Equine Connection Freelance Training

01/08/2025

The browbands I designed are now available!

I've currently made them in warmblood and standard horse size, but since they are made to order like everything else, we can measure your equine to get the size just right. They are padded and stamped leather with an anatomical shape for your horse's comfort. They're made to fit on the Connection Cavesson.

They can be made in any of the colors available for the other tack. See primary leather and padding leather pictured in the photos!

Browbands are $50

I'm now offering a package deal for a Connection Cavesson, Standard Padded reins, and a Browband all for $325 (not including remote fitting or shipping costs)

Thanks Pine Woods Photography for the photos of the browbands and other custom tack!

01/07/2025

Frequently asked questions about lunging:

1. Why do you lunge off of the horse's nose instead of the bit or halter?

Having your lunge line attach to the center of the horse's nasal bone gives you a direct connection to their spine, which promotes correct axial rotation and lateral bending. When we lunge under the chin, like on a halter, pressure on the lunge line pulls the lower jaw in, counter-rotating the neck, and creating tension in the horse's spine and throwing the shoulders out of balance. Lunging off of the bit isn't respectful to the horse's mouth. If they express themselves on the lunge, they're likely to experience sharp pressure on the tongue. We want to preserve the tongue and train it to lick, chew, and swallow in response to the hand to unlock the myofasical and neurological chains connecting the horse from head to hind leg. There are numerous other rein aids on the bit that can be muddled by lunging off of the bit, and we can accidentally train a horse to be dull in the mouth or evasive and fearful of contact. Lunging off the nose is simple, kind, and logical.

2. Should I lunge my horse to get the energy out before riding?

No. We want to work with our horses with relaxed, yet alert energy. If we are afraid of the horse's energy, we are not ready for that horse. However, a horse having "too much energy" is often a way of describing a horse that is anxious, stressed, confused, or in pain. If a horse is in one of those states, I agree we shouldn't hop right on and ride, but rather take the time to diagnose the issue and better support the horse so that we can work on the ground and under saddle with that relaxed, yet alert energy. Lunging is an important part of a horse's education, so I do often lunge before riding, but never to the point of fatigue or boredom.

3. Aren't all those circles bad for the horse's stifles?

Horses are not made to circle, and certainly not to go on endless redundant circles, as people often do when lunging or schooling. But lunging doesn't have to be just circles. We can do circles, straight lines, serpentines, figure 8s, and any other figure you can think of. This way, we can work on the horse's balance, straightness, and suppleness. We can improve our communication and develop self awareness about our own body position and timing. When a horse needs support in their balance, it's easy to "reel" the horse in to work in hand, and then send them back out to lunge again. So, lunging should support the whole horse in mind and body when done correctly!

Lunging is a fantastic modality to see your horse's entire body move and evaluate self-carriage.

I'm now offering a Connection Lunge Line!
*Features*
~A buckle instead of a snap, for the horse's comfort and clear connection through the line. No clanking hardware.
~Elastic in front of the buckle so the horse is never je**ed on the nose when mistakes happen.
~10 meter length, allowing you to make accurate 20 meter circles when standing in the middle and have a clear sense of geometry when making other figures.
~Cotton webbing line, which is soft in the hand. If your horse spooks or pulls, you won't get burned the way synthetic materials do. Lightweight feel.
~A leather stopper on the end so you never accidentally drop the line when you reach the end.
~Comes in any of the leather colors offered for the Connection Cavesson, Reins, and Cordeo. Webbing comes in black and tan.

Thanks Pine Woods Photography for the photos

01/05/2025

The Connection Cordeo is here!

This is the perfect tool to have a direct connection to the base of your horse's neck and their thoracic sling under saddle. It's an excellent tool for brideless riding, teaching the rider to guide the shoulders, not the head to steer and shape the horse.

I designed the Connection Cordeo with padded leather all the way around with a wider strap for the horse's part, and a handle for the riders with identical padding and leather to my reins.

There is plenty of adjustability on either side so this cordeo will fit anything from your cob to draft. Like all my custom tack, it is made to order, so if you have a very unusually sized equine, we can take measurements to be sure it's just right.

You can also customize color and even add details, such as stamped or carved leather.

Order your Connection Cordeo now for only $100! All you have to do is get in touch with me through Facebook, phone, or email!

Thanks Pine Woods Photography for the lovely photos of it (:

01/03/2025

Meet Diva. She’s a mustang in her early 20s that was captured as a yearling, remained untouched until 17, and then was competed with in a training competition by someone who rushed and mistreated her. She developed major mistrust of people to the point of being nearly untouchable. She’s been at my client’s farm for about 3 years in which time she’s thankfully been self-trimming, as she has not been able to be handled or even touched, save for her willingness to eat out of your hands and lick it. As she’s aging and moving a bit less, she’s no longer self maintaining her feet and she needs help feeling safe enough around people to have her feet trimmed at the very least.

In August I started coming out periodically to begin clicker training her. I am using a target to be able to draw her to me and encourage her to move away from me to go relax in her own space. Increasingly, I am putting the target on my body and on her hooves and today her lower legs so she can become more comfortable with consent based contact. Today was an especially special day, as she saw me at the gate and came through on her own, separated from the herd. We’ve always done her training in the field with other horses, as removing them would be too stressful and moving her was impossible. My client usually spent the sessions distracting the other horses as I worked.

Today, it was just me and Diva. She felt safe enough to feel the target moving up her leg, and comprehending clicking for it calmly touching her instead of always needing to follow it with her nose. I’m so grateful she’s trusting me and enjoying the work. She clearly craves connection, she just doesn’t know how to feel safe engaging fully yet, but she’s well on her way ❤️

01/02/2025

Sage Knoll Farm is honored to host Elizabeth Tinnen for an introductory mounted archery clinic the last weekend in May!

I'm so lucky to have had Elizabeth as my very first mounted archery teacher. She was such a good instructor that I was already hitting targets at the canter in my first lesson. I felt so safe, empowered, and excited, and I'm thrilled to be able to offer this experience to our community here in Kentucky!

Elizabeth will be bringing a few of her seasoned mounted archery horses for you to learn on, or you can introduce your own horse to the sport!

Elizabeth competes across the United States and at the International Level. In 2023 she represented the US at the IHAA World Championships in Mongolia on Team USA and won the Gauchoux Open 3* International competition in France. She is the current President of Mounted Archery Association of the Americas, the US Representative/BOD member for the International Horseback Archery Alliance (IHAA), IHAA Judges Panel, IHAA Level 4 Judge, and has been Ranked #1 on the United States National Ranking List since October 2022 and has maintained top 20 placing in the IHAA World Ranking since its launch in July 2023. Above all these accomplishments, she is most proud of those she is honored to teach and the horses that have carried her along the way.

Read more about Elizabeth here: https://horsearchery.info/elizabeth-tinnan?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR0p8ARMoEL5g5raGwVXyKhCtwxBIWfxSJLVsGfBXb4xrOg3r-GeGKH_cTY_aem_hs2CymeHkLNqweXMWU74-w

Sign up for the clinic here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdju8P363ALJkx7ITU87kJRcoB1IWafE4ar9eGej670wJ2IoQ/viewform

12/29/2024

Introducing, the webinars you all voted for! I'm so excited to offer educational material to people world-wide now!

Sign up here: https://forms.gle/NxwJAvTDFJPzUWBo9

12/27/2024

Lola

I've wanted to post about Lola for a long time, but she's one of those horses that it feels there are no words for.

She's a National Show Horse (Arabian/Saddlebred) who was booted out of an elite saddleseat show and breeding program presumably for aggressive behavior, or in other words, entirely appropriate refusal to submit to abusive training methods. My client purchased her after seeing her strut through a field.

Lola kicked and bit hard and precisely. She was virtually untouchable and had so much anger and trauma.

Step number one was not reacting to her biting-- Lola's biting was her way of testing what would happen if she showed you all of her. It was her way of knowing if she would be safe. My client literally purchased full body motorcycle gear to protect herself and let Lola express everything she needed to, while smiling back with unconditional love.

When a horse shows even mild signs of concern, my usual method is to back off entirely and help the horse return to a parasympathetic nervous system state. Then approach again, monitoring for signs of stress so I could back off as often as needed. This builds attunement and trust. But Lola was different.

Despite all her anger and trauma, she had a strong desire to learn things and be successful and be told she was beautiful and strong and athletic. She wanted to be the head trainer in her restart. She made her own lesson plans. She wanted us to show her that the things she was afraid of (from black leather boots to whips to ballcaps) were not in fact threatening at all. And backing off each time she showed distress made her even more enraged. I'd never seen this before. She really wanted us to stick with her and stay neutral and show her what she was capable of.

It went against everything I believed in to continue with a horse that appeared to be saying no in every visible way possible, and yet, energetically she wanted us to keep going. Nothing was more frustrating to her than us telling her she wasn't ready. Sounds crazy right?

Well, we crossed a threshold where Lola really looked forward to her sessions. I mean, she would literally fight the other horses when I pulled up to make sure I was there to work with her and not the others...

We did almost all our training at this point at liberty and through clicker training. We taught her to target a tennis ball and would chuck it across the arena when she needed space, giving her the empowerment of going and chasing after something while simultaneously getting some release from the dialectical tension of human engagement.

She gradually learned turn on the forehand, turn on the haunches, and shoulder in at liberty. We began helping her with the rhythm of her walk, which was a partially gaited park walk. And then her trot, which was stuck between all sorts of gaits and wildly out of balance. She couldn't canter and it enraged her.

Lola would circle around us and show us what she wanted help with. And then we would show her and she would try it again. And when she got it she would come in for carrots, but she didn't want treats until SHE felt she had accomplished enough. Again, this was like nothing I'd ever experienced at that point.

Then Shannon Runke entered the picture and began doing regular bodywork on her. She freed her ribs, unlocked her shoulders, allowed her to lift her back, engage her thoracic sling and abdominals. Shannon allowed Lola to tilt her pelvis back and find a neutral position for what was a table-top flat or even tipped forward sacrum. Lola transformed into a healthy horse. All that in her early 20s. It's never too late to start again.

Then Lola begged to learn haunches in, which she saw another horse doing at one of my clinics. She learned it on one session and refused to do anything else in the last session until we did that as a warm up at liberty.

And then she strutted around as you see in these photos. And then started doing 3 and 2 tempis. In a biomechanically correct canter. And she rolled for the first time ever in an arena. She felt safe and strong. And we were so proud of her.

Shannon also came out one day to work on Lola, and Lola invited me on. She did her liberty routine, in her own lesson plan, just like she did without me up there. I promised her I'd stay out of her face and be the easiest load to carry I could. I was in a ba****ck pad and kept the reins on the buckle. She stopped at Shannon and positioned herself for bodywork where she needed it. I'd never felt anything like that floaty trot and canter. All from a horse that couldn't be touched, and had lost touch with her body's ability to trot or canter at all.

Cheers to Lola and all her hard work. I hope this story touches some of your hearts the way Lola continues to touch mine. I'm so blessed to get to do this work, and to have clients who trust me to trust the horses when they tell me what they need, however unconventional or unknown to me. The horses are our sages...

12/16/2024

Last weekend's Classical In-Hand Work Clinic was a huge success, and now it's time to gear up for the human biomechanics side of things in our next clinic! Shannon Runke will be joining me to give all of you biomechanical makeovers so you come back to your horse as a more balanced rider, and more informed of how your body impacts that of your horse. Sign up at the link below!

https://forms.gle/ynH4PV1Lp7iBP6CR9

12/10/2024

We love our track at Sage Knoll Farm 🥰

✨️ Christmas Giveaway✨️

With Christmas just a short 15 days away, PB Paddock Paradise Livery and I are hosting a little giveaway to say a big thank you for all your ongoing support. It is greatly appreciated and never goes unnoticed.

Included in the giveaway:

> Instant access to Issue 1, 2, 3 and my most recent release featuring Jaime Jackson, Issue 4

> Paddock Paradise: A Guide to Natural Horse Boarding book, signed by author Jaime Jackson

> Laminitis: An Equine Plague of Unconscionable Proportions book, signed by author Jaime Jackson

> A track or barefoot-themed t-shirt of your choosing, from the Happy Trackin' Magazine clothing selection (see website)

Should you win and have already read issues 1-4, you are welcome to gift them to a track-loving friend for Christmas or you can access the next 4 issues for free, as the release over the next year.

To enter:

1) Like my page, Happy Trackin' Magazine, and PB Paddock Paradise Livery's page - you must like both.

2) Tag 3 friends in the comments, who you think would also love to enter the giveaway.

3) Share the post!

Please make sure you follow all 3 steps if you'd like to be entered into the giveaway.

The winner will be announced next Tuesday 17th December at 7.00pm GMT on this page.

Good luck everyone and happy trackin'!

12/07/2024

Can't wait for this in depth clinic in Ohio about the interconnections between nervous system functioning and posture. People are already signing up, reserve your spot now at the link below:

https://forms.gle/M5J1sdMHSbYpX4nA8

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

https://forms.gle/vzxyvH42CQ2eB19R7

12/04/2024

Yesterday Manchego trialed my Connection Cordeo… he approves! 🥰

Great feel for the rider, as the handle is the same padded leather reins as can be purchased with the Connection Cavesson. The horse also enjoys padding on their part. It’s also very adjustable to fit your horse without compromising your body’s alignment and balance!

Stay tuned for the cordeo and other tack and apparel to hit the market soon🎉

11/28/2024

I am ready to make my educational content available to those who cannot attend my in person events. Please fill out this brief survey with your feedback on what types of topics and formats you'd like to see offered as webinars so I can try my best to meet your needs. Thank you for your time!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSevZLbxBmvSp8hZNWnsR-b6ydeaKG38m9DD6b1XzO2dKVnbZw/viewform?usp=sf_link

Photo credit Pine Woods Photography

11/19/2024

We are having Grace Keeton out again December 7 and 8, and I am looking for others who might like to schedule while she's in the area! So far it looks like just 2 horses on my farm, a stop in Lexington, a stop in Shepherdsville, and a group of equines in south central KY. Who all wants to sigh up? I'm helping organize a route for her!