Elliston Equine Solutions, LLC

09/16/2026

Building the Foundation One Exercise at a Time

Another good lesson today at Elliston Equine Solutions. This young rider worked with Bella on several exercises designed to improve feel, timing, balance, and communication between horse and rider.

We worked on stopping primarily from the seat, followed by backing; untracking the hindquarters; picking a specific point across the round corral and riding accurately toward it; and learning to call out all four of Bella's feet at the walk. Being able to identify where each foot is teaches a rider to feel what is happening underneath them instead of simply being a passenger.

We finished with half circles and rein management, working on using the reins with purpose while maintaining direction and control without unnecessary pulling.

These may look like simple exercises from the outside, but they build skills that carry over into almost everything we eventually ask a horse and rider to do. The goal isn't just learning another maneuver. It's developing feel, timing, balance, awareness, and better communication with the horse.

Good horsemanship starts with understanding where the horse's feet are, where they're going, and learning how to influence them at the right time.

09/10/2026

https://youtu.be/0w3J3zKcung?si=hjL5iPHl9-tQxqhX

Preparing for What Might Go Wrong

In this video, I'm working with a Mustang and an old, worn-out saddle. There is a reason I'm using this particular saddle, and there is a reason I'm intentionally letting it fall off his back.

Before I ever properly saddle this horse for the first time, I want him to have some experience with not only the saddle going on, but also with the possibility of the saddle coming off.

Horses don't always stand perfectly still the first time they're saddled. A young or inexperienced horse may step sideways, jump forward, hump up, spin, or move unexpectedly. If something happens before the saddle is completely secured and that saddle slides underneath the horse or hits the ground beside him, I don't want that to be the first time he's experienced it.

That's how one problem can quickly turn into several.

So instead of hoping everything goes perfectly, I try to prepare the horse for things not going perfectly.

You'll also notice that I've taped the stirrups up on this old saddle. That's intentional. If the saddle comes off while the horse is moving, I don't want a loose stirrup hanging down where he could potentially put a hoof or leg through it.

I'm trying to reduce unnecessary risk while still giving the horse the experience he needs.

That's an important distinction in horse training. Desensitizing a horse isn't about seeing how much you can scare him or creating a wreck just to prove you can get him through it. It's about introducing situations in a controlled, progressive way, allowing the horse to process what's happening and teaching him that movement, noise, pressure, and unexpected situations don't automatically mean he needs to panic.

With a Mustang—or really any inexperienced horse—I want to build a library of successful experiences before I need those experiences.

Saddle goes on.
Saddle moves.
Leather makes noise.
Something touches his sides.
Saddle falls off.
Nothing terrible happens.

Each experience becomes another piece of information the horse can draw from later.

Eventually we'll put the real saddle on, secure the cinch, and move forward with the saddling process. When that happens, I want this horse thinking rather than simply reacting.

Good preparation doesn't guarantee that nothing will ever go wrong with a horse. It gives the horse and handler a better chance of dealing with it when something does.

That's the purpose behind this exercise. It isn't about making a Mustang tolerate an old saddle falling off his back for entertainment.

It's about preparing today for something that could happen tomorrow.

Elliston Equine Solutions | E/9 Ranch
Build the experience before you need the response.

In the video is Milo. A Mustang gelding who is getting started.

Saddle failure prep. This is to ensure that a horse doesn't get spo...

09/09/2026

Using the Snubbing Post as a Training Tool

This horse has a history of bolting and not always respecting the halter or bit, so we're working on changing that response from the ground up.

One thing we have to remember when working with horses is that self-preservation is extremely powerful. When a horse believes it is in danger, its response may be to fight, freeze, or flee. For this particular horse, one of those responses has been to leave… bolt first and worry about everything else later.

Once a horse reaches that survival state of mind, you're no longer dealing with the same horse you had when everything was calm. The horse may stop processing our cues effectively and fall back on instinct and previously learned responses.

That's why we need a way to help bring the horse out of that reactive state and back to a place where it can think, process, and respond to the handler.

For this horse, one of the tools we're using is the snubbing post.
Here we're using the post to teach the horse to turn, face, and follow the feel instead of bracing against the pressure and leaving. In many ways, we're establishing the groundwork foundation for a one-rein stop.

The snubbing post gives us a solid anchor. Instead of a handler getting je**ed around, pulled off balance, or getting into a tug-of-war with a 1,000-pound animal, the post allows us to work through the lesson from a safer position.

But the purpose isn't to overpower the horse or simply hold him there until he gives up.

We're looking for a change in his response.

When he feels pressure through the halter, we want him to discover that the answer isn't to brace harder, pull away, or bolt. The answer is to follow the feel, bend, turn, and face. When he gives us the response we're looking for, we release the pressure.

Then we repeat it.

Those repetitions become experiences. Enough good experiences begin creating an understanding, and eventually that understanding can become a conditioned response.

We establish it with the halter first and then transfer that same understanding to the snaffle bit.

Why does that matter?

Because I don't want the first time this horse really needs to follow one rein to be when something goes wrong.

If we're riding down the trail and something suddenly scares him, or we're in an arena and that flight response kicks in, I want the horse to have hundreds of previous experiences telling him:
Feel that rein → soften → bend → turn → come back to the rider.

We're giving the horse a familiar answer when self-preservation is telling him to run.

That doesn't mean a one-rein stop is a magic emergency brake, and it doesn't replace good riding or proper training. The goal is to develop a response before the emergency happens, so we have another tool available when the horse starts becoming reactive.
This is also a good example of something I emphasize at Elliston Equine Solutions: work with the horse that's standing in front of you.

I don't use a snubbing post on every horse. Not every horse needs one. This horse's history, behavior, and tendency to bolt told me that the snubbing post could be a useful tool at this stage of his education.

That's horsemanship.

It isn't about having one method and applying it to every horse that walks through the gate. It's about having enough tools in your kit bag to recognize what an individual horse needs, knowing how to use those tools correctly, and just as importantly, knowing when not to use them.

For this horse, we're not trying to take away his instinct for self-preservation.

We're teaching him that when that instinct kicks in, running away isn't his only answer.

Fight. Freeze. Flee. Or learn to come back, follow the feel, and listen to the rider.

That's why we do this work on the ground before we ever need it in an emergency.

Elliston Equine Solutions | E/9 Ranch

Building communication before you need it.

09/08/2026

Gaited Horses Don't Have to Carry Their Heads High

There is a common misconception in the horse world that because a horse is gaited, it needs to travel with its head held high all the time.

That simply isn't true.

During this lesson at E/9 Ranch, home of Elliston Equine Solutions, my client and I were working with her gaited horse on relaxation, balance, softness, and allowing the horse to use his head and neck in different positions.

A gaited horse is still a horse first. Just because a horse performs an intermediate or four-beat gait doesn't mean we should lock the horse into one headset every time we get in the saddle.
One of the exercises we worked on was neck extension.

Neck extension and long and low are sometimes talked about as though they're the same thing, but there is an important difference.
With neck extension, we are asking the horse to reach forward through the head and neck while maintaining an open throatlatch and keeping the nose ahead of the vertical. The head and neck should go no lower than approximately poll-at-wither level. We're looking for the horse to lengthen through the neck and topline while maintaining balance… not simply dropping the head and dumping additional weight onto the forehand.

This isn't about pulling the horse's head down.

It's about creating enough relaxation and balance that the horse is willing to reach forward into the exercise.

As this gelding became more comfortable and relaxed, we also allowed him to move beyond neck extension into a long-and-low stretch. That's when we began seeing him reach considerably farther down, eventually stretching his head and neck well below the level of her withers.

Those are two different exercises and two different positions.
We also had him yawning several times throughout the session. I don't use yawning alone as proof that a horse is relaxed. What interested me was the whole picture… the changes in his posture, the willingness to stretch, the softness we were developing, and his ability to move between different positions without forcing his into a headset.

And that's really the point.

There are times when a gaited horse should carry itself more upright. Breed, conformation, gait, speed, balance, level of training, and what we're asking the horse to accomplish all matter.
But upright doesn't mean high-headed all the time.

We're not trying to manufacture a pretty headset for a photograph.

We're trying to develop a horse that understands how to use its body in different ways while remaining relaxed, balanced, and responsive to its rider.

This lesson is also another example of something I say quite often:
Good horsemanship doesn't belong to one breed or one discipline.
Whether I'm working with a gaited horse, Quarter Horse, Mustang, mule, ranch horse, English horse, or someone's trail partner, the fundamentals still matter.

Relaxation. Balance. Rhythm. Feel. Timing. Softness. Communication.

The goal isn't to make every horse look the same.

The goal is to help the individual horse and rider standing in front of me become better partners.

That's what my client and her gelding were working toward here, and I was very pleased with the progress they made.

Different breeds. Different disciplines. Good horsemanship remains the foundation.

Pictured is a client with her Tennessee Walking Horse that was being transported to a slaughter plant in the south. She saved the horse from going there and has a very willing horse who listens to her leadership.

09/06/2026

The “Pick Me Up” Cue — It’s a Tool, Not a Fashion Statement

Over the next week, I'm going to post several videos of horses I've trained to perform what I call the “pick me up” cue—bringing themselves over and positioning their body so the rider can mount from a mounting block, fence, rock, log, trailer fender, or whatever might be available.

There are three different methods or techniques I commonly use or have used to teach this.

One is teaching the horse through the lead rope, directing and positioning the horse until he understands where his body needs to be.

Another—and probably the method most people have seen—is using a training stick on the off side of the horse to encourage the horse to move toward you.

The third is teaching the horse to come into pressure from the training stick. Instead of moving away from the pressure, the horse learns that a particular touch means to bring his body toward you.

All three methods have their merits, and there isn't anything wrong with using any of them. Personally, I commonly teach the horse to come into pressure from the training stick.

Why?

Because I'm thinking about what happens after the training session.

Six months or a year from now, that horse may be rusty because the owner hasn't used the cue in a while. If I've taught him to come into pressure, the rider can often refresh the cue with a tap from a hand, boot, or whatever is available.

That's a whole lot easier than trying to lean across a horse's back with a training stick to reach the off side while you're sitting on a rock somewhere in the middle of the Arizona desert.

And that brings me to something I've noticed lately.

I've watched clinicians demonstrate this cue in Colorado Springs and recently here in Arizona, and sometimes it seems like the “pick me up” cue has become a “LOOK AT ME” moment.

Look what I can make this horse do.

Look how good of a trainer I am.

I've never really looked at it that way.

I've taught this to horses in a matter of minutes during regular lessons because I saw a client struggling at the mounting block. We fixed the problem, showed the owner how to maintain it, and moved on with the lesson.

It wasn't a cool-guy moment. It was horsemanship solving a problem.

That's what this cue is supposed to be.

Maybe you've had a hip replacement, bad knees, a bad back, or another injury that makes mounting difficult.

Maybe your horse stepped away from the mounting block.

Maybe you're 10 miles down a trail, had to get off, and the only thing available to remount from is a big rock.

Maybe you're working with your farrier and the horse keeps drifting away. Instead of walking completely around the horse to push him back toward you, you can simply ask him to bring his body back.

Maybe someday you're in an actual emergency where being able to position your horse next to something isn't just convenient—it matters.

That's why I teach it.

Good horsemanship should make a horse safer, more useful, and easier for the owner to communicate with.

The “pick me up” cue isn't magic. It isn't particularly difficult to teach, either. I've taught it numerous times during a single lesson when a client needed help mounting. Once the horse understands the pressure and release and figures out where you want his feet and body, many horses catch on remarkably quickly.

The important part isn't whether you can stand on a fence and make your horse side-pass 20 feet across an arena while everybody watches.

The important question is:

Can the owner do it after the trainer goes home?

That's where I think we sometimes lose sight of what horse training is supposed to accomplish.

My job isn't to make somebody say, “Wow, look what Travis can do with that horse.”

I'd much rather hear somebody say:

“Look what I can do with my horse now.”

That's the difference between demonstrating a trick and teaching useful horsemanship.

So throughout this week I'll share videos of different horses I've trained to perform the pick-me-up cue. Different horses, different situations, and possibly different ways of getting there.

Not because it's the newest fashion statement in horse training.

Not because it's some amazing secret.

And certainly not because I invented it.

I'm sharing it because it's another useful tool to put in your horsemanship kit bag.

And when you're standing on a rock somewhere in the middle of nowhere and your horse walks over, lines himself up, and quietly waits for you to climb aboard, you'll understand exactly why we taught it in the first place.

Elliston Equine Solutions | E/9 Ranch

Horsemanship should be useful to the horse and the person who owns him. Everything else is just showing off.

In this video for demonstrations is Cinders who is a young horse in the Hackamore phase of training.

09/05/2026

Journey’s Final Ride

This week, E/9 Ranch, home of Elliston Equine Solutions, was given the privilege and honor of helping Ms. Margaret Mills lay Journey to rest.

From the time we picked Journey up through his final ceremony, our goal was simple: to make sure this great old cavalry horse was treated with the honor, dignity, and respect he had earned during a lifetime of service.

Journey was not simply another horse. Born in 1994 and purchased by B Troop, 4th U.S. Cavalry (Memorial) in 2001, he spent nearly two decades carrying troopers and ladies of the Cavalry through charges, parades, competitions, ceremonies, demonstrations, and countless hours of training. He also served as a dependable school horse, teaching generations of riders in both the McClellan saddle and side saddle.

After retiring from the Cavalry, Journey was fortunate to spend his remaining years with Ms. Mills, who gave him the retirement he deserved and remained by his side through the end.

For me personally, helping lay Journey to rest carried special meaning. As a school-trained trooper and former horse trainer for B Troop, 4th U.S. Cavalry (Memorial), I understand what these horses mean to the unit and to the men and women they carried. They are more than equipment and more than livestock. They become partners, teachers, and a living part of the history and traditions we work so hard to preserve.

That made it especially important to us that Journey's final chapter ended with dignity. Rather than an old cavalry horse simply being hauled away and his story ending anonymously, Journey was brought home to E/9 Ranch, laid to rest with honor, and given a final ceremony recognizing the life he lived and the service he gave.

It was humbling to stand there and realize how many riders had sat on his back, how many ceremonies he had participated in, and how many people had learned something about horsemanship, cavalry history, and themselves because of this one horse.

E/9 Ranch and Elliston Equine Solutions were honored to be able to help Ms. Mills and Journey from pickup through his final resting place and ceremony. It was a privilege to give something back to a horse who had given so much to so many.

Journey now rests at E/9 Ranch alongside three other horses. I like to think that somewhere beyond the divide, the tack has been pulled, the grass is belly deep and green, and an old cavalry horse is once again running strong and free with new friends.

Ride on, Journey. Your duty is complete.
You served well. You were loved.
You will not be forgotten.

Until we meet again in Fiddler's Green. 🐎🇺🇸

08/31/2026

Good Horsemanship Doesn't Belong to Just One Breed or Discipline

Another great lesson here at E/9 Ranch, home of Elliston Equine Solutions.

One of the things I emphasize with my students is that good horsemanship is good horsemanship. It doesn't matter whether you ride Western or English, compete in the arena, work cattle, trail ride, or simply want a safe and enjoyable relationship with your horse.

The breed doesn't matter either. Quarter Horse, Thoroughbred, Arabian, Mustang, draft horse, mule, or anything in between—the fundamentals remain the same: balance, timing, feel, communication, consistency, and understanding how the horse learns.

My job isn't to force every horse and rider into one particular style. It's to meet the horse and rider where they are, understand what they want to accomplish, and help them build the skills and confidence to get there.

Lessons aren't just about learning how to ride. They're about learning horsemanship—understanding your horse on the ground and in the saddle, recognizing what the horse is telling you, and learning how your own position, timing, and cues affect the horse.

Whether your goals are English, Western, ranch work, trail riding, competition, or simply becoming a better partner for your horse, Elliston Equine Solutions can help.

Different breeds. Different disciplines. Different goals.
The foundation is still good horsemanship.

08/26/2026

Another great riding lesson at E/9 Ranch!

Good horsemanship isn't about simply sitting in the saddle and going around the arena. Every lesson is an opportunity to work on balance, feel, timing, communication, and confidence between horse and rider.

Today we focused on developing a relaxed, forward-moving horse while helping the rider maintain a balanced position and communicate through her seat, legs, and hands. These fundamentals may not always look flashy, but they're what build confident riders and dependable horses.

One of the things I enjoy most about teaching is watching everything begin to come together—the rider becomes quieter and more confident, the horse starts responding to lighter cues, and the two begin working together instead of separately.

There are no shortcuts in good horsemanship. We build it one ride, one lesson, and one small improvement at a time.

08/18/2026

Every now and again, it is fun to rope with some great like-minded folks that you respect and learn from. Here is a tidbit: last weekend, three of us got together to practice some big loop roping. In the video, you can see me doing a backhand head shot on a critter facing up with Gunner and then finishing with Mr. Kay throwing a beautiful hip shot. Mr. Masek is fixing to do the groundwork. This is traditional type three man doctoring for ranch work. We did a lot of low-stress ranch roping, with each of us doing different throws for the head and hindquarter shots. It takes good horsemanship, communication, and good folks with roping and cattle skills to do the science and art of this craft. Many hours go into building repetition through experience to build confidence. All the time put into it is well worth it, both on the ranch to get a job done and in competition! Cheers- Travis

06/17/2026

"Three Number Ones, three horsemen, and a lifetime of memories."

This photo captures a special moment in my cavalry journey.
Pictured in the center is my intern, Martina, the 2021 National Cavalry Champion. Sitting to her left is Jay, the current National Cavalry Champion. This photograph was taken during our first trip to Cavalry School as "Number Ones" while we were still members of B Troop, 4th U.S. Cavalry (Memorial). Location: Crow Indian Reservation, Little Bighorn River, Montana

As experienced cavalry troopers, Martina, Jay, and I traveled to Montana to assist with the United States Cavalry School. In cavalry terminology, a "Number One" serves as a file leader for a four-trooper team. Our role was to help mentor and guide newer troopers, teaching horsemanship, cavalry skills, safety, and the history of the frontier cavalry soldier.

The Cavalry School is held near the Little Bighorn Battlefield in Montana and provides intensive instruction in cavalry riding, horsemanship, tactics, history, weapons familiarization, and living history interpretation. It is a week-long immersion into the world of the frontier cavalryman, culminating with participation in the annual Battle of the Little Bighorn reenactment.

This year holds special significance as it marks the 150th Anniversary of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, one of the most studied and discussed events in American military and western history. The school continues to attract horsemen, military historians, reenactors, and riders from across the country who share a passion for preserving history and improving their horsemanship. The program also draws active-duty troopers from cavalry units across the United States Army who attend to strengthen their understanding of cavalry heritage, leadership, and mounted skills. Bringing together professional soldiers and experienced civilian horsemen creates a unique opportunity to preserve the traditions and lessons of the American cavalry while developing better riders and leaders.

What makes this photo even more special is that we are headed back once again to help teach and mentor the next generation of cavalry troopers. There is something rewarding about passing on knowledge that was once passed on to us. The skills of horsemanship, leadership, teamwork, and historical interpretation are only preserved when experienced riders take the time to invest in those coming up behind them.

The Cavalry School has also gained national recognition through numerous documentaries, television programs, and film projects. The school's staff and participants have appeared in productions such as PBS's Today's Wild West, History Channel programs, America Unearthed, Mysteries at the Museum, Best of America by Horseback, and several documentaries focused on the Battle of the Little Bighorn and frontier cavalry history.

Looking back, it was an incredible honor to help train and mentor new troopers while working alongside some outstanding horsemen and horsewomen. The friendships formed, the lessons learned, and the opportunity to help preserve cavalry history are memories I will always treasure.

As we prepare to return to Montana, I am reminded that horsemanship is more than riding horses. It is about stewardship, mentorship, and preserving knowledge for future generations.

Three Number Ones, three horsemen, and a lifetime of memories. Here's to making a few more.

Cheers- Travis E/9 Ranch