Kaylie Eaves Horsemanship LLC

12/07/2024

It was this day last year I shared this:

"Our vet saw many horses today, and something he said struck me as we did x ray after x ray, lameness after lameness. . .

Dr. Walker has been our primary vet for more than half of the rescue's existence. He came in as the rescue was really growing from holding 6-10 horses to 20, then 50, then 100, then over 150.

He said, when he saw the really emaciated Grulla today, "it used to be every horse you guys got was this thin or worse. You all were the refeeding experts. Now, everything you get is broken in some other way or every other way," and it struck me as so true.

It's really important to hear, I think, for our supporters and the horse industry, overall.

Fixing a starved horse, once you know how, isn't that hard. Re-feeding is painful for very emaciated horses initially. But after a few weeks, you're out of the danger zone.
And, especially for horses under 20, it doesn't carry lasting issues, usually. Once the horse is fed, he's ok. Back in the day, once we fed them, they tended to be sound, healthy and ready for a home.

These days, they aren't usually as thin, but they
are so often wrecked physically and mentally and in need of so much more than food. Many more these days are chronically lame or ill or emotionally unstable, but they aren't body score 1 horses as often as before. The costs are so much higher per horse, the holding times longer, the need of a training greater, the odds humane euthanasia is needed much higher. It's so hard.

The donors don't see under the skin, to the bones, and we can't explain how much more these other horses need you in a way that seems to translate like it must.

Honestly, the horses these days are leaps and bounds more challenging.

He saw it. I saw it. And we went about seeing the horses in front of us."

I just saw this come up in my memories, then a trainer and I were talking this afternoon about it, and the irony is this was just after reviewing our end of the year data and digesting how many horses are coming in where euthanasia is the best answer compared to five years ago, or even a year ago.

12/07/2024

Some pondering on teaching riders, and the difference between a lesson program and a riding school -

I think one of the biggest issues with current riding instruction is we teach people how to control the horse before we teach them to FEEL and RIDE the horse. These are very different skill sets leading to very different outcomes.

Generally, a beginner horse is one who is safe enough to be ridden by a beginner. And often, they are stiff, likely halfway lame, and dull. So if you put these two together- a newbie rider, and a stiff and tolerant horse, people learn to over aid, squeeze, pull, and “make” horses do things. It’s pretty hard to learn subtle feelings and find the horses body underneath you when you have to kick to make them go and pull to make them turn.

Add to that normalizing the feeling of stiffness and half-lameness to riders, and they will really struggle to learn what a horse SHOULD feel like.

In clinics, I am often faced with the dilemma of teaching a rider and horse pair who have 99 problems but a seat ain’t one : I have to decide the most urgent problem- out of control horse brought to safety, or teaching a seat. If we had real riding SCHOOLS, riders could be taught a seat BEFORE learning how to control the out of control horse, and later, the seat would be one of those tools to help guide the horse with much more ease and significantly much less pulling, kicking, and bending horses heads up their butts to stop out of control forward motion.

What would a riding school look like?

It would have straight, supple well-trained horses for students of all levels to ride on

It would prioritize FEEL and the seat, giving students lessons in finding their seat until they could manage solo - then teach them AIDS.

It would not cater to the students wants or desires but instead stick to an understood progression of developing skill.

This reduces wear and tear on lesson horses dramatically, with no pulling and kicking on tolerant saints of lesson horses, while an instructor guides the horse to move well on the lunge for the student to memorize this feel. Of course, instructors would be riding them to maintain their fitness and responsiveness to aids, but these horses would not be repeatedly degraded for the sake of teaching beginners.

What’s the downside ? Who has a string of supple, straight horses for students to ride?
And who can afford to open this school?
And who has a list of clients begging to learn the hard way and get no immediate gratification who will stick to learning long enough to produce skill?

This may be an imaginary pipe dream anymore

12/06/2024

👏⬇️

There comes a point in learning where it becomes tedious.

Initially, when you’re introduced to it, you’re pulled in by promise, excitement, and sometimes very quick immediate changes. You feel something you’ve never felt before and crave it, you want to keep it.

But then, it fizzles. Your old habits come back, your magic feeling fades. To get it back, you must make normal the movement patterns and ways of being that created it.

This is where daily practice comes in- tedious, tiresome but essential daily practice. Fine tuning your habits, your thoughts and disciplining yourself to continue creating what you desire.

It can only be yours to keep when you work to make yourself the kind of person who can create it for themselves, as a new way of normal. And this cannot be given to you or sold to you- discipline and daily practice of excellent habits are the only ways to achieve this, there is no way around it.

Stop seeking just the thrill, and learn to love the mundane - because that is where all magic is made.

12/06/2024

The sales section on my website has been updated! Serious inquiries only, contact only to set up a trial ride (where all your additional questions can be answered)! Click here for pricing and info ⬇️

📍Sunbury, OH

(My last post of this was weird with the messenger button and not taking you to the website! Sorry!)

Meet Mahina (her barn name and means Goddess of the moon), the rising star of KEH's equine pantheon! This splendid 5-year-old OTTB mare, with only three races under her belt, has gracefully pivoted from the fast track to a more promising future. While speed wasn't her forte as a racehorse, over a ye...

12/06/2024

The other morning I stepped into the stall of the first training horse on my list, halter draped over my arm, position and approach objectively appropriate, and my thoughts about a hundred miles away. It's been a long week already, I still have a long to-do list tucked in the back of my mind, and a schedule that spills out of the confines of a calendar.
As I made my way toward this sweet mare, she grew more tense with each step I took. Subtle but clear. It seems my thoughts didn’t blend well with hers.
A moment of awareness like this is special, because it gives an opportunity to change before it’s too late. The realization of her growing tension brought me back to present and I allowed my plans to dissolve for that moment. I no longer needed to put that halter on, meet with my dad, get to the vet, or work horses before my lessons. In that moment I only needed to release tension, to bring about some softness.
It’s simple, really. I’ve made it a goal that, no matter the plans I have in place for a given interaction with a horse, the first touch creates softness. I might look for the lowering of the head, the blink of an eye, a deep breath, or tissue melting to my touch.
When I am mindful enough to focus on this, it almost always shapes the session that the greeting precedes. Sometimes we need to step in and interrupt our endless patterns of doing. It means the world to the horses. I hope this is something you can carry with you into your weekend.

~ Justin

📸 Erin Gilmore // Erin Gilmore Photography

**tstarting

12/05/2024

✨Meet Chester: The Gentle Giant with a Heart of Gold! ✨

Are you ready to add a dash of magic to your life? Look no further! Chester is a 6-year-old, 18+ hand Shire, Gypsy Vanner, Quarter Horse cross looking for a partner in crime (and maybe a little mischief)!

🌟 Why Chester?
- He can drive! (But don’t ask him to parallel park; he’s still working on that.😉)

- He jumps like he’s auditioning for the equestrian Olympics! (Not really, but he thinks he is!😅)🏅

- His trot? Let’s just say it could make even the most seasoned dancer jealous! 💃

-UTD on shots and Coggins stands for the farrier and is a doll to handle!

But wait, there’s more! Don’t let his size fool you; this big boy is as athletic as they come – think of him as a fluffy, oversized gazelle! ✨

Chester is a true pleaser. You ask, and he delivers – like your personal equine genie (minus the lamp). Although he knows a lot and is versatile, he is NOT for a complete beginner. And if you’re seeking a charmer, Chester is here to sweep you off your hooves! 💘

Ready to meet this lovable giant? Please message us for pricing (he is not cheap!) and to schedule a trial ride. Chester can’t wait to show you his moves – and maybe even steal your heart! ❤️

📍Sunbury, OH
Video posted in the comments!⬇️

P.S. No giant horse-sized shoes required – just bring your sense of adventure!

📸: HV Leather

12/05/2024

✨ Skylark's first saddling went great today!✨

12/04/2024

Comparative neurobiology of horse and human.

Horses and humans are both mammals.
Our brains may not be the same size, but they are almost identical in their structure and function.

Why can our brains look so similar but our behaviours and sensitivity to the world look so different?

The area in the picture highlighted is the prefrontal cortex or the (PFC). Its job in humans, horses, dogs, dolphins, elephants, cats, mice, rats, all mammals, and even birds is to carry out "higher executive functions" such as:

🧠 problem solving
🧠 decision making
🧠 reasoning
🧠 risk assessment
🧠 forward planning
🧠 impulse control
🧠 intention

Obviously, these executive functions are more advanced in humans than in other species of mammals, but this part of the brain plays a pivotal role in higher levels of learning beyond primal behaviours and learning survival skills.

So why aren't we seeing these higher executive functioning skills and behaviours in horses as much as what we see them in dogs, dolphins, elephants and even birds?

Ultimately it comes down to safety!

The latest neuroscience research suggests that when the brain feels unsafe it causes the body to produce stress response hormones and these stress response hormones cause the PFC to go "offline".
This means that subcortical regions of the brain (deeper parts of the brain) such as the primal brain (AKA limbic system, survival brain, flight/fight brain) completely take over to increase the chances of survival.

Feeling unsafe causes the feeling of fear and it is fear that gets this party started.

So behaviours come from two areas:

1. The PFC, carrying out problem solving skills, reasoning, impulse control, forward planning etc. that may be interpreted as "obedience" and "partnership".

2. The primal brain, carrying out reactive survival behaviours. This brain does NOT carry out impulse control, forward planning, problem solving, etc. It just reacts to the world. This brain heavily relies on patterns and consistency. This brain will cause freeze/flight/fight behaviours such as shutting down, bolting, biting, rearing, bucking, kicking, barging, etc.

Which brain is the domesticated horse spending most of it's time in?
It's primal brain!

This is why we don't get to see their full intellectual and cognitive potential because most of the time, domesticated horses are perceiving their world in a fearful way to some degree.

We can help our horses with this!

Feeling fearful is the OPPOSITE to feeling calm.
If we want to help our horses access their PFC then we MUST do whatever it takes to help them feel calm.

☝️ ONLY when a brain feels calm can it slow down enough to develop TRUE confidence. Only when the brain feels confident will it access TRUE cognition (PFC).

☝️ We first need to understand that when we get "bad behaviour" from our horses, it's not intentional or naughty or rude. What you are seeing is either a horse that is just reacting to the fear they feel or they are carrying out their "coping mechanism" in response to their anticipation of feeling fear.

☝️ Try to remove expectations that your horse should "know better".
"Knowing better" implies that all behaviours are coming from the PFC and there should be some impulse control and reasoning. Unless your horse feels calm, they can't access the PFC to "know better".

THIS STARTS WITH YOU!!!

You need to be consciously aware if YOU feel calm first. If you feel calm, your horse will have a better chance at feeling calm. Expecting them to feel calm when you don't is unfair.

The best way to create calmness is to intentionally be SLOW!!!
SLOW EVERYTHING you do down.
SLOW your movement down.
SLOW your talking down.
SLOW your walking down.
SLOW your breathing down.
SLOW your horse down.
If you feel too slow, then you're going slow enough.

Calmness is slow, not fast.

This will help you and your horse to connect and feel safe together.
When the brain feels stressed, the stress response hormones cause the body to speed up.

Stress = speed

We can reverse engineer this process and create a calm mind through slow intentional movement and a relaxed posture.

The by-product of a calm brain is confidence and cognition (PFC access).

Happy brain training 🧠
Charlotte 😊

Photo: Credit: Adult horse (equine) brain, sagittal section. Michael Frank, Royal Veterinary College. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

12/03/2024

✨ A lot of changes are happening at KEH this month! Excited to have the horses in the backyard and barn 5 close to being finished for full-time occupancy!✨

12/03/2024

✨2025 Clinic Dates Coming Soon!✨

I’ll be hosting Phil Oakes Truth Based Horsemanship and potentially even Brent Graef Horsemanship!

I will also be teaching my own clinics locally and at my facility! Dates and events will be posted on my website and on Facebook pinned to the top of my page! Stay tuned!👏

12/02/2024

✨Chester started his driving refresher classes today!✨

Thank you Jen for lending your equipment and time to help! ❤️ he did so good!

12/02/2024

✨Happy Monday!✨

-Lexie 😛

11/30/2024

🆘Missing!🆘

My little barn kitty has been missing since yesterday morning/noon. Last I saw her was in my barn when I turned out the last horse around 9am and then I left to teach lessons. She is out during the day but comes in at night for her dinner and she didn't come back for her dinner which is unlike her. She likes to climb up under vehicles and isn't afraid to jump in someones car if the door is left open. She has a leather collar on with my phone number on the tag.

11/29/2024

Thank you, Twisted Tether Tack, for another beautiful halter! Now Spartan has his own! Ignore his bed head 😂 also, he likes to wear his food to save for later 😉

11/28/2024

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! 🙏🦃🫂

11/27/2024

✨Skylark says good morning!✨

📸: Maeve Calkins