Equine Connection Freelance Training

05/07/2025

We still have open spots for participants next Saturday, July 12! Come join us to learn how classical in-hand work can improve your relationship with your horse through the development of connection, balance, suppleness, strength, and understanding. From leading in alignment to High School maneuvers, in-hand work is my go-to method to ensure the horse prepared in mind, body, and spirit to progress under saddle.

03/07/2025

Excellent description! It may seem really hard at first to master the internal rotation of the thigh and the draped leg, but once you’ve got it and your neural pathways adjust, EVERYTHING is so much easier! The horses instantly move better under us when our body allows them space to move and distributes our weight over the strongest parts of them.

19/06/2025

Another great clinic is on the horizon, less than a month away! This program has been a favorite over the years. A participant in last year's summer session said it was the first time the biomechanics and the purpose of dressage movements had ever been explained to her in a way she could understand. The horses always find so much clarity in being guided to better posture and movement patterns on the ground, and their humans begin to understand what they're feeling under saddle and why. Hope to see you there!

Register here: https://forms.gle/BHvqAUFquUuRRG8u5

10/06/2025

Here’s a use for clicker training that applies to everyone with equines! Tigger and I used his time soaking his hoof to work on accepting oral medications at liberty. 15 mins of practice every once in a while and you won’t need to use any muscle to make sure they get their meds and dewormers 😉

Learn how to successfully apply clicker training with equines at my next clinic!

09/06/2025

What do I use clicker training for?
-Standing still
-Leading in alignment
-Hoof handling
-Trailer loading
-Postural rehabilitation
-Refining gymnastic exercises in hand and under saddle
-Self-haltering/bridling/grazing-muzzling
-Curiosity around potentially scary objects (like bows and arrows!)

Do do I use it all the time with all horses? No. Learn the why and how at my next clinic.

The possibilities are endless, but your success will only go so far as your ability to understand your horse, time your marking, and set clear boundaries out of love (not fear). I can help you and your horse with all of this!

We still have room for a few more participants in our Intro to Positive Reinforcement Clinic in less than 2 weeks!

05/06/2025

In May, I had the opportunity to watch Nahshon Cook train a herd of horses in Wisconsin. Nahshon is one of my most influential teachers, guiding me to change my horsehumanship, as he calls it, for the better each time I see him. Watching this group of 9 horses and conversing with Nahshon about them prompted deep ruminations about rehabilitation, classical dressage, and the processing of pain and fear in the brain and body. These horses defied all odds and expectations of previous professionals who were called in to assess and help them, not only in their ability to heal from deep physical and emotional traumas, but also surpassed the level and quality of dressage training that I have ever seen with my own eyes in person. These horses were joyful, sound, athletic, and so very wise.

I’m currently gathering a group to go see them and Nahshon again in 2026. Since I've been home, applying my new outlook and techniques, all the horses I work with have benefitted. I shared a simple technique with a bodyworker I regularly partner with, and she's having pretty miraculous results. I'm so grateful to these horses, their owner, and to Nahshon for being willing to share this work with me and others. Next year, many more will have this beautiful opportunity.

Read about my percolations in this blog post:

In May, I had the opportunity to watch Nahshon Cook train a herd of horses in Wisconsin. Nahshon is one of my greatest teachers, guiding me to change my life and my horsehumanship, as he calls it, for the better each time I see him. Watching this group of 9 horses and talking to Nahshon about them p

04/06/2025

Last weekend we hosted Elizabeth Gonzalez Tinnan at Sage Knoll Farm for a mounted archery clinic! It was truly the most joyful, fun clinic I have ever been a part of. Many of the participants were new to mounted archery, horses, or ground archery, and 3 of the horses (the ones who live with me) had virtually no experience with archery at all. We'd just shown some broken arrows to those 3 and Kuhl was kind enough to come give Manchego an introduction to MA before the clinic to help me decide if I would participate with him or one of Elizabeth's horses. He was all in!

I'm so grateful for the openness of the mounted archery communities I've met so far in Tennessee, California, and now Kentucky. People from all different backgrounds and disciplines are coming together to have fun and provide their horses with pleasant, stimulating, and fear-free experiences. Everyone is willing to share knowledge and even gear and horses to help one another. It's a beautiful communion we don't see often enough in other corners of the horse world.

I deeply admire Elizabeth's horsemanship, teaching, and horsehumanship, if I may borrow a Nahshon word. She didn't know it until I told her, but everything about how she cares for and teaches her horse and human students is truly classical, despite no formal classical training. She knows how to listen to the horses with her whole heart and feel for what works and what doesn't. She's brave enough to be creative and curious in the work and is unclouded by horsemanship dogma. It was amazing to me how much of what she taught about how to ride for mounted archery is congruent with what I teach in my classical dressage centered rider biomechanics clinics.

I was drawn to mounted archery in the first place because I felt it took the dressage back to its roots-- training horses to be so relaxed, balanced, and understanding of their rider that they could be ridden into battle. It's training your horse to have excellent emotional, mental, and physical posture so that you can do hard things on their back and continue to build your relationship and athleticism as a team.

I wasn't sure if my personal horse, Manchego would like it at first. I was concerned that he would be bothered that so much of what I'd be doing on his back did not need to mean anything to him. Less than a year ago, he would be irritated if I would even call my hound back while riding him. But what I found was that he loved the archery with me. First, because my mind is clear when I'm shooting. I'm not thinking about how to improve or fix anything about him or me-- I'm able to radically accept where we are in the present moment and do something with it, and then thank him profusely for trusting me so much. Second, he's an Andalusian, and Iberians find weight aids to be so very clear and useful. It's how they're wired as war horses and bullfighting horses. When you're shooting, your weight is pretty much all you've got as far as physical aids. Finally, he feeds off of my joy and excitement in a positive way. I was clicking and treating him, but I was also clicking myself for hitting targets and staying on a straight line without my normal postural aids. We were encouraging one another in true partnership.

I plan to host Elizabeth annually for clinics, and I strongly encourage anyone to join. If you're not sure about bringing your own horse, I can assure you that Elizabeth takes the time each horse needs to be relaxed and curious about archery through attunement. She also travels with her own magnificent horses.

Thank you Elizabeth Gonzalez Tinnan for teaching us. Thank you Alexandra Taylor for photographing the event and participating with Corvin. Thank you to all the horses for being brave and open. Thank you to all the participants and auditors for being willing to share what you had to offer and truly commune together. I learned from everyone who came and I cannot wait to continue building these connections and having fun!

10/05/2025

Join me in at The Show Arena LLC in Swanton, Ohio next month to learn how our horse's emotional state impacts their ability to learn and use their bodies in a healthy way. This clinic is for any horse-- sound or lame, pleasure or performance, young or old, gaited or non-gaited.

We still have open spots for participation and unlimited auditing! Sign up here: https://forms.gle/8ASiMeM3Y1vQUu43A

Another great clinic coming to THE Show Arena!
Register by clicking the link below.

https://forms.gle/vzxyvH42CQ2eB19R7

05/05/2025

We now have several vibrant leather colors available for our custom-made tack! Add a pop of color to your connection cavesson, browband, reins, cordeo!

Padding colors:
Dark Chocolate
Coffee
Liver Chestnut
Cream
Light Grey
Navy Blue
Teal
Turquoise
Amethyst Purple
Bubblegum Pink

Pair with a main leather color shade ranging form natural to black!

Everything from my shop is hand made to order in Kentucky. I custom fit cavessons in person or remotely for optimal comfort and clarity.

18/02/2025

https://www.equineconnectionfreelancetraining.com/blog/the-half-halt

Check out my new blog post about the Half Halt! I discuss what it is, how it works, and how to train it from the ground to the saddle. I also respond to the wide variety of responses I got to my question of what a half halt means to you!

If you're interested in learning more about this, I highly recommend signing up for my 2025 Webinar Series with Annemieke Buis, which is all about postural training from the ground up! If you missed the first one, you can still receive lifetime access to the recording simply by signing up and submitting payment!

In my early equine education, I remember being told to half halt my horses all the time and only vaguely knowing what it meant. Some trainers seemed to want me to pull back on the reins, some squeeze the horse down with my seat, and one even told me to bear down, as if to p**p on the horse. These ar

15/02/2025

A week from today at 6pm Eastern Time, we have our 2nd Webinar of the 2025 Webinar Series with Annemieke Buis: Emotional Posturing! If you can't be there live, you can watch the recording.

Last week we talked about how the mammalian nervous system connects visceral feelings of safety to physical posture, and the biomechanical patterns associated with a variety of nervous system states. If you missed it, it's not too late to sign up and receive lifetime access to the recording.

In the next webinar, we will go into depth of how feelings of safety, connection, and attunement are the foundation for all postural work with horses. Participants will learn how to help their horse achieve and maintain an emotional state where they are available for learning and using their bodies in a healthy way. We will discuss relaxation, Polyvagal theory, relationship to contact, and so much more!

Sign up here: https://forms.gle/ErKbFdQayfwHi6H89