Isidro Espinoza Horsemanship

09/29/2025

I used to be this person.

I was the problem. I now look at myself, my horse, what I am doing to solve the problem, cause the problem, etc.

Anyone know someone like this?

Is it you? 😬

86 likes, 5 comments. “This is, of course, a generality. Your mileage may differ….but it’s usually the common denominator that is the problem.”

09/28/2025

The Hardest Part Of Being A Modern Horse Trainer

People want everything now.

They want a ‘head set’, neck reining and collection in 90 days.

They “just want to trail ride, nothing fancy” yet that is the hardest, most difficult thing to ask a horse to do. Not physically, but mentally. Leave your herd, go into the great unknown with just you and with unpredictable and uncontrollable variables. It takes tons of training and experience to get a horse ready for that.

They want dead quiet, obedient, not spooky, bomb proof and never “misbehave” but also “ethical” training, pressure free, a horse with a personality and not a broken spirit.

Horses trained ethically SPEAK and if they are not heard when they show discomfort, worry, etc. they will yell. But people don’t want them to yell. They want them to shut up and behave, but still have personality and be happy. It’s an impossible ask for most horses.

I watched a video the other day of a trail rider whose saddle was so far to the right I was amazed she wasn’t falling off. Her horse just walking along with an incredibly crooked saddle and rider because he had no choice. The amount of pain that must cause in his whole body and if he is pushing it that way, the chronic crookedness. That is a whole other post. They dissociate to cope until they can’t anymore. Then they get sent to a trainer to ‘fix’.

They want a young horse they can have for many years but he needs to act like a horse with 10yrs of GOOD riding experience.

They want pretty, sound, sane, trained and spend very little. Mind you - feeding a horse well for a year costs about $3,000 JUST THE FEED. Forget about hauling, board, labor, vet, farrier, property maintenance, tack, taxes, manure disposal, insurance and on and on.

Unless you can pay a trainer to keep your horse tuned at the barn full-time and you just come along, hop on a few times a week and that’s it, then YOU are the trainer. There is no other option. You are always training the horse something. It’s not a machine. Whatever you reinforce, you are teaching.

If you are not willing to grow as a horseman, learn, help your horse, learn to listen to them and read them. Then buy the shut down broke horse. Depending on how far and broken they are, will show how long they will be robotic.

That horse is a product of what people demand.

If your heart demands you to not go down that road. Then the alternative is you becoming what your horse needs. This involves a ton of work, learning, making mistakes, growth and a realization that THIS is what It’s really about.

When you ride down the trail on a confident, happy horse that YOU helped to stay that way or become that way, the feeling is otherworldly. It is truly magical, fulfilling and honoring the horse.

I will say it is also very addicting.

Your horse trainer can only do so much, you have to do the rest.

We do not train broke horses. Anyone who has ever ridden one of our mustangs or visited the ranch will tell you as much. They have huge personalities and we obsess over listening to them and trying to figure out what they are wanting to tell us.

If you are interested in becoming the partner your horse needs we have painstakingly developed online courses to help you. It has been a labor of love, a love of the horse, and worth every hour.

All our online learning can be found at the link in our bio and on our website: iehorsemanship.com. We are currently enrolling for our Mustang Ride Blueprint course if you want to start your horse (any breed) under saddle or have a horse you want to fill holes and restart.

We are here to help you.

Horses are expensive. The cheapest and imo, the best way to do it, is yourself.

09/23/2025

Information Overload

When I was growing up a horse crazy girl life was much different than it is now. We didn’t have a lot of money so we got back yard horses with not a lot of training. Grade, Arabs, ponies, OTTBs, nothing fancy. Registered was rare and sound/broke/without vices was super rare.

I fell off, a lot. I got hurt too. I learned what I could from my mom. Rode 5 miles to take lessons from a local Arabian trainer (we didn’t have a horse trailer then) and read every book I could get my hands on.

This made learning quite simple really. I learned from the horse, from what I had available and didn’t know any better.

Ignorance is often bliss. I was happy, my horses were happy and we all kept improving, albeit slowly.

We had some success showing so it must have been alright.

This is how a lot of horse ownership and learning went for decades. Learning from parents, friends, local trainers and the sprinkling of the odd clinic. Maybe some books and someone’s old VHS of a clinic.

Until the onset of DVDs, the internet, video libraries, social media, YouTube trainers and a plethora of clinicians flooding our senses.

At first this was our renaissance. Our age of enlightenment.

The ability to share our collective knowledge and experience. It could only be for the good of the horse though, right?

Then set in complete and thorough overwhelm.

Where to start? Who to listen to?

So many contradictions. So many opinions, theories, smooth talkers, and philosophies.

Good hearted people wanting the best for their horses became disillusioned.

This is a different time of too much information out there globally and our minds do not know how to handle or process it. We went from small town, local communities of input to the mass flooding of information.

It’s alright to feel the overwhelm and confusion of who to trust, who to follow, what methods to use.

Here are a couple of tips:
1. Know your goal and seek the trainer who can show proof of product that is replicable. If your goal is to have a nice riding horse - listen to people who train horses to ride. See how their horses go that they have actually trained themselves, and if you like them, see how they got it done.

2. Beware of the smooth talker and story teller. If they spend all their time telling stories and not showing what you need to know, you are wasting your time. If all you see are pretty picture of them cuddling a horse but no riding and you are wanting to fix your horse’s riding problem, maybe not your guy (or gal) to learn from.

3. Beware of absolutes. Anyone who says they ONLY train with +R or ONLY train this way or that way - they have a closed mind and horses don’t do well with closed minds. A closed mind is not a humble mind.

4. Watch out for people who only show you one horse in all their videos and photos. Experts can train a variety of horses. You do not become an expert by training and finishing one horse.

5. Beware of the trainer who says their way is the only way, best way, etc. There are a million ways to skin a cat (I had to skin a cat in Anatomy class for nursing school, I do not recommend) as the saying goes. How one person teaches, what methods they use, can help some people and horses but not others. That is totally ok. The same method can be explained differently by someone else and work. That is also ok. It is also OK to learn from A LOT of different people, even encouraged. Just be careful of the overwhelm.

Ultimately, trust your gut, trust your horse and take your time. We are all in way too much of a rush to do something that takes YEARS to achieve.

Find joy in the journey.

If you are interested in how we do things we have developed online courses and a video training library. Currently we are enrolling in our Mustang Ride Blueprint (MRB) Course if you want to learn how to start or restart your horse under saddle (of any breed).

Link is in our bio at the top of the page.

09/18/2025

We are excited to announce our Mustang Ride Blueprint (MRB) Course is again OPEN FOR ENROLLMENT!

This only happens a couple times a year and is the last time this year!

This course is right for you if:

✅Your horse is 3+yrs old and ready for their first rides
✅You are unsure if they are ready for their first ride and want the support, knowledge and skill to not make a costly mistake
✅You have put a solid foundation of ground work on them and are unsure of the next steps
✅You don't want to pay a trainer thousands of dollars to get your horse started under saddle
✅You want that special bond of "doing it yourself" but aren't sure how to do it or haven't done it on a long time
✅Your horse needs a restart but you aren't sure how to fill on those holes

This course is for ANY breed of horse that is ready to get started under saddle. It is a 16 week course and you get the curriculum and videos for life.

Enrollment closes October 5th or when course is filled. Course starts October 12th.

If you have any questions about the course please message us!

To learn more please follow this link or click the link in bio: https://www.iehorsemanship.com/mustang-ride-blueprint-information-page

Gorgeous mustang in photo was started using the methods in the course.

09/17/2025

We were recently asked how we hang our rope halters so neatly. Isidro shows you how over on our Wild Mustang Treks YouTube Channel!

Check out the funny bloopers too on our the posted short 😂

We show you how we like to hang our rope halter to keep them uncluttered and easy to grab when needed.