Heart Horsemanship at Southington Mustang Academy

03/11/2024

Wowza!!! I'm so appreciative of so many wonderful adopters who reached out about Steel. He is pending and should be at his new home state this upcoming weekend 🥰 ...updated!

Original Post: If you need a Classic horse and you are in the Eastern States region.... I have THE ONE 💙

We have a BIG and CORRECT 3 year old gelding from Twin Peaks located in NE Ohio. I really should show him myself, but I can't realistically do two horses for 2025.

Steel is a big pretty mover and very good minded. He was shipped from Ridgecrest CA and purchased as SA, so no BLM paperwork required.

We look forward to seeing how he comes along with the right trainer ❤️

Asking low $×××× to reimburse purchase and expenses to get him to Ohio and ready for his next step 😎

20/10/2024

Ohhhhh the places we will go....

This dude is ready for his own person. He is so sweet and sensible, plus he loves his people 💕

Topper is 4 years old from Jackson Mountain HMA and TITLED so no BLM application required. If you are looking for a wonderful horse with a solid foundation.... this is your guy. He is very laid back and in a hurry for nothing 😆

We can see him enjoying life as a trail horse and best friend for the right adopter. Topper has around 60 rides with no funny business. He just wants to be a good boy. Topper is easy to handle and goes out on regular fencing. Send a PM if you think this little buddy belongs in your barn 💙

Asking mid ###x to the perfect home 🥰

18/10/2024

So much this 🙏

Difficult horses expose you for the rider and trainer that you are.

They highlight your inadequacies and showcase them for everyone to see.

They get louder if you refuse to listen.

They will embarrass you, humble, you, infuriate you but, also, they will teach you. If you let them.

Horses who refuse to succumb to forceful pressures and instead fight back often aren’t the most liked horses.

How we respond to these horses exposes a lot about us and where we are in our horsemanship journey.

If we let our ego run the show, we can quickly resort to toxic attitudes that blame the horse and cause us to respond in anger.

We may stereotype the horse off of their breed, color, s*x, or whatever trait we can grasp to try to blame. ie: “she’s such a chestnut thoroughbred mare, that’s why she’s being such a witch!”

While this may provide temporary relief and it takes the focus off of how we are creating negative behaviour in the Horse, it stunts our growth.

And it soothes our ego at the expense of the horse.

It’s easy to like horses who do what we want.

Who are simple, uncomplicated, easy to push and get the answer we want.

But, how we respond to the horses who won’t do that perhaps says the most about us as a human.

The empathy and compassion with which we can approach the difficult horse speaks volumes about our own ability to emotionally regulate and how we show up as a rider and/or trainer.

One of the most telling things about a trainer may just be how they behave when things don’t go their way.

How do they treat the horses who don’t respond well to their methods?

Do they get angry and try harder to force a result?

Or do they pause, recalibrate and find a new approach?

16/10/2024

IDK how we ever got to this point ...I'm eternally grateful for good days, amazing horses, and wonderful friends at Southington Mustang Academy 💕

03/10/2024

Here's a little mustang eye candy for you 😉

We have some phenomenal mustangs coming available in the near future. The are all fully gentled, started under saddle, and titled 💕

Individual posts with more pics to come. In the meantime, feel free to reach out and chat about these amazing mustangs 🥰

They will range from mid to high 🥕 ###x

28/09/2024

✨️ Saturdays are good for Shenanigans ✨️

UPDATE: We got in touch with a family who wanted to adopt her directly and give her a home. She was picked up this afternoon ...and of course we will provide trainiing/coaching support as needed to help this mare and her new family 🥰

Thank you to all those who are always so supportive of our mustangs. Since this mare no longer needs bail covered... I'll go ahead and close the raffle and issue refunds. Thank you all! ❤️

♡♡♡♡♥︎♡♡♡♡♥︎♡♡♡♡♡

ORIGINAL POST: This mare is tugging at our heart strings. As an older Mustang, we don't want to see her fall through the cracks. A wonderful friend and adopter has offered to help us get started. I'm hoping to raise the additional funds needed plus cover her care and rehab until a forever home can be found 🙏

In an effort to help her and create a training opportunity for our mustang family... We have decided to donate 30 days of training at Southington Mustang Academy. This is a value of 1250 for full-time training and full care board at our facility in Southington OH

We are offering fifty spots at $25 per spot 💙 We will allow participants who buy two or more raffle spots a $50 credit towards training at Southington Mustang Academy. This can be used for horses in full-time training, lessons, evaluations, or clinic participation during the 2025 season ✨️

In order to get a raffle spot... just comment below what number you want and I'll update the list with spots still available. I know we can make a difference if we all pull together. Please comment and share so we can spread the word and help this sweet mustang mare 💕

23/09/2024

It would be so easy to 🍂🍁 FALL 🍁🍂 in LOVE with a pretty Salt Wells mare like Scarlett 💖

Scarlett is as sweet, quiet, and pretty as the come. We believe she will develop into a beginner and kid safe mustang in time. She has a wonderful mind and she LOVES her people 💕

This mare is only 4, but she soooo good minded. She is around 15 hands with a big frame and built right. Scarlett has all her basic handling on the ground and she's starting her training under saddle. She currently lives in a barn and turns out on regular horse fencing in our pasture. Scarlett is titled and she will be ready for her own family once she has finished her saddle training.

We have decided to begin the search for her person so she can find the perfect home 🥰 🍂🍁

We will be asking higher four figures under saddle, but we may consider letting her sooner to the perfect home for mid/lower four figures 💖

23/09/2024

Well... Lexington was an experience for us all 😆

We started preparing for the Mustang Classic over a year ago and we encountered more plot twists than I could have imagined. In the end, I'm grateful for amazing friends, new adventures, and we added a phenomenal horse to our family 💚

I Initially got Lucky for the Fort Worth Mustang Show, but after a week at home I knew I couldn't risk losing him at auction. He showed himself to have an amazing mind and unbelievable talent so I decided to take a chance. I swapped him as my entry for the Classic.

As far as I know, he was the newest unhandled horse to enter out of the competitors who made it to Lexington. I had to be strategic in order to honor his needs and have a horse that would be ready to show at this event within 5 months from unhandled.

I often say... just because you can, doesn't mean you should. I could have had Lucky under saddle in the first couple weeks, but I've been down that road and I didn't want that for him. Instead, I chose to give him time to settle into life as a domestic horse and get comfortable in his experiences before starting his saddle training. I anticipated that I would have an extremely confident and quiet horse by going this route.

My plan definitely played out as hoped, which gave me a horse that absolutely took care of me despite an intense environment at a venue like the KHP.

It also meant I was bringing a horse with only around 75 days under saddle!!! Let me tell you... Lucky didn't disappoint. This amazing horse far exceeded all my hopes and wishes for the Classic 🤩

During Luckys saddle training, I focused on building a horse that would be confident and correct. With such a short timeline... I decided to build him one piece at a time under saddle. My plan was to then put those pieces together and hopefully have a solid horse by showtime. The decision paid off and he looked like a horse that had closer to a year under saddle 😆

Even though I knew it would cost us on the judges cards, I didn't even attempt to teach Lucky to ride with contact in the bridle. I felt it would be an unfair ask considering our short timeline. Lucky rode quiet, soft, balanced, and correct. He was a dream come true.

Unfortunately, I didn't anticipate that our lack of contact in the bridle would be so severely punished by the judges.... but I still wouldn't change a thing. Lucky was everything I asked and more. Plus he doesn't know or care about his dressage scores anyway 😜

This show essentially required us to learn 3 new disciplines in a very short period of time. We were excited about the Working Equitation and we worked hard to learn the details of this growing sport. Working Equitation has a ton of technical rules that can easily result in a DQ if an error is made. Unfortunately, I watched an incorrect demo of the drum obstacle so I memorized it wrong. The result was a DQ on the whole course. Sooooo we just chalk it up to a learning experience ❤️

At that point, I knew we had no statistical chance of recovery for decent overall placing. I was also recovering from a serious injury the week prior. Ultimately, I decided to just scratch our final class. This meant Lucky got some much deserved rest time and I got to enjoy the show with my kiddos as a spectator 🥰

Cheers to our mustangs and loved ones... I truly can't imagine anything better 💕

14/09/2024

As the great Garth Brooks would say...blame it all on my roots 😜

We. Got. Last. on our dressage test. Apparently Lucky looks more like a western pleasure pony than a dressage horse 🤷‍♀️

The good news is I am PROUD my mustang 🥰
He was thoughtful, brave, quiet, correct AND he is a forever part of our family ☘️

Check out this sweetest dude trained at Southington Mustang Academy in OH!At this time, Lucky is only 5 months from unhandled 💚 We are excited about our fut...

12/09/2024

The bird has landed... I repeat ..the bird has landed 😉 ☘️ 💖

08/09/2024

Annnnnd just like that... Legend is off to a wonderful forever home where he is already so loved. We love you forever sweetest buddy 💙

03/09/2024

We leave for Kentucky one week from today...
No matter the outcome, I am certain we have already won ☘️ 💖

My Beanie with Lucky Nine... less than 5 months from unhandled and the most trusted of steeds 💚

01/09/2024

As we welcome back another September... I'm struck by the impact of events over the past year. Last September, our lives changed as the loss of our storefront brought us to our knees.

We often post the highlight reel, but life happens in all the moments in between. From last September to this September.... so much has happened professionally and personally. Some days it feels like our days have been filled with more heartache than not. I'm sincerely praying for a good September. I'm praying to have more good days between now and next September.

In the darker days, we have a choice to give up or push forward no matter what. As a mother, the kids and our family are my why. We keep on, keeping on by a wing and a prayer... in anticipation of brighter days ahead.

At the end of the day, the important things are still here... we have each other. So today I sit with my littles at my side and keep on with the promise to keep doing my best for them 💖

Heart Horsemanship was founded in 1997 by Jenna Nelson as a horse trainer. It has evolved into a fam

25/08/2024

Today was our dress rehearsal for Lexington. I'm so proud of the horses we have developed in such a short period of time.

Lucky was unhandled mid April, but he's so sensible and he always takes good care of his horse mom (and the littles) 💖

Kaitlyn Frye and Artie looked like a team that's been together for years... even though they only started in January 💪

Our dear friend Shannon Larson has stepped in to help us navigate a world of English disciplines that was completely foreign to us. I gotta be honest ...it feels like we have Michael Phelps teaching us to blow bubbles in the minnow pool. It's a good thing Shannon is so gracious and encouraging. This isn't her typical gig, but she has been showed herself to be deeply invested in our journey.

Cheers to continuing along this amazing journey with good mustangs and great friends 🥰

May God Bless the mustang 🙏

15/08/2024

The storefront was a labor of love, but it definitely kept us BUSY! Last year there was no chance to pause... not even to celebrate my birthday 😜

Today we ventured on a birthday ride with wonderful friends and amazing mustangs 💕
Now off to celebrate with family 🥰

12/08/2024

✨️💚 Lucky NINE 💚✨️

In THIRTY days we check in at the Lexington Horse Park of Kentucky

I've spent the past FOUR months building with this sweetest boy. He has a solid foundation and we have a partnership I can believe in wholeheartedly

This horse is what dream are made from. In my book, we have already won. He is a horse of a lifetime and we have years ahead to journey together. So for the next 30 days, I will continue to put my horse first and see where it takes us 💖

Thank you Lucky for showing up unexpectedly and becoming the horse I didn't know I needed 🙏

28/07/2024

23/07/2024

If you've ever dreamed of bringing home the sweetest blue roan mustang we've ever known
....here's our dearest Legend 💙

Legend is a 6 year old titled gelding from Fish Creek HMA. Legend has been with us at SMA for a couple years. We LOVE this little dude!

He is kind, willing, and honest as they come. His only requirement is the same treatment from his person. Legend has be trained with a foundation in positive reinforcement which has helped him to develop into an engaged and solid partner. Legend is fully under saddle and easy to handle. He also turns out on regular horse fencing and he's fully acclimated to domestic life.

If you think his journey might be destined to continue with you then let's chat about the possibilities 🥰

We are asking higher ###x starting with a SEVEN. As an incentive to help his new person along we will offer an extra month of training at SMA if he finds the right home before August 💖