Don’t use a scary object to push your horse.
When something is new, I want curiosity, not pressure.
Let your horse investigate, think, and learn that the object isn’t something to fear.
Steady Horse
We believe that fairness, understanding and patience lead to developing a safe and steady horse.
There is a better way. There is a much better way.
Steady Horse is about helping people to have the safest most fair and rewarding relationship with their horse. Working with horses does not have to result in inevitable injury and disappointment. Working with horses does not have to result in brute force, "whacking" a horse or "making" a horse respect you. With simple understanding and consistent application of confidence building techniques, we c
09/05/2026
Steady Horse is coming to Michigan.
I hardly ever teach clinics on this side of the country. But on September 19 and 20, I will be in Buckley, MI, about 18 miles south of Traverse City, for two full days of hands-on training. In person. Real horses. Real time.
If you have followed along online and always wished you could work with me face to face, this is the rare chance to do it without getting on a plane.
Riders are coming from all over the Great Lakes, Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Ontario. 10 spots only.
Do not miss it.
📍 Buckley, MI | Near Traverse City
📅 September 19–20, 2026
👉 https://vist.ly/5hfh9
Maybe you don’t need a vacation from horses. Maybe you need more joy in the work.
The days can be long. The hours can be crazy. But when you love what you do and you love helping horses and people, it doesn’t always feel like work.
🎙️ Watch and Listen to the latest episode of The Greatest Horseman Podcast with Michael Lyons Horsemanship & Julia Farmer Lyons.
👉 Watch here: https://vist.ly/5f4ai
🎧 Listen here: https://vist.ly/5f4ah
Want your horse to understand “forward”? Check your position.
When I send, I want to be behind the drive line. It helps make my message clear.
You can make a horse do something without ever truly connecting with them.
Sometimes the need to “get there faster” comes from our own insecurities, not the horse’s needs.
🎙️ Watch and Listen to the latest episode of The Greatest Horseman Podcast with Carl Bledsoe & Tammy Bledsoe (JUST GAIT)
👉 Watch here: https://vist.ly/5hc23
🎧 Listen here: https://vist.ly/5f9sw
09/04/2026
Your horse has been sitting up for six weeks. They look great. They seem calm. And you are tempted to just hop on and see how it goes.
Do not do it.
Time off changes things. Not permanently. But your horse's conditioning, their sharpness, their mental focus have all shifted. And skipping the process of bringing them back is unfair to them and unsafe for you.
The good news? Your horse has not forgotten anything. Everything you built together is still in there. You are not starting over. You are just knocking off a little rust.
Go back to the ground. Start with short sessions. Find out where your horse is today, not where they were six weeks ago. Meet them there. The slower you go, the quicker you get there.
New blog is live — link in bio. 🐴
Your horse doesn’t have to give you the perfect answer right away.
Sometimes we get so focused on getting the finished response that we miss the small signs our horse is already trying to understand us.
Look for the pieces of the right answer. When your horse gets even a little closer, recognize it and let them know they’re on the right track.
That’s how you build understanding instead of frustration.
“Build it and they will come” isn’t a business plan.
One of the biggest mistakes I see trainers make is taking on a pile of debt before the business has actually earned the right to grow.
🎙️ Watch and Listen to the latest episode of The Greatest Horseman Podcast with Michael Lyons Horsemanship & Julia Farmer Lyons.
👉 Watch here: https://vist.ly/5f4ai
🎧 Listen here: https://vist.ly/5f4ah
There’s a part of horse training that gets a little more nuanced when we start talking about punishment.
Most people understand positive punishment. But negative punishment is different.
Understanding these differences matters because the goal isn’t just to make a horse do something.
Want to understand your horse better? Watch the horses.
When I started paying closer attention to how horses communicate with each other, I noticed things I had been missing: ears, breathing, facial expressions, body language.
🎙️ Watch and Listen to the latest episode of The Greatest Horseman Podcast with Carl Bledsoe & Tammy Bledsoe (JUST GAIT)
👉 Watch here: https://vist.ly/5gzfa
🎧 Listen here: https://vist.ly/5f9sw
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