If you’ve heard of positive reinforcement (also called R+ or clicker training), you might associate it with tricks, liberty work, or building trust on the ground.
And while it does support all of those things— its true power lies in how it supports the whole horse, especially in physical therapy and movement work.
Read MoreIf you’ve ever watched your horse move and thought,
“Something’s just a little… off,”
you’re not alone.
Maybe they’re not lame, but they’ve started resisting the saddle.
Or they pin their ears during grooming, or just don’t seem quite like themselves anymore.
You check the tack. You rest them. You second-guess everything.
And still—something doesn’t feel right.
Read MoreHow can I tell if the back is lifting or core is engaging when I'm riding?
Or when I'm looking at horses being ridden and there's a saddle in the way?
This is a very common question and it's an important question! So I'm glad you asked :)
There are two really clear things you can look for that I've marked in these photos.
Read Morehe ethical framework I use to make horse keeping and horsemanship decisions is the same ethical framework I strive to use to guide everything in my life….
One of the things I say a lot is:
Meet resistance with softness
Softness does not mean permissive, or absence of accountability. It does not mean letting someone walk all over you…
Read MoreI’ve been sitting on something BIG for a while….
And the time has finally come to say it out loud.
I’ve spent a lot of time asking myself - how can I help people at a distance while facilitating *real change* in my clients?
When I talk to you guys some big things come up over and over again…
You want to feel confident that you can pick up on subtle lamenesses, soreness, or unbalanced movement EARLY...
It’s been the month of stiff low backs so I figured it’s time for a little movement analysis before and after to help train your eyes!
This little mare is a really great example because of her dorsal stripe! It makes it really easy to see what’s going on.
Read MoreHere we’re going to stick with our side view and the same horses from Part 1, but we’re going to focus our eyes specifically on the spine.
The spine is the (hopefully) stable base off which everything else moves, so dysfunction in the spine can have far-reaching consequences in movement and posture.
Therefore, having the ability to quickly screen for spine dysfunction is super handy!
Once again, this is not diagnostic, dysfunction here can happen for many reasons. This is big picture stuff that might key you in that a horse needs an evaluation from a professional.
Read MoreI was chatting with some old friends the other day and they said something that really hit me -
“We just can’t see what you see”
When I post before and afters, they have no reference point and they can’t always see the changes. Which is before? Which is after? And if they can see differences, which differences are “good differences?”
I do not think they’re alone! Actually, I know they’re not alone.
Read MoreRecently someone took a before and after photo collage I shared of Malachi, a horse in my care for rehabilitation, and posted it in a Facebook conformation evaluation group. The poster was questioning my integrity, suggesting these results were not possible and the photos or the way I took them must have been manipulated to achieve the results I was claiming - and ultimately the comments got turned off…
That’s a normal thing nowadays but honestly it was disappointing because some nice discussions were starting to happen around the differences between conformation and posture and what is actually possible in rehabilitation.
Read MoreUsually people are saying this in the context of emotions
and I think that part is true, too -
but my example today speaks to the physical body and how our own physical imbalances are so often mirrored by our horse’s imbalances.
The question becomes - which came first? Is our horse our mirror or are we our horse’s mirror? And we don’t always know. Chicken and egg.
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