We chose to bring horses into our lives. That doesn’t mean they owe us. Yes horses are EXPENSIVE, and sooo much work. I could have made this video hours long showing all the things I do just to keep them happy and healthy. I spend a good portion of my day managing them. They still don’t owe me. They don’t owe me rides, tricks, lessons, shows, therapy time, or anything. Horses are one of the few animals we keep that we expect to earn their keep. It’s true some other types of animals have “jobs”, like therapy animals and working dogs. But these dogs typically have a life long home with their family when they are ready to retire. Horses on the other hand are expected to earn their keep and are passed along if they don’t. Very few homes keep their horses for their lifetime. In fact most horses have at least 7 homes during their life, with ponies double that. And it’s true many large animals are kept as food, and that is how they “earn their keep”, but here in the USA we don’t eat horses. They are considered pets…. But also not? Really like a cross between livestock, pets, and work or sports equipment. They are in their own category really. Here’s what I think on the subject: Horses really should be considered working companions. Such as a therapy dog, perhaps a police dog, or the many kinds of canine athletes out there. They should be well cared for, trained kindly and patiently, and we should be making sure they enjoy their “jobs”. The intention should be for them to remain in their home for their lifetime as a working companion, companion athlete, or as a retired/non-working companion. And if they don’t work out as a companion, then perhaps we can consider an adoption situation to a lifelong home with a return agreement, if a good option becomes available. But first and foremost, they are a living being that deserves a good quality life with the security of a lifelong home once we have made that commitment to them. They shouldn’t have to earn their keep, shouldn’t be treated as a product, and deserve to be well cared for regardless of their performance or working capacity. So here I am, taking care of seven horses that don’t owe me anything. They don’t do any sports, I don’t breed or sell horses, they don’t have jobs, and yet… we do so much together and have a lot of fun! Sometimes we ride, sometimes we hike. Grooming is something we enjoy together too, as is bodywork, hanging out in the pasture, learning fun new behaviors and tricks, and so much more. One day we may do a sport together, we have in the past, but right now that’s not our focus and that’s okay. My horses are my companions first and foremost. Each with their own unique personalities, preferences, quirks, talents, and abilities. I spend endless hours just being with them. Followed by endless hours mucking manure, cold hosing legs, and filling hay nets. 😉 And it’s worth

It’s not a lot, and it’s not fancy, but it’s home and it’s ours and it’s perfect for what I need. 🖤 Not shown are the three large dry lots the horses live in 24/7 with run in shelters and 24/7 hay. They live in groups of 2 and 3 horses. (I’m not opposed to larger groups, this is just what my guys thrive with. I watch their sleep patterns, social behaviors, resource guarding, and also take into account the safety of my mini and senior horses). They have limited grass time during certain times of the day and certain days of the week, but that’s doesn’t mean they are bored or isolated! They still live a natural healthy species appropriate lifestyle. 🐴 Our old place was very nice and looked great on photos, but it wasn’t ours and it was an hour away from where I lived. They also didn’t have shelters in their pastures and I couldn’t properly regulate the grass access for my metabolic horses. Sometimes fancy is not what’s best. Just because it looks ideal to us does NOT make it ideal for our horses. We love our new home. Even though the adjustment period was quite tough and things didn’t exactly go as planned (I was supposed to have a large covered arena by now 😅, but life pivoted and we are enjoying our new grass and dirt movable “arena”, plus transitioning barefoot horses from flat soft grassy pastures to rocky hilly pastures). Now 3 years later, we couldn’t be happier! And we built it all ourselves one weekend and after work hours day at a time. 💪🤩

If your horse is difficult to encourage off of grass, give this tip a try! And if you want more…. ➡️ tips on training on and around grass ➡️ how to train effectively with positive reinforcement ➡️ step by step guidance and real one-on-one support ➡️ information on how to work WITH your horse not against them The Willing Equine Academy is ready for you and your horse! You can learn more in the link in my bio. 🔗 thewillingequine.com/academyyt The Academy isn’t home to just another course or Facebook group, it’s for horse people who believe kindness, clarity, and practical training belong together. Who are willing to become more thoughtful, observant, and skilled trainers, using positive reinforcement to build real-world skills without compromising their horse’s voice in the process. Build a willing partnership with your horse. 🖤

You have to rethink how behaviors are taught and cues are established. What happens before the behavior and after reinforcement. What you do when your horse gets something “wrong.” How you respond to unwanted behavior, structure a training session, create predictability, handle frustration, and build duration. How you approach boundaries, choice, motivation, and communication. Even the moments when you seemingly aren’t training need to be looked at differently. And this is where we sometimes people are done a disservice when R+ is presented as something you can simply sprinkle into whatever you’re already doing. A little clicker here. Some treats there. Maybe teach a cute trick or two. Meanwhile, we’re still operating from the same training mentality we’ve always had. If you really want to learn training with R+, you have to be willing to become a beginner again. And that can be especially difficult when you’ve been around horses for a long time. When I started down this path, I had plenty of horse experience. And then I learned about R+. I fumbled around, mixed old ideas with new ones, misunderstood important pieces, and created frustration in my horses and myself. I started to wonder if maybe R+ was more challenging than other training approaches. But eventually I had to admit that the problem wasn’t R+, it was that I hadn’t actually learned how to train this way yet. I stopped trying to fit R+ into the horsemanship I already knew and started giving it the respect of learning it as its own skill set. That’s when it started becoming easier. That’s when the frantic behavior around food began making sense, training became calmer and more predictable, I stopped feeling like I was constantly troubleshooting problems, and I started understanding why those problems were happening in the first place. R+ training is not inherently more difficult than other approaches, but it does deserve more than being treated like an add-on. If you’re going to do it, learn it. You don’t have to throw away decades of valuable horse experience, but you do need to find good teachers, build the foundations, and question what you think you already know.

Join us for our group trail ride last weekend 🖤 Featuring River and myself, Pumpkin and my long time client, and Dibs with her human (who is also my horses’ bodyworker!) The girls all did great. It was the first ride away from home since spring, and with only occasional mile long rides at home over the summer we were all a little out of shape. So we did 3.1 miles and called it a day. That was more than enough. A lovely day! River’s boots are from @cavallohoofboots , Pumpkin’s from @scootbootsdownunder . Saddles and pads are from @sportssaddle and @skitosaddlepads . Bridles are from @twohorsetack and @shopmilestoneequestrian

...oh that’s right. I can’t think of any! Positive Reinforcement & Clicker Training have dramatically changed my relationship with my horses for the better. Here are some reasons why you *should* try positive reinforcement training with your horses! 🔸 Builds a relationship based on cooperation and trust 🔸 Develops a deeper understanding of body language, communication, and equine ethology 🔸 Fosters interactions based in choice & autonomy 🔸 Encourages a mindset shift that carries over into every aspect of your life And SO much more! If you’re ready to take the leap and try positive reinforcement based training with your horse, join us inside The Willing Equine Academy. ⬇️ We would love to see you there! ❤️ www.thewillingequine.com/academyyt (link in bio too!)

The goal is never to fully remove the primary form of reinforcement. Be that food rewards, scratches, or release. BUT, for certain behaviors and for certain horses we can work towards less or less often. I don’t do this often, because I want my horses to find me a predictable source of reinforcement. Regardless of the type. In most training, negative reinforcement is the primary form of reinforcement. Which means the release of pressure is the reinforcement. (Pressure and release). Release is what tells the horse “YES! That was it!”. It’s what motivates the behavior. Without it… everything will fall apart eventually. And if it’s poorly timed or infrequent enough, the horse will become confused, frustrated, and maybe even dull to cues. The exact same thing happens with positive reinforcement. Some type of appetitive (usually food, but some horses enjoy scratches sometimes), is the primary form of reinforcement. The arrival of the food is what tells the horse “YES! that was it!”. It’s what motivates the behavior. Without it… everything will fall apart eventually. And if it’s poorly timed or infrequent enough, the horse will become confused, frustrated, and maybe even dull to cues. BUT, this doesn’t mean we have to be releasing every three seconds for the rest of the horse’s life for every behavior at every stage of learning. And it doesn’t mean we have to be dishing out food every three seconds for the rest of the horse’s life for every behavior at every stage of learning. We can intentionally build duration, variability in when the reinforcement happens, and we can even transfer a socially meditated reinforcement (such as the trainer giving food or release) to something environmental or other naturally occurring reinforcers. But we can never fully remove reinforcement. Hey, don’t get upset with me. That’s just how behavior works. I don’t make up the rules 🙈🤷‍♀️. So all of this is to say that yesterday when I saw Raven chilling in her shelter I just got my trimming supplies, but left my training pouch and any food behind. After years and careful training, the horse that used to be so difficult to trim just took a little nap while I trimmed all four and put her boots on. I thanked her afterwards and then left her to her nap. 🥰 Will I use food next time? Probably! Again, I want to maintain some level of reinforcement history for the behavior, and while I do want my horses to be able to pick up their feet at any time, anywhere, and for anyone … it’s not important to me that I be able to do a full trim without food reinforcement (at least not consistently). So it’s not likely something I will practice regularly, but for you maybe that’s important! And it can be done. 👍

How to safely and comfortably feed from the saddle! 🐴 When we use positive reinforcement under saddle, how we deliver the food is important. We want our horses to reach their reinforcement comfortably, without losing their balance or twisting awkwardly, while we’re able to deliver it without compromising our own balance in the saddle. In this video, I’m sharing how I approach food delivery from the saddle and what to practice before trying it mounted. Start on the ground! We can prepare our horses to understand where to expect their reinforcement and how to comfortably receive it long before we climb aboard. I cover this preparation in my Relaxed & Responsive course, and we’ll explore feeding from the saddle in more detail in my upcoming First Steps course. There’s also a physical component for both horse and rider. Your mobility, flexibility, and balance all matter, as does your horse’s ability to comfortably bring their head around. If either of you is struggling with the movement, address that rather than pushing through an awkward position. For more help with the physical side of things, here are some accounts worth following: 🐴 Equine bodywork & mobility: @EquineBodyworkOnline @freelyforwardbodywork @mastersonmethod @SozoEquine 🏇 Rider fitness & flexibility: @haybalesandbarbells4289 @HorseLearnerFitness And if you want to learn more about using positive reinforcement throughout your riding, both Relaxed & Responsive and the upcoming First Steps are included in The Willing Equine Academy! In fact, all of my foundation and specialty courses are now included with Academy enrollment, along with lifetime access to new courses as they’re released, our community, livestreams, and more. You can learn more through the link: thewillingequine.com/academyyt (link in bio 🖤) (Ps. Boots on River are from @CavalloHR88 )

I think it’s time to blow the big horse beach ball back up ⚽️ This is a throw back to October 2019, almost exactly 7 years ago, with my mare Tiger. Tiger passed away from cancer a year later. We attempted emergency colic surgery thinking it was an impaction colic, only to find out the situation was far worse than anyone could imagine. I said goodbye to her while she was still under for surgery. She was only 13. The pain of losing a heart horse never goes away 🤍 But her legacy lives on! In her herd mates that are still with me to this day, in her adopted daughter River, and in The Willing Equine. The only reason TWE is here and what it is to the day is because of Tiger. The beautiful buckskin mare that had no name, that bucked and bolted under saddle, that I spotted way out in the pasture and knew she was coming home with me. We had a rough couple of years to start. Many times I wondered if I had made a mistake buying her. But I stuck with her. She turned everything I knew upside down and inside out, showing me a brand new way of doing things. Im forever grateful to her for that. She left a giant crater in my heart when she passed, but she also managed to show me that my heart was capable of so much more and being so much bigger than I ever imagined. Tiger reminded me of who I had been when I was just a kid… of my passion and original desire to help horses. Not dominate them and use them. She taught me how to be brave, how to be different, how to advocate for others, and how to advocate for myself. Gosh I miss her. Six years and one month later her absence hits me like a tidal wave out of no where. Just sitting in bed scrolling through old videos for a project and this video pops up. It brings me joy, but it also brings pain. All of this is to say is that… I miss my girl. And if you’ve lost a heart horse or animal or person in your life, I know that grief well and you’re not alone. It never goes away, but it does get more manageable and the waves are gentler. 🌊 And this is also to say, that if you have a horse in your life (or other animal) that is really difficult for you to figure out right now. Don’t give up, they have so much to share. 🖤