Karin Altoft Horsemanship

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I'm a horsewoman and instructor who has an endless fascination with equine psychology, the Vaquero style, classical dressage, good horsemanship and putting those things to work.

Renovations I recently got some tips on roping skills and it reminded me about renovating. Sometimes things need to get ...
09/30/2026

Renovations

I recently got some tips on roping skills and it reminded me about renovating. Sometimes things need to get much worse, messy, sometimes unusable to be reshaped into something updated and more functional in the long term.
I think in our horsemanship we can carry on with outdated kitchens cause "it mostly works", but it could be so much better if you're willing to get a bit of saw dust on ya and maybe use a the bbq to cook for a bit.

09/30/2026

Couple weeks ago in Armstrong BC with my friends the Cardinals and Carol Hamel. Playing with some set ups for a hoolihan shot before the Art of the Bridlehorse competition

07/30/2026

Baby spam! Tulsa (perch qh) and her LusoX filly.

Looking all wild and glorious when a couple mares were added.
Can't complain about the looks or movement on those 2! 🤩

Well I wish I had pictures for ya. But I had a very fun 4 days at restoration ranch with my young horse, Ronan. We lef...
06/23/2026

Well I wish I had pictures for ya. But I had a very fun 4 days at restoration ranch with my young horse, Ronan. We left home with 20 rides and came home a rope horse. It was a super fun crew and the clinician was great. I left with so much roping instruction... not sure I could have absorbed any more. Brain... saturated.

Luna and Ronan on a beautiful day.
05/31/2026

Luna and Ronan on a beautiful day.

Sitting at a green light waiting for it to turn red. AndThere's no such thing as over-prepared. Interesting thing in hor...
04/30/2026

Sitting at a green light waiting for it to turn red.
And
There's no such thing as over-prepared.

Interesting thing in horse development, some of us want to have everything just right, just so, and all the guarantees. I love being well prepared. Just don't sit at a green light waiting for it to turn red.

Protecting vs preparing.This meme is just silly with a bit of truth to it. One of my mentors said, "there's no such th...
03/30/2026

Protecting vs preparing.

This meme is just silly with a bit of truth to it.
One of my mentors said, "there's no such thing as over- prepared" and another said "building confidence is like spreading peanut butter on cheap bread, go too fast and the bread will rip"

Sometimes we are careful to not ruffle our horses feathers so we avoid things that ruffle. Next thing you know, you can only ride when there's no wind, rain or weather... When the sun is right and definitely not on a full moon. Never mind sharing the arena with someone whose pulling out tarps, wiggling flags and cracking whips. When we avoid all that weird stuff to preserve our horses confidence, that confidence shrinks.
Preparing your horse doesn't mean flooding them but presenting achievable challenges, growing confidence by practicing smoothing their own ruffled feathers. Make sure you take bite size pieces when stretching you and your horse's confidence bubble or it'll pop. 🫧

But do advocate for your horse if you end up in a situation that isn't bite size and you or your horse might choke.

03/11/2026

The buckaroo bear has a unique equitation but a wonderful seat 😆

Folks have mixed feelings about tying stuff onto saddles. Personally, I think it's fair if you've done your homework to prepare the horse vs 'sacking out'. I'm not looking to provoke her but to continue to grow her tolerance and eventually acceptance of all sorts of things that will serve her well in the future. If she went to running and bucking, I would feel that I failed to prepare her adequately.

03/06/2026

Happy with my report card on my 3yo today. This is her first ride. Short, sweet, successful and no big deal. Hard not to be greedy and push on for more progress. I can cash in, guarantee a good first experience and easily build on a better horse tomorrow or risk it and try for more progress. You might hear me mutter to myself, "double or nothing" 😆
know your limit, play within it 😉 🎲 🎲

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Ottawa, ON

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