Backward ZT Horse Training

06/26/2024

Just sayin’!!

05/11/2024

4 full siblings. 1 sorrel filly, 3 palomino c**ts. I’d say that my mare is fairly consistent with this cross. She hasn’t disappointed me yet. **t

05/11/2024

Got another palomino stud c**t this morning. Sure am lucky to have this mare. Baby #6 out of her.

04/18/2024

I was scrolling through my camera roll while I was pondering some of the challenges I’ve had with work in the last week. When dealing with livestock, there are so many ups and downs and uncertainties. Sometimes, even when you put in 💯, the end result can be disheartening.
Training horses has its highs and lows. But being a dad, especially a dad who works from home, is MOSTLY made of the highs. Sometimes I need to stop, take in a deep breath, and remember why I do it. Don’t know what I’d ever do without my support system.

03/30/2024

Finally got some lights put on/in my barn, and a couple for the arena. One of my favorite things about my job is improving my facility one step at time. Now we just need to add a few more lights as we go and we can ride all night! 😉

03/06/2024

Ain’t that the truth!

Nothing I have experienced so far in my life has convinced me otherwise…..

02/25/2024

I’ve had a lot of people over the years ask me why I send “blooper” videos of horses to their owners. Some say it makes me, or the horse, look bad. Others say it’s poor marketing and bad for business.

Unfortunately, no matter what you do, things can get a little western when you’re showing a young horse new things. And it’s important for the next rider to see how the horse reacts to unexpected events.

In the first video you’ll see I caught a front leg on this horse (she’s right at 60 days of training, 2nd time roping the sled). It was definitely an error on my end, but I guarantee it won’t be the last time it happens to her in her lifetime. Sure, it was a super mellow reaction compared to what most babies would do. But it’s raw. It’s who she is. The owner needs to see that. Even if it she’d had a super bad reaction I still would’ve sent the video.

Horse training isn’t always pretty, and I refuse to ride horses for people who don’t understand that. I’m always grateful to ride for owners, like the ones who sent me this horse, that understand all of this.

I guess the point of this post is to reassure young trainers that are just starting out, AND to make owners that are sending their horses out more aware of the realities of c**t starting. Always be honest, and keep an open mind. A bad experience doesn’t necessarily mean you failed. In fact, usually it means you showed that horse one more scary thing that isn’t going to hurt them.

I did have to show the second video because I really like this filly and she deserves a shameless shoutout since this was my last time riding her 🤣. Huge thanks to for letting me ride some damn nice horses throughout this last year.

02/13/2024

This is one BIG, PRETTY draft cross. She’s only like 1450lbs and 16hh 😳. Thank goodness the owner had her nice and gentle to start!!

11/23/2023

😂😂

10/25/2023

The boys put first rides on these ponies tonight, for a client. Sure is fun watching them learn how to do what I love.

10/16/2023

Sure is pretty up to Soda this time of year.

08/28/2023

My favorite tradition with the boys is riding horses to the bus stop. Gonna miss having these two by my side every hour of every day.

06/16/2023

.law.photo at it again! I swear, if you can make me look good, you are TALENTED! Someone get her pics into magazine!! She does all sorts of picture taking, but I’m a bit biased and like the cowboy ones the best 😉.

06/13/2023

Courtney sure knows how to be at the right place at the right time!

06/06/2023

SALE PENDING
Pearl is ready for her next adventure. Ride her every day or lay her off for months and she’s the same horse with no buck. Tons of go and plenty of woah. Watches a cow and rates really well. Whether you want a breakaway/calf/heel horse or a ranch horse this ole gal will get it done. Not real tall, but built great. Since we took these photos I bet she’s put on 30lbs! She’s gonna be a kids horse in a few short years.
I’ll post videos in the comments of her second time roping the sled.
7️⃣5️⃣0️⃣0️⃣

05/28/2023

🥵 🥵 🥵

05/21/2023

I’ve been really lucky with this cross. These 3 are full siblings. They’re out of my good mare, Meller, and by PLAYBOYS SUPER PEP. Super excited to see them develop even more.

05/17/2023

Pretty excited to have a good brass iron headed our way!!

04/24/2023

It must just be my lucky day!!

04/24/2023

Hot damn. Told my buddy if he wanted a baby out of my donkey he could go to the work of getting her bred. This is the result ***o

04/23/2023

Branding on c**ts can be really frustrating, especially when you’re not the ropiest one in the trap. But I got ‘ole Norma out of the trailer, pretty well fresh, and she showed me what she was made of her very first time. Rewarding times like this make up for the discouraging times, tenfold. I guess that’s why I’ll keep doing it.

04/14/2023

Beautiful night in our part of the world.

04/06/2023

The valleys all pink, as the sun starts to rise. The rumors of spring now seem like such lies.
This winters been tough, for me and my pards. A season ain’t ‘sposed to be this damn hard.
Keepin’ ‘em healthy has been such a chore. But we’ll keep hard at it, like we’ve done before.
I’m sure grateful for the moisture received. But when it’s all melted, I’ll sure be relieved.

03/22/2023

I had a super cool opportunity yesterday. I got to talk to the Salem Hills equine science students about starting c**ts. It was definitely out of my comfort zone and a fun new learning experience. It also really took me back to my days.