Lisa Kay Equine (2026)

27/10/2025

FOUNDATION Training....

or what I affectionately call "Kindergarten" training, is crucial for future success, regardless of the discipline.

It's the A,B,C and 1,2,3's of the ingredients you need to successfully pursue almost any discipline or goal with your horse.

Just like all of us, no matter our career in life, we all needed grade school and our K-12 learning to set us up for life.

It's important to distinguish the difference between the foundation of a specific discipline, and foundation training as a whole.

In dressage, for example, intro or training level might be considered the beginning of that discipline. But in the context of true foundational training, that's still more like middle school. It requires a combination of elementary ingredients to create balance, transitions, contact, rhythm...etc even at its lowest level.

Just like A,B,C and 1,2,3's...it's the "things that make up the things" like steering, emotional regulation, confidence, aid isolations... not to mention ground control and all the precursors to riding itself.

Imagine going into middle school without a firm grasp of numbers or knowing only some of the alphabet. Or only being able to spell a few words from memorization, but not truly understanding the basics of language?

Often, our horses are missing similar key pieces, and this gap makes a huge difference down the road. It shows up in their quality of work, confidence, and overall success.

This deficiency often manifests as behavioral problems and physical compensations. Many talented horses hit a wall at a certain level, not because they lack talent, but because they've run out of the foundation needed to put the more complex pieces fully together.

I'm sure we've all heard the masters say, "It's all about the basics"—a truth that proves itself time and time again.

The dawn of the Internet has given us access to more education than ever before, exposing us to excellent horsemen and women and inspiring new generations of improved horsemanship. Yet, old habits die hard. Traditional training methods, while wonderful in many ways, have limitations.

As horse owners and trainers, it's vital that we keep widening our lens of knowledge and awareness. This means being willing to look outside the "we've always done it this way" box and letting our horses give us feedback on what's working and what's not.

If you're feeling stuck in your progress, look to your foundation. Find a qualified person to help you sort through the basics—they may be far more basic than you realize. And that's great! Going back isn't a regression; it's an advancement.

Mastery is all about the basics!

25/09/2025

"Riding forward at an increased pace with extended kicks is in no way serving to loosen the muscles, as this is only too often assumed, but on the contrary requires the horse, which is at the lower level of training, an activity for which it is not yet prepared."

"... a horse riding in which balance and slowness are cultivated without sacrificing the necessary energy of the horse."

09/09/2025

The SPANISH BARB

A true living legend, and America's first horse.

Not to be confused with the BLM mustang, the Spanish barb was the first horse to come to the Americas in thousands of years.

Forged in North Africa and perfected in Spain, the Spanish Barb, known for its intelligence and agility, became the prized horse of European royalty and warriors.

Prior to the English settlers, the Spanish landed in the Americas bringing with them the superior horse of the ages. This was the legendary animal that carried Spanish Conquistadors to the New World, making it the first horse to set foot in the Americas in millennia and a key instrument in Spain's expansion.

From these original horses, a powerful legacy was born. The Spanish Barb is the genetic foundation for many famous American breeds (Quarter Horse, Appaloosa, Morgan) and also influenced European breeds (Thoroughbred, Lippizan, Lusitano, Andalusian). It is also the source of many unique coat colors.

However, this incredible heritage was almost lost. By the late 19th century, the pure Spanish Barb had been nearly annihilated by crossbreeding and slaughter.

Its survival is a testament to a small group of ranchers who recognized the historical and genetic value of these animals. Thanks to their efforts, the breed was pulled back from the brink of extinction. Now critically endangered with a population under 3,000, the Spanish Barb remains a rare and treasured link to the history of both the Old and New Worlds.

Pictured is a 4 year old Registered Spanish Barb Stallion, Dorado

Pictures by

16/02/2025

Classical In-Hand Work

In-hand work is a part of classical dressage dating back to its earliest records.

It is a part of dressage that is rarely seen in most modern dressage barns, but has started to resurface in interest recently.

In-hand work helps to educate, enhance or refine the horses posture and movement without the rider. It is an excellent way to introduce or refine movements, balance, lateral maneuvers, transitions, suppleness, and much more.

I personally love in-hand work because it is such a wonderful way to break things down, help the horse release tension, gain confidence, or find detail in a posture, position, or movement.

In-hand work in my experience seems to be a more palpable form of aid assistance when the horses themselves are trying to learn or understand something. It then of course beautifully compliments and translates to the saddle.

I also love using it when diagnosing saddle fit issues, building confidence or relaxation, or using it as a form of body work in motion.

For me, I have developed a hybrid of natural horsemanship concepts combined with elements of body work that seems to effortlessly flow and build into the traditional presentation and education of classical in hand work.

There are also different positions one can obtain when schooling in hand. From work in the cavesson, beside the horse in the bridle, or from behind with a special form of long reins (not to be confused with long lines). Each position helps with different stages or areas of focus when schooling in hand.

Would love to hear any questions or success stories you may have of classical work in hand!

10/02/2025

"FACTS don't care about your feelings!"

But have you considered that...

"FEELINGS don't care about your facts?"

For horses, their feelings DON'T care about your facts, and as humans, your feelings are directing far more of the show then you realize, facts and all.

So before you display the coffee mug catch phrase, take a pause and lets talk about some "facts" in regards to these feelings...

The statement "facts don't care about your feelings!" Is many times delivered in a subtle yet condescending tone, or at the very least, an indifference to ones emotional state.

It's a hard statement to argue because although seemingly fundamentally true, it's incredibly short sighted and generally used as a weapon to suppress another experience.

Why does this matter? It's an important mindset distinction that can have detrimental affects on your horses training and confidence, not to mention your personal relationships.

FACT #1

Feelings drive your behavior, wether you know it or not.

Every action and thought you have has a feeling and emotion behind it, much of it is outside your conscious awareness. But feelings are what drive us to do literally anything in life. We then use logic to justify our behavior or action.

FACT #2

Your FEELINGS effect what "facts" you use and see.

You can’t separate the influence your feelings have on the facts that you know.

Facts are difficult to determine. What most people possess is knowledge of a subset of the facts, and how you decide what "facts" are included in that subset is going to be determined by your background, your experiences, your social circle, your interests, and yes, by your feelings.

How you consciously or unconsciously FEEL about an underlying conclusion of research is going to determine what findings you emphasize and what findings you discard — as well as what research you seek out.

How you consciously or unconsciously FEEL about the political slant of a news source is going to determine which ones you prefer.

But back to the horses....

Obviously this mindset affects not only how we approach each other, but also how we approach our horses.

Feelings drive behavior. I'll repeat. Feelings drive behavior.

So for whatever you're trying to achieve or teach yourself or your horse, it's the feelings that are your gate way to said outcome. Feelings will either block your path or they will be the catalyst to the progress you're pursuing, but you cannot avoid them.

When we can help horses find relaxation and confidence, that is when the quality of whatever we do skyrockets. That is where cognitive learning, consistency, physical strength, suppleness, coordination (etc.) is all at its best.

Feelings are insanely powerful and trying to override them with obedience or force has many physical, mental, and emotional consequences.

Learn the tools necessary to dissolve, direct, and redirect negative feelings if necessary.

Emotional intelligence will get you a LONG way in this process and is a skill that can be learned for ourselves and our horses.

Understand the "facts"...embrace the feelings.

01/02/2025

RECEPTIVITY of the AIDS

The aids are the riders way of communicating, integrating, and influencing the movement of the horse.

How the horse RECEIVES these aids is the make or break between ex*****on, accomplishment, and quaility of movement.

The receptivity of the aids can be assessed in three categories... 🔹Mental 🔹Emotional🔹Physical

How does your horse RECEIVE the aids MENTALLY? Does he cognitively understand what the aid is asking?

How does your horse RECEIVE the aid EMOTIONALLY? How does he FEEL about your hands, seat or leg? Defensive, shutdown, anxious...?

How does your horse RECEIVE the aid PHYSICALLY? How does the body respond? With tension, dullness, reactivity?...and in what anatomical order?

Most of us have been taught the aids in a series of successions and combinations. What many of us don't understand very well is the aids in isolation. This is key to being able to diagnose an issue and get to it's root.

Aids in isolation are like letters. A,B,C,D,E......
Your right leg is a single aid, left leg, right rein etc...

Using aids in combinations is like forming words out of letters...like CAT.

Aids used in combinations with energy and exercises is like writing sentences and paragraphs.

You develop sentence structure and punctuation and it becomes and art. As a horse progresses it can get complex quickly without the right foundation, and if a horse has missed a letter in the alphabet there can easily be discord that purpetuates quality or prevents forward progress.

Common receptivity issues are lack of engagement, rider nagging, tail swishing, rushing, or heaviness...to name a few.

Now of course these issues can also be caused from poor tack, training methods, or body pain, and if not addressed will in turn negatively affect the association of the aids as well.

Remember Pavlov dogs. The dogs learned to salivate at the ring of a bell because of the consistent pairing of food with the sound which programmed an ASSOCIATION. Associations are incredibly powerful!

So even if the aids were not the initial problematic cause, there is now a negative association and many times some of the aids have to be rebuilt even once the bad saddle, training, or body pain is fixed.

If you feel you have a receptivity issue, the fix is to break things down into parts, or isolations. slow everything down into SLOW motion, or better yet start from the halt to asses receptivity.

Let's use the leg as an example

Slowly and Softly present the leg, does your horse tense it's body, grind it's teeth, swish it's tail, or rush off before you even began? Any one of these are signs of a receptivity issue.

The first thing I want is for my horse not to be afraid or defensive to any of my aids. So that means I will approach and retreat with any aid, slowly and Softly until the horse is relaxed.

Step 2 is to educate the horse (from a place of relaxation and confidence) the desired response.

If the horse was defensive to the leg, the first step would be to get the horse relaxed with the approach and feel of the leg, THEN teach the horse how move forward or yeild. Rewarding small effort and not over facing.

Step 3 is to then progressively develop and refin the aid. many riders make the mistake of expecting too much too soon and it can make the horse defensive, anxious, sore, or less willing to try in the future... resulting in nagging.

Building the aids is like teaching a child the alphabet, then teaching them how to spell words, and then creating sentences and structure.

Think of how the aids break down into their most simplist form. Have a really good understanding and awareness of how the aids build from there.

Spoiler alert, understanding receptivity is a cornerstone in refinement and creating soft, light, and willing partners.

Lisa Kay Equine

27/10/2025

25/09/2025

09/09/2025

16/02/2025

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