Ahrens Horsemanship

08/18/2024

We’ve been working on some very uncommon behavior issues with Yankee for the past few months and decided it was time to really test out our work. We took him to a local ranch riding schooling show. Was he perfect? No, was he good most definitely! He showed his strengths and weaknesses throughout the day and gave me lots of insight to the next steps in his training. Placing second in ranch obstacles, second in ranch pattern, and fourth in ranch reining proved he’s got what it takes in the pen. No real issues in a new place and show environment, calmly waiting on deck, not worried about his trailer buddy or what’s going on in his environment because I wasn’t worried shows me he’s got a clear mind and knows I’m his team mate and everything is good. Those are signs of a good horse in my book.
There are a few key things that go into fixing behavior issues. One is that 90% of the time a human created these issues in the first place, this creates the first hurdle. The first instinct of the horse is usually that all humans are similar and will repeat what caused the undesirable behavior. While changing the behavior of the horse the human doing the “fixing” must change the outlook the horse has about humans in general. To accomplish this, the mental and emotional side of the horse needs not only to be activated but engaged with the human. Physically trying to change the behavior alone most of the time is just a band aid and the behavior has a greater chance of resurfacing.

The second key component is to test your work, test if mentally and emotionally the horse has changed his mind about his general conclusions of humans. We as the human need to take notes of both the positive and negative changes during these tests. That way we know what worked and what didn’t, remembering what we did that worked gives insight to help fix what didn’t. Areas that didn’t improve or improve as much are the next steps to help the horse change these unwanted behaviors. The more refined the human can be the better the results, the better the results are, the more minimized the chances of that undesirable behavior resurfacing are.

06/10/2024

Janet managed to catch some photos of Saturday’s W.E. clinic. It was a fantastic clinic, it makes me very happy when you see even the slightest improvement with horses and/or humans.
Just because my clinics are W.E. Based clinics doesn’t mean the things you take away from them only apply to the sport. They’re more horse and human team building skills that can be used everyday than only W.E. Based skills. It was just a fantastic weekend!

05/11/2024

It’s been a long time since Mocha has taught a clinic, I know she’ll do her best today though!

05/09/2024

Mocha getting ready for this weekends W.E. Clinic.

04/21/2024

WORKING EQUITATION CLINIC
This is a one day intro to Working Equitation with Shelby Ahrens hosted by Anlan Cathal Ranch, Port Orchard, Cris Polston. Clinic May 11, 2024.
AGENDA
- AM will cover basic dressage/flatwork foundation needed for not just Working Equitation, but everyday riding no matter what discipline you ride. Additionally, riders will be coached through riding a Working Equitation dressage test. 🏇
- PM will involve select obstacles used in the sport of W.E. that support riding thru other obstacles and the proper way to execute them followed by how to link those obstacles together as they would when riding a course.
OBJECTIVE
- This clinic is not only to answer questions and help gain understanding of what is expected in the sport of W.E. but, applying quality horsemanship for you and your horse that can be used no matter where or what discipline you ride. The sport of W.E. is a fun and exciting sport that anyone can learn and any horse can participate in. Come and join us for a fun filled day of horses, Horsemanship, and obstacles.
LOGISTICS
- Clinic fee $200
*****Deposit of $100 required to hold your spot by midnight 5/4/2024 Non refundable.
*****Remaining $100 plus $10 haul in fee can be paid upon arrival.
- Payments can be submitted through PayPal [email protected]
******NOTE - max size trailer is 3 horse slant due to limited parking*******
- 10 rider maximum
- Light refreshments will be provided, however please bring your lunch.
- There will be a 1 hour lunch break while we set up the obstacles
- Auditors welcome!!!!! $20 per person payable upon arrival, carpooling encouraged due to limited parking. We encourage auditors to RSVP in order to plan for handouts and refreshments.
- Your payment to ride means you are committed to coming. Pls make sure you can commit before paying. There will not be any refunds.
- No shows will not be refunded

03/29/2024

Identifying horse personality traits…. as much as I’d like to say A + B = C on this topic, it’s just not possible. Now I might be a little bit old-school, but the reality is this. The more horses you interact with the better you’ll be at identifying different personality traits.

Being around enough horses or someone else who has been around enough horses to identify the different traits that horses possess is the first step. During this step it requires lot of observation, and not just in the moment. Those observations then have to be remembered. A particular frame of mind is necessary I believe to achieve this. I hate to put this information into tech form but you need data and you need a lot of it, the more the better. After data has begun to be acquired, organizing that data needs to start. Also, while organizing that data, personal experience versus knowledge from a very educated horseman need to be weighed differently. At first, I would weigh the Horsemen’s education slightly higher than personal experience. At some point, however this table turns, and the personal experience that you have with horses, will then outweigh the previously learned education from the experienced Horsemen. The reason is that first hand experience will always be better than an experience taught second hand.

From the beginning of my career, I started separating different traits into different groups with personalities. Every horse that I come in contact with adds to all these different groups, thus creating a very detailed portfolio in my head. I use this portfolio to help identify different traits in every new horse and I use every new horse to test my portfolio and all my different groups of personality traits. So basically I’m checking and crosschecking not only my past observations, but my current ones.

This portfolio in my head consisting of thousands and thousands of horses is one of my most valuable assets as a horsemen. On top of the fact that ego doesn’t play a factor in the portfolio I’ve built over the years means that I can change anything at any time. The reason why this is so valuable is simply because it creates the baseline on how I approach teaching and training an individual horse.

In my opinion any professional in the equine industry needs to have a much more complicated portfolio of personality traits stacked away in their brain versus an individual with one or two horses. An individual who has two horses really only needs to understand those two horses to the best of their ability for the best quality of life and the best experience for the horse. The professional however, is going to see potentially thousands of horses in a year so they need to continue adding to those traits categories and where they fit in those categories and how to combined them altogether to do what’s best for the individual horse in front of them. For the professional or pleasure Horsemen this is potentially a major undertaking, but if the work is put in, it will not only make the relationship between horse and human better faster, but the quality of life between human and horse is potentially the best it can be. This in the big scheme of things this is our responsibility, after all we brought horses into our society we need to set them up for the most successful lives in this society we can.

03/15/2024

I’m not really sure if this concept going to make sense to anybody, it might be just something that only makes sense to my eccentric brain. Let’s just say a perfectly trained horse traveling in a straight line is at zero. Then we add a rider sitting in the middle of the horse balanced both left and right, front to back. The horse will still travel at zero or a straight line. If the rider of that horse shifts their weight to the right 5%, that horse is going to balance itself by traveling 5% to the right as well. The horse uses its balance to travel 5% to the right the same way the rider has shifted their weight. The horse is doing so naturally to keep itself balanced. This causes the horse to use 5% of its bend to the right to travel on a right bend. Once the rider returns to zero in balance on the horses back, the horse will return to zero and ride in a straight line again.

Now Instead of having a perfectly balanced horse that travels at zero meaning a straight line. The horse being rode travels at 5% balance to the right this isn’t zero so this is not in a straight line. The horse is traveling slightly to the right or 5% of a bend to the right. What I see a lot of riders do in this situation is use their reins to try and straighten the horse. The problem is this most likely this isn’t going to change the balance of the horse that is causing it to travel 5% to the right. Yes, the horse might travel in a straight line but, the body of the horse is still balanced 5% to right. that being the case, the body of the horse is not straight and most likely not traveling straight through the body. What actually needs to happen for the rider to correct this 5% to the right balance of the horse is, the rider needs to cancel out this out of balance by balancing themselves 5% to the left on the horse. doing so cancels the 5% balance to the right and brings the horse back to zero to travel in a straight line.
Changing the balance of the horse is a small adjustment. It’s not a big squeeze or a bump with the legs, it’s not shortening one of the reins, it’s an adjustment in the seat, torso, or even shoulders.

There are pretty much two points that I’m trying to express here. One point is that balance is very important and it’s a very natural way to guide horses in pretty much any direction and any speed. The second point that I want to express is an adjustment in the riders seat or torso is a much smaller adjustment for the horse and the rider than the reins. Since the seat of the rider is the biggest contact point on the horse it is potentially a bigger cue for the horse to respond to than the reins. The seat however is a lighter cue than the reins because it is adjusting balance, this makes it more of passive cue or adjustment Just an example why it is more productive to ride seat first, legs second, and reins last.

03/01/2024

A good coach does not want to be your crutch and they don’t see you as a meal ticket either. These higher quality coaches want to see their clients succeed without the constant of them being right there the entire time. They want to see that their clients have practiced the previous lesson and even added other past lessons every time they step out into the arena for the next lesson and most will notice and acknowledge the additions of previous lessons and accomplishments made. This does not mean there won’t be hard lessons or honest words from these coaches that may sting a little, especially if these words are in the best interest of the horse and/or clients. These coaches are confident in their program and they encourage clients to explore lessons with other coaches, trainers, and even attend clinics. These coaches have learned how to push the right amount for each individual client and horse team. They will admit when they make a mistake openly and these mistakes may have happened earlier the same day or maybe even 10 years ago. They don’t feel the need to upsell themselves to stir up more business, they know the work they do speaks for itself. A good coach knows what toxic relationships are be it between two humans or between a horse and human. They would rather work to remove the toxins from these situations than feed into them, turn a blind eye, or try to cover them up. These coaches may be very competitive but at the end of the day respect their peers and will sincerely congratulate them when they are successful no matter the level of success. In short most of the time these coaches are not in the game only for themselves, they are in the game to improve the game as well as the players of the game.

02/26/2024

A super busy and successful weekend! Our WE workshop was fantastic we had riders of all levels and everyone went home with a little bit more than what they came with. On top of that there was a tack sale going on all weekend and it seemed to be pretty successful as well. To top it all off I gotta phone call from a very important person to me! Love it when good things come together !

02/23/2024

The way a horseman uses their hands while working the horse from the ground can reflect that horseman’s hands in the saddle with the reins. There will always be an exception just like anything else equine related however, typically though a lot of observations including myself over the years, I’ve seen the correlation over and over again. If the ground work under halter and riding are compared it’s easy to see why they reflect off of one another.
Both the halter and whatever the horse is being rode with is on the horses head and the communication with the hand comes from the same general place. Both the lead rope and the reins are the link between the hands and whatever is on the horse head for this communication. This creates a constant feel of communication that is very similar. This communication then creates a memory be it muscle memory or a mental memory with both the horse and the human. So if there is a lot of over bending in the ground work resulting in a disconnection from the withers forward on the horse, it’s most likely going to transfer to the reins in the saddle. Or if there’s a lot of bumping involved in reins the get the horse “soft” theres a lot of bumping in the halter to get the horse “soft” on the halter. These are just two examples to keep things short there are many many more examples I could give but we’d be here a very long time. The main reason I felt the need to bring this up is not to criticize anything or anyone, the reason is mainly to create opportunity for others to find possible solutions to situations and to seize the moment for more chances to practice a constructive consistent communication with horses. Anytime there’s a halter and lead on a horse there is an opportunity to practice the connection with our hands and we should take advantage of that. Honestly, in cases with young or difficult horses using the lead rope to communicate with a horse as a rein more than doubles the time we have to create a quality consistent communication system with them in the saddle. It’s these little opportunities that I’m always keeping an eye out that can potentially make huge differences both very quickly and down the road with horses.

02/15/2024

As I have evolved along my horsemanship journey, its has become very intriguing to me, how what seemed like the normal and ethical way of working with horses has changed and redefined itself over the years. That heightened awareness that has come into play I find fascinating, It’s actually quite amazing how much can be overlooked for one reason or another. For me it’s also been very humbling, how at one point in time these little things seemed so insignificant but, now have become the most important.

At first I felt like I might be going a bit crazy recognizing little details that could give insight to a situation and the potential outcome. This then went from recognizing those situations to attempting to predict them. I realized not only could I predict the outcome with less, but I had the ability to guide the horse towards the prediction that I preferred with these little changes from myself and my horse.
What this did was change the style of communication I had with the horse. It went from something like this:
“ I am looking for AB and C from you (the horse).”
To something like this:
“Here is AB and C can you (the horse) show me what you believe AB and C are?”
This created a two way street of communication sorta speak between the horse and myself. With the horse and I both realizing the quality of communication between us strengthening. We both started to look for more and more details from each other. These details are the little things that the horse and/or I previously overlooked. This is the moment the horse usually realizes that the leadership I provide far exceeds themselves or what any other horse around them has to offer. This type of leadership never had a challenging or dominating characteristic about it, but more of a confidence that it was a good option for everyone involved. My conclusion from this evolution of my horsemanship, with a heighten awareness of the little details from both myself projecting towards the horse and the acknowledgment of the expressions that the horse offers me says that a few of the major characteristics a horse may be looking to follow is awareness and communication. Two difficult qualities to learn, and be consistent with between two different species. This conclusion also is the result of thousands of hours with thousands of horses and a reflective observation from those horses, accompanied by my own observations.

11/23/2023

Happy Turkey day everyone!

11/22/2023

Someone is taking the steps to getting in shape to compete in Working Equitation in 2024.

11/15/2023

Life is good, horses are great, and the weather is crazy!

11/01/2023

Looking for balance from hind to front 🙂

10/31/2023

Earlier in my career I had a 4 horse team that I was practicing liberty with (3 Paso finos and a walking horse). As I was working Mocha and Brevè yesterday I started thinking 🤔 these two are pretty close in many ways… Might have to see where this pair can possibly go.

09/18/2023

Just because I haven’t been on social media for a minute doesn’t mean I’ve been on vacation 😂🤣

08/29/2023

Our two days of W.E. clinic in Shelton was fantastic! Spent day one going over dressage and horsemanship and finishing it up riding the dressage tests. Day two was obstacle day starting out going over the obstacles and their how’s and why’s. After lunch we rode the course! All our participants made quality improvements and went home with some good stuff I think! Absolutely a great weekend, I’m always so very thankful for all the efforts that go into making these clinics successful without all the help from others putting these days together they would not be able to happen! Thank you Equestriennes of Mason County!

08/20/2023

Yesterday’s W.E clinic was fantastic! lol yeah, I didn’t take 1 picture. I’m not sure if anyone else did… if so please send them! We covered a lot of stuff that’ll not only help improve the ability to ride in a W.E. competition but, everyday riding as well and I gave everyone plenty to work on at home. We had a full clinic of great people and horses.
I gotta say thank you to everyone who helped make this clinic happen and to everyone who came with horses and without horses! You all rock! THANK YOU!

08/18/2023

Saturday the 19th One day W.E clinic

We can’t wait to see everyone this weekend and wanted to give a few more details.
We will be starting at 9am and you are welcome to get here and start warming up at 8am. The barn address is

5862 Ray rd se Port Orchard WA 98367

Auditors are welcome ($20 audit fee) and remember to bring a chair and lunch.

Participants balance is due at sign in.

We’ll get started with fundamentals of the dressage phase of W.E. in the AM session.

Then a lunch break (remember to bring a lunch). We will have snacks and water available.

The afternoon session we will setup and ride some of the obstacles used in W.E. Going over how to maneuver them properly, how to practice them, and the reasons behind the obstacles and why they are used in the sport of W.E.

Can’t wait to see you this weekend and safe travels!
Shelby Ahrens,

07/24/2023

This is a one day intro to Working Equitation with Shelby Ahrens hosted by Anlan Cathal Ranch, port Orchard, Washington,Cris Polston. Clinic is August 19, 2023.
AGENDA
- AM will cover basic dressage/flatwork foundation needed for not just Working Equitation, but everyday riding no matter what discipline you ride. Additionally, riders will be coached through riding a Working Equitation dressage test. 🏇
- PM will involve select obstacles used in the sport of W.E. that support riding thru other obstacles and the proper way to execute them followed by how to link those obstacles together as they would when riding a course.
OBJECTIVE
- This clinic is not only to answer questions and help gain understanding of what is expected in the sport of W.E. but, applying quality horsemanship for you and your horse that can be used no matter where or what discipline you ride. The sport of W.E. is a fun and exciting sport that anyone can learn and any horse can participate in. Come and join us for a fun filled day of horses, Horsemanship, and obstacles.
LOGISTICS
- Clinic fee $200
*****Deposit of $100 required to hold your spot by midnight 8/12/2023. Non refundable.
*****Remaining $100 plus $10 haul in fee can be paid upon arrival.
- Payments can be submitted through PayPal [email protected]
******NOTE - max size trailer is 3 horse slant due to limited parking*******
- 10 rider maximum
- Light refreshments will be provided, however please bring your lunch.
- There will be a 1 hour lunch break while we set up the obstacles
- Auditors welcome!!!!! $20 per person payable upon arrival, carpooling encouraged due to limited parking. We encourage auditors to RSVP in order to plan for handouts and refreshments.
- Your payment to ride means you are committed to coming. Pls make sure you can commit before paying. There will not be any refunds.
- No shows will not be refunded

CLINICIAN BIO
Shelby Ahrens of Ahrens Horsemanship has spent his continuing career seeking knowledge and practicing everything he has learned training horses and humans for over the past two decades. A true student of the horse Shelby has studied under many great horseman and masters of classic dressage from the U.S. and from abroad. He is educated in breeds all across the board including gaited breeds. For over the last ten years Shelby has spent hours studying, practicing, and educating himself on the Sport of Working Equitation. He has attended several judges seminars, clinics as a participant, and shows covering the sport of Working Equitation. Previously Shelby Held his judges card however felt education without the stipulations of a judge suited him better. Shelby has shown several breeds in the sport of W.E. as well as competed in several levels of W.E..
Besides Working Equitation Shelby has spent years learning the use of the Garrocha, gentling mustangs, and retraining thoroughbreds. He was a competitor in the 2013 mustang million, placed 2nd in the 2014 Prodigious Fund thoroughbred makeover, 3rd in the 2015 Prodigious Fund Thoroughbred makeover, and Placed in the top ten at the 2015 Retired Racehorse Makeover in the freestyle class. More recently Shelby was in heart of the horse trainer challenge where he took an 11 year old untrained rescue Paso Fino and competed in Mississippi where he placed 4th over all. Shelby believes that the horse comes first above everything else and the best way to do so is through the education of the horses owners, handlers, and trainers. A horse and human are meant to be a team, the better they understand each other, the better the communication between the two of them is the stronger that team is.

To learn more about the sport of Working Equitation, here are a few valuable links 🤠

WORKING EQUITATION WIKIPEDIA
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Working_equitation

USA WORKING EQUITATION
https://usawe.org/

07/04/2023

07/01/2023

Sounds like Tesoro is doing great in Mississippi (outside of the heat and probably crazy humidity)

Thank you, Shelby, for creating such a solid citizen in the short time you had with Tesoro.
Tesoro got labelled "such a delightful horse to have around" by my barn owner. High praise, but well earned.

06/23/2023

Another day of getting those horses some quality education.

06/23/2023

Breve is making some great progress.

06/05/2023

Dales fb page is up :)

Here we are devoted to the many arts of horsemanship. Sharing tips, tricks, and the magic horses bring into the lives of anyone who spends time with the...

05/24/2023

Our next project from Mississippi.

05/23/2023

I had a great conversation with MMJ after the competition. It was funny how I met another fabulous professional in the equine industry that gets the chills over the same little things that I do and so many others overlook.

I just returned home from judging The Safe Horse Project Heart of the Horse Challenge.

This is an incredible program that partners rescued horses with competent trainers of all ages... and then supports them throughout the training process!

Each team has 120 days together and then they compete in a variety of classes to showcase the horse's suitability for their new forever home. The horses are adopted out to pre-approved homes at the end.

There were Paso Finos, Quarter Horse crosses, race-bred horses, a Missouri Fox Trotter, Mustangs, a Spotted Saddle Horse, and a variety of fancy ponies ... so much diversity! Which I so loved to see. There are horses in need of all types. They all deserve such love and attention.

And the Heart of the Horse has certainly given them just that. These trainers were so supported with these horses ... they had a 'Train the Trainers" clinic at the very beginning with Cohn Livingston (who was also the second judge for the event) I hear the clinic was super helpful as some of these horses were totally wild in the beginning... some were super aggressive, some recently gelded, many that had to be loaded in the trailer like a fresh-from-the-wild Mustang.

Heart of the Horse also hosted a clinic for the trainers with Mirka Crew - The Sky Is NOT The Limit ... and let me tell you, it showed!!! It was obvious the trainers that really dove into the finesse of liberty ... it was sprinkled throughout their freestyles and very apparent in their round pen handling sessions.

And the trainers ... WOW! Such dedication and such diversity there too! One trainer traveled all the way from Washington STATE to Jackson, Mississippi... not once, but twice! First to pick up his rescued horse and then again for the show.

There was a young trainer in the youth, this was her first time ever training a horse and she was paired with the most adorable pony that obviously loved her by the time of the event ... though from what I hear the pony was full of fear in the beginning.

There were trainers that specialized in gaited horses, the were trainers from out of the country, there were trainers with day jobs and trainers that did this for a living. The youth, amateur, and pro division gave an opportunity for everyone.

And the commitment from ALL was apparent in everything.

Everyone was truly all in... and above all the One woman that lived and breathed this whole thing from the beginning. She knew every horse, and every struggle they came with. She knew every trainer, and every strength they brought with them. She took phone calls and answered questions and made decisions and organized countless papers and professionals and volunteers.

She is the one that handed me her personal credit card to use for the weekend, to pay for my room, my flight, my food. And she gave me the keys to her van to drive all weekend.

She celebrated each accomplishment made and she cried as the horses found their way home. Her name is Julie Seal. And she was pure dedication.

I hope this event will continue to grow. I hope more trainers will take advantage of such an opportunity to both share their talents and learn even more. I hope more horses in need will find their way to this quality of support (it is truly more than rescue. It is an entire redirection of a life.) I hope more businesses and individuals will donate to this cause and support such a worthy project.

I was honored to be a part of it. To be trusted as a judge for such talented trainers is no small thing.

Sometimes it feels like the universe bought my coffee years ago ... sending me on this trajectory that I did not create on my own... when I look back on the Extreme Mustang Makeovers, America's Favorite Trail Horse, the Lindsay's Faith Breyer, all the opportunities to share the freestyles I live to create, our non-profit I AM HERD Mustang Sanctuary and this supportive community that has grown all along the way ... well there has sure been a whole lot of grace.

I truly wish there was a way for everyone to win these things. And I have a whole lot more I want to say about that side of it. The judging side of things. It's not what it might seem. As a judge, your job is to be NON-judgmental. To score exactly what you see. And to pay very close attention, to everyone, equally. (for a very long time) It's not easy. But I am deeply honored this incredible group of talented individuals trusted in Cohn Livingston and me to do it.

You all are awesome.

(ps - a personal note to the trainers from this show. I would like to offer each of you a private 'one on one' zoom call where we can review part of your class from this past weekend and how you can make improvements next time. One thing that is ALWAYS apparent to me after every show I have judged is that there are so many little things that could be tweaked that would make a big difference.)

*picture of the plane wing on my way home, because it was the only time I had a second to take a picture... and I am always amazed that humans can fly in the air.

- mmj