husband convinced me to take 3 weeks off of work to attend the apprenticeship. It is one of the best things I have ever done! I returned in 2021 to get my masters with Ken and have been working since then to build my training business in Lufkin, TX.

💭𝗠𝗘𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗢𝗨𝗧: 1️⃣Experiences and friends I made are irreplaceable! 2️⃣Moving cattle herds through the mountains to summer pasture 3️⃣Riding terrain I didn’t think I ever could! 4️⃣Mrs. Susie and Tara kept me VERY well fed and were both so encouraging and loving❤️

🤠𝗕𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗞𝗘𝗡 𝗧𝗔𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗧 𝗠𝗘: To teach a 🐴 to hunt the release. The importance of focusing on rewarding the good instead of punishing the mistakes.

➡️𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟 𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗧𝗢𝗨𝗧𝗦? 🙌Dad and Mom, for giving me a passion for horses & ALWAYS supporting me. To my husband Kyle, for encouraging me to chase my passion when I needed a push and believing in me when I struggle to believe in myself.

🤩𝗨𝗣𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗦 𝗜 𝗔𝗠 𝗟𝗢𝗢𝗞𝗜𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗗 𝗧𝗢: Putting on a 2-hour mini clinic May 14th at the Let’s Talk Horses Expo in Salado, TX.

-Courtney, it's been a great journey so far! Until Next Time, May God Bless the Trails You Ride ~Ken

04/23/2022

Can you guess this months trainer?? Here are some helpful hints…
➡️1st 3 Week: June 2020
➡️Masters Completed: June 2021

𝗠𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗛𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗚𝗨𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗘𝗗 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗛𝗜𝗠/𝗛𝗘𝗥: They are scuba certified and love to bake🍰

𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗜𝗥 𝗙𝗔𝗩𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗘 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗧 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗛𝗢𝗥𝗦𝗘 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚? Taking a green horse and giving them the skills to do anything or go any direction.

𝗙𝗨𝗡 𝗙𝗔𝗖𝗧 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗛𝗜𝗠/𝗛𝗘𝗥: : I have a knack for doctoring animals (and more opportunities to practice than I would like).

𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗠: ✔️Was a softball player from the time they could pick up a ball🥎 ✔️Graduated college with a Bachelor in Economics ✔️Horse, Trey, was always therapy pet ✔️They didn’t want to be taught to ride, just ride around the pasture. This allowed their love of horses to grow until they were ready to learn intricacies of training.

𝟭𝘀𝘁 𝗞𝗠𝗛 𝗖𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗖? Katy, TX with their parents as a college graduation present. They learned then just how much I didn’t know about horses.

𝗔𝗡𝗬 𝗚𝗨𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗘𝗦?

04/17/2022

Scarlet sins had a crimson cost
You nailed my debt to that old rugged cross
An empty slate, at the empty grave
Thank God that stone was rolled away
🙏🤍🙌
Homecoming ~ Cory Asbury

Happy Easter!!

04/11/2022

Summer officially begins when the horses willingly let you spray them, right?

04/09/2022

I swear I end up with the oddest animals 🤦🏽‍♀️

Anybody else’s horses do this? She’s leaving little trenches in the dirt with her nose.

03/27/2022

Someone was a little impatient for breakfast this morning. He is obviously starving to death!

03/27/2022

Little Man was jealous that Thumper was stealing his Facebook fans, so I told him I would show everyone his nice slide marks from today.

03/20/2022

This is my goal with any horse I start! No matter what disciple they are destined to specialize in I was them to be comfortable going into any situation. A lot of my most fun horse moments were made on trail rides.

TRAIL RIDERS

I had a conversation with a fellow involved in the thoroughbred racing industry who asked me what sort of people and horses came to my clinics. When I told him, it was beyond him to understand why anyone would own a horse that was not racing or being trained for racing. In previous years I have met people who believed the same thing about horses who were not working as dressage horses, or cow horses, or polo horses, etc.

So I decided to re-post this essay that I wrote about 5 years ago. I hope you enjoy it. I believe it is still relevant.
________________________

I’ve got a bone to pick and it might surprise you to know it is with b-l-o-o-d-y trail riders. I have ridden many thousands of kilometres up and down the eastern half of Australia over many years – sometimes camping in the bush for many months at a time. Plus I get a lot of trail riders coming to my clinics. So I have enough experience and ammunition to make a legitimate complaint.

In fact, I have 2 complaints. The first is easy and I can deal with it in one short paragraph, but the second deserves a rant.

Okay. First up, about half of those that mainly do trail riding describe themselves as “pleasure riders”. Stop it. We are all pleasure riders! I hope we all ride for pleasure – even professional horse people. Being a good horse person is hard and dangerous work, so if you don’t love it, the other rewards (financial, accolades, ribbons) are certainly not enough for me to make it worthwhile. Gaining pleasure from what we do should supercede every other reason for riding horses. So trail riders should stop trying to appropriate the term “pleasure rider.” It’s a term that should apply to every rider of every persuasion.

Now the second and more important reason I am cranky at trail riders is their attitude.

Whenever I meet a new student at a clinic I ask them what do they do with their horse. I would say 4 out of 5 of the trail people say something like, “Oh not much. I just trail ride” or “I just like to potter around on the trail” or “We are not serious. We just like to ride out in the bush.”

They describe trail riding as if they have to apologize for it. It’s as if there is some sort of shame to being a trail rider and they are the second-class citizens of the horse world.

Well, I’m going to tell you those trail riders are not second-class horse people. They are the WARRIOR CLASS of the horse world.

I have come across plenty of people who have had long and highly successful competition careers that wish they had a horse they could safely ride on a trail. They practice their exercises in the safe confines of a riding facility where the most startling and unpredictable thing that can happen is that the horse gets its tiptoes wet in a puddle after a storm or it has to cope with a judge placing a rosette on its bridle. Heaven forbid those precious gold-plated ponies with their diamante browbands would have any sort of challenge that would cause their makeup to run.

Now of course I am having a bit of a laugh making fun of precious show horses, but my problem is not with show horses and their owners. My problem is with the apologetic attitude of trail riders.

I realize that some in the horse world look down on trail riding as not being “real” riding. But that is no excuse for the average trail rider to be hiding in the corner hoping nobody will make fun of their mixed breed pony with the unbraided mane and gone-wild ear fuzz.

To train a good trail horse is proof of a person’s skill as a horseman or woman.

Creek crossings, steep descents, swampy ground, branches whacking their face, the stench of decaying carcasses, inconsiderate car drivers, and bike riders are the things of nightmares for many horses trained in other disciplines. But for a good trail horse and their rider with a spine made of tungsten they are nothing more than another point of interest on their sightseeing tour.

To be able to calm a horse that is losing its manure on a trail is a badge of honour that is worth more than any blue ribbon. When on the other side of every new turn in the trail lies in waiting a horse-eating emu, it is the experienced trail rider that will see them to safety. When behind every bush hides the shadow of the grim reaper ready to unleash mayhem and death, it is the trail rider that will slay death. How many horses that only know the soft feel of a sand arena on their feet can hold their panic in check when the tentacles of an errant blackberry runner grabs their leg and attempts to drag them into the belly of hell?

I realize there are plenty of horses that are skilled in multi-disciplines and are proficient in arena work as well as trail riding. But so many horses live a life confined to just one particular chosen discipline. I believe all horses should be riding horses before they are ever trained for a specialty. That means they should be good trail horses. That means they should be good with traffic, opening gates, crossing bridges and water, mounting from either side. That means they should remain emotionless when their rider removes a jacket or another horse trots up beside them.

Nobody should ever apologize for being “just” a trail rider. Stand proud. Be the best you can be at what you do and you will never have to feel second-class to any other horse person. Remember you are the WARRIOR CLASS.

03/19/2022

03/19/2022