Special Bond Horsemanship

01/03/2024

Happy 11th birthday Cherokee!!

11/02/2024

Tonight Cherokee did some ground driving! We haven't done this since last winter (I think). Ground driving is a great way to bond with your horse and to also teach voice commands like, "Whoa," "Trot On," etc.

This was how I taught Cherokee to voice commands but on the lunge line.
Ground Driving is another good way to control your horse when you don't feel confident in the saddle.

Hope you enjoyed and try ground driving at home!

08/02/2024

Such nice weather to work my girl ❤️

29/01/2024

Cherokee had a good ride today. I kept it short and easy.
Dusty's 2nd ride back! She's alright testing her games with me lol. Eventually she'll come around and realize she ain't winning.

25/01/2024

After 2 weeks off due to the weather and the bitter cold. Cherokee is back to work. She actually wasn't too bad, pretty chill and lazy which is nice to see. It was nice to be back in the saddle.

I also have some great news! Dusty is back in the lesson program! The barn owner gave me the all-clear about 2 weeks ago saying that Dusty can come back to work and start doing lessons again. I am now going to be slowly getting her back in shape. And of course, she'll get fit from the lessons as well.

Tomorrow I'll post a short video or a picture of Dusty. Since it's been a long time since you guys have seen her.

Stay tuned for tomorrow!

14/01/2024

I have some sad news to share in this post. Miss Lexie here in the picture has passed away.

I am happy that I have gotten the opportunity to ride her and use her the lesson program for awhile back in 2021/2022.
I'm so sorry to Lexie's owner for losing such a wonderful mare.

Rest easy Lexie, rest easy.

04/01/2024

Did some ground work today with Cherokee and did a short ba****ck ride at the end.
During our ride, the lead rope came undone. Luckily Cherokee is good with her cues & listening to my seat.

Cherokee had a good session today.

28/12/2023

The best cinch I have ever gotten for Christmas!

Watch the live video I just did to get more information on the cinch!

Total Saddle Fit is the brand and you can follow them in FB!

If any questions about the cinch or training I do, don't be afraid to DM me!

28/12/2023

Trying out Cherokee's new cinch!

22/12/2023

27/11/2023

A sneak peek at 's new cinch!!

Stay tuned after Christmas to find out more!

15/11/2023

Had a great ride tonight on Miss Cherokee.

09/11/2023

Day 2 of trying out our new training equipment!
Cherokee really understood that I wanted to stretch her neck and top line (spine) and she did!

My plan for this training tool is to use it once a week to keep her focus and engaged.

Stay tuned for day 3 next week!

*Video was taken on 11/6*

31/10/2023

Today we tried out the new training equipment I purchased off of Amazon!
So far I like it and so does Cherokee. This is another way to teach head collection and also to stretch the top line (spine) and other muscles.
I'm excited to use it more this winter when I don't feel like throwing on a heavy saddle.

If you interested, I can send you the link!

Also...
Happy Halloween!!

19/10/2023

Someone decided they didn't want to pay attention and listen to my cues... so she got her workout in for the week...

Steam coming off, sweat, and panting heavily. She did finally start to listen and I ended it on a decent note. We did lots of walking on the lunge to cool her down.

Sometimes horses that KNOW how to read body language AND listen to cues need a little butt whooping to know that I'm #1 and their #2 and they don't get to decide of anything.

18/10/2023

***FOR SALE***

Royal King Trail Saddle
Very comfortable saddle!
Beautiful tooling, has a suede seat!
Gullet: 8"
Seat: 15"
Hasn't been used in over a year.

Has been used on:
- A Solid Paint
- An Arabian
- A Half Arabian Half Saddlebred

$500 obo

**NO HOLDS OR SHIPPING**
CASH ONLY
CROSS POSTED

06/10/2023

Cherokee did good today with our 2nd ride back from our accident 💙

30/09/2023

Forgot to post on Thursday but here it is!
Cherokee and I are doing good. Now just scrapes to heal..
The arena got a very good drag so now the ground is much better for working horses.
Cherokee still for some reason is tripping in the nice arena so I'll gonna have to work on getting her to lift her feet. She is also now cautious when I'm riding her as well. Which was to be expected..

We got some work to do to but that's ok. We can take our time since we aren't majorly working on anything crazy.

Sometimes things like this you have to go back to basics.

22/09/2023

Today's ride didn't turn out so great.
While cantering Cherokee on our 2nd circle, she fell into a soft spot in the dirt and lost her balance. She landed on my left leg. I landed on my stomach and ate some dirt, which was just lovely lol. But I was ok. I have a scrape on my right knee and a scrape on my left elbow. I, of course, was wearing my helmet. I laid on the ground till I could breathe normally again. Cherokee was right up on her feet and standing next to me, waiting patiently for me to get up.
The barn owner heard me calling and came from one of the stalls. She grabbed Cherokee and waited for me to get to my feet.
I got up after about 20 minutes of catching my breath. Cherokee had scaped both her knees and her shoulder. Cherokee's left knee started to bleed, and I called it quits. I was originally gonna get back on since that is what you are supposed to do when you fall off. But not when your main horse is bleeding. I removed the saddle and saddle pad and put it on the gate. We put Cherokee on the cross ties. I brushed her off and the barn owner put some cream on her scrapes so that they would heal.
Cherokee and I will definitely be sore for the next day or two but that is ok.

The keeper on my saddle tore but it can be fixed easily.

This riding accident was not my fault nor Cherokee's fault. Things like this just happen out of nowhere.

But we are BOTH OK!!!

Once Cherokee's better and I'm better, we will take our time to return to our normal riding. As of right now, we must heal.
We will slowly rework our confidence together to where we used to be.

Thanks for reading. I will keep you guys posted on how I'm doing and Cherokee is doing.

-SBH

19/09/2023

Had a nice ride on my main girl 💙

15/09/2023

Rode Cherokee in a Parelli hackamore today. I always like to bring horses back to basics here and there. And let them have a break from having a bit in their mouth or wearing spurs, or ride a lighter saddle (english) or groundwork or having a fun day of riding ba****ck or just a mini trail ride around the property!

Horses need breaks from training or change up there riding routine a little. For instance, instead of a bridle with a bit, ride in a hackamore.

I like to see where my horses are after some time of training. So I'll ride them in a hackamore or in my dressage saddle and just see where there are holes to be filled.

05/09/2023

On August 31, I went to the barn to work with Cherokee again but I wasn't in the mood to do arena work so, I decided to do some outside work. We took a mini trail ride around the yard. We did some ditch work of going up and down since Cherokee hadn't really experienced this before and she took it like a pro. It made her think of where to put her feet and how to be causes with a ride on her back. Then we did some more traffic work (standing at the end of the driveway) with her getting used to vehicles going by and she was a pro like always. Then we made our way to the back of the barn where the muck heap was and there was a plastic cover on a window on a truck. The wind was blowing in the right direction and when it made a sound it spooked Cherokee a bit but she did settle down and we walked back the other way. We kept going back and forth about 4 times till I let her look at it and she was fine. We made our way back to the front and did 2 more times with the ditch and I called it good after that. I did not trot or canter her before we left the arena. I was curious to see what she would do if I just got on and went for a mini ride around the yard and she did marvelous!

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for more posts!

SBH

23/08/2023

Yesterday (8/22) I rode Cherokee in a new cinch, the FeatherFlex by Classic Equine. I will have to ride with the cinch for at least 2 weeks and switch her to the other cinch I tried last week which is the professional's choice. She wasn't too bad for getting the cinch snug but still tried to bite. But not as bad as she usually does.
Our ride felt very good and she had that slow trot again. Canter, she made me be on my toes a little but that's alright.

Our experiment is slowly coming to an end to find that right cinch and we won't have to worry about as much. But hopefully in the spring or next summer may try to get a chiro out and do some on her since she is still young and I wanna make sure she is happy and comfortable when we are riding.

Thanks for reading!!

- SBH

18/08/2023

Yesterday I had one of the best rides yet on Cherokee! I have finally figured out her cinchy issues and have found a saddle pad and cinch that works for her.
Cherokee likes the CSI saddle pads and for the cinch, I tried the Professional's Choice Merino Wool Roper Cinch and Tuesday I will try a FeatherFlex Roper Cinch by Classic Equine to see what she likes better.
But! During our ride, Cherokee typically keeps me on my toes when we work, this time I could ACTUALLY sit her trot! And ride her canter with a loose rein and rock my hips with her. She normally throws me off balance a little and to where I have to ride a little more upright to keep her moving. That is mostly all on her good side. She has also picked up a canter transition right from the walk too!
Her bad side, is she was acting very mareish like she was in heat and she normally never acts but I personally think it was because of the weather being nice and cooler out. On this side, she kept me on my toes a little but not much like she used to be.

I'm so happy to have Cherokee back to where I can ride with one hand if needed and more. She isn't always having her ears pinned back when riding and she isn't trying to bite me when we saddle up. She is back to her normal happy self where she enjoys her job.

16/08/2023

I brought the dressage saddle back out today to see how Cherokee has been feeling with working with the surcingle and side reins. She has been very good but now just trying to teach her to keep her head collected when riding...

31/07/2023

Cherokee had a phenomenal day today!!!

I have figured out some of her issues with her being cinchy and I will be getting them soon.

But we did a mini trail ride around the yard and she had a nice slow walk going all over!

24/07/2023

Update video on Cherokee!!