The Pony Patch

28/06/2023

Another fabulous write up by someone I suggest my students follow. When I think about the number of horses who are bred and discarded of before they even race, combined with the number who injure themselves in such a way that they will have lifelong physical troubles, combined with the number who will have lifelong emotional troubles, combined with the number who fatally hurt themselves in training or in competition – I truly wonder who in this world can support horse racing anymore? If these were dogs, would you support this sport? What about the sport that you participate in?

I just heard one of the better ways to figure out whether what a sport asks a horse to do is within reasonable limits.

We were talking about the fatalities and crippling injuries that have become almost routine and business as usual in some horse sports, and the man I was talking with this about knows very little about horse sports, but a great deal about several human sports.

He said to ask one basic question---"Is the price of failure a worse score or can it cause the horse to be hurt? If a poor performance leads to injury, and it happens as a somewhat routine occurrence, they need to back it down. If it doesn’t hurt the horse, except as a rare fluke occurrence, then it is probably acceptable.”

I asked him to clarify with an example.

“So if I am a poor golfer, I will get an embarrassingly bad score, but the only thing that gets hurt are my feelings. But if I get crippled in a downhill ski race, either I wasn’t good enough to be out there, or the course was poorly designed, or some combination of those things.”

Look at the horse sport that YOU support. Does a bad performance have a fair chance of leading to actual injury? If your answer is ‘yes’, why do you let it stay that way? Why would you not look for ways to spare the horses that most riders profess to care about? Aren’t there ways to decide who gets a blue ribbon, a red, a yellow, without putting horses in danger?

It seems so simple what he said. If it hurts horses, change it so it doesn’t. And that saying---"If you aren’t part of the solution, you are part of the problem.”

And none of that infantile “they can get hurt running in the pasture” justification. Or even worse, “he died doing what he loved.”

Grow up.

13/06/2023

I know someone looking for a horse. She is one of those homes that we all wish our horses would go to. She is a capable rider with good feel. However lacks some confidence. She is looking for her next trail horse between 14 and 15 hands ideally, under 16 years of age. Doesn't need to be fancy. Send me a direct message if you have a lead. Thanks!

29/11/2022

I would highly recommend my students follow Ross Jacobs (link in comments). He writes very thoughtful posts on a regular basis and I find myself in steadfast agreement with most of what he writes. He is another person who has studied with Harry Whitney. Ross’ most recent post was very timely for me, discussing two ideas that I’ve been thinking about and was just discussing with a student…�

1. Can a horse feel ok with multiple handlers/riders?�
2. Can a horse feel ok with inexperienced handlers/riders? (Riders who don’t yet have down the mechanics and balance – and therefore have little-to-no feel)

�I’ll answer the second question in a follow-up post.

The answer to the fist question, from what I’ve experienced, is yes IF those handlers/riders have enough of the same feel and mechanics going for them that the horse isn’t confused and is given a chance to understand what is needed and might be asked for in a slightly different way. On the ground, if the handler knows how to feel of the horse, even if the feel and cues aren’t exactly the same, I’ve seen horses seem completely content with multiple handlers. Under saddle, even though the riders aren’t identical in proportions, timing, cues, etc – there can be enough similarity that provides the necessary clarity and therefore makes the horse feel unbothered swapping between riders. While both of these things are possible, I don’t find that they often transpire.

It is my experience that most people are still learning how to gain clarity just between themselves and their horse both on the ground and under saddle. It is a serious struggle for many of students to be clear with their horses in every interaction that takes place between themselves and their horse. Most people don’t have the focus to provide clarity while carrying on a conversation with someone at the barn, while trying to tie a knot, while opening/closing a gate, while tacking up, while thinking about what else they need to do that day, etc. Adding in additional handlers and riders typically further dilutes the clarity and confuse the horse. For example, a horse who is asked to wait patiently, not lunge for grass, and walk calmly to the barn at feeding time will ultimately be unable to do those things if often (or possibly even some of the time), they are handled by people who don’t have the coordination to latch the gate while ensuring the horse isn’t lunging for grass, doesn’t understand how to keep away other horses trying to push through the gate, doesn’t understand the timing to not add anxiety to what is naturally an anxiety-producing situation, etc.

The same can be said for riding. A common misconception is that it would be beneficial for a horse to be ridden multiple times/week by other people if the owner can’t make it out to the barn to “exercise” the horse. In my experience, it is not only not beneficial, but is often damaging. One of the ways a horse will attempt to deal with this lack of clarity, is to shut-down – go inside itself since it can’t make sense of the confusing pressure it is enduring. I worked this year with two of the most shut-down horses I have EVER come across. Both frequently ridden my a multitude of riders and asked to do a multitude of tasks. One of the horses made enormous progress with this rider, he woke up, was bright and responsive, and was really a pleasure to ride. His rider went off to school this fall and he returned to the task of carrying around numerous people who ride quite differently – removing the clarity we had worked so hard to create.

I feel strongly enough about this to say that I think it is cruel to put this kind of stress on a horse — handling or riding by multiple people who don’t provide clarity (and then often getting mad at the horse for exhibiting undesired behavior). It is one of the greatest challenges I encounter when working with students who have their horses in a stall-board set-up. Their horses are handled by a multitude of handlers at least twice/day – often people who no matter how kind, are unskilled, or who offer little/no feel to the horse. It is nearly impossible for me to “fix” a horse who is bothered by the lack of clarity in their day-to-day handling by multiple people who aren’t all cooperatively learning how to provide clarity. I can make things better in the short-term, by giving the horse clarity, which may stick for a period. But it will not stick for long if the handling is just bad, or the horse is one that is especially worried by a lack of clarity.

For people who have to board, and I’ve been in that situation myself at various points in my life, the best scenario is to find a 24/7 outdoor boarding situation. Preferably one where no one, other than you, handles your horse. This solves more than one problem and will tie in nicely with a post I hope to write soon on the mental and physical health benefits of 24/7 turnout. The next best scenario, is to find a small barn where the horses are handled by only one or two skilled people. When I bought my current facility, it was full of boarders, and there were on average, six different people handling the horses weekly. I watched a horse get loose the day I moved in due to poor handling. One of the first changes I made was to hire ONE skilled person to provide all the care Monday – Friday, and two skilled people to cover the weekends. I don’t know that the boarders understood and appreciated why I was insistent on this change, but I saw the benefits to the mental state of the horses almost immediately. No more loose horses, SO much less anxiety at feeding time, etc.

I have met a horse here and there that seems to truly not be bothered by inconsistent handling or riding. They do exist. They are rare. Most people who think they encounter these horses often, have actually just interacted with shut down horses – horses that go through the motions but aren’t completely present. Think of almost every single lesson horse you have ever encountered. Or every single horse in a trail string. That is a shut-down horse. They don’t do anything overtly dangerous (unless they suddenly wake up), but they also aren’t very responsive, are usually somewhat pushy because they are only half-conscious, etc. I’ll talk more about this when I write a follow up to this post, on my second point – horses who have to deal with less-skilled handlers and riders on a regular basis.

In conclusion, it is possible to have a horse feel content and confident about multiple handlers or multiple riders. But it requires that those people have similar enough feel and skill to provider clarity to the horse. My suggestion for most people is to develop that clarity between themselves and their horse first and foremost. That is a huge accomplishment in itself!

Pic of my long-time student Mikayla riding my pony Franklin this fall. She rides with similar feel and mechanics to myself – allowing Franklin to relax and enjoy the ride :)

21/11/2022

Tupelo’s owner has been coming up to work with her on the weekends. She and I were discussing a new way for her to approach groundwork. Tupelo has a lot of experience with what I would call “systematized horsemanship”. It’s the type of program where doing A, B and C in a set way, with a set cadence and set amount of pressure are supposed to yield predictable results. I absolutely understand why those types of programs exist. They give people the clear answers they want – a set way to do things with the belief that if followed, the outcome is predictable.

I know some really good horse people who have come from, or even still practice to some extent, these systemized horsemanship of some sort. But what I typically find when I interact with horses who have been run through these programs, is that they are completing learned patterns and are they are not feeling back to the human – because the human is not feeling of them. What I mean by this, is that every ask from the human is fairly systemized. Regardless of how quickly or softly the horse responds, they are going to get asked in the same way, and to complete the exercise in a set way, etc. Therefore, the horse doesn’t learn to follow the feel their handler is offering them in the moment. The handle doesn’t learn to modify their request, or respond to the horse in real-time based on every instance of feedback the horse gives to them. Another way to think of this is “trick-training” versus developing a feel between horse and human. The most common instance I see of this is a horse who is sent out to the end of a rope and asked to make endless circles while the human stands motionless in the center of the circle – passing the rope behind their back each time the horse makes a lap. There is absolutely no feel between the horse and human during this exercise — instead the horse is carrying out a learned pattern on autopilot. In contrast, when I send my horse out on a line, I want a feel between us every single step of the way. This means I am communicating to my horse in a way that often looks like they are mirroring me. If I lean into them, they lean away with the same amount of feel. Based on what my horse is doing, and the feel they are offering me, I am constantly adjusting my feel. If I need them to speed up, I carry a little more energy in my step, if I need them to stop, I lower my energy. Most importantly, the degree to which my horse responds each step of the way is in sync with the amount of intent I put into each step.

Nearly 15 years ago, I leased a horse at a farm for a short period after college. The horse had been trained using patterns from a very famous horse program. Therefore, I needed to learn the specific ways to ask the horse to do each desired thing. For example, if I was standing on the ground next to the horse and wanted the horse to turn it’s head toward me, I had to mechanically stroke the rope once very lightly, and then shorten the rope toward me. I remember watching the horse’s owner demonstrate, and the horse flung it’s neck around toward the woman soon as the woman “stroked” the rope, but nonetheless, she continued to shorten the rope towards her – the entire exercise completed in a very mechanical fashion by both the horse and owner. I asked her why she had to separate out the two requests and she stated that was how the horse had learned. It was a “trick” in my mind, with neither horse nor human feeling their way through the request and response. 



Tupelo’s owner is learning here how to carry a “trot” in her intent and feel when Tupelo is with her, versus on autopilot. When Tupelo begins to go on auto-pilot, her owner steps in toward the mare, bringing her attention back and regaining the feel and connection between them which you can see in their mirrored body language. She is doing a lovely job with her lovely mare ❤️

16/11/2022

First canters under saddle this week! She really flies. A little rushy and out of practice but so far no “bucking problem” 🤞. I’m really, really enjoying this little mare. She is energetic, interested, and it’s a fun challenge to help her stay relaxed through tight moments. She’s making such big changes, it is so rewarding to see and feel.

11/11/2022

Now I know what it's like to ride a bashkir curly! What a sweet mare. We got three rides in over the past week. Her first rides in a decade +. Her previous owner was warned she had a bucking problem. So far everything has felt relaxed. She is a lovely mover and so far seems untroubled.

04/11/2022

I’m having fun with this little mare. She is interested in me, but has a fair bit of interest in everything else going on around us. The thing I work on most with a horse is “are you ready”. What I mean by that, is that I want to smoothly and kindly, but somewhat quickly, ask the horse for something. It could be for their attention to look to the left, to lower their head, to move off in a circle. And all I need from them is for their attention to turn to me. In order to be ready to hear my request, they can’t completely mentally lose track of me. They need to let go of their current focus, if it is elsewhere, and turn their attention to me. It seems, that this creates a mental flexibility, where I’m of great importance to the horse - always ready to take number one priority, but not a worry or an annoyance.

This mimics how I see my horses regard a calm, clear horse above them in the herd. They keep track of the horse but don’t fear him. They see him flick an ear and respond accordingly because they are always ready to turn their attention toward him. They also want to be with or near the horse because they understand the calm, clarity in the relationship.

Once the horse mentally finds me and is soft in their response, I often don’t need much of anything else from them. The key, is learning to read the horse well - so that you can differentiate between physical compliance and actually getting the horse’s thought. That ability to get their thought with you is what’s important. Tupelo does a nice job demonstrating here with subtle but distinct differences when she comes through with her thought.

30/10/2022

How cute is this mare?! She’s a little bashkir curly - here to get going back under saddle after a long time (a decade?) off. She was a brood mare in her previous life and has been a sweet pasture pet the past few years. She’s very fun - carrying some emotional baggage about working at speed, but overall seems pretty level-headed and willing.

14/10/2022

I'd identified three things to get done with this mare over the past month in prep of her going home to her new owner. Lowering her head to be bridled, lining up to the mounting block and having her feet handled. She was less than helpful about all three things a short time ago. As soon as she understood what was needed, she was happy to comply. All the riding I got in too was icing on the cake. I don't usually get to work with horses this nice and am sad to see her go ❤️

09/10/2022

What a stunning weekend! The trees on the farm are in full fall foliage. My days were packed with lessons and riding. It was really fun to watch numerous students have "ah-ha" moments. Today, we had a get-together with all the boarders – getting to know each other's horses better and enjoying each other's company. The energy on the farm this weekend felt vibrant, positive and warm ❤️

05/10/2022

I spent this past weekend at a Bryan Neubert clinic with students and friends. It was such a warm, welcoming, relaxed atmosphere - allowing for both the people and horses to learn. It was my first time getting away to ride in a clinic since the pandemic began. It felt amazing to see so many familiar faces, including Bryan - a long-time mentor of mine.

Huey and I first rode with Bryan in Asheville NC 10 years ago. Since then, I’ve brought many ponies to his clinics. I met his son, Luke, at a clinic - allowing me to travel to Texas and soak up so much knowledge, riding with Luke and his wife, Kelli.

Bryan isn’t a flashy, commercial cowboy. He grew up next door to Bill Dorrance and cowboyed for Ray Hunt. He is so good with horses, it just about makes me sick. I love how he is practical, kind and clear with horses - every horse he handles looks happy to be there. He knows how to turn up the heat, but applies just as much emphasis to helping the horse relax and feel good with him.

I took away more from the clinic this year than I ever have. I was going to bring my new pony, Franklin, but he and I are getting along famously. Huey however - still puzzles me from time to time - so he made the trip. I also brought a client’s youngster to ride and watched my student Elizabeth start her three-year old warmblood, Noodle, under saddle. Bryan also assisted me with a ride on Noodle. (That’s right, I ride TWO 16+ hand youngsters this weekend 😆).

I’m feeling very grateful for everyone who made this weekend possible (Frannie, Bryan, etc) and my students and friends who attended and provided such a positive atmosphere conducive to learning. I have so many new things I can’t wait to put to use!

25/09/2022

It’s only Saturday, and another highly satisfying weekend on the books! As I was traveling through Massachusetts teaching today, and teaching my dedicated students at my farm on Friday, I was reminded of what a deeply different position I find myself in this year, compared to just a few short years ago.

I’ve opened up to some of you about the traumatic experience I had with a neighbor at my previous farm. In short, my husband and I lived in a studio apartment for years while we fixed up a dilapidated house - built barns and moved in. It was supposed to be our “final farm” - giving me the financial freedom to do horse stuff full-time. A neighbor weekly conducted an activity that was absurdly loud on my property. My property essentially became unsafe to house training or boarding horses or to conduct lessons. I was increasingly nervous about my own horses’ safety. On multiple occasions our dog spent 24 hours straight huddled in the back of our closet. I was forced out despite multiple pleas to the neighbor to please, please work with me so we could co-exist. The fact that I put the manure pile in an inconvenient spot so it would be out of view of their house seems ridiculous now. This time period rolled right into the beginning of the pandemic - compounding the stress of trying to sell a house, move, and buy a new house

My sense of safety and comfort in my home disappeared. I became suspicious, anxious, couldn’t eat, lost weight, couldn’t focus and according to my husband, became a completely different person. I had to give up the dream of being a full-time horse professional - finding myself in a vastly different market when we bought our current farm in 2020. (I’m lucky to also, mostly love my full time job!) I felt panicked going over to meet the new neighbors but have been insanely lucky this time around to have caring, generous people on both sides of us now.

Today, I found myself thinking about and being thankful for the wonderful people who have become my circle of support, who helped me through this transition, who are as energized by and interested in the horsemanship I teach (and am forever learning more about). The teaching and training I do got me through this experience. It gave me something to look forward to and I kid you not, that made all the difference. You have all helped me get to the other side of despair, whether you knew it or not. Thanks everyone for your support and just being so darn wonderful ❤️

Photo of Vivian, who is here at my farm to gain some weight and new skills before heading home to her new, lucky owner.

10/09/2022

Noodle is growing up! I had a lovely afternoon working with Noodle and his amazing owner, Elizabeth. Noodle is learning about western saddles, lining up to the fence and accepting the weight of a rider. In typical Noodle fashion, the nipping and busyness shows up anytime he gets anxious with new things, so we are breaking the steps into bite size pieces and helping him feel good along the way. It was really a spectacular day with big changes. By the end, he was letting me hop up on each side, walking off calmly, and disengaging to stop. Now I just need my students to commit to buying shorter horses so I don’t have to reach my legs up so far 😂

18/08/2022

The struggle has been SO great with this pony, making the reward that much sweeter! He feels like butter when I ride him now - he feels my intent, every movement of the rein, etc. Our rides feel weightless 🙌 - which is an incredibly addicting feeling. Despite his poor coordination and other health challenges, he is feeling more reliably with me, and astounding me each day. Huey is on a little vacation while I sort out some saddle fit issues, and I’m appreciating the extra time I now have to spend with Digby!

14/08/2022

Two of my lessons yesterday were with horses that couldn’t be more different. Colby was born with more sensitivity and alertness than most would desire. But Mikayla has learned to channel that for good. He’s a blast to work with - picking up on every shift of your weight and tiny movement of your rein. Gus is working on being awake and not blowing through every signal thrown his way. When he is awake, listening and thinking about the job - he is a stunner 🤩.

Any my pup Jasper had another successful travel outing. It was a great day 😁

05/08/2022

In my teens and twenties, I wanted to do much fancier things on my horses. Now I'm thrilled that I can reliably get horse to feel good walking, trotting, cantering and galloping on a loose rein in a variety of situations. It seems simple, but requires the horse to be relaxed and with me. They carry themselves and stay with me on their own accord. It can't be forced or faked. My three ponies this past week looking fancy in their own, relaxed way ❤️

04/08/2022

FINALLY! My farm has a sign. My husband, Dave, surprised me with the sign yesterday. I'm delighted!

29/07/2022

Ringo is known for haphazard, hard-to-sit canter departures and plowing through jumps. Clary sent me this video of their progress. I love the part where Clary marvels at Ringo’s improved aptitude and where they dismount with enthusiasm to reward Ringo for his stellar performance.

16/07/2022

It has been two weeks since my last visit down to Massachusetts, and I was floored today by the changes I saw in these two horses. Amy and Clary have clearly been practicing and focusing on the things we’ve discussed. Both these horses go inward - to an extreme. They require a rider/handler that will insist upon “brightness” in all they do, and develop the eye and feel to recognize the difference between when they are awake and when they are “asleep”. We discussed how it’s not about the number of sessions in a week, but rather the consistency of expectations within each session that makes the difference. I am incredibly impressed and so lucky to have such fabulous students!!!

01/07/2022

Noodle has been saddled multiple times, bridled, stood tied for over an hour, is letting me handle his mouth, pinch his neck (for shots) and overall placed me higher up on his list of important things. Still work to do, but I’m so pleased with what we’ve accomplished this month. He goes home Saturday and I’m going to miss him!

25/06/2022

If there were ever a horse for which I had a clear “before” video, it would be Noodle. I met him about a year ago. I showed up after the vet who gives him his yearly vaccines had recommended me to his owner. I was supposed to stay an hour, but ended up staying 2.5 hours. During that time, I worked with him in a small 12 x 16 ish area of his paddock, attempting to halter him, touch him without him nipping/shoving me, back him up a single step and get him to stay a modicum of still. I was exhausted by the end.

I’ve seen his owner EVERY time I come down to Massachusetts since then, so probably 18 times in the past year. We spend two hours together. It took us five-ish months to be able to lead him from the paddock to the round pen - about 100 feet away. His owner follows through on practicing the things we discuss. She has made amazing progress, for which she doesn’t give herself enough credit. But she still finds herself frustrated with his anxious antics sometimes (me too Elizabeth 😉).

I sent his owner this video yesterday, as well as some stills of him standing tied in the aisle way. And she said to me: “He looks great, like a normal horse not constantly trying to eat the rope or pull on anything in reach. How did you do it???”

Clarity. And building on the good work she had already put in place.

That’s how I did it. The clarity comes from so very incredibly much practice, that I am finally able to get the timing, feel and accuracy of what I’m looking for to line up. I can help the horse get its thoughts here with me, lined up with their feet. Sometimes I’m incredibly soft, light and what I do isn’t very perceptible. Other times I apply so much pressure that I can tell it makes people uncomfortable. However the result always makes the horse more comfortable - or at least that is my aim. What I do is clear. It is fair. It gets their attention and breaks through the layer of anxiety. It produces a better feel between the horse and myself.

Still lots to be done with Noodle. He crushed my foot while I was trimming him the other day and he has a penchant for turning and running away - which is extra fun given his size. But as I told his owner when I first met her, “how interesting the normal things aren’t working. I guess we get to learn something new.”

21/06/2022

Noodle’s first day dragging the bag. Easy-peasy ☺️

20/06/2022

It was a bit breezy and chilly, but I had a wonderful trip to New Hampshire and Massachusetts yesterday working with two awesome, fun ladies. My pup, Jasper, came with me and was pretty perfect. I’m so pleased he is turning into such a good travel-mate 😁

14/06/2022

Sometimes the most exciting accomplishments with a horse don’t look very exciting. The fact that Noodle can let me direct his thoughts from left to right, reach in to pat him, touch his face – all without nipping, biting, pushing, turning to run away, and other bothered behavior has taken some time. I’m thrilled that Noodle is here so I can build on the progress his extremely hard-working owner has made over the past year and give this horse a better outlook on working with people.

Noodle had to be gelded at one day old due to a hernia in an extremely unfortunate location. I don’t recall the exact story at the moment, but I believe bottle feeding was involved for a period, and then a leg-injury that resulted in living in a stall for much of his early life. People were likely seen as a combination of food source and discomfort and that uncertain feeling towards people can be felt often. He is both curious and bothered by our presence. He is a very interesting, fun guy to work with and I’m super pleased with the changes we are seeing as of late. Looking forward to posting more updates.

11/06/2022

I got a new puppy this past winter named Jasper. I recently took him to a friend’s house. She has a wonderful way with dogs (and horses) and was giving me some tips and instruction on how to get his attention and help him through stressful situations. As she so naturally and artfully did all the things I was struggling to do, I chuckled to myself - reminded of how I’ve previously felt in the past working with horses (and sometimes still do!). It reminded me of how my student’s tell me they feel when they struggle so hard to get the feel, timing, presence and mechanics all put together right and see me pick up the lead rope and “make it look easy.” I’ve learned it’s not easy for most people - just the result of doing it over and over and over again until suddenly it feels like second nature. Jasper and I are going to keep at it - we are still a long way from second nature 🙈

07/06/2022

New gravel and drainage. A huge undertaking, but it sure looks nice ❤️

29/05/2022

I took Penelope home to Rockport Mass yesterday. She came in for a couple months of training and ended up staying over a year, proving to be a nice horse under saddle and a good teacher to my students on the ground. She will be missed at The Pony Patch but I’m glad she and her owner will have some fun together.