Enlightened Horsemanship

15/04/2025

More and more I am aware that what I do, what I believe and my intention around a life with horses is contrary to 99% of the horse involved population. Everything I see and hear contradicts what is true for me and my herd and the countless experiences I have had with these beautiful animals.

What gives? I’m sure it has something to do with my intention to facilitate true felt safety and trusting relationships, and my absolute belief in horses - in their intelligence, intuitiveness, their relational nature, and so much more. I genuinely believe horses don’t need our fixing/controlling/manipulating, but they do need our understanding, our growth, our ability and willingness to challenge all the detrimental beliefs that perpetuate a compromised life with people.

Perhaps you are like me too. Perhaps you too cringe when force is so readily on the table. Perhaps you too cringe when you hear people, people who promote their love of their horse, speak of that same horse with disparaging and demeaning language. When people have a view of the horse that has nothing to do with the horse at all.

Are you tired like me? Do you hold that frustration inside? Do you confronted directly? Are you leading the revolution, in whatever way you do, to bring the true and perfect nature of the horse to the forefront of every shared experience with them?

27/03/2025

I’m here for the horse ♥️

Claire beautifully shares the important responsibility of all of us equine pros out there to put the horse’s needs and interests front and center of everything we do, plan, work towards.

I am a horse first professional, but I’d like to expand on that.

The equine industry is in the midst of a long standing welfare crisis. To this day, too many horses face too much hardship. So why is that? Where does it come from? Simply, it comes from too much human first thinking.

When a human’s wants are put before a horse’s wants, the horse is almost always, well, left wanting with their needs not met. And mind you, this is for all levels and all indiscretions. No horse person is innocent here, yours truly included.

In my opinion, if we are to truly improve horse welfare, then equine professionals need to be making more efforts to be truly horse first. So what does that mean? What it means is client second and not turning a blind eye to things that could be improved upon.

Wait. What? Us horse pros are here for the people aren’t we?! Well, no, not to me.

Hear me out.

Don’t get me wrong, so much of what I do is with and for my clients. I have wonderful, loving, and kind clients who think the world of their horses. However, every time I am there with them I am there for their horse, not for them. I fully consider their horse’s needs way before I consider theirs. You want to ride? Great! Let's be sure to not shortcut your path to a healthy riding partner. You need a new saddle ASAP? Let’s find a properly fitting one and in the meantime here are appropriate groundwork exercises. Your horse is sore? A massage AND time off to understand the cause of the soreness is advised. I’ve noticed that your bit is causing pain. Let’s talk about why and find you a new one.

Pointing clients in ethical directions and not shying away from voicing what needs to be changed, those are the building blocks of a horse first pro. I put effort into finding what can be done to make the horse’s situation better (no matter how good it already might be!) And, to no real surprise what this does is vastly improve the human’s life too.

📸 Maggie Stolzberg Photography

25/03/2025

One of the many things I love about giving our horses a natural environment and lifestyle is that it provides a safe and nurturing home not only for them, but also for the natural world around us. This picture of our lower track is a few years old; I can’t wait for baby season to be here soon and see who shares their little family with us ♥️

21/03/2025

A frustrated horse is more prone to injury and illness.
A frustrated horse is more difficult to handle and work with.
A frustrated horse progresses more slowly, if at all, and often regresses.
A frustrated horse is less safe for themselves and those around them.

Too often I hear a horse’s frustrations being denied, belittled, or brushed off. They “should” be fine, after all.

But they aren’t.

And they can’t fix it.

But we must.

The end.

17/03/2025

One of the most important things we do as equestrians is teach our horses who we are to them.

Show them that we are looking out for their best interests.

Prove to them that we are kind and honest and considerate.

Invite them to see us as a safe and positive place to rest, and to engage, and to learn.

If we’ve done this, everything else becomes easier and more accessible. And that’s all besides the fact that it’s just The. Best. Feeling. to know your horse knows you to be That Person.

If we don’t? Any and every conversation may be plagued by worry, distrust, frustration, conflict.

Not sure how you’re doing? Ask your horse, and believe them. No matter what their response.

Need some help sorting it out? Reach out! I love helping horses and their people create the kind of relationships they both hope for with each other.

16/03/2025

Just because the horse isn’t acting out or in a panic, doesn’t mean they are ok.

Just because it looks like I’m not moving, doesn’t mean I’m not doing anything.

Just because the horse and I can navigate something quietly, doesn’t mean that we (or anyone) can do it with ease, or without extreme Care.

Lately I’ve been in a sweet spot in my work, where the horses and I are quietly navigating different questions and conversations. It’s so quiet, the general observer would say nothing is happening at all. Or worse, they might think anyone can do it, and do it bigger/faster/easier, without a hiccup.

The thing is, deep waters run under the surface of that quiet, seemingly action-less surface. It’s deceptive, really, until you look deeper, with an openness to seeing something more true than what you thought was there.

Gone are the days when we need to be loud with our horses and our horses need to be loud with us. Gone are the days where quiet means complacency or even consent.

Deep waters run under that quiet surface.

Quiet, gentle work can move mountains without causing an avalanche.

If you see something working quietly and seemingly with ease, don’t assume the same can be accomplished more quickly or with less care.

And if you are looking around at all the loud and care-less interactions with horses and struggling with the felt isolation of your repulsion to that, know this - you are not alone.

If you look closely, there’s an army of us under that surface, wading in the deep waters and dancing beautifully with horses through the simple and not so simple aspects of co-operative relationships. Come, join us. Your horse is waiting for you there.

11/03/2025

Somehow beautiful weather + later daylight = horse chores in the last bits of twilight.

Seriously though, one of my favorite aspects of having the horses at home is that I get to see them up close through every season, and every time of day, throughout the year. Something about the quiet intimacy of intertwined lives 💞

06/03/2025

What’s your horse’s story?

Not the one you tell about them…

About their past, their baggage, their quirks, their challenges, their delightful and less so delightful attributes in the context of being your horse.

Not the one framed from your point of view, or the point of view of others in their life.

Not the one rooted in all the things you know to be true about horses from a lifetime of experience.

What’s your horse’s story, from their own voice?

How have they experienced the world?

What do they know to be true - about their day to day, their environment, the people in their life, the things that are asked of them?

How are they experiencing you, right now, in this moment?

How do we know?

(Stay tuned for part 2!)

27/02/2025

You might be a horse mom if… 😉

What’s your horse care hack of the week?

26/02/2025

For all my lamenting about the raw deal horses get in the horse industry, I’d be remiss if I didn’t also share that there is indeed exceptional horse care, training, and education out there.

The kind that genuinely centers the horse’s well-being and calls us to be better for our horses in a way that facilitates the deep, meaningful connections we all seek with our horses, secondary to doing the right thing because it’s simply the right thing to do when we take responsibility for another being.

I’m grateful to have stumbled upon this community and encourage anyone involved with horses to seek their own community of weirdos who are out there every day putting horses’ wellbeing over their personal interests.

And truly - I’m letting go of the belief that I am an “other”, outside of the pervasive norm of taking advantage of horses at their expense. THAT is not normal.

26/02/2025

As long as horses are valued first and foremost for how they serve human interests, they will continue to be used, abused, poorly cared for, compromised, and just plain done wrong by.

Ask any person involved with horses, and I bet they don’t tell you that they don’t care about the horse and only want what serves them.

But what do their actions say?

Do they “rehome” the horse when they lose interest in riding or the horse becomes physically or behaviorally unsuitable for their riding interests?

Do they refer to the horse as stupid or lazy or a pain or a bi!ch in justifying hitting, kicking, pulling, or pushing on them?

Do they keep the horse in inappropriate facilities that compromise their wellbeing because it’s close, has a great arena, or has a great social network for the person?

Do they choose to use stronger or more harsh equipment rather than investing in lessons, time and patience to address challenges that come up?

Do they go into every interaction with the horse consumed with their own interests, desires, and expectations, without once considering how the horse is experiencing them or what the horse needs?

Is their learning hyper-fixated on getting the horse to do what they want, rather than creating beneficial experiences with nuanced communication and skill?

Now look - we all have bad days, lose our cool, or practice things we later regret when we know better. Myself included 🙋🏻‍♀️

That’s not what I’m talking about.

I’m talking about the insidious undertone in the equestrian world that says I’m entitled to what I want and the horse is a means to my interests, even if I think or outwardly proclaim to love this animal.

We have to do better.

And until then, I’ll continue to be the one over here shouting about horses that others claim to love but that show every indication they are unhappy, unhealthy, misunderstood, and not heard.

23/02/2025

Anyone else change their chore schedule so as not to disrupt the sleeping beauties?

02/02/2025

How does your horse feel about you?
Do you know?
Do you care?

How does your horse experience you?
Net positive? Negative? Indifferent?

Does your horse feel understood?
Able to ask questions?
Like you care about them in each moment?

There are endless “cool things” we can do with horses. But how many of them are things the horse would choose at all? How much do they tolerate, resent, fear, submit to?

It’s easy to take advantage of horses and their good nature, their desire to please (read: desire to survive and be safe).

It would be also be easy to mistake the prioritization of horses’ needs and interests as a limitation.

It is, in a way. It limits the careless exploitation of their bodies, the reckless tendency to take advantage of their nature, and the manipulation of poorly understood science to use power in leveraging your will over theirs. It stops the overriding of their feedback and wellbeing because we are somehow entitled to fun and entertainment at their expense. Limiting? Yeah, sure.

But let’s be clear - it also holds the possibility of great expansion, limited only by our openness and curiosity about the beautiful animal in front of us.

What we do looks different. But make no mistake - the possibilities are endless when we choose to dance this dance of consideration, care, connection, and collaboration.

The bonus? We don’t feel like s**t for perpetuating the unhealthy patterns of the world we so fiercely seek to leave behind when we follow our love for horses.

22/01/2025

My work is an expression of my love for horses, and a reflection of my deep desire to see them get a better deal in their lives with people. It’s a hopeful projection that we can all enjoy meaningful connections together and cause less harm. Perhaps even change our own lives for the better.

But in all reality, it’s even more than that.

It’s a protest of all the things I see that are wrong in the world around us today. Whether it’s the horse industry at large, or an even bigger scale of perspective, you don’t have to look far to see enough to make you want to hide away from it all.

Power. Control. Hate. Fear. Blame. Manipulation. Exploitation. Ego.

In my own little corner of existence, with the handful of those I share my work with, I show up everyday in absolute rejection of these things.

Does it make a difference, me tinkering away in quiet and happy interactions with horses? Who knows. It does for me, and I hope for the people and horses I connect with.

And perhaps, if we all make little choices every day to show up with love and fairness and kindness and courage, the world wouldn’t be so scary after all.

02/01/2025

Horses are incredibly sensitive, intuitive, social, and engaging animals.

Being with them can be an invitation — an opportunity to be more present, more aware, more connected, if we choose. To join them in their unique strengths.

And yet.

Most often they are over simplified, misunderstood, and misrepresented.

Those of us tuned into their nature are asked to change those who aren’t.

But that’s not our job.

I’m not here to change anyone who is set on seeing things a certain way.

But I will extend the invitation that horses so generously extend to me.

Slow down, breathe deep, join us in this moment.

Set aside what we think we know, so we can observe fully what’s in front of us, around us, within us.

You might be surprised by what you find there.

01/01/2025

We are easing into 2025 lightly. Soaking up sunshine and pretty things, rest and connection. Plenty of thoughts about this past year and the year ahead, but for now, we’re here. In the moment. Together ♥️