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Meyer Horsemanship

Professional rider, trainer, and equine behavior consultant in Somis, CA

12/05/2022

MIZTER KOOL CAT (Marino Marini - Miz Kool, by Ice Age)

Martini 🍸 has been improving every day and is turning into such a pleasurable low-level dressage mount. He has three comfortable, balanced gaits, is gentle and careful with children, and loves being out with his herd. This Storm Cat grandson is a horse I’d love to keep in my program with his future person, though is also ready to move or ship to an approved home.

Mid fours in Simi Valley, CA 🥕

meyerequine.wixsite.com/meyerhorsemanship/martini

04/05/2022

This big ol’ beef cake is so special. Dylan took these photos of us in March, just as Luke was starting to grasp the medium trot. So much training and partnership has brought us here and he has turned into my most trustworthy ride with such a powerful feeling. He’s come a long way!

It seems his neck just gets longer and longer, and improving his Spanish Walk with +R has only made things better - connection, engagement, lift in the shoulder, and rhythm all boosted in their strength just by adding shoulder-in to the movement and rewarding the right moment at the right time. Suddenly, seeking the bit is second nature to him.

I’m looking forward to new photos with Luke because, lately, he’s really understanding lowering his croup to lift his poll and the collection in the canter is just so good 👌 I also can’t wait to share how amazing Martini is doing ✨

👉 You can view Luke, Martini, and Benny on my website: meyerequine.wixsite.com/meyerhorsemanship/availablehorses. Luke is also available for in-program lease.

27/02/2022

Using +R To Teach Response To Pressure

Those who know Nova have heard me explain that Nova understands ‘surface pressure’ because of his +R foundation. I’ve been using a similar tactic with Martini, who tends to resist or push into pressure rather than move away.

Remembering that Tiny’s ‘thing’ is overstimulation, the misunderstanding when presented with contact and pressure wasn’t a surprise but it’s still very difficult to work with. I began teaching him tricks alongside our regular groundwork sessions to offer him a sense of play and performance in between the concentration we both need when working together. This chance of play still needs to provide safety for the both of us and a channel for him to send his energy & thoughts, so many of the actions he knows how to perform are movements and responses I can also use for training, de-escalation, and focus.

In teaching him to lift his leg, I can have an end goal of Spanish Walk, but I can also target slowness in movement, lifting his shoulder, patience, responsiveness, and shaping & prolonging behaviour. The stick serves as an extension of my hand for touch (non-escalating pressure) and the overall behaviour is taught & progressed with the clicker + food rewards.

I’ve taken the same process with transitions, voice commands, disengaging the hind end, leg yields, poll release, bending for relaxation, and attention redirection with this horse. He thrives with the clicker involvement while remaining on track to become a ‘normal’ riding horse. He’s so cool - he just has a lot to unwind!

13/02/2022

Every moment I spend with her is cherished 💛

Lilly is back on some medications we were able to put on pause for the past few months. I have been mixing them into a low-sugar grain instead of syringing them into her mouth twice a day because she was actually eating her mash, but she is not so eager about pentoxyfiline being back on the menu!

This morning, she kept asking for belly rubs instead of eating her meds. I picked an engagement of itching her belly if she would dip her nose into her grain bucket, and then removing my hand when her nose came out of the bucket - usually, she will just keep shoving her body closer to demand scratches. I didn’t think much of it as far as actually getting her to eat her meds and just enjoyed it as being able to shape behaviours with my horse for a minute, going with the flow. After a dozen loops of this, she started eating her meds with the associated belly rubs!

Dylan took these sweet photos of us enjoying the sun in the freshly groomed arena last weekend. There are a lot of things I cannot change and I am just happy I get to love her as she is and be with her every day.

15/01/2022

Bittersweet change. Paris is on her way to Texas with her family to enjoy a loving retirement in giant pastures with old friends. She is in the most capable hands with her incredible hauler, but it was still a very tearful goodbye.

Paris spent a year at the ranch offering me challenges every single day. She arrived with so much baggage and trauma and was not interested in letting go of the behaviours that had protected her for years. Ultimately, she drilled values and principles that I cherish into my core.

She is 17 this year. She raced, she had five foals, she proved her athletic ability across the board, her legs are tired, her physical and mental scars are healed, and she doesn’t want to ride anymore. I miss her hugs and the feeling of her forehead pressed into my chest. Her presence at the ranch has grown a beloved root in my entire training program.

I am grateful for a communication session with Kerri Lake last year. While talking with another horse, I was standing with Paris, who was licking my arm for so long that my sleeve was sopping wet. I laughed as I asked Kerri, “Does Paris have anything she wants to tell me?”

“No. She wants to eat you!” We laughed, and there was a pause. “She wants to consume you; to feel what you feel. There is an emptiness in her gut that she wants to fill with feeling.”

🤍

13/01/2022

Have you ever used ? 🧤 I was so excited to receive these awesome grooming gloves in the mail and even more thrilled to try them!

All my horses love the feel of the non-abrasive, flexible rubber nodules on the fingers and palms - from the itch queens Lilly & Bella on their faces, necks, and bellies to sensitive baby flower Luke on his back and rump! I also had .k.skates.away give them a try for our sale horse’s bath, leaving him incredibly soft and clean 🧼

What was most important to me about these gloves was how I could enjoy petting and grooming my horses without discomfort or anxiety. I regularly experience sensory overload in my hands, making texture a difficult sensation to overcome. Additionally, old shoulder & hand injuries can make holding & using brushes and tools painful. I have been using my Hands On gloves every single day and am totally comfortable, happy, and blissfully enjoying the time I get to spend hands-on with my horses. It is such a relief!

Thank you for sending me this awesome, accessible, useful product! All of us in the barn have been enjoying them, especially our horses 💚

09/01/2022

Tiny keeps me patient, proactive, and constantly thinking about my actions. He is a testament to The 3 Fs: friends, forage, & freedom! It took weeks to build his strength, address his responses to handling & interacting, and find the right balance for him as an individual.

He is turning 9 in April and has the “stereotypical” qualities of Storm Cat progeny - ‘attitude,’ ‘sensitive.’ He brings many difficulties and challenges as a horse in training. He can come out with guns blazing, legs flying, drama in his feelings & expressions. ‘Explosive.’

Tiny is patient, understanding, and truly trying the best he can. He becomes overstimulated very quickly. He can also come into the arena with poise and a calm eagerness to learn. I have to be his therapist, I have to be careful, and when I always choose to be clear and gentle and with the intent to teach, not to instigate, he is so willing and smart. It takes no time at all to train a behaviour when I am slow and thoughtful.

‘Overstimulated’ is such an important word when I talk about Tiny. “He struck at you?!” The language we choose will determine what we are actually witnessing or experiencing. I can show him what to do, how to move around me, and how to respond to cues very easily - when I take the time to wait, de-escalate, and work with him as an educated trainer and not as someone reacting with force or emotion with expectations that have never been presented to him prior. Tiny is, actually, very sweet and is begging to trust someone - finally, after he shut us out his first month here. He’s going to be so much fun. He already is!

30/12/2021

Welcome to this fun youngster, ZGSBEESIMPLYZIPPIN or known around the barn as ‘Ernie.’ He is a coming 4yo APHA/AQHA gelding sent from a friend for training & consignment.

Ernie has proven himself to be the most fun 3yo I’ve ever ridden! He comes from a western pleasure upbringing and will turn out to be a super cool horse in any direction he ends up going. Tons of group turnout & free choice hay have enabled him to be a reliable guy despite the unreliable weather and riding conditions. He makes groundwork easy and is curious about everything. We’ll see how he tackles the trails and I’m sure he won’t be here for long!

25/12/2021

Merry Christmas! 🎄🤍 Our angel for photos this year is Bella, my perfect old lady ✨Take a look at my story for all the portraits from this series!

Wishing everyone a magical holiday, may it be as warm & fuzzy as Bella’s coat 💫

Thank you to all my helpers, friends, & students that shared such great company at the ranch this year 🥂

27/11/2021

Meet Martini 🍸, a tall, quiet fellow who has made his way here. He is an 8yo grandson of Storm Cat coming out of a rough situation, finding his soft landing thanks to an awesome client of mine.

‘Teeny Tiny’ has been here for two and a half weeks, fantastically gaining weight and muscle with daily hand walking & light handling training, and finally becoming strong enough to enjoy turnout for the first time in years. He was very insecure his first week, but he has since found relaxation and trust in us & his newfound friends - particularly, he loves playing and snuggling with Nova - and has turned out to be a very easy going, friendly guy.

Topping off his care with free choice hay, stabilised rice bran, sand clear (psyllium), a dental visit, deworming, vaccinations, and upcoming farrier care, he is looking drastically better than when we met, and feeling the same. However heartbreaking, I love bringing horses into health and witnessing all the beautiful changes in their personality, condition, movement, and life. It is so rewarding to be caring for Martini and I’m excited to see the horse he will be when he is ready to find a new home in the spring ✨

25/11/2021

The only way to get back into posting is to just do it - hey everyone!

Lilly is doing exceptionally well after a miracle turnaround carefully crafted by my vet. The last time I shared here was to announce 9 great days that turned out to be three weeks. When she started going downhill after that it was hard to manage because we had really reached the end this summer, and, two months ago, my farrier discovered she had begun to founder on both hind feet, quoting that ‘her white line was exploding.’ But, she bounced right back, responding tremendously well to new medications and has only been improving! She has taken her recovery into her own hands and it has been beautiful to watch her be so careful with herself - the first, precarious leap of joy, the first prancing steps, the first buck and the first rear, the first burst of a run. The first time I didn’t find heat in her feet, the first time she ventured out of her stall without boots, the first time she was able to lift her hind leg to enjoy belly itches. She flies in her boots now and is so thrilled to be living life closer and closer to the way she wants to.

I have tons of updates but want to prioritise moving forward. Thor found his perfect home in Tennessee over the summer and Newt recently graduated his basic foundations. I asked to continue his education and am so happy to see Newt taking to Julia so well! Luke is still here, thriving in mind & body. A new OTTB arrived two weeks ago and another will enter consignment next Wednesday.

I have been filled with grief and exhaustion since June and am just so relieved that my horse is alive. We were both ready and I had reached acceptance more times than I can count, but my vet said, “Wait a little longer.”

30/10/2021

Horses graduating from their time here means stalls have opened! I only have one (1!) availability remaining, but a second will be opening February 1st, 2022 in Simi Valley, CA. Start your horse on the right note this new year ⭐️

My unique program is especially beneficial for:
🔸 Training OTTBs in dressage
🔸 “Problem Horses”
🔸 Starting horses under saddle

Also! ☀️ I have a stunning, petite Arabian mare available for on-site, in-program lease *only* for a small rider interested in learning groundwork and developing their dressage and/or hunter skills 💫

I work with you, the owners, and other top professionals to ensure knowledge & comfort across the board, like nutrition, physical health & conditioning, rider position, and groundwork. I genuinely love these horses and look forward to developing relationships with more that need help!

⭐️ Full training & board includes full care, turnout, feeding, cleaning, and scheduling of services. Our horses thrive in a routine of free choice hay, group turnout, and a quiet environment. 3-month, 6-month, & ongoing commitments with appropriate pricing. Please message me for more details ✨ Or visit:

https://meyerequine.wixsite.com/meyerhorsemanship

22/09/2021

I am so relieved to be writing this update, instead of the one I originally prepared, because, for the prior two weeks, we reached a point where I had to vocalise the decisions I was going to make, had arrived at acceptance for what I felt was the final time, and was beginning to make calls.

We are on day 9 of Lilly progressively improving.

A third set of radiographs is in the plan, as the first two, along with unending pain and grief, proved that she just couldn’t stop rotating. Shortly after my last post, things went poor and only got worse as we struggled just to get her comfortable again. This period of seeing her clearly, finally at ease coincides with new medications and supplements targeting metabolic and thyroid complications - on a normal insulin scale of 1 to 40, Lilly’s bloodwork returned with a score over 200, identifying a root cause that neither my vet nor I could have predicted as she has never presented any Equine Metabolic Syndrome (EMS) symptoms in known history. There is further, weird relief in knowing that this is much, much more than a simple grain raid - misery in understanding that something had been wrong months before the event when we thought we were identifying shoulder limitations in the spring, but comfort in this not being a failure.

Yesterday, she lifted her hind leg while I scratched her belly - the first time she could in four months. She wants to trot and leap and rear in her special boots, and I’m BEGGING her to just contain herself a little longer, but I’m finally letting myself celebrate, too.

03/08/2021

Two months ago, Lilly, Bella, and Nova escaped their night turnout and found all the boarders’ grain. I arrived in the morning to see them lined up at the tack room, waiting for me. No one choked, no one colicked, and Bella and Nova are fine. Lilly has been battling laminitis, with rotation in both front feet, more in the right.

Laminitis is “an ongoing heart attack in the feet” (Dr. Alicia Nolfi). The laminae hold the coffin bone to the hoof wall in parallel angles; when the laminae are weakened, the coffin bone rotates downward. This process is excruciating and cannot be undone, but closely moderating diet, reducing inflammation, and specific hoof trimming, assisted by supplemented hoof growth, can bring the hoof angle back to the bone angle.

This has been a very difficult road with lots of grief, panic, fear, patience, and acceptance. There is no straight line to recovery, and there have already been plenty of relieving highs and devastating lows in these two long months. Lilly has been taking stall rest like a champ, and Bella is always at her side. With all the routine and priority changes, I’m so thankful to for all the time she is taking to improve the circulation and regeneration in Lilly’s hooves. Dr. Cait Zacha, the forefront of Lilly’s veterinary care, has been the most realistically optimistic voice in my head. Dr. Charlie Liskey is regularly my biggest supporter and I have complete trust in the skill and knowledge of my farrier, Dustin.

Lilly is my soulmate. Every lesson I’ve ever learned is to just listen to her, first, foremost, always. She’s comfortable and loved, and she is lifetimes ahead of me.

01/08/2021

I have been sick for Too Many Days so I guess I can scrape something up from my Lightroom library to post ⭐️ Autumn has put in great work in the time she’s been here! She has so many great buttons that we are rediscovering together through focus and relaxation to keep her anxieties at bay, with help from my veterinary team to pinpoint the sources of her triggers that have been past mysteries.

My goals with her are to regain her confidence and create a sustainably healthy lifestyle. As she’s getting older, allowing her to find relaxation through her topline has been as important as helping her keep her body & brain in balance. She has also gone from a perpetually anxious horse in turnout - hovering at the gate and fleeing from other horses - to enjoying the entirety of a nightly 15 hours outside with her new friend: Paris! I love seeing the transformation that comes from matching the right horses together, in the right place, with the right resources.

Though, I have to admit, some of Paris’s ‘enthusiasm’ has rubbed off on Autumn, just a tiny bit 😉 …And I can hear my boss’s husband’s disappointment in me with how much I am looking down in all my recent posts ☠️

25/07/2021

Luke went on his first offsite adventure with me yesterday, to , and I am beyond proud of how well he handled the adventure! Luke is already a loading & hauling pro, but he further impressed me by letting me tack up within 5 minutes of coming off the trailer, hopping on, and hacking the property and around two arenas on the buckle, plus seeing mirrors and a dressage court for the first time! I felt some tension through his right lead - normal for him, though amplified in this new environment - while we schooled so our ride was kept brief and simple, but he was not spooked by a single thing, not even the banners along the rail or the trucks passing on the road! He remained curious and at ease with each new question presented to him.

Luke is such a wonderfully different horse than when he arrived last year, having overcome a lot of baggage that was holding him back. He is such a special boy. Thank you to my awesome boss & trainer for everything you’ve done to help me bring Luke along without getting to meet him until now, for continuing to train me to be a better rider on so many amazing horses, and for this super fun opportunity - I’m sure we’ll be doing this more! It’s a wonderful feeling to have a horse I feel so comfortable and confident with no matter where we are, and to make offsite adventures feel so effortless.

If you are interested in Luke, you can find his ad through the link in my bio to my website, and I am happy to answer additional messages that are not already covered in his description. He is a 12yo 16.1h OTTB gelding that excels as both a dressage and hunter superstar 💫

18/07/2021

This ride with Paris felt so good 🧡

It’s been a long time since I posted regularly but I’d like to change that. Facebook memories are telling me that two years ago today was the first time I sat on Nova after two months of groundwork - I felt clear and like everything I was doing was right, and it was, and it was exhilarating, especially to pull off such a thing with a horse who had gone from fearful and flighty to confident and engaging! I want to get back to that mindset and reconnect with what made +R so important to me. I feel like my incorporation of +R into sport horse training has been off balance and I need to realign it. It’s really cool to see these photos, and I’m certainly happy with them. Paris makes me second guess myself in ways I should, questioning if I am really doing the best I can, and challenging me every day. She’s awesome.

26/06/2021

She’s here! Welcome Lovely ✨ We also wished her a happy 17th birthday this week 🥳

She is fitting in so well at the ranch and shared a special ‘hello, old friend’ with Cody, who she has not seen in over two years - it was nice to be able to offer her a familiar face in such a big herd of new horses.

I’m excited to be able to spend so much more time with Little Lovely every day and for you all to see just how lovely she is… She is a special horse to me and is it’s easy to fall in love with her floaty movement & gentle personality 🥰

26/05/2021

Welcome Newt, my last introduction of the month, an adorable, unhandled 4 year old QH from a Texas kill pen. I originally started working with Newt a month before he arrived to prepare him for the journey ahead. In his first session, it took 1.5 hours to get a halter on; the next two sessions saw that time drop to 30 minutes, until he began allowing me to cut the process down to 15 minutes to start and then being able to consistently take the halter on and off with comfort and confidence.

Now, having been here nearly a month already, Newt self-halters and will now let me brush most of his body, excepting his hind legs, and to handle both front legs. It will still be a bit before my farrier will be able to trim him, but Newt is engaging and curious, and is starting to present tasks and behaviours himself. He actively seeks interaction and will follow me just about anywhere.

Newt will be 100% clicker trained per his owner’s request. He is all familiar to me and I am excited for the next five months together!

20/05/2021

New achievement unlocked! ⭐️ Luke is a handsome, educated 2009 16.1h OTTB who excels in dressage and has recently been started over fences. He moves like a warmblood and we can’t wait to see his medium trot under saddle. Luke rides well off the seat and leg and comes correctly into the contact. He has a down to earth personality and loves living in pasture.
Highest 4s 🕘🖐🍎🍎

Hope is looking for a soft landing 🌤 She is a 2005 16h unraced OTTB and has been a broodmare her entire life. She is sound on maintenance and enjoys trail riding. Hope is very forward and suitable for an intermediate rider that can keep her happy, calm, and confident. She is not trained for a specific discipline but goes both english and western. Hope wears special hind shoes to relieve her suspensory desmitis.
Lowest 4s 🥕🥕🥕🥕

meyerequine.wixsite.com/meyerhorsemanship/availablehorses

18/05/2021

We were blessed with a visit from on Sunday, after the pandemic and a return to Oregon tore us apart. Nova was so happy to see Liv, who shadowed me through Nova’s entire journey from halter training to becoming a +R/clicker trained riding horse.

Nova was not particularly interested in showing off this weekend but was instead adamant on kissing Liv as much as he possibly could 🥰 Check out the beefcake this boy has turned into! He has become my most reliable lead trail horse and has been learning canter pirouettes in his spare time.

I love teaching and it was great to share some new knowledge with my old student. We love & miss you Liv, come back soon!

17/05/2021

Three new horses arrived the weekend of May 1st. Welcome Autumn 🍂 I am so happy to have this big mare joining the program, and in our first weeks she has been nothing but a joy for me as we become great friends.

Pictured here with , one of my working students, who is ever-patient and so kind to all my horses and clients.

I’m looking forward to conditioning Autumn and am determined to help her start moving the best she ever has and to feel young as an 18 year old. She has been a fancy hunter/jumper and has, thankfully, already received some much needed help to overcome her past. It’s nice to be able to move on right where someone left off, instead of having to start from scratch or undo damage in order to even begin.

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http://meyerequine.wix.com/meyerhorsemanship

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Caine Meyer

Horses have been my focus since early childhood and growing up around the Arabian breed has given me the hands on connection to misunderstood animals. When starting my career, I chose problem horses because I learned they simply need someone to listen to them and that I have the patience they need to communicate. I love the spirit, strength, and language that horses give, knowing that when I work with any particular horse it is not about changing their traits or shutting them down, but rather showing them they are free to express themselves, as all horses should be. My training reflects my psychology college major and incorporates positive and negative reinforcement to bring the best out of both my equine partners and myself.