B.N. Spired Horsemanship

01/12/2025

1st storm of the season kept us busy with keeping horses happy, healthy, and warm over the long Thanskgiving weekend! Nice fire to help us humans warm up in evenings as well!

27/11/2025

It has been a busy November, but we truly are thankful for each and every day and every client and horse we have the privilege of helping along the way!

Wishing everyone a day of thanks and fellowship with those they love and hold dear.

Here is just a glimpse at some of those that are party of our joy and gratitude daily!

18/11/2025

Nice perspective and well written!

"About a year and a half ago, a client approached me and said that they were ready to buy their second horse. Their current horse was a little Thoroughbred mare that had taken their daughter, now 16, from cross rails to the .85 jumpers. With a heart of gold and a rodeo-worthy spring buck, they were still very happy with her, but understood the value of more time in the hunter ring and wanted the chance to move up to the 3’.

As we all know, a 3’ Children’s horse can cost more than my first house. With only 3 years left before college, we talked about leasing and what holes we were willing to live with on a horse on a much smaller budget. After watching countless videos and weighing our pros and cons, a casual conversation with my first trainer pointed us in the direction of a possible candidate.

The videos were nice and the horse had recently done the Junior’s. Looking at this horse’s show record was telling enough for me. From some time in the 1.35 jumpers and success in the 1.20, somewhere along the line, he was made into a hunter that looked more suited as an Eq horse. But his most recent record showed that he either won or DNP, even in classes with few riders. Without being told, I was pretty sure he had a stop. But we went and tried him anyway.

The ride went well, and when he vetted almost perfectly at 16 years old, I was pretty sure I was accurate about this horse’s hole. After explaining my concerns to my client and rider, but appreciating his good attributes, we went ahead with the purchase with the understanding that if he couldn’t confidently do the 3’ in the next two years, we would keep him where he was comfortable and lease a 3’ horse for her Senior year of high school.

The first summer was a little rough with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. There were tears asking me if we had picked the wrong horse. I kept explaining that her jumper is like riding a 2×6 fence rail, and this new horse had so many buttons. He was the equivalent of going from a farm truck to the NASA space shuttle. She thought the green button meant go “straight”, but it actually meant “please do a tempi.”

Mom and Dad did all the right things. We trailered him to shows where he just schooled or got shown by me in the pro classes. We started in the 18”, but when that didn’t feel good, we even did the crossrails. And in a few months, we were doing the 2’3” with adds, then the 2’6” with adds or maybe the numbers if we were straight. Our farrier helped correct his biggest flaw—his feet. By the following spring, we were doing a soft 2’9” division here and there.

I am the type of trainer who jumps 2 to 6 schooling fences at the show, and you go in the ring. I do not lunge and school them to death. I do not want my horses hating life by Sunday and coming home from the shows sore and miserable. So, I told her to ride better. No more leaving the show having done 16 classes. In a time when our industry is talking about limiting classes, why don’t we step back and have a talk as horsemen and do it without being asked?

This summer, we picked and chose which classes we did. This horse loves a good Medal class and doesn’t want to be treated like a couch in between classes. So, we started only doing the Classic trips, or the Medal or a Derby. Showing him in 1 or 2 classes each day when it was 100* out.

I told my rider she better get on a good canter and make it count because we weren’t jumping 50 fences. And you know what? The horse got even better. The rider rode better because she challenged herself. And the parents were understanding that in order to do what was right by the horse, we needed to do more shows with fewer classes—even though in the end, it cost more money. Because it was the right decision for the horse.

It’s not always perfect, but it is always a learning opportunity. Fewer classes became more beneficial to horse and rider. Less money for our horse budget gifted us with more opportunities to learn. To become a better rider and a better horseman. To set an example for other riders in the barn that everything we do with our horse is a learning experience, be it good or bad.

We joke that this horse is the easiest horse in the barn to ride because he is so educated, but the hardest to ride because he feels any change from the rider and doesn’t always trust that we are going to keep him safe. I do not think that will ever change. But like I promised a year ago when we were crying in the crossrails, we look back and laugh about the things that used to make him nervous that no longer do. And we remind ourselves that with horses, more often than not, less is always more. "

📎 Save & share this article by Ashten Logue at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2025/11/18/doing-right-by-the-horse-the-case-for-fewer-classes-and-more-thoughtful-riding/
📸 © The Plaid Horse

03/11/2025

What a wonderful weekend of learning and sharing with some truly dedicated riders and wonderful horses at our Fundamentals of Dressage Clinic!

Nice scores and improvements over weekend (and fun to practice my own scoring for USDF L program) and thanks to our camera man Dan Lee Mullen for all the Pivo set up for everyone to have videos of rides!

Hoping to make this an annual event and maybe even throw in a schooling show opportunity or two!

Not quite as cold as we looked, especially nice to have indoor arena on the rainy Saturday!! Thanks to Prairie Rose Arena for having us!

18/10/2025

Busy week back at home- lessons, jump the hump, and home herd care!
Red was excited to join some friends in bigger pasture. Marty obviously missed me terribly and so nice to see everyone again!

07/10/2025

We had the most wonderful weekend at Maffitt Lake last schooling show for the year this past weekend!
8 dressage tests Sunday and Hunters all weekend- with all duos doing well!

The highlight of the weekend was the dressage judge say how well suited each rider/horse was paired and how happy the horses looked- with many of our harmony scores gaining 7.5-8.0!!!

I continue to be so, so grateful for all the riders who work hard and show up prepared and positive for their weekend classes. Special thanks to the parents for all their support this weekend and all summer!

Nicer photos credited to Lizzy's dad Kevin! He is awesome!

02/10/2025

❤️

05/09/2025

Excited to share we are going to extend our Jump the Hump sessions at Prairie Rose Arena in Elkhart, IA for the Fall! Come and join us and get some practice in for jumping for your fall shows or for your individual riding goals!

Each session has an event listing and I will post Coaching sign ups 1 week in advance! Hope to see everyone there!

26/08/2025

What a great weekend for the barn family! We had 8 riders entered in dressage- English and Western, and Hunters! We love, love, love the supportive atmosphere and nice show facility@ Maffitt Lake Equestrian Center, LLC for the Schooling Fantasy Series!

We had a wonderful schooling on Friday for everyone and even had a nice hack around the property for several pairs at the end of the day!
Saturday saw many awesome moments in the hunter ring and schooling for our "Sunday Funday" dressage tests.

Sunday was an awesome day but busy! We played in all the sandboxes from 9 am to 3 pm- almost like we were the horse version of the Fast and the Furious! 😆
Gracie and Bella had a wonderful Sunday showing, taking home several nice ribbons and handling their "haven't shown in a while" nerves wonderfully!

Ms. Alice returned to the show ring with grace and poise and helped Gracie navigate her 1st Western Dressage Test too, earning a 65%, and earning Bella her 1st blue ribbon at an away show!

Addy and Little Mare had their best experience to date, with very few issues over fences, and cruising around 18" courses nicely! They took home their 1st ever divisional win, but were mainly excited to show such strong progress on their communication and coursework from the start of the summer!

Jada and Marty stepped back into 2 ft on Sunday and also successfully completed their 1st dressage test at a show! Great effort and a nice score of 62.00, placing 2nd in a competitive Intro division.

Lizzy and Ducky continue to show such great improvement in their teamwork and consistency around the courses! All their hard work paid off with many nice rounds at both 2 ft and 2'3". They also completed their 1st dressage test (Training) and had many nice elements noted as a pair!

Shannon had a wonderful trial/show lease weekend on a potential horse, Tango, from our good friend Caty Elgin , and had a solid weekend of learning and partnership, culminating in several super round Sunday, and we hope to see more of this pair doing great things in the future! We are so grateful for Caty's generosity this weekend- but not surprised at how kind she was as always!

Rori and Vino stepped into the ring both in the hunters and dressage and showed massive improvements in Vino being settled in show rings and their teamwork. Their 1st level test was more relaxed this month and they completed their 1st full 3 ft. course in competition Saturday and then breezed thru another Sunday as well!
Excited for their continued growth!

Ms. Lela Gramling Mullen and Zeus had a nice schooling for their western dressage early, early Sunday morning, but due to some timing issues with test and her riders- ended up scratching. They hope to make it back into the ring in October, but for now Zeus was happy with his granola bar treat and Lela designated her schooling practice test received a self appointed 74.00, so all is well 😊 😄

All the riders showed such positivity, grace under pressure, and growth with their horses.

While everyone came home Champs or Reserves for Weekend helping to validate their progress, we mainly love how much their horses seem to be happy doing their jobs and how fluid the partnerships are developing!

Special thanks to all the parents for their support and also to Rori Knight and Tamara Lea Lea for helping get us set up and tore down with such a big group this weekend!
Also, to AJ Hicks and Lila for coming to support barn mates and hope to see Forrest and Addax back in ring in Oct. with us!

20/08/2025

❤️

“Horsemanship is the art of mastering our own movements, thoughts, emotions and behavior. Not the horses.” ✍️

18/08/2025

Another hot weekend at both the home farm and the lesson facility.
High temps+humidity= concerning heat index for all our equine friends.

We pride ourselves on following vet recommended heat protocols and monitoring all horses for heat issues. We also believe in the "ounce of prevention" philosophy and that beating the heat for horses is all about staying ahead of the problems!

Here are our Top 10 tips for extra special care during these times:

1. Extra cleaning of all water troughs/buckets and refill with clean, cold water morning of start of heat event. Horses need access to fresh, clean water during these times and it is crucial for their systems. We also add ice to troughs periodically at home when we see the water is becoming too hot.
2. Electrolytes added to Horse's feed, starting 2 days prior to event, and continuing throughout! We are big fans of the new pelleted electrolytes as Horses eat them better than the powder if not wetting down grain.
3. Speaking of wetting down, we wet all home grain to increase water intake, and all (boarded) horses receive soaked alfalfa pellets with gastro support.
4. We also add Replenimash to their diets daily. I haven't met a horse that won't eat this stuff and love it! We also use it when traveling to replace lost water weight and for gut support for times of stress!
5. Daily, MULTIPLE hose downs are key in the hottest time of day- especially for our horses that live out 24/7! We run the water until comes off horses cool (5-10 min) and also do alchol baths for anyone who seems especially hot/during highest heat point of day.
6. We slightly adjust our feeding times for horses fo eat during coolest period of day. Often, we are feeding our replenimash after midday cool down!
7. We provide access to shade, fans, and bring into stalls, with fans running for air flow, during hottest times of day and always bring in anyone who lives out and seems to be struggling even slightly.
8. We reduce the workload and try to prevent any stress when it's this hot! It means no lessons or heavy training but our horses health comes 1st!
9. Speaking of reducing stress- We keep our fly gear adjusted, rotated, and cleaned, but ON! As tempting as it is to remove fly gear when horses are hot, we keep boots and masks on as much as possible. Humidity makes the bugs even worse and horses are just as easily over stressed by bugs!
Usually we do checks in this order: hose down, alchol baths, fly gear check, and reapply flyspray or swat.
10. Last but not least, we take daily vitals at beginning and end of heat cycle- a quiet horse in heat can often be overheating or struggling silently, so we try to set up a monitoring protocol that gives us real data during this time.

We hope you all stay hydrated, healthy, and Petey says don't forget the sunscreen- for your white faced horses and for you!!

30/07/2025

Last week was a little different for us, as we headed to HITS Chicago to see how Rori and Vino would do at a larger A rated show!

They were wonderful, with Vino settling quicker than ever and hauling solo really well!

We all enjoyed the atmosphere and general kindness at Lamplight and even got to watch some Jumpers in the rain! Also, who doesn't love a free Brunch!!!

Highlights in the ring included:
3rd of 10 in a competitive Equitation Medal.
9th of 22 (23) for Vino as the only OTTB in the 2'6" Hunter Derby.
Many nice courses and some ribbons in bigger (13-15+) classes against some stellar horse and rider combos!

We caught up with several midwest trainers and friends and enjoyed it all!

Rori highlight may have been the food- giant burritos and Dave's Hot Chicken topped the list!