Kyler Walder Performance Horses

01/29/2025

Elle and skipper enjoying the warmer weather

01/24/2025

What’s your biggest goal for your horse this year?

Whether it’s stepping into the branding pen, getting ready for cow work, or simply becoming a safer, more reliable partner, a solid foundation is the key to reaching that next level.

I work with horses of all backgrounds to help them develop trust, confidence, and the skills they need to succeed.

If you’re ready to start working toward your goals with the guidance of a professional who can help you and your horse achieve your goals faster and easier, let’s make a plan together

Send me a message and we can discuss how we can help you.

01/19/2025

One step in the right direction (or towards a goal) is twice as far as a step in the wrong direction.

01/15/2025

With the new year comes new things and we are excited to see what 2025 has to offer! This year we are focused on leveling up our program starting with a new website!

We are currently booking horses and lessons for 2025!

Anyone interested in our training program or lessons can find full details and our training horse application right here on our new website!

At Kyler Walder Performance Horses, we believe that anything worth doing is worth doing right. Whether it’s c**t starting, problem-solving, or fine-tuning a horse, we get the job done with quality, consistency, and patience.

01/13/2025

What happens when trust is lost?

When trust is lost fears and concerns (doubt) start to creep in and take over. When they have taken over is when everything starts to fall apart.

When a horse looses trust they start to let fears and concerns creep in just like us. They hold on to every concern until they just can’t hold any more in and then all it takes is something as simple as a leaf crunching under their foot (something they may have experienced daily and seemed okay with) to set them off and everything they have been pushing down and holding on to all comes out at once.

On the other hand, confident horses have learned to trust the rider and when the fears and concerns start to creep in they look to the rider for guidance and direction on where to go instead of giving in to their fears, concerns and their own understanding of a situation.

We can do the same in our own lives by learning to put our trust in God and looking to him for guidance and direction instead of relying on our own understanding of situations.

Trust is a key ingredient to developing a confident and reliable horse. We strive to develop confidence in our horses through building trust.

Do you have a horse that is struggling with confidence? We can help develop the trust that your horse needs so that they can become confident and reliable whether going down a trail or performing in the arena.

We are now booking into late spring and early summer. If you get in early there is still time to develop the confidence your horse needs to hit the shows this year or be able to confidently go down the trail.

Send us a message to see if your horse would be a good fit for our program!

01/09/2025

I believe there is nothing worse than a horse that won’t stand to mount.

I see way too often horses that go to walk off before a rider is situated and ready and some that walk off as soon as the rider puts a foot in the stirrup. Not only can this behavior be dangerous but how can we expect our horses to wait for any other cue we give them while riding if they won’t wait for us to get on?

Most people don’t realize how many other problems are resolved when they teach a horse how to stand quietly to mount and have their horse willingly give them their back

01/08/2025

01/08/2025

Sweeping the barn isle at night is one of those tasks similar to doing the dishes.

Some days when you reach the end of the day the last thing you want to do is sweep but there is nothing better than getting to the barn in the morning and seeing a nice clean isle.

As much as sweeping every night can seem like an unnecessary task you might be surprised how dealing with yesterday’s dirt (or problems) keeps it from carrying over to today.

Sometimes it’s completing the little tasks that ensure you get a fresh new start to your day

01/07/2025

This incline treadmill is one of the tools that I use to help horses build hind end strength and improve their top line.

In just 10-15 minutes a day, it helps condition them to carry themselves better, making advanced maneuvers easier for them to perform.

This treadmill is also a great tool to work on trailer loading as there are a lot of similar aspects to getting on and off a trailer.

Dm me if you would like to learn more about my program!

Video of Elle enjoying her time on the treadmill

01/07/2025

Ground tying is one of those exercises that is simple and can often get over looked but has a lot of benefits.

Teaching a horse to ground tie generally makes a horse stand quieter while tied, being saddled and can even help them stand better to mount.

12/31/2024

Patience is not the ability to wait but the ability to wait while keeping a good attitude
- Joyce Meyer

A few years ago I got the opportunity to work with a horse that taught me the importance of patience.

I had this horse in for training that had a problem switching directions while on his back. He could go from left to right fine but switching from right to left he would come apart. After ruling out any pain related issues we went to work on teaching him how to stay calm and relaxed when going back to the left.

After 50 days of consistent training with little to no sign of improvement I about gave up on him thinking that the problem wouldn’t be resolved.

5 days later still sticking to the program it was like a switch flipped in his head and just like that what ever he was concerned about disappeared and he could go both directions calm, relaxed and confident.

Here is a picture of Traveler the horse I will forever be grateful for teaching me how important patience and consistency really were and that if you trust the process and stay consistent it will pay off in the end.

12/26/2024

Enjoying the warmer weather this week and being able to work horses outside

12/20/2024

12/11/2024

Mistakes are not mishaps they are teachable opportunities

When working with a horse If you punish mistakes then they will become afraid to try for fear of the punishment

If you allow the horse to make the mistake and let him run into a little pressure until he decides to try something different he will learn to search for the better way on his own.

This way teaches a horse how to search for answers and builds confidence and try

12/06/2024

Imagine you are sitting on a bicycle and you lift your feet off the ground and try to turn the bike.

What will happen? You will fall over.

In order to get the bike to turn you must go forward first and then direct that forwards motion.

Horses are the same way which is why forwards motion is so important. If a horse won’t go forwards you don’t have anything.

Sometimes all a horse needs is a day where you just give them their head, put some miles on and let them cover some ground to where they want to move out on their own

12/06/2024

There is nothing more beneficial in training a horse than taking your time, being patient and not rushing things. Without this you cannot establish a truly solid foundation.

You may have heard that saying, “If you improve 1% every day in 100 days you will be 100% better.”

Its not about the big things… Its about the little things… The little things make up that 1% improvement each day.

When you focus on bettering the little things, it’s funny how the big things ‘magically’ get better.

Around here there is no skipping steps and no rushing when building solid foundations within our horses.

Good horses get even better with time.

12/04/2024

Just because a horse rides good at home doesn’t mean they will ride good in the show pen. Getting horses off site and exposed in different environments makes for a better and well rounded horse. In our program we offer opportunities to get horses off site and around new environments to produce more versatile, confident and well rounded horses.

12/02/2024

Just a reminder that being thankful shouldn’t be for just one day out of the year.

Today as I looked out the door from the comfort of the indoor arena and watched the snow falling I had to take a moment to thank God for all he has blessed me with. It made me think back to days like this when riding inside wasn’t an option yet work still had to be done even if conditions were less than desirable.