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The continent of North America is where horses first emerged. Millions of years of evolutionary changes transformed the horse before it became the natural companion of many Indigenous Peoples and the flagship symbol of the Southwest. An international team uniting 87 scientists across 66 institutions...
“Answered Prayers”
What does Prayer look like to you?
My favorite way to Pray is the way To***co Spirit taught me. I start by asking Spirit to bless all my Relations in each of the Four Directions. Then I ask Spirit to bless the Ancestors above, the Earth below my feet, and my Heart within my body.
This is the way To***co Spirit taught me, but it doesn’t mean it’s the “only way” to Pray. I have learned through personal experience that Prayer can be infused into everything I do. I can pray when I Sing, when I Dance, when I Eat, when I ask Spirit to bless my Water, when I Weave, when I Knit, when I Cook, when I work with Horses, when I shovel manure, when I Breathe, when I burn Sage/ Sweetgrass/To***co/Cedar, etc.
“Prayer” to me means infusing Intentional energy into any task I may be doing, while asking for Spirit’s assistance. My body is my Temple, and I Pray whenever I feel like it.
This photo is especially special to me, because it caught a moment I’ve been Praying for over the last two years. I made an Agreement with Medusa that I would always do my best to respect her Free Will, and would never force her to do anything she doesn’t Choose for herself. As a result, we often take the scenic route in regards to how long it takes to achieve certain milestones. 😂
This milestone is the day she Chose to lay down next to me of her own Free Will. This was the moment she decided Trust outweighed the Fear in her mind surrounding Vulnerability.
Does she still spook easily at humans? Absolutely. PTSD doesn’t typically heal in a day. But step by step…forward and backward…day by day… we Dance our way down the path she Chooses for our healing together. And I’m grateful Spirit gifted me such a wonderful opportunity.
She is the Answer to my Prayers. I’m the Answer to the Prayers of my Ancestors. And… so are You!
Whether you know it or not, your Ancestors have Prayed for you at one time or another. They are excited to witness your Dreams woven into reality. So, how are you Choosing to direct your energy today?
Whatever you Choose, I hope it brings you Joy. We could all use a little more of that in this world, I think 😉
Blessings, family!
💗🙏🏼💫
Hurt people hurt others, but luckily, healed people heal others.
Safe people, shelter others.
Free spirits, free others.
Enlightened people, illuminate others.
And love always wins.
So shine your light of love on all who may cross your path in life.
Because what you do matters.
~ the oracle reads
Did you know we offer riding video feedback services?
Send in a video of yourself (15 minutes or less) riding a Hunter/Jumper course or riding Hunt Seat on the flat, or a video of your groundwork session, and receive an audio recording analysis from me! You’ll receive an in-depth assessment of the strengths and weaknesses I see, illustrations and notes drawn over a copy of your video, and recommendations of training exercises to add into your riding routine.
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Elyse has spent the last 20+ years riding, instructing, and training sport horses of all kinds. She graduated from William Woods University in 2015 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Equestrian Studies, and spent 4 years training and caring for competitive Sport Horses at the Promontory Equestrian Center in Park City, UT. Elyse’s primary focus is Hunt Seat Equitation, but she has a very special place in her heart dedicated to work with Mustangs, starting c**ts, and rehabilitating abused horses.
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Video Analysis: $50
Add a 1-on-1 phone call to discuss your video and answer questions:
$25 per half hour
Direct message via FB Messenger today to book your analysis!
Happy trails! 🤠
Me: “Let’s go grazing and w**d the backyard!”
Medusa: “These w**ds are a delicacy, are you *sure* you don’t want any?!?” 😋
Me: “That is a literal Tumblew**d. I know we live in the Desert, but we can do much better than that... let me take you to the Secret Garden where Timothy Grass grows!!”
Medusa: 🤯🤩😋
"We are more effective utilizing calm and patient methods whether we are dealing with horses or people." - Monty Roberts
To develop the horse symmetrically in body and limbs you can use gymnastic exercises.
*** CORNERSTONES ***
The core of the gymnastic exercises consists of the circle, shoulder-in and haunches-in. All the other exercises are derived from these cornerstones.
🐴 The circle is used to develop the Lateral bending of the body and spine, the Forward down tendency of the head and neck and the Stepping under the center of mass of the inside hind leg (LFS).
🐴 Once the inside hind leg can step under, this hind leg can also start to take weight. To do so we use the shoulder-in and counter-shoulder-in. These exercises are designed to school the hind leg in function of the inside hind leg. As a result of taking the weight, the horse will bend the inside hind leg more and free the outside shoulder.
🐴 Once the horse can bend the hind leg as an inside hind leg, we can also start to school the hind leg as an outside hind leg. To do so we use first the haunches-in (travers) and later on the renvers. In the renvers the horse can lean less against the wall/fence with his shoulder, so it's a bit more difficult than the travers, but as a result he really supports himself with his hind legs.
*** ALL EXERCISES ARE RELATED ***
All exercises relate to one another and differ slightly:
🐎 The only difference between shoulder-in and counter-shoulder in is the position of the fence/wall. The same applies to the haunches-in (travers) and the renvers, also there the only difference is the position of the wall.
🐎 The difference between shoulder-in and renvers is the bending in the spine, which is the opposite. In these exercises the same hind leg has the opposite function ('inside' in shoulder-in, 'outside' in renvers). The same applies to counter shoulder-in and the haunches in.
🐎 The half pass is 'just' a haunches-in over the diagonal, and the pirouette is 'just' a haunches-in on a small circle. Both half-pass and pirouette require support of both the inside as the outside hind leg. Therefore in both exercises the shoulders must lead to be able to keep the center of mass in front of the direction of the hind legs, only then both hind legs can support the weight. So both the half pass and pirouette also relate to the shoulder-in.
*** NUMBER OF TRACKS AND DEGREE OF BENDING ***
Now all exercises can be done on 3 or 4 tracks, or 2,5 tracks or 3,75 or 3,99 ;) and your horse can have more or less bend in his spine. Now there is no 'perfect' number and the exact degree doesn't matter. What matters in ST is that you choose the number of tracks and degree of bending where your horse can support his body and center of mass best with both hind legs. And that depends on the conformation of your horse: if he has a long back or a shorter one, if he has long legs, or shorter ones, if he has a long neck or a short one. So choose the degree of bending and number of tracks where your horse can move in optimal balance and with most quality.
*** HOW TO DEVELOP THESE EXERCISES? ***
First start the circle, then after a few training sessions add the shoulder-in, and the moment the the horse can do this exercise for 66,6% of quality, add the haunches-in. From there you can start practising the variations.
**** HOW TO DEVELOP THE HORSE EQUALLY? ***
To develop a horse equally in body and limbs all exercises need to be done to the right and to the left (or as they say in English: on the right rein and on the left rein).
When doing these exercises there will always be an 'easy' side and a difficult side. To develop the horse equally, do the 'difficult' side a bit more often and it's also an idea to start with the 'difficult' side and to end with the 'difficult side'.
The moment the horse starts to feel more equal, switch to train the exercises 50-50.
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Click here for more information:
Circle:
www.straightnesstraining.com/straightness-training-exercises/circle
Shoulder-in:
www.straightnesstraining.com/straightness-training-exercises/shoulder-in
Haunches-in:
www.straightnesstraining.com/straightness-training-exercises/haunches-in
Renvers:
www.straightnesstraining.com/straightness-training-exercises/renvers
Half pass:
www.straightnesstraining.com/straightness-training-exercises/half-pass
Pirouette:
www.straightnesstraining.com/straightness-training-exercises/pirouette
Lateral movements:
www.straightnesstraining.com/straightness-training-exercises/lateral-movements
Ladder of exercises:
www.straightnesstraining.com/straightness-training-exercises/a-logical-system-of-ever-increasing-exercises
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I love this goal of providing Mustangs with protected private land to roam free together in their family units 🥰
If you feel guided to contribute to the effort, the details are down below!
'Water is Life'
After the BLM rounded up hundreds of wild Onaqui mustangs in July, Engler Canyon Ranch - Mustang Sanctuary promised to provide a beautiful forever space for several captured mustang families, to live out their lives with respect, room to roam, and the kindness they deserve.
To welcome these captured mustangs, Engler Canyon needs to build a new water well.
*** Once we raise $10,000 for the well, the amount will be doubled by an anonymous donor!
****We are less than $1500 from that goal!******
Amount raised so far: $8533
Amount required for donor match: $1,467
Amount total once we raise just $1,467 more:
******* $20,000!!!*************************
We can do this! Every little bit helps
Click here to donate:
https://serengetifoundation.com/waterwildone/
Thank you so much for contributing to 'Water for the Wild Ones' at Engler Canyon, a division of the Serengeti Foundation.
Please share!
🥰🥰🥰
Thank you Engler Canyon Ranch - Mustang Sanctuary for providing the Onaqui Mustangs with beautiful lands to safely remain Sovereign and Wild.
I wish it were possible to provide every horse in the world with the amount of land, food, water, and Love they all deserve. 💗🙏
Please consider donating to this noble cause if you are blessed with an abundance of financial excess right now.
We’ve long talked about opening a second release site, and now we’re doing it! 25 Onaqui mustangs are coming home. This is different land than what’s previously been shown, and we couldn’t be more grateful for it. Thanks to our parent group, Serengeti Foundation], our sanctuary has grown! We now have access to superior land than what we had originally planned on using. We’re starting from scratch to get ready and could really use your support. In order to help our herd safely grow we need a new well, approx. six miles of fencing, water tanks, shelters and more (estimated cost $175k). It may seem like a lot to place 25 horses, but it’s lifelong care for the Onaqui and those who will follow. If you’ve previously donated towards fencing for our originally planned site, your support is being carried over to this new stretch of land. Thank you!!
For those who are new to us, we operate as a hands off, rewilded sanctuary in a dynamic herd setting. We love wild mustangs and that’s exactly how we want to keep them; WILD. We’ve permanently placed 198 between us and our sister site, Disappointment Valley Mustang Sanctuary (pictured), and can tell you where everyone of our mustangs are. They don’t change hands after joining our herd, they’re with us until the end. You can help us provide a rewilded life free of human intervention (unless ethically required) with their family by their side. There are no helicopters coming here, no handling, forceful separation, changes in ownership or a future filled with unknowns. This land is here to stay, just like they are.
Please share, and consider making a tax deductible donation. Every dollar raised goes towards providing life long sanctuary for our incoming mustangs. You can help restore the quality of life that was taken from them by donating through:
▪️FB to Serengeti Foundation] (that’s us!)
▪️Through our website at https://serengetifoundation.com/project/ecr/
▪️PayPal - PayPal.me/ECRmustang
▪️ Check to:
Engler Canyon Ranch
C/O Serengeti Foundation
19100 Hamilton Pool Rd
Dripping Springs TX
78620
We’re truly grateful for each and everyone of you. Let’s do this!
Awesome visual representation and explanation of the different frames of the horse’s body in various types of trot work! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼🥰
Jumps are just “speed bumps” between what *should* be excellent work on the flat. We’re all starting from different places, and correcting different things in our trusty steeds, though. Remember to be kind to yourself and others during your pursuit of excellence!
Did you know?
At the medium trot (green) the lumbo-sacral (LS) joint is slightly extended, the neck position is deeper and longer, the hind leg is pushed out behind.
In the working trot (pink), the LS joint is in a neutral position; the neck is in a natural position. The body carriage can be considered natural balance.
In collected trot (yellow), the LS joint is flexed, the hip joint moves farther forward and down, which causes flexion of the stifle and hock. The neck lifts (relative elevation) through a shift backward by the long back muscles and the nuchal back ligament. The lumbar vertebrae begin to lift.
In the piaffe (blue), the LS joint tilts more. The hind legs come so far under the body's center of gravit that the hind cannon bones slant a little to the front. The greater tilt of the pelvis leads to a greater relative elevation and arching of the lumbar verteral column.
Illustrations by Pixomondo © Wu Wei Verlag from Balancing Act by Dr. Gerd Heuschmann, published by TSB.
Meet Deputy!
This gelding is so fun to work with! You may have seen my post about how I earned the respect of a young horse who was EXTREMELY pushy in his first session, because he had been an orphaned foal who never had a Mama Mare to teach him how to be respectful of Boundaries...this is that same horse, just a few sessions later 😉
He gets a gold star this week 💫💫💫
We went from trying to bite, kick, rear, and run me over on day 1, to THIS! 🥰
All it took was holding my ground, and setting Relentlessly Patient but Firm Boundaries.
He can now:
-be haltered and lead around without rearing or invading personal space/nipping with his mouth
-walk across /stand calmly on a tarp
-be bridled and hold a bit calmly in his mouth
-wear a surcingle AND tolerate it being cinched loosely (it took a few sessions to learn that pressure under his belly isn’t scary. Today he finally said “OK, I’ll let you buckle the surcingle”.)
Thank you, Deputy!!!! You are a wonderful example of what can be accomplished through non-violent, patient training methods! 🥰🥰🥰
**tstartingnotbreaking
**tstarting
First ride since breaking my back!!!!! 🥳🥳🥳
On February 2nd of this year, I had an unlucky kick land on my thigh while entering the pen of a horse that spooked. 2 feet of snow had just melted on the ground, so even though I saw the foot coming toward me, my feet were stuck in the mud and I couldn’t move. As I twisted my body to the right to try to dodge the blow, the hoof made impact with my right femur HARD. I felt the concussion reverberate up and down my body, and literally felt my spine break on impact.
And you know what? I thank this horse EVERY DAY for breaking my back! The resulting struggles I went through have made a HUGE impact on my life for the better!
I know how strong I am now, because I’ve been through hell and come back!
I got to the bottom of some mysterious health issues I’d been having for YEARS because of this accident! (Turns out I have autoimmune issues, which caused me to be unable to absorb nutrients from my food very well, and I literally developed OSTEOPOROSIS in my 20’s because of it. This is why my back broke.)
I now have a better sense of Gratitude and Appreciation for my own mobility. I was extremely lucky not to have any permanent loss of mobility. I can no longer take any of that for granted. 🙏
💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗
Sometimes you gotta just channel Cougar Spirit, you feel me?! 😂
Let me explain, there’s a lot of backstory to this method I had to employ with a Horse today... Try to stay with me 😉
The horse I was working with today is adorable, but highly disrespectful. And I can’t blame him for being that way, he was an orphaned foal who has never had a Mama Mare to teach him how to respect Boundaries.
In the wild, the Mares teach the young Stallions about Respect and Boundaries very early on. They learn how the Herd Hierarchy operates, and how to be polite to those who are higher up in the Hierarchy. The Matriarchs run the herd. When foals grow up without this Mothering, they can be very dangerous unless they learn to respect Boundaries set by humans. “But how do you do that non-violently?!?! What do you do when a 1,000 lb animal is pushing you around and threatening you?!” Stay tuned, and you’ll See 😉
To understand this, you should know that my training methods (and my Spirituality) are based in the Indigenous Wisdom of my Ancestors. I maintain a close connection to the Natural World, and receive Guidance from Nature and Animal Guides. They remind me of important lessons I need to be applying in my life. One of my guides is the American Mountain Lion, or the Cougar.
This orphaned horse was doing everything he could possibly think of to test my Boundaries. Nipping, invading personal space, threatening to kick, or just plain ignoring me when he got tired of my incessantly Firm but Patient Boundaries. At a certain point, I had to make a split second decision to either jump out of his way and drop the 13 foot groundwork rope that connected us (and lose ALL progress/what little respect he had for me if I let go), or to hold my ground and find a way to get him to Listen.
So what did I do? I imitated Nature. I dropped into a crouch, poised on the balls of my feet, embodying Cougar energy. I was ready to spring out of his way if I had to, but I stared him dead in the eye from my crouched position. To a horse, this looks very much like a Predator getting in position to spring. It was the only thing I could think to do that would get his attention/respect without picking a fight. And I’m a petite trainer, so there’s no way I’d ever win a fight with a 1,000 pound animal if I was ever stupid enough to start one 🤣
All of a sudden, his demeanor completely changed. He had a “lightbulb moment”! I had earned his Respect. He only tested boundaries very slightly after that, and quickly changed his mind when I gently corrected him by moving him out of my space. Notice I said GENTLY! After I got his respect, I didn’t need to use such strong energy to set Boundaries anymore. He became more sensitive to my body language, and started treating me like the Matriarchal Mare. He looked to me for direction all of a sudden, instead of challenging me.
Thank you Cougar Spirit, for teaching me when to hold my ground with Precision. 💗
Science is catching up to what horse-lovers already know; horses leave a major impact on our hearts and minds 💗
If you’re curious but skeptical, check out this additional research about using MRI machines to measure the electromagnetic fields of hearts and the potential applications to identify arrhythmias as technology advances. https://www.hindawi.com/journals/mpe/2017/3035479/
Estudios recientes realizados por el “Institute of Heart-Math” proporcionan una pista para explicar la" curación "bidireccional que ocurre cuando estamos cerca de los caballos. Según los investigadores, el corazón tiene un campo electromagnético más grande que el cerebro: un magnetómetro puede medir el campo de energía del corazón que irradia desde 2.4 metros hasta 3 metros alrededor del cuerpo humano. Si bien esto es ciertamente significativo, quizás sea más impresionante que el campo electromagnético proyectado por el corazón de un caballo sea cinco veces más grande que el de un ser humano (imagina una esfera en forma de campo electromagnético alrededor del caballo) y este pueda influir directamente en nuestro propio ritmo cardíaco.
También es probable que los caballos tengan lo que la ciencia ha identificado como un ritmo cardíaco "coherente" (patrón de frecuencia cardíaca) que explica por qué podemos "sentirnos mejor" cuando estamos cerca de ellos. Los estudios han encontrado que un patrón cardíaco coherente o HRV (siglas en inglés) es una medida sólida de bienestar y consistente con estados emocionales de calma y alegría, es decir, exhibimos tales patrones cuando sentimos emociones positivas.
Un patrón cardíaco coherente es indicativo de un sistema que puede recuperarse y adaptarse a situaciones estresantes de manera muy eficiente. Muchas veces, solo necesitamos estar en presencia de caballos para sentir una sensación de bienestar y paz. De hecho, la investigación muestra que las personas experimentan muchos beneficios fisiológicos al interactuar con los caballos, incluida la disminución de la presión arterial y la frecuencia cardíaca, mayores niveles de beta-endorfinas (neurotransmisores que actúan como supresores del dolor), disminución de los niveles de estrés, disminución de los sentimientos de ira, hostilidad, tensión y ansiedad, mejor funcionamiento social; y mayores sentimientos de empoderamiento, confianza, paciencia y autoeficacia ".
Autor pintura: Svatava Hueberová
Do you have land you’d like to designate as a safe space to protect wild mustangs? Contact the BLM to help provide a refuge for these majestic beings! 🥰
Coming up: the BLM will soon be soliciting for more contracted off-range pasture space to accommodate excess wild horses in Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. Proposals will be accepted starting June 2.
Off-range pastures provide a free-roaming, long-term environment for animals that are removed from overpopulated herds, but not adopted or sold into private care. Learn about the Top 5 Things to Know About Wild Horse Off-Range Pastures: https://www.blm.gov/blog/2020-09-10/top-6-things-know-about-wild-horse-range-pastures
Find more information about the upcoming solicitation, here: https://beta.sam.gov/opp/c9b0a166c1e14bf79916a381f07ac979/view
📸 Mowdy Ranch public off-range pasture in Coalgate, OK
Another big milestone I’ve been patiently waiting for... 🥰
Medusa is now exercising and learning voice cues in the round pen. For any other horse, this in and of itself would not be such a huge milestone, but for this special girl it’s a VERY BIG DEAL!
Medusa has an interesting fear response... in a round pen she usually shuts down and “freezes” when humans attempt to urge her forward. In my experience, this usually happens when horses believe that fight and flight won’t work. So a third option appears: freeze and wait for the humans to give up. In her case, I believe she freezes in anticipation of being whipped.
This one awful experience Medusa had with one human before I even met her has colored her perception of every human she meets, and I don’t blame her. It makes absolute sense! Her memories tell her that if she gives a “wrong answer”, something scary and painful will happen. Her experiences are validating the fear in her heart. So her heart and mind have learned to stand still, dissociate, and wait for the scariness to be over. You can’t give a “wrong answer” if you don’t give any answer at all, right?
I knew I was meant to help this girl the day we met, when she showed me this freeze response. Why, because I have a tendency to do THE EXACT SAME THING! 😅 I’ve been working on this behavioral pattern in myself for years. Which means I have the ability to empathize with her situation, and see where she needs some help.
Empathy is always my starting point. Empathy is true north. It’s how we begin to understand the puzzle of animals and humans who perhaps don’t communicate the same way as ourselves (or it gives us a starting point when the behavior of others is a little too much like how we behave ourselves 😉). And empathy informed my training plan to help Medusa begin to unravel this freeze response.
So what did I do? I started by building trust. I knew her triggers already, so I first needed to establish a sense of safety and goodwill. You wouldn’t work on your deepest fears and PTSD triggers with a therapist you didn’t like, right? There needs to be a sense of safety and positive rapport. Otherwise I would risk a major panic response once we started working on the trigger. I’ve seen horses climb out of round pens in fear before when pushed too hard and too soon. Step one was reassuring her that I would never dishonor her boundaries by pushing her too far too fast, and I needed to establish both myself and the round pen as a safe place. Safety begets vulnerability, which begets the opportunity for healing.
Once Medusa began trusting me and the space, she had new experiences banked in her memory. Experiences that told her I would be patient, and wouldn’t punish her for a “wrong answer”. Experience that told her I don’t see “wrong answers”, instead I see “searching for an answer” and “Hooray, you got it! That was a great answer!”
I began asking her to take only a few steps away from me at a time, being consistent, calm, and rewarding her with peace and stillness each time she got the “right answer”. But she still didn’t want to complete even 1 lap in the round pen. She would step away and then shut down. No amount of urging would make her move to complete a lap. You could wave a flag as much as you wanted, make popping noises with a lunge whip, wave a rope around all day, but she wouldn’t budge.
How did I get her to move? Now that safety was established, I could safely introduce something unfamiliar to her and know she wouldn’t completely panic. Something noisy and strange enough that she would want to move away from it, but something safe and something that couldn’t harm her. Something...like a grocery bag 😉
I’d ask her to step away from me, she would comply, then freeze. I’d make clucking noises to her and give her the chance to respond to the clucking by moving forward. If she didn’t respond, I’d cluck and then crunch the plastic bag. She’d move forward, and I would immediately go back to being neutral and quiet, rewarding her for moving forward. I’d then ask her to halt, and stand peacefully, teaching her that the plastic bag wasn’t going to chase her, it just meant “please move forward until asked to stop”. It only took 1 session of this for her to understand that clucking meant “move forward”. I recorded this video the next day, and as you can see she now calmly moves forward with my body language and voice commands, no plastic bag necessary.
The first step forward after being frozen in fear for so long is always the hardest. Standing still seems safer, easier, more predictable. But standing still means missing out on all of the good things too, not just the scary stuff. Sometimes you just need something wonderful to run toward, instead of focusing on the scary things you’re running away from. My job is to give Medusa a partnership wonderful enough to run toward, so she can feel safe enough to lay her fears to rest. Just keep swimming, take another step forward,there is no finish line, just a journey we’re taking together 💗🦄
**tstartingnotbreaking
This handsome boy had a tune-up training session today after lots of time off. He completed his month long c**t starting boot camp with me a while ago, and has been taking most of the winter off to keep growing bigger and stronger before introducing more riding time. He’s just barely 3 years old, and I like to focus on mostly groundwork and very light saddle riding (basically just mounting/dismounting practice and walking/learning directional cues) until horses are at least 4 years old (and nothing more than light to moderate riding until age 6). Why? Because horses’ skeletal systems are still growing and developing until age 6! By allowing their bodies to fully mature before conditioning them for hard work, we allow them to reach their maximum physical potential. Horses worked too hard too young end up having soundness issues at a much younger age, and it drastically affects their quality of life .(As well as the wallets of their owners, who end up having to pay exorbitant vet fees and supplement costs to minimize the damage later 😉)
After such a long time off, I was curious to see what energy he would bring to the table today, and how much he’d remember. I was pleasantly surprised to discover he performed almost every skill he’d learned so long ago! And even practiced a new skill: walking CALMLY across the tarp, with the saddle on, at liberty. What a smart guy! 🥰
**tstartingnotbreaking **tstarting
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This handsome boy had a tune-up training session today after lots of time off. He completed his month long colt starting boot camp with me a while ago, and has been taking most of the winter off to keep growing bigger and stronger before introducing more riding time. He’s just barely 3 years old, and I like to focus on mostly groundwork and very light saddle riding (basically just mounting/dismounting practice and walking/learning directional cues) until horses are at least 4 years old (and nothing more than light to moderate riding until age 6). Why? Because horses’ skeletal systems are still growing and developing until age 6! By allowing their bodies to fully mature before conditioning them for hard work, we allow them to reach their maximum physical potential. Horses worked too hard too young end up having soundness issues at a much younger age, and it drastically affects their quality of life .(As well as the wallets of their owners, who end up having to pay exorbitant vet fees and supplement costs to minimize the damage later 😉) After such a long time off, I was curious to see what energy he would bring to the table today, and how much he’d remember. I was pleasantly surprised to discover he performed almost every skill he’d learned so long ago! And even practiced a new skill: walking CALMLY across the tarp, with the saddle on, at liberty. What a smart guy! 🥰 #zephyr #patiencepays #elysianequineservicesllc #utahhorsetrainer #coltstartingnotbreaking #startingnotbreaking #coltstarting #chestnutgelding
I take Medusa handwalking most days, and today I decided to lose the lead rope (since she does so well following at liberty in the round pen) and see if she would choose to stay close, or if she would choose to go play and run in the big space of the riding arena. What’s your guess? Are you betting she saw a chance at freedom and wanted to run and play? Or do you think she stayed with me? Watch and find out! 😉 Please excuse Medusa’s bed head... I took her old braids out and re-braided AFTER our walk/video 😁 #medusamopsinickless #elysianequineservicesllc #mustangrehabilitation #utahhorsetrainer
Today I worked on building trust, picking up feet, and getting Medusa super solid on her halter manners. She is very nervous about her hind end/feet, so I focused on holding her front feet for longer periods of time, and just got her used to me rubbing her hind legs all over until she relaxed. My first priority, as far as practical skills are concerned, is her trusting me with her feet. I want to prioritize hoof health ASAP. In the wild, the sheer distance she would cover over rocky terrain during her daily grazing would wear her feet down. In captivity, she needs regular hoof trimming. But, she’s been too nervous to tolerate a farrier trimming her feet yet. As soon as I’m confident she will let us work on her feet, she’ll be getting some very necessary hoof care 😁 I focus on rewarding every tiny improvement she makes with a release in pressure/lots of petting. I reward with body language and petting, not treats, so she stays focused on me and not food based rewards. Since she’s so sensitive, a “release of pressure” for her is literally averting my gaze away from her and either ignoring her, or rubbing her withers. If I want to move her out of my space, I use direct eye contact, or “hard eyes” and assertive body language. As soon as she moves, I revert to “soft eyes” and neutral body language. We also practiced following me around the pen/halter manners. She does pretty well with this already, but I’m more focused on her following my cues without the assistance of the lead rope. It helps her see me as the “lead mare” of her herd hierarchy. I started with leading her as usual, then tied the lead rope safely out of the way, in a way that she couldn’t trip on it if she decided to run, but it was still there if I needed to give a gentle tug on the halter to remind her to follow me. She did great, and consistently followed me of her own free will through almost every cue; walking forward, turning, backing up, and stopping. We did this fo
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