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Outside the Turn Barrel Horse Training, Rider Coaching and Memberships (Start at $14.99/mo!)

Monthly Training Rates:
C**t starting/tuning/starting on the barrels:
$900 - $1350
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The Doodlebug and Remi Elbert doing solid work, Captured by Jenna Bush Photography. I can't wait until the photos of her...
17/08/2024

The Doodlebug and Remi Elbert doing solid work, Captured by Jenna Bush Photography. I can't wait until the photos of her and Lucy Lutz start rolling in!

Thank you to my sponsors: SynNutra Equine, Spurr's Big Fix, BioEz Health / Giddyap, and to Vitalize Equine for keeping everything on the place happy and healthy!

whats in my barn - the tack edition!
12/08/2024

whats in my barn - the tack edition!

What do I have in my barn, for tack? Here I'm detailing some of the tack that I use to educate the horses in our program.

I’m gonna brag on this girl right here because I know she’s not going to do it for herself. Remi is our summer intern. S...
11/08/2024

I’m gonna brag on this girl right here because I know she’s not going to do it for herself.

Remi is our summer intern. She’s kind, thoughtful, handy with the horses, and hard worker.

Her mare, Lily, came to her with some struggles. For many years of their partnership Remi thought that these struggles were just how it would be, that no change could happen. That her horse has touchy ears and a touchy face and that was how it had to be.

When she got here we changed her perspective and showed her what could be, what should be, and how to get from where they were to where she wanted to be.

Now, Remi can give oral pastes, easily, and this week she got her mare to wear a brow-band headstall.

If we think something is going to fail it will.

Let me repeat: if we think something is going to fail, it will.

All we have to do is change the way we see possibilities, allow the horse time to think, get in, get out and change their confidence level.

We are so proud of the work that Remi has done and are blessed to have her on our team!

The 2024 Summer Horsemanship Workshop was a complete blast!These students worked their tails off for 3 full days and lef...
09/08/2024

The 2024 Summer Horsemanship Workshop was a complete blast!

These students worked their tails off for 3 full days and left with more tool for their toolboxes.

We got a couple c**ts closer to being prepared and ready their first rides, and we got our barrel horses and positioning in the pattern dialed in!

I am so grateful that these students chose to spend 3 days learning with me. I’m so dang blessed.

Great job, ladies! Let’s do it again soon!

Arena is booked! This is likely my last public clinic of 2024. Come to Edgerton, MN, September 27-29, 2024! As with all ...
05/08/2024

Arena is booked!

This is likely my last public clinic of 2024. Come to Edgerton, MN, September 27-29, 2024!

As with all my clinics, I only take 10! And… this clinic is already half full. Don’t miss out on your chance to come ride with me and learn all the things!

Message me with any questions, or to sign-up!

My 6yo sure is pretty! Show me yours! Tag me in your story!!!!
01/08/2024

My 6yo sure is pretty! Show me yours! Tag me in your story!!!!

Messages like these, that's why I continue to plug away. They're worth more than any buckle I could ever win. "You showe...
01/08/2024

Messages like these, that's why I continue to plug away. They're worth more than any buckle I could ever win.

"You showed me patience and kindness in the weakest time of my life and never once did you make me feel like crap about myself or my horse...In that short clinic I learned more about my horse and myself then I ever did [with others helping me]."

As great as "winning" in the barrel pen can be, I get more joy out of helping and riders accomplish being their best. This is winning.

There's lots of great jockeys and mediocre trainers/clinicians but at the end of the day I haven't done my job if I'm not sharing my confidence, knowledge, and kindness with someone else. This is why I hope people choose me to ride with and shape their horses.

These messages, they're worth everything. I'm so grateful for my life.

Just work hard on the dang thing you want to do. If you have used up your horsepower, upgrade. Used up your skill level?...
28/07/2024

Just work hard on the dang thing you want to do.

If you have used up your horsepower, upgrade.

Used up your skill level? Find a clinic, take the lesson.

Out of money? Take that second job .

21/07/2024

Everything he says is 100% our program.

Horses look for competent leadership.

Horses look for consistency. If you jerk their head off one day and not the next, you’re not being consistent.

Learning to be a consistent leader is one of the biggest struggles for the human — we can live our lives inconsistently, often with very few ramifications, yet the horse, he’s 100% consistent, 100% of the time.

Heat is THE REASON you do not see my horses wearing their boots  until 5-10 runners prior to my draw. It’s also the reas...
19/07/2024

Heat is THE REASON you do not see my horses wearing their boots until 5-10 runners prior to my draw.

It’s also the reason THE VERY FIRST thing I do when I complete my run is remove them.

Boots and bandages - are we harming our horses as we try to protect them?

Bandaging and booting our horses is becoming more and more popular, especially with the popularity of matchy matchy sets. But are we doing more harm than good? Most people will have come across the articles in magazines and comments from vets saying they are, and yet still they become more and more popular. Why is that? Why do riders still cover their horses in thick fleece bandages or fluffy boots despite the dangers? Tradition I suppose. Wanting to fit in. Or just habit, some will feel like they haven’t finished tacking up if they haven’t put the boots on.

I know this isn’t about dentistry (for which I apologise) but I am a vet first and foremost, and as a dressage rider I am asked why I don’t use bandages all the time. I’ve written about this several times now and no one pays attention, so rather than stating facts and quoting research, I’d like to take you through my journey of discovery, please bear with me. Facts and papers are at the end.

Rewind 12 years and I was in my final year at vet school. Prior to and during vet school I had a horse and we did dressage. I had planned to ODE but this horse pulled every tendon and ligament known to vet kind. He spent more time out of work than in. Each time I would up my game with the latest boots/bandages on the market. From fluffy boots to wraps to sports fetlock boots, fleece bandages to gamgee and cotton to the half fleece/half elastic bandages. I learnt new techniques for better support, figure of 8 bandaging to cradle the fetlock etc etc. I’d been there and done it. My collection was extensive.

Right at the end of vet school I had my rotations. I chose Equine lameness as one of my options. During in this I very vividly remember a wet lab with Dr Renate Weller where she had a skinned horses leg (showing all of the tendons and ligaments) in a machine that mimicked the pressures a horse applies to their limbs. She took us through walk, trot, canter and gallop, loading this leg so we could see the inside workings of the horses leg without the skin. It was fascinating I can tell you, and I very clearly remember thinking about my horse and wondering how on earth we are suppose to support this limb when it undergoes these incredible forces! Half a ton of animal pushing down a tiny spindle of a leg held by tendons barely thicker than my thumb. Craziness!

Fast forward just a few short months and I was a fully qualified vet in the big wide world. I attended my first BEVA Congress and during the break I wandered around the stalls looking at the latest inventions and technologies companies bring to these gatherings. Here I came across a company with the Equestride Boot which caught my eye. Now if you haven’t seen this boot, it’s wonderful and I’ve since used it a few times in rehabbing very severe tendon and ligament injuries with great success. The boot is a carbon fibre boot that stops the fetlock dropping, which stops the tendons and ligaments being fully loaded while they heal. This boot is super strong. You couldn’t ride a horse in it as it is limiting the range of motion so much, but they can move about easily enough at the lower settings to rehab etc. The guy on the stand (I’m afraid I can’t remember his name) showed me their research and in the straight talking Irish way explained the stupidity of expecting a thin piece of material to support a horse. And of course it can’t! Literally no bandage or boot (short of this very expensive carbon fibre rehab boot) is capable of reducing the amount the fetlock drops. Thinking back to Dr Weller’s demonstration, I could very clearly see how ridiculous I had been to ever believe a scrap of material could do anything to reduce or support that pressure.

But the boots/bandages don’t actually cause any harm do they? Surely it’s ok to use them on the off chance they might help and if we look good in the meantime, great! Well, not long after this, research started appearing that got me very worried about my bandage collection. Heat. Anyone that uses bandages and boots will not be surprised to see sweat marks under their bandages/boots after they’ve been removed. They trap a lot of heat. The horses body and legs generate a lot of heat when working. The tendons/ligaments in the leg, along with an increased blood flow generate ALOT of heat. Fleece bandages/boots in particular, hold this heat in the horses leg. Very few boots and virtually no bandages (especially if you use a pad under) allow the legs to breath adequately. This heat is easily enough to kill tendon/ligament cells. Each tendon/ligament is made of thousands and thousands of cells all lined up end on end and side by side in long thin spindles. They stretch and return to their original shape and size like an elastic band, absorbing and redistributing the pressures applied from further up the leg and from the ground impact below. All of these cells must work together as one to do this effectively.

Just a little side step here to explain how tendons/ligaments heal. A tendon/ligament cell can not be replaced like for like. They always heal with scar tissue. This is why reinjury is so much more likely if a tendon/ligament is blown. The fibrous scar tissue doesn’t stretch, it isn’t capable of stretching or absorbing the impact of a horses movement. It will always be a weak spot. In a full blown sprain/strain the whole (or most) of the tendon has been damaged. But this heat injury might just kill a few cells at a time. Those few cells are replaced by fibrous scar tissue, then next time a few more etc etc. Like a rubber band degrading over time the tendon/ligament loses its elasticity and eventually goes snap. Then you’ve fully blown a tendon/ligament. The injury didn’t start to happen at that moment, but that was the final straw. The damage adds up over time, each time thermal necrosis (vet word for cell death) occurs.

So if using boots/bandages can not offer any sort of support, and using them generates heat that slowly damages the tendons/ligaments until they give way. Why use them? Protection. This is the only reason to use boots. To stop the horse brushing, injuring themselves catching a pole or over cross country. But for goodness sake make sure your boots are breathable! If the horse is sweaty under the boot but not above or below, the boot is not breathable enough. And don’t use fleece bandages just because you like the colour. These fleece bandages are the worst at holding heat in the leg, way above the threshold for thermal necrosis to the cells of the tendons and ligaments. If your horse doesn’t need protection, don’t use boots. I haven’t for the last 12 years and *touch wood* I haven’t had a single tendon/ligament injury in any of my horses. I will never go back to boots or especially bandages now. I don’t use them for schooling, lunging, jumping, travelling, turnout, stable, in fact I don’t use them at all. Ever. But I don’t hunt or XC.

I hope you have found my story useful and can make informed decisions on boots and bandaging going forward.

For more information on the Equestride boot and their research into support offered by boots and bandages, visit http://www.equestride.com/ and https://www.equinetendon.com/services/equestride/

The horses leg under the compression machine at the Irish Equine rehabilitation and fitness centre https://fb.watch/cmVMt6-iOJ/ (I highly recommend you watch this incredible video. It clearly shows the amount of force the leg goes through and demonstrates the real purpose of boots)

Other relevant papers-
https://equimanagement.com/.amp/articles/horse-skin-temperature-under-boots-after-exercise
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/8f15/0ea480edca142260d01f419f80d2e7e7fb29.pdf
http://www.asbweb.org/conferences/1990s/1998/59/index.html

Edit 1 - I am getting asked about stable wraps very frequently. This post is about riding, the tendons and blood flow create heat which is trapped by bandages/boots during exercise. This doesn’t occur in the stable stood still. If the horse has a strain/sprain resulting in inflammation, then there is an increase in blood flow and there is heat being created. In this situation you should not be bandaging. But if it’s cold and an old horse needs stable wraps to keep the joints warm and improve sluggish blood flow (filled legs) you can use the heat trapping to your advantage. But you need to be careful in summer.

Edit 2 - the other thing I’m being asked about is compression. Compression DOES NOT control inflammation. The inflammation still occurs, but the swelling can not escape the bandages and the increase in internal pressure reduces blood flow, causing ischemic damage. Like laminitis within the hoof. The hoof capsule prevents swelling so the inflammation expands inwards and cuts off the blood supply. This is why laminitis is so painful and difficult to treat. Compression is only useful in the case of leaky vessels, for example reduced blood pressure, reduced movement so the blood isn’t being pumped backup the legs, or osmotic imbalances eg low protein with diarrhoea. In these situations, compression of the legs can encourage blood to return to the vessels and continue circulating.

If you look for problems you’ll find them. If you look for solutions you’ll find them. Look for the solution.
30/06/2024

If you look for problems you’ll find them.

If you look for solutions you’ll find them.

Look for the solution.

Need we say more…

These two had a very successful first ride together today! Good job on Tango the Mango !Remi is interning with me this s...
28/06/2024

These two had a very successful first ride together today!
Good job on Tango the Mango !
Remi is interning with me this summer learning all about the foundation work we do from starting c**ts, to re-educating older horses!
If you want to learn to start c**ts, feel free to reach out!

I have a couple unexpected openings for horses this summer! Couple c**ts that were booked didn’t show up and we sent a c...
22/06/2024

I have a couple unexpected openings for horses this summer!

Couple c**ts that were booked didn’t show up and we sent a couple home early!

We can take a couple for tune-ups, problem solving, patterning, or send your youngster to preschool for (they need not be halter-broke).

❤️❤️❤️

Pm me if you’re looking to get your horse better educated!

21/06/2024

I have to give a HUGE Round of applause to my student Bill! He has been putting in all the work, and it paid off this week when he won 2D derby (first round) of the Today's Horse Magazine East fest, with his horse Bettin on Roo!

Congrats Bill!

20/06/2024

Timing up with the feet makes everything you do on your horses easier for you and them!

🎉We’d like to congratulate Erica on the purchase of her new horse! We hope you enjoy her as much as we did! 🎉
12/06/2024

🎉We’d like to congratulate Erica on the purchase of her new horse!

We hope you enjoy her as much as we did! 🎉

🔥🔥🔥
12/06/2024

🔥🔥🔥

08/06/2024

Truth!

❤️❤️❤️
08/06/2024

❤️❤️❤️

In stockmanship (the art and science of handling cattle in a safe, effective, low-stress manner), we have this phrase . . . good movement draws good movement. It’s this thing that happens when we ask a small group of cattle, maybe a cow, or a pair to move out in a certain direction and their movem...

My thoughts on this are as follows:  1. The form in the photo for the post is what I’d consider incorrect for what’s bei...
01/06/2024

My thoughts on this are as follows:

1. The form in the photo for the post is what I’d consider incorrect for what’s being asked. I want the horse’s head (at the atlas/axis/c1) to roll to 90 degrees, the ears to stay as level as possible and the poll to stay above the withers.

If I’m asking my horse to yield, I don’t want the nose to beat the eye or the head to be on upside down (what I’d consider incorrect from the photo below).

2. I completely agree that our job is to connect a rein to a foot. That’s why you often see busy mouthed horses/ it’s because chances are, no one has ever given them quality handling to help them realize how that rein attaches to the foot. Instead what you hear is “my horse doesn’t like a bit.”

He has no opinion of it other than that he doesn’t understand it because you as the rider/trainer haven’t helped educate him. And maybe you don’t know how/ that’s okay too! That’s how/why we learn!

3. I don’t disagree that we need the inside hind to roll up under/in front of the outside hind, that is undoubtedly proper form. (See my lateral work course for more).

4. BUT… I want to have the ability to do both: ask for just the face, or the face with the feet. I want the horse to sort my INTENT. They will absolutely do that. They are masters at it if we give them time to think, search and release when they try.

5. I never let the face snap back. If I pick up a rein I want the horse thinking one of two things: In the direction of the rein, or about preparing for the maneuver im asking.

I feel like the below description is slightly oversimplified - though I’ve ridden behind plenty of c**t starters/trainers who don’t actually ask for any of these thing with quality or intent and the horse tells on them.

I want to teach a horse to learn. So having them sort our intent, be rewarded with a well-timed release, regardless of what we are asking: whether it’s for the feet to be still or to move will make a very-easy-to-ride, thoughtful partner. At least in my experience.

The quality and form with which you ask for the lateral flexion ABSOLUTELY matters.

WHY YOU SHOULD NOT TEACH LATERAL FLEXION

My previous post started some debate about the use of lateral flexion in training. This has prompted me to explain my view on lateral flexion by reposting an essay I wrote in August 2022.
_____________________

Lateral flexion is one of the most common exercises taught to horses that are being started. Virtually every trainer, 90% or more, in the “Natural Horsemanship” sphere teaches it. I am one of the few trainers who won’t teach lateral flexions and discourage its practice at my clinics.

For those that don’t know what a lateral flexion is, it is when a person applies a feel to the inside rein and asks a horse to softly bend its neck around in the direction of the feel, while the horse keeps its feet absolutely still. It can be one on the ground and under saddle.

The purpose of teaching lateral flexion to a horse is to ingrain them to offer a soft lateral bend to the inside rein. From talking to trainers who teach lateral flexion to horses and riders, it is intended to teach a horse to give to the inside rein without resistance and to build strength and control. That sounds like a worthy goal, right?

So what’s my problem with teaching lateral flexion?

I have two objections.

The first objection is easy to explain and get out of the way quickly.

I have never heard a single trainer, who teaches lateral flexion, talk about the horse giving its thought to the feel of the inside rein or to be looking in the direction of the bend. Not one person! Without a change of thought, bending the neck is just a trick and avoidance of rein pressure. Nothing of significant value is learned without the horse thinking in the direction of the feel of the rein. Go to YouTube and watch videos and notice how all the talk is about how the horse bends and how light the feel is in the reins. Nothing about getting a change of thought. Even more telling, is the fact that when most riders release the inside rein, the horse instantly flips its neck straight like a spring, as if he has been just waiting for the second the rein is dropped. Anytime we ask a horse a question we should be waiting for a change of thought, not just a movement.

My second objection to teaching lateral flexion is gravely serious.

Trainers make a big deal that when performing a lateral flexion the feet should not move. I believe this is a serious mistake that makes lateral flexions damaging to how a horse operates. When asking for flexion to the inside, the thought should follow the feel, the neck should follow the feel and the inside hind foot should yield across the outside hind foot. This should occur because the inside rein inspires the horse to think to the inside and line up its body in that direction without the need for the rider’s leg to drive the hindquarters to disengage. The inside rein should connect to the entire body, not just from nose to wither.

By insisting the feet are stationary when the horse yields to the inside rein, we are teaching a horse that the rein should not connect to the hindquarters. In other words, giving to the inside rein should only go as far back as the wither and not to the whole horse. To create straightness, balance, softness, and correctness I need the inside rein to connect to the inside hind.

Without a connection to the inside hind foot, when we ask a horse to move in a circle or turn, the hindquarters will push the shoulders to the outside of the circle or turn. It creates imbalance and crookedness. We taught the horse to be crooked. Then to fix it we often apply an outside rein to block the shoulders from drifting to the outside. The outside rein blocks the shoulders, but the real cause of the problem stems from the inside rein not connecting to the hindquarters.

At the very least it causes crookedness, and we need to call on the outside rein. But in the worst case, it causes rubber-necking and we need to call an ambulance (rubber-necking is when a horse is bent say to the left, but traveling to the right). Don’t ride a horse that rubber-necks until it has been re-trained to connect the inside rein to the hindquarters.

I have asked dozens of trainers and clinicians who teach lateral flexion why they require the horse’s feet to be still. Some of these trainers are the biggest names in the business and people some of you no doubt admire and follow. Not one of them can give me a rational explanation of why the horse must stand still. Never have I heard a logical reason why you can’t teach a horse to softly bend to the inside rein while at the same time connecting the hindquarters to the inside rein. It stuns me that so far nobody has been able to explain what it is about lateral flexion that I don’t understand.

The closest it has come to an answer is that lateral flexion is setting a horse up for the one-rein stop. But this is not true because it is the disengagement of the hindquarters that sets up a horse for the one-rein stop. When a horse is having a meltdown, your best chance of gaining back control is to disengage the hindquarters as soon as possible to shut down any bucking or bolting.

I am totally in agreement that we should teach to softly give to the inside rein. I’m not in agreement with why we can’t do that and have the hindquarters softly yielding too.

What advantage is gained by having the feet standstill? What disadvantage is created by connecting the hindquarters to the inside rein? Maybe next time you attend a horsemanship clinic or have a lesson, you could ask your teacher these two questions. If you get a perfectly rational explanation, please let me know. I want to understand if I missing something.

Raising horses isn’t for the faint.You wait, sometimes, almost a year for the results of your carefully planned cross. I...
31/05/2024

Raising horses isn’t for the faint.

You wait, sometimes, almost a year for the results of your carefully planned cross.

If you’ve done it for any length of time you will eventually, experience ALL the things that can go wrong.

We lost our little red dun filly yesterday - she was just over 2 weeks old. While we could have possibly tried to save her it didn’t seem fair to anyone, including her.

I’ve kept it together pretty good, because loss is part of life.

While her life was short we have to remember that she was loved (still is) and had a pretty dang good 14 days on this side of the earth.

All she knew was kindness, good scratches, sunshine and tall grass. She never knew a cranky, egotistical human, an unkind touch, malnutrition or crappy hay.

That’s what we celebrate - we celebrate how good her short life was and then, because we love horses, we do it again next year. ❤️

Maybe we are crazy. Maybe not!

Her mama is still standing vigil over her, like a good mama should. 💔

Thanks to Tiffany Anderson , Dr Schmidt and the whole team at Sturgis Veterinary Hospital for being so kind during a trying time.

We got through 16 head of horses Tuesday!  And so far this week, every c**t has made incredible progress! If you want th...
23/05/2024

We got through 16 head of horses Tuesday! And so far this week, every c**t has made incredible progress!

If you want the opportunity to come grow and learn be sure you follow the page below and stay tuned to this one for updates on learning opportunities as well!

Our next student introduction comes from Peyton Edwards….

I am from Statesboro, Georgia and just finished my sophomore year at the University of Georgia. I have been riding seriously for about 5 years now in cow work and other western disciplines. I am wanting to start my own training and riding business and they always say if you want to succeed, find the best and learn from them. That is why I am so excited for this internship. I want to learn everything I can in the 5 weeks I am there. I would like to focus on the fancier training and how to take a horse from start to finish but I also want to learn the business aspect of things too.

…we are excited to have Peyton with us for the next few weeks!

Got a little deep on this one but her form is 😘…How was everyone’s weekend?!??
15/05/2024

Got a little deep on this one but her form is 😘…
How was everyone’s weekend?!??

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