Relationship Based Horse Training

25/06/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/12JLUKEyi2u/

25/06/2025

The beginnings of how this gets done. Of course, you should have "language" with the tools before this.

21/06/2025

This is hard for some people to understand (it absolutely was for me), that we have to work through their fear and reaction....then out the other side. Sort of like traumatized people.....working through the bad stuff can be painful because you have to revisit the traumatic event.

20/06/2025

Well said....

Recently, I sat with a University professor managing a small research program involving equine behaviour, welfare and management and several of her masters and PhD candidates to discuss the state of the horse industry as a whole.

It was a rich, layered conversation, one that’s still sitting with me days later.

I’ve always believed that education is the key to change.

That if we could just share evidence-based information, raise awareness, and teach better practices, we could shift the paradigm.

That once people know better, they’ll do better.

But during this conversation, a difficult question circulated: Maybe education alone isn’t enough?

Because the reality is, people don’t always change just because they’ve been given better information. Sometimes, they knowingly ignore what they’ve learned.

Not because they don’t care. But because implementing knowledge is hard.

It requires looking in the mirror and admitting:

“Maybe I was wrong”
“Maybe I missed the signs”
“Maybe there’s a better way and I haven’t been doing it”

That’s uncomfortable. It’s vulnerable.

So instead of making changes, many people stay stuck in cognitive dissonance. Rather than changing behaviour, the mind often tries to resolve this discomfort by justifying or denying the evidence.

“He’s just being difficult”
“It worked for my last horse”
“This is how we’ve always done it”

And so, despite the abundance of credible information, the suffering continues.
Our industry has deep-rooted problems.

Affording the care horses truly need can be overwhelming. The cost of adequate nutrition, bodywork, appropriate tack, responsible training, and appropriate living environments is high. As we raise standards, we also risk making the sport less accessible, particularly for newcomers. So people compromise. They rationalize. They do what they can afford or what feels easiest or most familiar.

So if education isn't enough … What is?
This question keeps me up at night.

Don’t get me wrong, we’ve seen incredible change through education. In our student community, in our graduates, in our clients and followers on social media, there are countless people who have welcomed the information and implemented it with courage.

They’ve done the hard work. They’ve looked in the mirror. They’ve stepped out of their comfort zones. And they’ve made things better for their horses.

But for those who resist, who know better but don’t do better, what will it take?
Maybe it’s not just education we need.

But where do we start?
Do we start by making space for discomfort and showing people they’re not alone in it?

By highlighting the why, not just the how, because transformation is always rooted in purpose, not pressure?

To those who’ve leaned in: we see you. We’re proud of you.
To those who are still resisting: we’re not giving up on you either.

For now, I don’t have the answers.

But I do know this: Change doesn’t start with perfection. It starts with awareness.
And the willingness to keep asking the hard questions.

20/06/2025

Practice stuff like this before they get their legs caught in something. Before you're riding them and branches hit their legs. Get them used to responding to certain situations in a controlled environment.

20/06/2025

This is a good illustration of a migrated hoof capsule that is returning to where it should be with proper barefoot trimming.

6 months progress on a 21 year old QH’s hind.

Left 2 pics are pre trim/post trim 12/2020
Right 2 pics are pre trim/post trim 6/2021

20/06/2025

Bare is best.....education on the topic is critical.

20/06/2025

Exactly. For a horse that doesn't stand well tied....untie them. For a horse that gets nervous in the trailer...let them out. Learning horsemanship is learning what to do, when to do it and when to stop doing it.

20/06/2025

I have always been amazed at how many people think that a long shanked bit is where their control lies. If I had a horse with too much forward, or too much emotion, I'd take them back to snaffle bit training. If I have a pacey horse, I want a snaffle bit to soften up their lateral flexion and work them toward relaxation. Then I move up into a 3 pc snaffle, finally into a finished bit with shin strap to add vertical flexion.

18/06/2025

What a wonderful world it would be if all horses began their lives with humans like this.
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1BtZhQpVUm/

13/06/2025

Not until you've got their emotions controlled and have a stop like this in a rope halter, are you ready for moving up into a bit. If you can't ride them out in just the rope halter, they're really not ready to be out there. I rode mine for nearly 3 years in nothing but the rope halter, then moved him up into the cradle bridle to tweak his gaits.