Big Dark Horse Development

The journey to becoming a riding horse has thousands of little steps.

The beautiful thing about raising a horse from birth is that you have so much time, and therefore so little time pressure. I barely notice that I’m training Cruella, and she basically has no idea she’s being trained at all. We just spend low-pressure time together, and sometimes we experiment and learn.

Each new milestone is basically a result of me noticing how well she has learned one thing, and then saying, “Now I wonder if we could….”

It took me many years, many mentors, and many horses who were also my teachers to build the skillset that is making this baby feel like the easiest horse I’ve ever trained - although I believe she was born with flowers between the ears as well 😊🧡.

If you dream of developing young or green horses and are looking for a way to build that skillset, come stay and train with us at our ranch in Austin, TX. Link in bio.

The best way to make your horse into a trail master… is to already have a trail master 😊.

My heart is in English sports like show jumping and cross country, but I love cross training. Over the years, Lucy has pushed cows, played with flag work, and hit the trails from Colorado, to Texas, to Florida. She borrowed confidence from many other horses along the way as she had all these experiences. As a confident nine-year-old, she’s now lending that confidence to other horses 🥹🥹.

“I want my horse to get off-property experience” is something I hear from riders constantly. But many times a lack of knowledge, confidence, or a trailer stops them from getting out.

Reach out if you’re interested in getting help to build confidence riding out. We’re in the Austin area but have a residency program for riders from anywhere to stay and train with us.

This is an amazing exercise for better hands and better contact.

It immediately turns the rider’s responsibility into a felt sense - and there’s no lying to yourself about whether you’re getting it or not.

If you don’t follow the motion of the horse’s head up and down as he moves, the bit will drop out of his mouth. If your hands don’t work together in concert when you turn or shape, the bit will be pulled through the sides of the horse’s mouth.

The goal is a light, dreamy contact with so much harmony that your hands seem to “disappear.” The horse is never surprised, bumped, or dropped.

This exercise is trickier than it looks. Make it safe by:
🐴 using a soft rubber or leather bit; that way if you drop it, you don’t bang your horse in the teeth with a metal bit
🐴 practicing with a trainer or friend in an enclosed area (round pen or arena)
🐴 try it for the first time on a horse that can take a joke - if your horse is young, green, or having behavior issues, it may not be the right horse to experiment with
🐴 keep a halter and lead on underneath and have someone hold the lead or hitch it to your saddle in case of emergency

Thanks to Pippa Callanan for creating this exercise!

I was really excited to reunite dam and foal (now yearling!) for a lot of reasons.

Since I’m keeping both horses, my plan has always been to turn them back out together after the weaning process was complete. I weaned them when Cruella was about 11.5 months old, and was barely nursing.

They were separated for about four months, which is a month longer than the commonly recommended three-month minimum. I wanted to be sure that nursing would not resume when I reunited them.

I knew there would be some “moments” when I turned them out together, despite all the preparation. Both horses are very drawn to each other, but Cruella more to her mom than vice versa.

It’s very common to see foals try to mount their dams, but less common to see the reverse. Mares will sometimes mount other horses as a show of dominance, but excessive displays of this behavior can sometimes be a sign of a hormonal imbalance or physical problem. I was also concerned about Cruella getting hurt after Bubbles made several attempts to mount her in their first turnout.

After ruling out a physical issue with my vet, I decided to turn Bubbles out for a few days with Addie and Lucy. Both are mature mares and are the alpha and beta in the herd, respectively. Both have also shown willingness to intervene on Cruella’s behalf in the past.

After two days in this arrangement, Bubbles was absolutely submissive to Addie and Lucy. When I turned Cruella back out, she made a couple of attempts to be aggressive toward Cruella, and I intervened. sShe made one final attempt to mount her and was immediately stopped by Addie. The behavior has not reoccurred.

It’s been extremely important to note that I did not allow access to enclosed spaces while the herd dynamic was still settling. I only do herd integration in big, open spaces until the hierarchy is well-settled, which means the horses lower in the pecking order yield willingly and instantly to horses above them.

If you dream of keeping horses at home, or working with young or green horses, consider joining us for a 1-2 week immersive horsemanship experience in Austin, TX. Link in bio.