I used to! 😱 But not anymore. 1️⃣ Horses don’t stop developing until about 7 years old. Proper nutrition and living conditions, and good ground training is all they need until later. I wait to start horses until they are 4 or 5, and have a *very* gradual and strategic program from there that spends the next few years systematically preparing them for more intense riding requirements. This allows for adequate bone density development and fitness preparedness, while avoiding causing long term harm. 2️⃣ Simple, well fitted, tack is all you should need. Throw away the flash, martingales, tie downs, spurs, whips, gag bits, lunging systems, and anything that isn’t just a basic well fitted saddle and bridle. If you can’t do it in a mild snaffle, or soft padded side-pull, then you shouldn’t be doing it at all. 3️⃣ Horses should never go longer than 45 minutes without access to forage unless it’s medically necessary. Hang a hay net while they are tied, trailer with a hay net or manager, don’t let those hay nets run out overnight, give your horse snack breaks on long rides or train with R+/food rewards. 4️⃣ Both are harmful as they directly go against the species natural requirements for thriving. Horses are a social species and also are built to move constantly throughout the day. Limit how much your horse is being stalled and always make sure your horse has a companion near by. 5️⃣ Punishment is not always as obvious. A simple “ah ah!” could act as a punisher if it decreases behavior. Punishment is effective, but it also comes at a tremendous cost, usually suppressing all behavior (not just the undesired one) and harming the relationship. There are far more effective and healthier ways to resolve problem behaviors and train. 6️⃣ Riding is a privilege and should not be prioritized over everything else. Too many horses are poorly behaved for the vet and farrier, but compete at high levels. Too many horses are sold because they aren’t as rideable anymore. It was hard to pick just 6. There are a lot of things that are normal in the horse world that I don’t do. Would you be interested in hearing some more?

💛 For horse lovers who want more than obedience 💛 For caregivers who believe in kindness and effectiveness 💛 For partnerships built on consent, connection, and calm Join us inside The Art of Cooperative Care and discover a new way to support your horse—one rooted in choice, trust, and true partnership. Available for members of The Willing Equine Academy 👉 Enroll now at https://www.thewillingequine.com/academy (link in bio 🔗)

Flying backwards out of the trailer is a common problem. 😩 One we often accidentally encourage by rushing the backing out process. 😬 Backing out of the trailer should be a calm and collected process. You should be able to ask your horse to stop at any point and they should be able to calmly stand there with you. Not trying to rush forwards or backwards. There’s nothing wrong with backing out of the trailer all at once, as long as it’s what you’re cuing and you could at any point as for them to stop and wait. But when you have a horse with a history of exiting the trailer rather abruptly, I encourage you to spend a lot of time practicing stopping mid back-out and waiting calmly. Reinforcing that calmness, asking for a forward step, reinforce that, then ask for a back up, reinforce that, stop, reinforce waiting there, and then continue! Don’t be in a rush to exit the trailer with your horse. This is a VERY important skill to have for both of you. Even if you’ve arrived at your destination, take your time. The difference will be tremendous! ✨ Ps. The rope is just there for safety. It’s not secured to anything and we are not stopping him from backing out.

Relationship 𝗔𝗡𝗗 functional, practical, important behaviors. ✨ My horses meeting me at the gate 𝗔𝗡𝗗 safe, easy to handle, enjoyable to work with horses. Kind, patient, positive training 𝗔𝗡𝗗 effective outcomes. Connection 𝗔𝗡𝗗 communication. I 100% believe we can have it all. It’s not one or the other. Far too often R+ (positive reinforcement) focused training is limited to just some fun tricks or to fixing a few problem behaviors, when it can be SO much more than that. Or worse, it’s dismissed as not being “real” training that is practical or safe. Meanwhile pressure and release, natural horsemanship, and more traditional training approaches are thought of as the only way to achieve more “serious” training. I’ve been challenging that belief system for many years now and proving it 𝒘𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈. All of my horses and all of my training is R+ focused. I hike, ride, travel, teach lessons, do all the normal vet and farrier stuff with my horses… all with R+ training as our focus. And I teach my clients to do the same. 💪 The trick is that you have to have a foundation, and then you have to know how to build that foundation until it becomes the every day stuff, and the advanced stuff. It becomes a way of interacting with horses, it becomes a conversation. 💫