Norielle James Horsemanship & Training LLC

02/10/2025

Had a great time judging such a fun group of kids and adults! It was a beautiful day to judge beautiful horses and their horse loving owners!

02/08/2025

THIS. This is why I do what I do. To help those that carry trauma and to teach the young ones as best I can so that they may be successful, happy, and un-traumatized for as long as is possible.

Horses endure so much more than we could possibly know by the time we purchase them (in most cases). Don’t label your horse as a sh*thead, b***h, a**hole etc. Ask WHY. WHY are they acting in that type of way? Because if you asked them, they would always a valid and understandable answer. You just have to take the time to ask the right question.

I don’t think people realize just how many horses out there carry trauma with them.

With that, I don’t even mean severely abused horses that have been starved, or beaten heavily. There are plenty of those around, and those usually cause a lot of outrage (as they should).

What I am talking about though, is the horses whose trauma is never really recognized as such. The ones who tolerate humans and their requests, but never learned to trust them. Those who get extremely obsessive about food which are labelled as “bossy” or ”dominant”. Those who deal with severe Separation anxiety, which are said to be “dramatic”. Those who cannot self-regulate, or co-regulate and constantly carry tension. Those who try to express their pain, which get punished for it because “just a mare”.
Those who are “perfect” until they finally get a choice.

Between Unethical weaning practices, unsuitable welfare, constantly moving homes & and ownership, and aversive training/handling approaches, most horses at some point experience trauma. And this trauma can present itself in a variety of ways. Some are more subtle than others.
Trauma doesn’t have to be this huge explosive reaction. Just like people, horses can carry trauma and move on with their lives fairly normally. It can shape their personality just like it can shape ours.
However, that doesn’t mean doing so is healthy.

The horse that has been in 6+ homes before the age of 10, and thus can’t cope with changes. That is Trauma.
The horse that has never had consistent companionship and becomes obsessive with certain herd mates. That is Trauma
The horse that has only known corrections when they tried to express their confusion, fear, or dislike, and turns from “a perfect beginner’s horse” to “Don’t touch me” the moment you stop using corrections. That is Trauma.
The horse that never had a chance to learn from other horses or connect with people and thus can’t trust people to make good choices for them, can’t self-regulate or co-regulate, and can’t think their way through a situation. That is Trauma.
The horse who was only ever fed 2 times a day and was left without food for 6 hours each night, and has thus become food-aggressive. That is Trauma.
The horse who experienced highly aversive training techniques, and thus now gets frustrated, tense and severely stressed out anytime they are handled in a similar manner. That. Is. Trauma.

Sometimes, awareness of this can be a frustration and defeating realization. I think as equestrians we are often blind to this reality, because sadly, it’s just so common to see horses like that.
It’s not until you work with young, untraumatized horses, or rehabilitated horses, that you realize: “Oh! This is how it should be!”

02/04/2025

Thank you to everyone that has been patient with me rescheduling you this week. I can barely whisper as I seem to have laryngitis and a sinus infection that are being stubborn about improving even with antibiotics. Hopefully it will be just a few more days and I’ll be on the mend 🙏🏼

02/04/2025

For those that take lessons at our lesson barn, y’all know this little cutie as “Squirt”. That’s the name she came to me with, but ever since I got her I always felt she wasn’t fond of the name.

The lovely Aubrey with did a brief animal communication with her so we could ask her if she liked her name. She expressed that she disliked it strongly! 🙈😂 So we have been playing with some names and we found one that when we called her by it, she pricked up her ears and even left her hay net to come up to me! She seems to love it! So, we are excited to announce that “Squirt’s” new name is now……

Drumroll please 🥁🥁🥁🥁

❤️ Reba!!!! ❤️

01/28/2025

Just a fun little memory from 7 years ago. Man, how the time just flies by!

01/22/2025

HORSES IN TRAINING…

You pay that hefty training bill for the month.

You look to have you horse in training as little as possible so it doesn’t break the bank.

You’re disappointed when after 30, 60, or 90 days, there’s still more work to be done or the goal hasn’t been met. Worse yet, it looks good, you take the horse home and it unravels piece by piece. All that money “wasted”.

When you pay a trainer, that money isn’t paying for a result, it’s paying for someone’s skilled effort.

At least for me, when someone gets unhappy that their horse “isn’t fixed yet”, or comes “untrained” after it’s been home a while, makes the task of training horses for other people, discouraging. Discouraging because the efforts are being made, usually my best efforts that are filled with compassion, determination and lots of ruminating on how to fix complex issues a horse may have. Their disappointment becomes my failure basically. I know that’s not an actual truth but it’s never rewarding when someone is disappointed due to their own expectations.

Training a horse is NOT like being a mechanic on a car. Its not a tune up, it’s not the simple replacement of a part. It’s an animal with thoughts, feelings, emotions, habits, talents, etc. You don’t just program them, tune them up or replace a faulty part and send it back good as new.

You aren’t paying for results to happen within your timeline, you are paying for the time it takes to reach a desired result. The more complicated the project, the bigger the investment. The more baggage a horse has, the more effort it takes to unravel the mess. The bigger the goal, the greater the investment.

People send their horses to certain trainers because they want the outcome that trainer proves they can achieve. The problem is, people want that result in the shortest time frame possible because time, again, is money. It takes the time it takes to create the vision and time costs money. People who have a diy mentality, value the effort so much more when they themselves invest their own energy into a horse rather than just paying for it. I really feel that those who do it themselves, come to appreciate the efforts it takes far more than those who sign the check.

Be nice to your trainers, they work hard. 🙂

Credit goes to unknown author.

01/20/2025

Love to see our students thriving! Correct balance, equitation, and knowledge are apart of the foundation we build for our students! ⭐️

01/16/2025

Our evening Unmounted Horsemanship Class learning parts of the bridle and how to take apart and put back together a bridle correctly 🤩

01/05/2025

One of our students brushing our silly boy Apollo ⭐️

Apollo is an off the track thoroughbred (OTTB) from the east coast! He lived in a few different states before landing in Arizona where we gave him a home within our lesson barn!

Apollo enjoys jumping English or jogging lazily around Western. He’s a kind boy and our student’s love him!

12/27/2024

💛💛💛 It’s an honor to be a part of this partnership with Toni James, CPSA ~ Desert Winds Studio ~ Fine Art & Photography and the Cowgirl Artists of America and the .R. Mitchell Museum of Western Art. Can’t wait to see which photos she turns into incredible artwork!!

12/25/2024

Merry Christmas from our little family to yours!! 🎄

12/24/2024

Our sweet Apollo boy got some extra special bodywork done on Sunday and I think it’s safe to say he thoroughly enjoyed it. All our lesson horses receive different modalities of bodywork to keep them feeling their best. Some of the bodywork they receive even helps their nervous system regulation! So cool!

12/19/2024

Every horse has something to teach us. And maybe we have something to teach them too. Look at every horse you ride with open eyes and surely you’ll dismount with more knowledge than you started with.

A small stab in the heart is what you feel when you put up the day's riding list and you see riders sinking heavily in their shoulders when reading which horse they are assigned for the lesson. A small stab in the heart for that horse that for an hour will carry around a rider who has already decided that he does not like his horse. A small stab in the heart for the horse that did not choose the rider himself but still does his best, lesson after lesson.

Riding is a privilege and something you have chosen to do. If you chose to ride at a riding school, your instructor assumes that you actually want to learn how to ride. The instructor's highest wish is that you get good at it.

Often there is a plan and a thought as to why you are assigned to that exact horse. Before you mount up next time, ask yourself "what can this horse teach me today?" All horses have something to give, a feeling or a new tool in the box.

The art is actually in being able to get a lazy horse to move forward, to get an uncertain horse to gain confidence, a naughty horse to focus or a tense horse to be released. It takes work. If you think a horse is boring, it's more likely that you don't ride the horse as well as you think! It's not easy to be confronted with your own shortcomings, but it is in that very situation that you get the chance to truly grow as a rider.

The excuse that "it's not my kind of horse" is actually a really bad excuse. A good rider can ride any kind of horse. A good rider has trained many hours on different types of horses to become a good rider. A good rider can find and manage the gold nuggets in every horse.

If we absolutely want to ride, it is our duty to strive to do it as best as possible, even if it's only for fun. We owe it to every horse that carries us upon it's back.

Copied and shared with love for all of our horses, ponies and riders 🐎❤🐎

12/13/2024

If you’ve ever worked for me or taken lessons from me, I’ve probably mentioned this. If you’ve taken lessons at our barn, your instructors have definitely explained this to you multiple times when you’re first learning to tack up. It is important! Check your cinches at home. How close or how far are they from the D ring? Are the little middle d rings in the middle of the cinch, in the middle of your horse when you look underneath?

12/13/2024

Class is in session, kids! 🤣

When you’re doing a little bit of energy work before starting a training session and all the other horses who were on the other side of the pasture come up to the fence to watch and see what you’re up to 😂

12/11/2024

Sweet little Misty has been learning to feel more comfortable in the crossties!

Our main instructor has been taking her time giving Misty lots of reassurance while in the crossties until she was ready to be groomed and even tacked up in the crossties. We are still taking it slow until she’s completely comfortable, but we are so proud of her progress this far!

Patience and kindness goes a long ways!

12/09/2024

A few weeks ago I posted about an older gelding I was working with on trailering. He hadn’t ever been trailered before, but his owner is moving states and she wasn’t going to leave him behind!

We loaded him into the hauler’s trailer (who was very nice and helped me load him in less than ten minutes) and sent him on his way to Mississippi. I pictured him eating, sleeping, drinking, and standing quietly and calmly until he unloaded onto the green grasses of Mississippi. I got word today that he made it safely!

I am really glad he had a good experience and is happy and healthy. Long trips can be hard on older horses, and can be stressful for horses that haven’t trailered much, or at all. Thank you for entrusting me with your horse’s trailer training needs!